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Heath was trying to focus on what was going on in front of him. He was going to be up after Kent’s turn was done if Kent didn’t hit the mark that won the game. “Seattle.”
“Sylvie’s never been to Seattle.”
“I didn’t know that.”
Actually, Heath did know that. Sylvie told him that shortly after he arrived in town. It was a topic of conversation during one of their many talks where they discussed everything but what was going on between them.
“So where did you say the two of you met again?” Will asked, his tone far too casual to be real.
Now Heath’s attention was on Will and he stopped watching the game. “I didn’t say. We met online. Isn’t that the way of it these days?”
Will didn’t look impressed. “Were you out trolling for women?”
“Yep. That’s what I do. I spend all my time trolling for women on the internet and traveling halfway across the country to meet each and every one of them. Already got my next conquests lined up. They’re up north, in Wisconsin.”
Will’s brows furrowed. “I assume you’re kidding.”
Heath laughed. “I don’t have to troll for women, Will. They troll for me.”
“Think pretty highly of yourself, do you?”
“No. But I am thinking I can’t win with you, so I believe I won’t be trying anymore.” He turned back toward the game, making it clear that he was finished with the conversation.
“Huh,” Will muttered.
Heath hoped that this would take care of the man’s inquisitive line of questioning. He studied Will out of the corner of his eye. He rather wished now that he had let Sylvie create a cover story for how they met. She’d wanted to, but he had blown it off, not seeing why it would possibly matter.
Now he understood why Sylvie didn’t want anyone to know they had met in Chicago. The nosy citizens of Zeke’s Bend would be sure to make connections.
So many things were falling into place, and he still had questions, but there was only one that was important. One that would change his life.
Perhaps that was what helped focus his thoughts and allowed him to throw the dart that won the game.
Chapter Nineteen
SYLVIE PUT HER HAND UP to shade her eyes from the brightness of the sun high overhead. She cast a glance at the boys who rested in their stroller across the yard.
She yelled to Neesa, who was closest to the stroller, to put more sunscreen on the babies. Neesa waved back at her with an indulgent grin and a shake of her head, but Sylvie saw her move to comply.
Sylvie knew Neesa’s amusement was because Sylvie had asked the same thing fifteen minutes prior. Sylvie didn’t care. It didn’t hurt to be overcautious about some things. She was their mother, after all.
She was hard at work near one of the vegetable gardens on Neesa’s farm. She looked around her at the myriad of relatives moving in between the barn, the house, the garden, and the fields beyond and had to grin. It was as if an impromptu Jones family reunion had been organized on this warmer than average Saturday afternoon in February.
Her eyes strayed across the lawn to the tall, trim figure pounding nails to repair the fence at the far corner of the barn, a much-needed fix to ensure that Neesa’s single cow didn’t escape.
She sighed with a happy smile. There was no doubt about it. Her eyes would always find Heath, no matter where he was. Kent helped him, and Sylvie saw the two men laugh several times. It was nice to see him getting along with her family.
In the meantime, she and Phae were cleaning underbrush from an old fence line.
Neesa purchased the farm not too long ago. She grew specialty organic produce and sold it to a number of high-priced restaurants from as far away as St. Louis.
The farm had been in quite a state of disrepair when she bought it, which meant that Neesa got it for a steal. But it also meant that there were always projects to do to keep the place up, and Neesa already had a full-time job as a security guard at the college in Rollinsburg.
Neesa dreamt of making enough money from the farm to make it a full-time job, but it was far from a reality. That didn’t stop Neesa from continuing to pursue her dream in the meantime, though.
When Neesa heard that it was going to be warmer than usual that weekend, she put out the call to the Jones clan to request that anyone with some free time come out and help her get some chores done. She needed the most help with the bigger jobs she couldn’t do on her own like repairing the barn’s roof.
Sylvie had volunteered to help, and Heath offered to come out as well. So far, he was proving himself surprisingly adept with a hammer and nails.
Momma was supposed to be keeping an eye on the babies, but she kept wandering over to one relative or another to gossip. Sylvie wasn’t too worried, though, about the babies being left alone. Someone was always passing by the stroller, stooping down to smile and waggle their fingers at the boys.
