Santa Fe Fortune (9 page)

Gwen blinked and sucked in a breath, fresh air cleansing like an absolution.

“The boots! Oh yes! I got them at the Wild West Boutique.”

Dan let loose a high, shrill whistle. “Upscale place.”

“Aren’t they a kick?”

“They’re great, Gwen. They really suit you. Did you get them today?”

“Yesterday, when I was shopping around after the museums.”

“Well, it’s good to see you didn’t let your afternoon go to waste,” he said with a smile.

“Oh, I didn’t. I absolutely didn’t! I saw
Loretto
Chapel, too!”

“So, what did you think? About the staircase?”

“I thought it was awesome. Really and truly. Whether or not you believe in the miracle, it’s certainly something to see.”

Nope, what was something to see sat right across from him. Gwen was gorgeous in that sexy peasant top, long, lacy earrings dangling against the inviting line of her neck. Dan studied her expression, noting she appeared happy and carefree. The way her deep brown eyes caught the soft light was nothing short of amazing. The sun set beyond them, casting long shadows across the mountains surrounding Santa Fe

“It’s beautiful up here,” she said, looking around. “You were right about the view.”

“I like what I’m looking at,” he said, diving into her with his eyes. Color dusted her cheekbones as the wine steward arrived with their selection. Dan tasted and accepted the bottle, then handed Gwen her poured glass.

“What do we drink to?” she asked.

“How about to fortune?”

“To good fortune for the two of us,” she said, clinking his glass.

In that instant, Dan knew he was doomed. Gwen was beautiful in the sunset, soft gold curls framing her face. And she wasn’t just a looker, either. Gwen was sweet and kind and just the kind of woman he could trust with his secrets. Dan had surprised himself in the plaza when he’d told her about his dad. That was a subject Dan didn’t like to talk about, and one which he never brought up. There were things beyond that he longed to tell her. Things that were very personal and he’d shared with few other people. Would she reject him if he told her the truth? His track record with other women in that regard hadn’t been exactly stellar.

“Why Dan Holbrook, I thought that was you.”

Gwen watched the color drain from Dan's face as the beautiful brunette approached.

“Elena?” Dan said, barely choking out the word.

Elena positioned her sunglasses on top of her head, revealing spectacular green eyes. “You’re a hard man to track down.”

“I didn’t know you were looking,” Dan said, tension hedging his voice.

“Maybe that's because you don’t pick up your phone.”

 
Dan turned toward Gwen, his complexion flushed. “Oh Gwen, I’m sorry. This is Elena—”

“
Caldova
,” the woman cut in, extending a suntanned arm in Gwen’s direction. “The ex.”

Gwen swallowed hard past the lump in her throat and shook Elena’s hand. “Gwendolyn Marsh. Nice to meet you.”

Elena studied Gwen’s face, then cast a judgmental glance at her bright turquoise cowgirl boots. “And you are…?”

“She’s a client, Elena. Not that it’s any business of yours.”

Gwen’s heart sank in her chest that she’d been introduced this way. But of course, what would she expect?

Elena perused the expensive bottle of wine on the table. “Looks like business is good.”

“It was better just a few moments ago,” Dan said, surprising Gwen with his acidic tone. He pushed back his chair and stood in a brusque fashion. “If you’ll excuse me a minute,” he told Gwen, laying aside his napkin.

“Of course,” she said, her gut on fire.

“All right, Elena,” Dan said, leveling her a hard look. “What’s this all about?”

“The two of us, Dan. You and me. What else?”

“You know as well as I do that the two of us are done.”

“You didn’t think so last month in Albuquerque.”

“I was wrong.”

“That’s not what you said back at my apartment,” she said with a smirk.

 
“Running into you at the airport couldn’t be helped. Agreeing to have drinks with you afterwards was a big mistake.” Dan had kicked himself a million times since. He’d scarcely put Nancy on the plane when he’d felt that familiar tug at his elbow. There Elena had stood, looking lovelier than ever but with a piteous pout on her lips. She’d just lost her cousin to cancer and had flown back from the funeral. There were so many memories, and she was so broken up. If only she could talk to an old friend, just for a while. Surely they were adult enough to still be friends?

“Dan, I have something to tell you,” she said, a moist sheen coating her eyes.

“Oh no you don’t, Elena. You’re not pulling that on me this time. I’ve had more than enough of your—”

“It’s important,” she said, stopping him mid-rant.

“Important, Elena? What is it this time? Another dead relative?”

He’d learned later through a mutual acquaintance that Elena’s story had been a half-truth. Her cousin hadn’t died at all. She’d merely been recovering from appendicitis.

“That was low, Dan. Even for you.”

“No, what’s low, Elena, is you showing up here. You’re the one who walked out on me, as I recall. And in your own words, with plenty of good reason.”

“You really haven’t changed a bit,” she said, setting her jaw.

“Probably not,” Dan agreed. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a dinner date to return to.”

“I thought she was a business colleague?”

“Nothing in my life concerns you anymore,” he said, turning away. “Or vice versa.”

“Don't be so sure,” she said, her voice cracking.

Dan turned slowly to face her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

By the time Dan returned to their table, the pizza had been sitting there for ten minutes.

“I’m sorry, Gwen. Sorry you had to see that.”

“I didn’t know you’d been married before. Of course, why would I?” she said, her world still reeling around her.

“Not married. Never was. But Elena and I were engaged.” He had an odd look about him, as if he were feeling quite unwell.

“Is everything all right?” Gwen asked with concern.

Dan furrowed his brow in concentration, then downed a sip of wine as if he hadn’t heard her.

Gwen met his eyes, feeling the heat in her own. “Maybe we should go.”

