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She turned a pleading eye to the mayor to restore order to the meeting. He got to his feet and joined her at the podium. With a few bangs of his gavel, a hush fell over the crowd. Alexis thanked them for their time and wished them well with whatever they decided to do.
The mayor turned to her. “And you trust your contact?”
She nodded. “I do. I’ve worked with him before and he’s very reliable. He’s a high ranking executive who has the authority to make this all possible.”
“Thank you.” The mayor gave her a firm handshake. “You’ve certainly given us a lot to consider. And we appreciate you taking the time to come here and present it to us.” He turned back to the audience. “Let’s show Ms. Greer our appreciation.”
The mayor clapped solo. Then Mrs. Sanchez got to her feet and joined him. Then a few more people got to their feet to clap. And then the volume swelled, and Alexis smiled. She was certainly going to miss this place—and one special cowboy in particular.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Alexis yawned for the umpteenth time the next morning.
Not even a coffee from the Poppin’ Fresh Bakery was working its magic. She sat down on the edge of her bed and took another mouthful of the steamy brew. Between the stress of the town meeting, Cord walking out in the middle of her presentation, and the long string of questions by curious residents over coffee at Tilley’s Café until late the night before, she hadn’t slept much.
Her hand moved to the nightstand and grabbed her phone. No missed calls. No message from Cord. She was certain that he was upset about the meeting. But with the bank breathing down his neck to foreclose on his home, surely he’d come to his senses by now. No man would stand on principle or pride and let his home go into foreclosure, would he?
When she’d spoken with her father last night to update him on how the town meeting had gone, he’d asked if her heart was truly in seeing this deal through to the end—no matter how it ended. She’d remained quiet. She’d already deceived her father enough to last a lifetime, but she couldn’t explain to him how Cord wanted her to move permanently to Whistle Stop. Or worse, that she was tempted by the idea.
Her father said they were out of time. She knew what that meant. And she knew what had to be done for all of their sakes.
She finished her coffee but still didn’t feel up to taking a morning run. Instead, she headed for the shower. It did little to perk her up. The thought of what she was about to do left a sour taste in her mouth. She’d finished dressing and started applying her makeup when the phone chimed with the familiar classical tune. What did her father want this time? Hadn’t they covered everything last night?
“Morning, Father. What’s up?”
“I want to make sure you haven’t changed your mind.”
She stood on the cold tiles of the bathroom floor, staring at the dark circles under her eyes. Even concealer couldn’t help her this morning. “I haven’t changed my mind. I know what must be done. I’m getting ready to drive to the Brazen H right now.”
She held the phone with one hand while she dabbed the round powder puff at the compact. Her father continued to rehash what they’d discussed the prior evening. Like she needed to hear it all again. It’d been all she’d thought about last night.
“I know, Father. I’ll spell everything out for Cord. He’ll see it’s the only answer.”
“He won’t have a choice. You should have done this a long time ago and saved time.”
“I thought I could reason with him. But cowboys, they’re a different breed.”
She ran the powder puff over her chin. The thought of tightening the screws on Cord made the coffee in her stomach slosh to and fro nauseatingly. He didn’t deserve what was about to happen. He was a good, honest rancher who only wanted to save his family’s land and live in peace.
She stabbed at the compact too hard, and it went sliding right off the edge of the counter. It clattered to the tile floor.
“I’ve got to go, Father.”
She disconnected the phone and bent over. Some of the pressed powder had scattered, but it wasn’t the bits of powder dotting the tiles that bothered her. She picked up the compact and held it in front of her. She stared into the cracked mirror. This was not a good omen. Mrs. Baker would insist Alexis was in for seven years of bad luck. Alexis wasn’t so sure the stretch of bad luck would last that long, but she knew as sure as she was standing there that a bit of bad luck was due in the next seven hours.
She tried to tell herself she was being silly. She wanted to dismiss the superstition as a fun little saying, but she couldn’t shake the black cloud dogging her steps. She wouldn’t let it stop her. Today she had to do what she ultimately thought was best for Cord in the long term—even if it was painful in the short term.
With one last ace up her sleeve, she grabbed the phone. Her only hope was being able to secure that ghost town in Arizona. She selected the number for the Realtor pursuing the Arizona property. As the phone rang, she crossed her fingers for luck—if she’d ever needed some luck, it was now.
“Hello, Mr. Santos. It’s Alexis Greer.” She cut to the chase. “Have you been in contact with the owners of the Arizona property?”
The Realtor cleared his throat and paused, as though uncomfortable with delivering the news. “I thought your father would have told you. The Arizona property is now available, but it’s more than you’re willing to spend. And the sellers won’t negotiate on the price.”
She ignored the fact that her father had insinuated himself into this situation. She had bigger worries at the moment. “If they’re stalling in hopes to get me to raise the offer, it won’t work. I don’t have time to play games. Did you tell them this is our best and final offer?”
“Yes.”
“But they’re asking far too much for that property.” She muttered under her breath. “What about the 200 acres Cord has up for sale? Has anyone else shown an interest in it?”