Sylvie watched with a grin as Neesa skillfully ordered her ragtag group of troops to complete various tasks. She was in awe of Neesa’s commitment to her business venture.
When they were growing up, Neesa was the one with the green thumb, a nurturer by nature. She was the most content when she was outside with her sleeves rolled up getting her hands dirty. That was far from Sylvie’s favorite thing to do, and she grimaced as she pulled off a glove to inspect her ruined manicure.
“It should be illegal to ask a pregnant woman to do this,” Phae complained nearby. “And everyone knows I can’t garden to save my life.”
Sylvie grinned. For all of Phae’s moaning and groaning, Sylvie knew that there wasn’t anything that Phae wouldn’t do for Neesa. That was how Sylvie felt too. Plus, there was a little bit of guilt mixed in there for both of them. After all, Phae had found her Prince Charming. Sylvie had her babies. Neesa’s whole world was her farm.
Lately, Sylvie wondered if perhaps she had something else to add to her gratitude list. So far, it had been almost two weeks since Heath’s arrival in Zeke’s Bend. They spent an increasing amount of time together, but she was still unsure of what it all meant.
Obviously, she knew that he didn’t have to go back to work given his billions in his bank account, but more and more, friends and relatives had turned up the heat on her. It seemed everyone had questions about her gentleman caller and how long he planned to hang around.
From out of nowhere, rumors had started to fly that Heath was another reclusive billionaire who had somehow found his way to Zeke’s Bend. Sylvie wished she knew where that rumor had started. It probably was the brainchild of the rascally teenage trio of Tonio, Jackson, and Neptune. And now, even some of the adults thought it might be true.
Of course, it actually was true, but they didn’t know that. It irritated Sylvie that they should be so right when they didn’t have the first clue about what was up.
Those who didn’t think Heath might be a secret tycoon thought Heath must be an unemployed bum. They warned Sylvie to be wary of hot men who didn’t have jobs. Fortune hunters, they said. Ha-ha. As if Sylvie had any fortune to hunt.
In all, it was downright tiresome, so Sylvie created a cover story for Heath. She told
everyone that he had a job which allowed him to work remotely. So as long as he had his computer, he would be able to work from anywhere.
When they questioned her about what kind of job, she said he was a writer, doing research in Zeke’s Bend. Everyone wanted to know what kind of research.
Sylvie wanted to throw up her hands. Answering one question only led to five more. She’d never been more put out with everyone.
Heath, on the other hand, was starting to have a bit too much fun with it. He began by hinting that he was doing research on small town police departments. Before the day was out, James offered to let Heath do a ride-along in his squad car the next day.
Heath accepted happily and went out often with James. It was something of a regular deal these days.
Then Heath began claiming that he used to cover the police beat for a Seattle newspaper. And now he was writing up exaggerated stories of his ride-alongs with James to regale Sylvie with each night. They were hilarious, including a cast of the town’s most eccentric citizens. If Heath were going to stay in Zeke’s Bend much longer, Sylvie was going to have to help him find another hobby before he got himself in trouble.
Neesa rang the bell on the front porch to let everyone know it was time for lunch. Sylvie got up and dusted the dirt off her jeans and helped Phae get to her feet as well. She was eager for the break. She saw Momma start to wheel the stroller towards the house, and she and Phae headed in that direction, too.
Heath and Kent left their post, and Heath waved at her with a grin. She waved back and felt that flutter of anxiousness in her stomach. After the night that Will ’n Zilla had interrupted them, Heath hadn’t made any other romantic moves on her. He seemed to be waiting for her to decide what she wanted to do.
She appreciated that, but it was also just making things more confusing. She really just wanted to know if he was for real or not, especially now that she knew he was the twins’ father. She hadn’t found the courage to broach the topic with him yet. She wanted to know how he would react, even though she couldn’t know it until she told him the truth.
So she had been watching him and observing him with the babies, listening to the different cues he gave her about what he wanted out of life. He seemed perfectly content so far. But they hadn’t spent a lot of time together just hanging out with the babies. If anything, he seemed to be avoiding them lately.
