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“You remember I mentioned Tova?” She wasn’t my dirty secret, but the mind-fuck of telling my father-in-law about the woman I was sleeping with wasn’t avoidable. “They’ve been working for weeks on an end-of-season performance. It’s Friday night at the old theater in town.”
“Like a dance recital? Grayson talked about learning steps, but I didn’t know they were having a program.”
“They’re working hard on it, and they’re pretty excited.”
“We can change our departure date to Saturday. That’s no problem. Lauri and I would love to see their performance.”
I bit my tongue. I didn’t want the kids to leave Saturday. The only hard date I had was July 31, which landed in the middle of the week. My rental agreement was up then, and we’d have to move. But I’d unintentionally kept the date they’d land in Helena foggy.
Or had it been intentional?
“They’d love to have you.” I counted down in my mind.
Two weeks.
Two goddamn weeks, and I was back to being alone. I wouldn’t have my kids, and I wouldn’t have the woman I wanted to spend my life getting to know.
I was in bad shape.
“You have an extra room we can stay in?”
Motherfucker. I wandered around the pickup, a hand on my hip, glaring at any unfortunate vehicle in my sight. “Yes,” I gritted out, trying to sound inviting and failing. “We’d love to have you stay with us.” I’d have to behave myself. I couldn’t let them see I was into Tova. Their reaction would be another problem to deal with, and I had enough.
“All right,” Curtis said, matter-of-factly as ever. “Well, we’ll see you then.”
Two more weeks.
Goddammit.
I stuffed my phone back in my suit coat pocket and swiped at the beaded sweat on my neck. A mosquito buzzed around my face, and I caught it in my fist and flicked it away.
I had to get it together. The conflict inside me about the changes coming up wasn’t my visitor’s problem, and since he could solve some issues for me, I needed to make sure his tour was enjoyable and that he was impressed with Knight’s Oil Wells.
My time ran out. Weston strode out of the airport, looking exactly like his picture on the King Oil website. I expected an entourage, but no one followed him. He carried nothing but a black computer bag slung over his shoulder. I’d never met the guy in person, but despite being dressed similarly to me only in a darker shade of gray, I could almost picture him swaggering across a fighting ring.
As he approached, the ridge on his nose became more apparent. The characteristic had to be what gave him a thuggish first impression. I didn’t know his age, but he was older than me, though by how much was hard to say. He had a little more gray at the temples than I did. His swagger was both casual and powerful, but the smile he aimed my way showed me the real reason why he dominated the boardroom.
“Alcott Knight, we finally meet.” He swung a hand out for a punishing handshake. My grip was firm enough not to get crushed. I didn’t have anything to prove. If Barns were still alive, he’d probably stand here for five minutes in a silent war over who had a stronger grip.
“Glad you could make it, Mr. Duke.”
“I was serious when I said Weston was fine.”
“In that case, call me Cody.” I didn’t care what he called me, but the familiarity might help persuade him to work with our company.
He cocked his head. “From Alcott to Cody, huh?”
“My mama named me and my brothers and sister after classic female authors. I got Louisa May Alcott, but my hometown isn’t a place for formality.”
He chuckled, the crinkles in the corners of his eyes fanning out. He loaded himself into the passenger seat, setting his bag at his feet. “Thanks for the ride. Mind if we head to the refinery first? I don’t want to miss anyone if we get back too late.” He grinned. “Can’t waste the whole day working.”
“No problem.” I mentally tossed the itinerary out of my head and turned out of the lot and onto the highway that’d take us out of town.
We passed through Coal Haven, and he pointed out the turn to get to where he used to live with his family. A few nostalgic comments from him followed about the changes, and then we were on the way out of town.
The refinery was only a few miles from Coal Haven, between Lake Sakakawea and the railroad.
“What brought you here for the summer?” he asked.
