Page 14 of Blue Jean Summer

Mason closed the study doors to keep our colluding away from curious ears, but I didn’t speak until I heard a door slam as Lewis sulked in the room he occupied whenever he came to the estate.

“I’ve gotta go home to Bethesda for a few days, and then I’ll be back,” I said as I debated whether to wrap the sandwich Hallie had made me or take it on the plate and bring the plate back.

“With a wife?” Hallie asked under her breath with a hint of sarcasm.

“With a plan,” I countered softly. “I work remotely most of the time. I’ll just move my home base here so I can keep an eye on things. I’ll get a hotel in DC when I have to.”

“And then?” Mason prodded.

I stood and braced my hands on the desk as I stared at the will. “And then I’m going to ask Catherine to marry me.”

Hallie laughed quietly in disbelief. “And you just assume she’s going to say yes?”

I looked up, glancing between Hallie and Mason. “Money talks. And I’m very good at making it say what I need it to say.”

Chapter 5

Catherine

I had been summoned.

Not a jury summons. That would have been much more pleasant. I loved jury duty. Getting to sit in a courthouse and listen to someone’s personal drama? Count me in.

No. I had been summoned to the Wilder Estate. I would have been excited about it had the invitation come from Hallie through a text the way it usually did. But this one had come from the Estate with a capital E, which was just…unnerving.

Sure, I could strut around on stage in a bikini, but being asked to “enjoy lunch” at the estate was a different beast entirely.

My car bumped and bobbed as I turned off the main road and rolled through the gilded gates. Pristine white fences lined the lane, snaking up and down rolling hills. The sky was a crisp blue with fluffy white clouds floating over the mountains. The gentle rise and fall of the earth dipped even lower, leveling into flat plains that had been partitioned off.

Show jumpers practiced with different obstacles and fences. The outdoor arena had barrels set up today as a rider practiced tight turns in a cloverleaf pattern.

Mason was outside on a tractor, grading down the racetrack with new dirt and sand. Levi’s truck was parked outside the stables. The logo of his farrier business glinted in the noon sun. No doubt, he had a packed day doing hoof care for all the horses that trained at the estate.

With the exception of the new gravestone in the rose garden, it was almost like Walt’s funeral had never happened.

Life moved on much faster than it was supposed to.

I passed the equine facilities and crested a hill as the estate house came into view. A fancy little car I didn’t recognize was parked in the circular drive, right in front of the steps that led to the front door.

Maybe it was Hayes’s?

As I passed the house, I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Lewis sliding into it.

At least he’s leaving.

I circled the house and parked around back beside Hallie’s car and a monstrous SUV that sported Maryland tags.

That must be Hayes’s. I could picture him easing out from behind the wheel with those big money shades hiding his ever-assessing gaze.

I grabbed the iced coffee from the cup holder and the black-and-white cow-print treat bag I had tossed into the passenger seat, then hopped out and headed for the kitchen door.

Sure, I had received a formal invitation to have lunch at the estate, but using the front door would have just been weird. Only guests did that.

I slipped inside and found Hallie in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on magazine-worthy salads.

She looked over her shoulder at the sound of the door. “Shit. Is it noon already?”

“Nope,” I said as I closed the door with the toe of my high heel. “I’m early, and I come bearing gifts.”