My eyes, which were riveted to the desk, snap to Jen, who is watching me with caution. The house stirs around us, as if waking from its slumber. It tends to remain quiet when I have company, finding tranquility in having guests once more, but the desk wasn’t the only thing that absorbed my blood. The house heard my screams and whimpered pleas. These walls, which protected the generations that came before, stood in helpless horror, unable to help me. I know that left scars carved deep into its foundation.
Jen walks to the desk and, with one fell swoop, sweeps her arm across it, sending the contents scattering across the room. I gasp in surprise.
“That takes care of that. Now sit your cute butt down and let’s go over all this shit. And then when that’s done, we can figure out what to do with this space. This is your fucking kingdom, Calliope, don’t let thoughts of that fool try to tarnish your crown.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I tell her with a small smile, snagging one of the chairs to sit on. I’m not ready to sit in the one my father used, not trusting that an ejector switch hasn’t been added or a metal spike prepared to skewer me.
She takes his seat without blinking and places her briefcase on the desk with a heavy thunk.
Before she can open it, there’s a tap at the door. It opens, Riggs poking his head around, his gaze only on me. “You okay? I heard some banging?”
“I’m good, thanks.”
He looks around the room as if searching for possible threats. He takes in the mess on the floor before looking to me once more. When I give him a nod, he sighs and leaves, pulling the door closed behind him.
“You have him well trained.”
“He’s protective of me, that’s all.” My answer sounds defensive, but I don’t care. I don’t like the way she’s talking about him, even though I know if the shoe were on the other foot, I wouldn’t be any happier.
She pretends to zip her lips and throw away the key like she’s five years old. I bite back a smirk, not wanting to encourage her. In the end, she settles down, and we spend the next hour going over everything. There are some things she wants to negotiate. I want this part to be over so she agrees not to push it. It’s still a good deal at the end of the day.
“Okay, sign here and here, and I’ll get this sent over to the other party, and then things should move quickly after that,” she says, stacking the papers together as I sign the two that need my signature. “Now, the boring part is done. What happens next? Have you thought about what you want to do with this place long-term, with the cattle gone?”
“Not all the cattle,” I remind her. “Right now, it’s still a cattle ranch, just on a far smaller scale until I decide the herd’s future. I want to focus on my business, and for that, I need a bigger space for production.”
“Production?”
I blink and realize Jen doesn’t know anything about the little side business I had before I got locked away. I grin and fill herin on what I used to make and how popular it was, even with people’s dislike for me.
Jen, being the awesome friend and businesswoman she is, runs full steam ahead. “You take care of what you need to do on this end, like how much space you need to keep up with demands, and whether you have a place you can convert or if you need to build something from scratch. I’ll take care of all the marketing and promo shit. You need a website. I’ll get Boy Wonder downstairs on that,” she murmurs to herself as she makes notes.
I grin at her in amusement. “I’m going to need to cultivate the plants and harvest them first, so there is plenty of time.”
“I know, I’m just thinking out loud.” She tosses the pen down and looks at me before her eyes drift around the room. “Shame this room isn’t big enough to convert. I’m sure your father would roll in his grave if he thought his office was being used for making face creams.”
I chuckle, but then think over what she says, an idea forming in my head. I push the thought out, wondering if this will even work. But when the house stirs around me, I dip my head to hide my grin, especially when heat wraps around me as well as a sense of approval.
“Leave me to think about that. So are you looking forward to your mini vaycay with the hubby?”
“Yes and no. Yes, in theory. What’s not to love about lazy mornings, breakfast in bed, and dirty sex?”
“So why only in theory?”
“I know what I’m like. I get bored too easily. I don’t work because I have to. I work because I’d go insane without it. That’s why James doesn’t push me to retire even though he’s retiring himself next year. I don’t want to be one of those women who kill their husbands for blinking too loudly, but that’s what’s likely to happen. We barely made it through the menopause years.Just when I thought we’d survived the worst of it, Covid hit, and we went into lockdown. I love my husband, Calliope, you know I do, but I’ve never felt such a kindredness with my clients before. I understand how women just snap all of a sudden. One minute you’re carving up the Christmas turkey, and the next your husband is on the floor with a carving knife sticking out of his chest.”
I blink and lean forward. “I’m wondering which one of us should have been in jail.”
“Hardy ha ha.”
“I’m seriously considering an intervention. Or having your husband relocated for his safety. Maybe he needs a new identity too, something you’d never figure out like Legolas Mcstuffing.”
“I’m not sure that name would help him blend in.”
“James is a six-foot-four ebony god of a man. That man was born to stand out.”
She grins. “He’s a catch, I’ll give him that. And the things he can do with his tongue would make a nun weep.”
“And we’re done here.” I stand up, ignoring her cackling as I open the door and head out. She follows me downstairs, where David and Riggs are in the kitchen talking.
