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She pulled her shoulders back and gave her reflection a nod of approval before heading for the door. The brilliant sunshine blinded her at the exact moment a light bulb went on in her mind. She shielded her eyes with her hand, gaining clarity on her surroundings. In that moment, a plan formed in her mind—a way to sweeten Cord’s sour disposition. Chocolate. After all, she owed him some. He surely wouldn’t turn away her peace offering.
The Hitchin’ Post was only a few blocks down from her motel. In fact, with a limited number of stores, shopping in Whistle Stop could easily be accomplished on foot. However, when the resort was built, the town would flourish with supermarkets, department stores and a business district. The thought of being responsible for recharging the town’s economy put the pep back in her step.
But as she stood in the motel’s parking lot and looked around, she noted the simplistic charm of Whistle Stop, which would be lost as it modernized. She could only hope some things about the town didn’t change. She liked the friendly smiles and greetings of the citizens and their quaint shops. It gave the place an old-time flavor—an irreplaceable quality.
There had to be a way to balance the revitalization the resort would bring with the down-home ambience. And best of all, the resort would give families the ability to find work without having to move away from home. Not to mention money to fix up the town square. Now to convince Cord that this deal would be a win for everyone—him included.
“Alexis!”
She immediately recognized Mrs. Sanchez’s voice calling from behind her. Would it be so wrong to pretend she hadn’t heard her? The woman ran the motel’s front desk and was nice enough, but she could certainly be long-winded.
“Alexis, wait!”
The manners her father instilled in Alexis as a young child insisted that she turn around. “Good morning, Mrs. Sanchez. Beautiful morning, huh?”
The woman hustled over to her. “Oh. Yes, it is. Just beautiful.” She pressed a hand to her chest as though she were out of breath. “I’m so glad I caught up with you.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Uh, no. Nothing’s wrong. I just thought you might need some directions. We don’t want you getting lost.”
“Thanks, but I’m good.”
Mrs. Sanchez stood before her in a bright green cotton dress with bright yellow flowers dotting it. “Rushing off to the Brazen H?”
Alexis froze. How in the world did she know that? Alexis was certain she hadn’t told this woman any of her business, having gotten the feeling from the start that Mrs. Sanchez was “too” interested in her. So where did the woman gather her information?
“Don’t look surprised,” Mrs. Sanchez said. “Whistle Stop is just a bitty town. Not much happens around here that people don’t know about.”
Alexis swallowed hard, gripped her car keys and took a step toward her vehicle. “I really do need to go.”
“That’s why I’m here. You should know…” The woman paused, looking perplexed. “Oh, never mind. It’s really none of my business.”
Alexis was tempted to let the conversation end there and get on her way, but curiosity gnawed at her. The woman seemed to be a fount of information. What was Mrs. Sanchez dying to tell her?
“If I should know something, I’d appreciate if you’d tell me.”
Mrs. Sanchez’s gaze met hers. “Well, if you insist.”
The woman was simply amazing with how she could twist a situation, but something told Alexis that she didn’t mean any harm. In fact, if Alexis were to hazard a guess, she’d say the woman was lonely. One lonely person could easily spot another. Wait, was she lonely?
No, she was much too busy to be lonely. But ever since Steven had played on her emotions to get ahead at HSG before taking a job on the West Coast without even consulting her—his fiancée, the woman who was supposed to be part of his future—she’d kept to herself more than normal. She didn’t exactly trust herself any longer when it came to judging the character of a person. If Mrs. Sanchez had something to say about Cord, Alexis wanted to hear it.
“Please tell me.” Alexis implored the woman with her eyes.
“Well…with you being new to town, you should know that it’d be in your best interests to stay clear of the Brazen H. Cord likes to keep to himself…and it’s for the best.”
Well, talk about your cryptic messages. Curiosity ate at her to know more. After all, if she had to do business with this man, she needed to know more about him.
“Why is that?”
Mrs. Sanchez shook her head and waved her hand in an innocent way. “I’m not a gossiper. I probably already said more than I should have, but someone needed to warn you to keep your distance from that one. He has a temper. No matter how good-looking he is, he’s nothing but trouble.”
The woman’s warning echoed in Alexis’s mind as she stopped briefly at the Hitchin’ Post on her way out of town. Was Mrs. Sanchez right? Somehow, the woman’s description of Cord didn’t fit with what she’d witnessed of him. She continued mulling it over as she maneuvered her rental vehicle along the two-lane highway. Soon, the telephone poles and the occasional gravel driveways were the only evidence of development. The farther she drove, the greater the distance between any signs of civilization and the closer she came to facing down the cowboy—the man who could make her life easy or hard. She got the distinct impression he never did things the easy way.
But could Cord spell trouble for her? She hadn’t witnessed any hint of a mean streak in him. Sure, he could
be stubborn, but he could also be kind. She recalled the way his hand had wrapped around hers. His gentle touch had soothed her raw nerves as she got to know Midnight Star. A man with the ability to put both human and animal at ease was not a troublesome person—more like misunderstood. Obviously, Mrs. Sanchez had latched on to some bad information.
