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It seemed to work. Jane took a deep breath and her voice lowered considerably. “The man on the other end said ‘the committee is open to the reclassification of highway nineteen.’ Do you know what that means?”
“Reclassification?” Lori frowned. “No.”
“Well, Mr. Bliss said if it happened, it would probably happen in December, and they’d have to move before then or too many people would know. He specifically said, ‘Every Tom, Dick and Harry will have their finger in the pie.’”
“The pie?” This didn’t give her any more info at all. “Did they say anything more about this reclassification?”
“No, that was it. I’m sorry. I was hoping it would mean something to you.”
Lori threw her good arm over her eyes. “I don’t think it does. But it’s a good starting point. Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome. I hope it helps with…whatever it is you’re doing.”
Despite her pain, Lori managed a smile. “I promise to fill you in as soon as I figure it all out. Deal?”
“Deal.”
She hung up and took a deep breath against the pain.
Okay. Things were urgent now. She couldn’t screw around any longer.
Lori had never thought of her debt as a mountain, the way they showed it in those debt-relief commercials. Mountains were majestic and gorgeous. Deadly, yes, but chilling in their beauty. No, her debt was a mine shaft sinking her deeper and deeper beneath the rocky spine of the world. Every day that passed, the interest dripped, wearing away the stone like water. Every week brought new explosions that dropped her another hundred feet. And the gravity was so heavy down here, pressing her into something small and hard. She just couldn’t handle it anymore.
Despite that the pain meds hadn’t quite kicked in, Lori forced herself from bed. She ran a bath because she couldn’t get her cast wet, but she didn’t spend any time soaking. Instead she simply washed up, pulled on her capripants and a tank top and headed out.
The sight of Quinn asleep on her couch stopped her dead in her tracks. Somehow she’d lost track of that confrontation during the night, and she’d lost her will to fight him, as well. Perhaps because he looked vulnerable and sweet with his feet hanging off the end of the sofa and his arm stretched wide toward the coffee table. He just looked like Quinn, and not some threat to her heart.
He must have been up half the night if he was still sleeping so hard, so Lori tiptoed past to grab her keys and get out. She might not know anything about a reclassification of the highway, but she now had just enough information to find out. And not a moment too soon. Whether or not Ben solved the mystery of what had happened to her dad, she had to sell that land. There was no longer any choice. Any sentimentality she’d had left had drowned in that pool of oil in her garage.
The drive to Aspen struck her as particularly beautiful today. Maybe because the painkillers had kicked in, maybe because she’d spent too many hours in bed. Regardless, she felt strangely peaceful as she pulled up to the three-story office building and let herself in. There was no security guard or receptionist, just a board listing the names of the occupants. Lori found the one she wanted and headed for the second floor.
When she opened the door to Chris Tipton’s office, her peace burned away in the furnace blast of shock. Un-fucking-believable.
“Yes?” the skinny blonde asked in a dismissive tone.
Tessa,Lori thought.Tessa Smith,otherwise known as Dream-Whore Barbie. The woman raised perfectly waxed eyebrows as Lori continued to stare.
“Uh, sorry,” Lori stammered, then shook it off. Tessa Smith and her very round breasts had nothing to do with her today. “I need to see Chris Tipton, please.”
“ChristopherTipton isn’t available at the moment, but I’d be happy to deliver a message.”
Christopher,she scoffed inside her head, but only offered a polite smile. “Is Christopher in? I’m certain he’d be interested in talking with me if he is.”
Her eyebrows rose even higher, her shiny mouth turned down. “Mr. Tipton is in a meeting.”
“Just pull him out and tell him Lori Love wants to talk, all right? It’s important.” If she’d been hoping to see a flash of jealous horror on the woman’s face, she’d hoped in vain. Of course Tessa Smith had never heard of Lori. Mechanics didn’t often make it to the society page, and Tessa didn’t look like the type to read theTumble Creek Tribune.
Tessa didn’t even seem particularly put out by the request. “Well, give me a minute then. I’ll see what he says.” When she stood, she towered over Lori. The heels she was wearing pushed her nearly to six feet. Were they all that tall?
Whatever jealousy Lori might have been feeling turned into something more like pain. This was Aspen, where even receptionists looked like models. Where women still wore mink coats and men owned private jets. Quinn fit in here. He was an artist commissioned by royalty. But this was no place for her, even if she could get up the courage to fall for Quinn.
Tessa Smith reappeared from the hallway she’d stepped into, a welcoming smile pasted on her face. “Mr. Tipton will be out in just a moment. Please have a seat.”
But before Lori even had a chance to look around for a chair, Chris came striding around the corner. “Lori Love!” he called.
“Chris,” she answered, just to let him know that he might be wearing an expensive suit and calling himself “Christopher,” but she remembered that he used to French-kiss his own fist in sixth grade. When he pulled her into a hug, she remembered the time he’d kissedherin seventh grade. He hadn’t worn such nice cologne back then.
“Come on into my office. Tessa, would you bring in some mineral water for Ms. Love?”
