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“Hard for a single woman to handle a boy that age.”
“Like I said, she seems to be doin’ fine.” Chase finished his beer and straightened. “She also told me that she was ready to sell off a parcel to you once, but you reneged.”
“Wasn’t enough land.”
“But you’d agreed to it,” Chase pointed out.
“Changed my mind,” Caleb said defensively. “Just like I intend to change hers.”
“By any means possible?”
“Within the law, boy,” Caleb said. “Any means within the law.” He eyed the empty brown bottle in Chase’s hand. “Now, how about you comin’ into the study and we’ll have ourselves a real drink while you tell me how Grizzly Creek is comin’ along? I plan to start building just as soon as all of the permits are approved and I want that creek stocked and proved viable by the time the brochures go into print next summer.”
“I said I’d be done within the month.”
Caleb slapped him on the shoulder. “I know, I know. But I want to be sure that the trout survive and spawn, y’see. And we’re not done until Dani Summers comes around. You’ll have to work on her side of the fence as well.”
“It won’t happen,” Chase said.
“Sure it will. It just takes a little time.” Caleb had begun walking to the house. He was a big, lumbering figure who strode with the authority of one who knew that his commands would be obeyed without question.
Chase gritted his teeth and followed, remembering the information he’d found in Caleb’s study. He hesitated but then took off after the old man. For the time being, at least, he’d have to listen to all of Caleb’s demands and pretend to follow them to a T. But just until he found out what made Caleb Johnson and Dani Summers tick.
* * *
Dani shoved the pickup into gear and waved at Cody, but he didn’t even notice. He and Shane were already playing catch with a basketball as they walked to the park to meet a few other friends for an impromptu game.
“You’ll roast in this heat,” Dani had warned, but Cody had smiled and waved off her fears.
“Better than playing in the snow and ice,” he’d said, laughing as he’d tossed the ball to Shane.
“Okay. I’ll pick you up in the morning,” she’d said, but Shane’s mother had insisted that she would bring Cody home the following day.
“So it looks like it’s just me and you, right?” Dani scratched Runt behind his ears as she drove away from the Donahue’s house.
Runt whined and stuck his head out the window.
“Benedict Arnold,” Dani said with a laugh as she scratched the dog’s back and drove through town to pick up groceries and supplies.
Once the pickup was loaded, she drove out of town, intending to return home. But at the corner of her property she hesitated, and rather than turning toward her house, she stopped and let Runt out. Once the dog had run up the lane, she drove north to the next tree-lined road, the long gravel drive leading to Caleb Johnson’s farm house. She had business to settle with Johnson and there was no time like the present to take care of it.
Her heart hammering nervously in her chest, she drove through the stately oaks and pines and parked her pickup between the barn and the house. With more determination than courage, she hopped out of the cab and strode around the house to pound on the front door.
Within minutes the door swung inward and Jenna Peterson, Caleb’s cook and housekeeper, was standing in the expansive entry. She smiled at the sight of Dani.
“Dani! This is a surprise.”
“Hi, Jenna,” Dani greeted, trying to calm herself and be polite. “How’ve you been?”
“Can’t complain. And yourself ?”
“Good,” Dani said automatically.
“And that boy of yours,” Jenna said, stepping away from the door. “He’s growin’ like a weed. The spittin’ image of his dad.”
“You’ve seen Cody?”
“School pictures, last year. My youngest grandson is in the same class. Come in, come in. Can I get you something? Iced tea?”
