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Cord cleared his throat, breaking the spell. Realizing he was talking about something totally different, she swallowed hard. “What?”
“Turn around.”
With him still holding her arm, she pivoted around and saw some rotted wood planks covering a big hole in the ground.
He released her. “The mine preceded the town, so make sure to keep your head down and stay alert for cave-ins. In an old mining town, you never walk backward, or you might end up falling down a mine shaft.”
She worried her bottom lip as she looked upon Haggerty with a renewed respect for the dangers lurking in the shadows. Her investors and insurance company wouldn’t be happy about this discovery. Still, HSG had overcome bigger obstacles. Her father’s motto was, If there’s a will, there’s a way. She’d definitely find a way to make this work.
Alexis continued looking around until she found herself standing once again outside the mine entrance. If it weren’t so dangerous, she’d love to sneak a peek inside the mine shaft. Her father had always teased that she was a daredevil, but climbing into a hole beneath the earth’s surface with untold hazards was just plain stupid. Not to mention the thought of running into more snakes or bats. The thought had her quickly retreating.
“Tour’s over,” Cord called over his shoulder as he headed for the vehicles. “I’ve got work to do, and we have that stop to make at the sheriff’s office.”
She pursed her lips as her gaze strayed to his very fine backside. She grew frustrated with herself for noticing his finer assets when he was once again threatening to make trouble for her. He was just trying to get her worked up. He wanted a little fun at her expense. Except it wasn’t going to work this time.
“We both know you aren’t serious.”
“Sure am. I don’t want you getting any other foolish ideas about coming out here alone. Anything could happen to you, and no one would know.”
She had to take twice as many steps to keep up with his long strides. “And if I promise not to come back alone, can’t you promise to drop the trespassing thing once and for all?”
“Why should I? You’ve wasted a large chunk of my day already.”
“You’re really enjoying dangling the sheriff thing over my head, aren’t you?”
He flashed a small grin. “Something like that. I’ll make up my mind when we get back to town.”
“Of course you will.”
He grabbed a couple of bottles of water from his truck and tossed her one. “Here.”
He was right. She was letting him get her riled up over nothing. He wasn’t going to press charges. Thank goodness. She could just imagine the headline: HSG President Arrested For Trespassing. New York City could be a very small place at times—almost as small as Whistle Stop.
She twisted the top off the bottle and took a long swallow. Time to change subjects. “I love this place,” she mused. “I can now see the appeal of being a landowner. And having all of this to explore.”
“You don’t own any land?”
She shook her head. “Just a condo in New York. Although I’m home so little since my father had his latest heart attack that I barely remember my own address.”
The concern reflected in Cord’s eyes made her realize her slip of the tongue. She wanted to kick herself for not being more careful around him. Cord made it easy for her to let down her guard and be herself. Still, she and her father had agreed to keep his health condition under wraps for business reasons.
“Sorry to hear about your father. Will he be okay?”
She nodded. With the proverbial beans spilled, she didn’t have anything to lose by confiding in him. She’d longed to talk to someone about her concerns. Back in New York she had a couple of girlfriends from college with whom she still kept in contact, but she rarely confided in them. She’d learned at an early age that most things were better kept to yourself or they’d come back and bite you. But she got the distinct feeling that her secret would be safe with Cord. And he appeared to be a good listener, as long as she avoided the subject of buying Haggerty.
“During my father’s last attack, his heart was damaged. The doctors have warned that he can no longer work the long hours his job demands. Nor can he deal with the stress. The thing is, I can’t convince him it’s time to retire.”
Cord’s eyes filled with understanding. “Is that why this deal is so important to you? Because it’s important to your father?”
“Yes. He raised me as a single parent, but that didn’t stop him from working morning till night. As far back as I can remember, I did my homework at the table in his conference room. In fact, I swear I spent more time at HSG than I did at our town house. His administrative assistant became a surrogate aunt to me.”
“Doesn’t sound like an easy childhood.”
“My father did his best,” she said defensively. “For the longest time, I believed he put in all of those long hours and avoided a personal life because he was a workaholic.”
“I take it with you being on the other side of the desk that you’re seeing things differently.”
She nodded. “This job will swallow you whole if you aren’t careful.”
