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“Three more weeks?”
“Yes.” It wasn’t much time, but I’d make it work. “Remember I told you my dad was from this area? I also met my family.”
“Oh, yeah?” Wilson summoned a hint of interest. “Are they like your dad?”
“No.” I couldn’t speak for all of them, but if they’d been like Dad, Delaney would’ve had more stories to tell. “There’s generations of oil money up here. One uncle is the CEO of the refinery, and my dad’s other two siblings run big successful farms and ranches.”
“Yeah? The pauper’s actually a prince?”
I bristled at his description. I was no longer poor, but Wilson often reminded me of it. I’d been the kid with long hair and old clothes in class he borrowed notes from when he’d partied too late the night before. “No. None of it belongs to me.”
“Well, I’ll pass on the information to Father. I’m sure he’ll be interested.”
Interested that I was trying to save my marriage? Or interested that my family had money? I hated that I thought Mr. Truitt would nurture one relationship over the other.
As soon as I hung up, my good mood from earlier pushed out the lasting irritation from the call. The podcast filtered through the earbuds, and I finished the mowing.
I rolled to a stop when I spotted Delaney’s old Chevy kicking up dust. I killed the engine and hopped out. She lumbered to a stop. “Something wrong?”
“No, I just finished and was heading back. Where are you going?” The sleeveless shirt was gone, replaced by a frilly tank top, and her long platinum hair was brushed out.
Her lips pursed. “The insurance office.”
“Want company?” I’d get to see more of Coal Haven, and maybe she would think that being seen together in broad daylight was a better way of introducing me to the town.
“Not for this. You don’t want to witness this.”
I propped one hand on the door and the other on my hip. “Now I’m intrigued.”
“Don’t be. Just an asshole from high school who thinks he can jerk me around as an adult.”
“Moving to another agency?”
She pushed up her sunglasses and glowered out the windshield. “I wish. No, our agent is dragging his feet. It’s a drought year. I know there’re claims we can make and programs we qualify for, but he’s always ‘looking into it.’ I’m going to tell him what I think of that.”
I didn’t want her to have to deal with assholes, but I also didn’t want her premiums to climb high if their family business was already struggling. “You have an appointment?”
She nodded, anger flashing behind her dark lenses.
So this guy couldn’t run her out of the office with a no-appointment excuse. Her quick description of her agent told me enough about the guy. I’d grown up seeing people like him treat my dad like crap. And the stories my clients would tell. Delaney could handle it, but I might be able to get her what she wanted without burning a bridge she hadn’t made an alternate route for. “Care to let me give it a shot?”
“You want to tell off a guy you’ve never met because I said he’s an asshole?”
“I negotiate for a livin’, honey,” I drawled. “And I have to do it in a way that they want to work with me again.”
She tapped her unpolished fingernails against the steering wheel. “How am I going to introduce you?”
By telling people I was her fucking husband. “With the truth. I’m staying for another three weeks.”
“Threeweeks?”
I grinned at her shock. Maybe I should’ve talked to her first, but I couldn’t help myself. I wasn’t ready to leave, so I’d gambled that she wasn’t ready for it either. “I said I wanted to work on this, and I’m here. It’s going to get out, Delaney. I’ve been here for a few days. I think I saw Uncle Bruce, and he’s going to be wondering why the hell the nephew he’s never met—the one who his brother told him was in town—is working for the Grangers. People in town are going to keep seeing me. Let’s use the surprise to our advantage.”
She mulled it over, mouthingthree weeks. “I feel like I should have some pride and tell you about how I don’t need to be rescued by a man, but I’d really love to see Chad get talked into circles like he’s been doing to me and Ma.” She jutted her chin toward the tractor. “Leave it. We’ll get it later.”
I wasn’t used to abandoning equipment, but I hadn’t seen more than two vehicles in the hours I’d been working. One had probably been my uncle Bruce since he’d stared so hard I thought he’d climb out of the window. The other had been Cheryl, and she had ignored me.
I hopped in, and Delaney took off for town. I tried to keep from grinning the whole drive. She hadn’t argued about me staying.