“No. No way. Absolutely not,” he said, regaining composure. “I apologize that the evening got thrown off course this way.” He glanced down at the pizza. “Bet that’s stone cold by now. I’ll send it back. Get us another.”

“You really don’t have to.”

He met her eyes with a sincere gaze. “But I want to. Gwen, you don’t understand how much I looked forward to this evening. I wanted us to spend time together. Still want that, even now.”

Gwen wondered what the “even now” part meant but felt she shouldn’t ask.

“I want to spend time with you too,” she said, feeling the raw burn in her chest.

Dan’s expression brightened. “Then good! Let’s regroup here. Send this disgustingly healthy pizza back and order something wicked.”

“You mean with fatty meats and anchovies?” Gwen bantered, trying to play things lightly.

“Anything your heart desires.”

What Gwen’s heart desired was that no blast from Dan’s past had ever resurfaced to disturb their evening. The notion that anybody else might try to lay claim to this increasingly marvelous man secretly upset her. Given Dan’s looks and impeccable taste, Gwen certainly imagined he’d been involved before. She just didn’t like coming face-to-face with the evidence, particularly when it shouted upscale elegance like that. Elena was a beautiful woman, sharply sophisticated too. Gwen wasn’t so sure her small-town-girl appeal could hold up under such big-city competition.

“Gwen?” Dan asked. “You do still want anchovies?”

Gwen blinked, noting their server had appeared and was waiting on her answer.

“Oh yes. Yes, please,” she answered, braving a smile. “That would be fine.”

All through dinner, Dan heard the echo of Elena’s parting pronouncement banging about in his brain. It couldn’t possibly be true. This had to be another one of Elena’s convoluted ploys. But to what end? Dan steadied his intellect to focus on the problem, knowing he’d work it out eventually. There was no way in Hades he was going back to her, he thought, settling his gaze on the soft Southern beauty before him. Gwen was so warm and trusting, and things between them were just getting off the ground. He’d aimed to ask Gwen to go away with him to Taos tomorrow and was more determined than ever to make good on those intentions. Dan refused to let someone from his past throw a monkey wrench into his plans. Especially someone as calculating as Elena. She had to be after something from Dan. The question was what?

Before Gwen was ready for the evening to be over, the waiter was clearing their dessert plates and bringing the check. They had managed to move on as if the interlude with Elena hadn’t happened, but it had remained an unwelcome presence looming above them nonetheless. Why on earth would Dan’s ex think to show up now? He clearly hadn’t been pleased to see her and later had seemed shaken by their exchange.

Perhaps he’d simply told her to bugger off and explained he had a new life now. Yes, that had to be it, Gwen tried to reassure herself. Why else would Dan assert immediately afterwards he only wanted to spend time with her?

“I suppose tomorrow will be a busy day with the canvases coming in,” Gwen said, sorry to think Dan would be tied up at the gallery again, even though that work would ultimately benefit her.

“Actually, I was just thinking the opposite. The shipment likely won’t come until late in the day, and I’ve already asked Megan to take care of signing for it. As long as we’re back by closing to double-check and unpack things, I think we’ll be fine.”

As long as we’re back…
“Are we going somewhere?” Gwen asked, unable to mask the hopeful anticipation in her voice.

Dan leveled her a look with those sky-blue eyes. “As long as you’re taking in Santa Fe, I thought you might like to see Taos too. We can take the high road up through the mountains, then drive the low road back along the Rio Grande.”

Gwen’s face warmed, a billion butterflies inside her taking flight. Perhaps she’d overanalyzed Dan’s encounter with Elena. That silly,
overbaked
, rail-thin woman clearly meant nothing to him at all. She could scarcely believe it. Was he finally going to ask her out? “Are you…?”

“Yes, Gwen,” he said. “I’m asking you on a date. Not an engagement, or an arrangement, but a good, old-fashioned, day-long date.” Dan’s lips tugged into a smile
smile
so tenuous and vulnerable she hadn’t thought him capable of it. “Please tell me that you’ll go.”

****

Chapter Seven

Taos Pueblo sat on a grassy plain between sharply angled mountains. Gwen stood by the gated archway of the old cemetery, viewing the flat-topped adobe houses currently in use. “Are you sure we’re allowed to go in here?” she whispered, feeling as if she were intruding on a ghost town. Though the reservation was actively inhabited, she barely saw signs of life, save the occasional stray dog shuffling by.

“We paid for the privilege,” Dan whispered back. “Go on. I think I spot a tour group up ahead.”

Gwen spied the referenced gaggle of tourists peering into an open doorway. They reverently followed their Native American guide through the maze of narrow pathways, taking a furtive photo here and there, careful not to use flash.

“Aren’t people allowed to take pictures?” she asked him quietly.

“Sure they are,” he said with a wink. “But you’re supposed to pay for that privilege too.” Dan motioned her around the corner, past more simple dwellings and a few vendors selling cold drinks and trinkets. “This way!”

Dan led her into an open space facing two enormous multistoried buildings. Made entirely of red clay abode, the structures stood tall against the backdrop of the mountains, individual wooden ladders leading to the upper level openings that served as doors.

“People have been living in these for more than a thousand years.”

“Wow, this is amazing!”

The haunting sound of a wooden flute rippled toward them on a steady breeze. Gwen turned to see an old man playing with his eyes closed. “I thought I heard one of those playing in the plaza,” she said to Dan.

“It’s something to hear, especially in a place like this one.”

Gwen’s senses were enlivened by the melancholy melody. “It’s magical, really. Almost like we’ve stepped back in time.”

“If I were to go there, I’d certainly take you,” he said holding her hand.