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Kaia chuckles. "But then you saved her life, so you must think she has some redeeming qualities."
That reminds me of my bag of goodies and I reach in and pull out the last one, the one I'm most unsure of: a cherry croissant. "She's not a terrible baker." I take a bite.
"We should think about asking her if she can cater our meetings."
"I'm sure she'd love that." Despite my best efforts, my sarcasm slips out. I was distracted by the surprisingly tasty croissant. Does Dani bake anything badly?
Kaia glances at me, something unfamiliar dancing in her eyes. "You think she's overly mercenary? A person has to be when they're broke."
"What makes you think she's broke?"
Kaia shrugs. "First, she's working for your brother when she's clearly talented enough to work at a real bakery anywhere in the country."
"She's got to stay in town and live with her sisters for a year to earn her inheritance. I don't think she has many job options."
"Interesting. But there's more evidence. Her hair desperately needs conditioning. Did you see how tightly she'd pulled it up into that bun on top of her head?"
"Maybe she was running late this morning."
"Maybe. But her nails are chewed down almost to the quick and she looks too thin for her frame. I know hungry and poor. I've been there."
"You're just making excuses for her, so I'll forgive her not paying the camping fee." It doesn't matter if that's what she's doing, because I'm already worrying about Dani. Is she not getting enough to eat? "How could you possibly have noticed all that?"
"If she's taking my place as your soul mate, I want to know everything I can about her."
I snort.
Kaia stops and faces me. "I'm serious, Grant. I care about you. I want you to be happy. And knowing you've moved on with a good woman will go a long way toward easing my guilt."
"I'm not moving on with Dani Weston. And she's living in an enormous house with three of her sisters. I'm sure she's not on the verge of starvation."
"I could be totally wrong. Just don't judge her too harshly until you get to know her better. I like her."
With that, she releases my arm and I follow her into the hotel for what is sure to be a deadly boring meeting.
Lenore Cooper, one of my mother's oldest friends, is behind the desk and she waves at us as we pass through the lobby. She doesn't seem surprised to see Kaia.
In the conference room, the suits are already seated, but Edward gets to his feet, red faced, as soon as we walk in. "I want you to fix this, Holiday."
"Fix what?" I take my seat next to Kaia, wishing to be anywhere else.
"We're supposed to be breaking ground on the site today, but someone vandalized two of our back hoes and our bulldozer. I want you to find them and have them arrested. We are going to sue them into oblivion."
"You have cameras up there, right?" It's common practice for a corporation to install security cameras on a site before they start work, because of past experiences with hostile locals.
"We got him on tape," a suit whose name I can't remember says wearily. "Problem is, he's dressed up like Bigfoot."
CHAPTER TEN
Dani
Iwalk into the house and let out a sigh of relief to find the living room silent and unoccupied. After a day of interacting with the public, I crave silence. As a baker, I always prefer to be in the kitchen than dealing with customers. I'm not cut out for non-stop human interaction.
In my arms, Skidmark twists and grunts in his sleep.
It's still hours from sunset, so I set the sleepy Skidmark in his crate on the living room floor and lock the little door. I don't want him getting out and hurting himself by trying to get around without the help of the little wheelchair Clover bought him.
She and Brittany have helped me out by paying for most of Skidmark's things and I'm grateful, but also embarrassed down to my bones that they had to pay for this stuff when I couldn't.
