For Love of Charley (7 page)

“All I want is for you to listen, Uncle
Vic.”

“That I can do,” he said, smiling. “As a
matter of fact, I think I’ll have a chat with the boy before the meeting
starts. Why don’t you find a seat before the place fills up?”

Charley found several empty chairs on the
second row and chose one that would give her an unimpeded view of the front of
the room. Twisting a little on her seat, she watched her uncle approach Cole.

“Channing. Douglas.” Cole gave a curt nod
as the men stopped in front of him. He saw Channing’s gray eyes sweep over him
assessingly.

“Jordan. Didn’t expect to see you around
these parts again.”

Cole gave him a sarcastic grin. “Well, you
know what they say about bad pennies.” Most of the crowd had wandered into the
main meeting room, leaving them relatively alone in the entry. Over Channing’s
shoulder, Cole saw Charley watching.

“I know what they say about cats, too. Just
because they’re born in an oven doesn’t make them biscuits.” Channing’s face
never changed expression, but his voice dropped. “Looks like you’re doing good
these days, Jordan. I hear you own half my niece’s business. Not much I can do
about that now, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up too high about the rest of these
plans you’ve come up with. This town doesn’t need your money. And if you’ve got
any ideas about my niece, you can forget those, too. You weren’t good enough
for Charley ten years ago, and you still aren’t. Trash is always trash, even if
you dress it up in expensive clothes.”

Anger washed over Cole in a heated wave
even though he’d been braced for something just like this. But he hadn’t gotten
rich by letting his emotions get away from him. The smile remained. “I think
you’ve forgotten one important thing, Channing. I’m not twenty-one anymore, and
I don’t threaten easily. Why don’t you do both of us a favor and save it for
the meeting? There may even be a few people who actually care what you have to
say.” He stepped around Channing and walked to the front of the room, taking a
seat on the first row near the projector, on the other side of the room from
Charley. Most of the crowd had started to settle, and he glanced at his watch
just as Kristy rushed in and plopped into the seat beside him.

“Sorry. Am I late? They had problems with
the copy machine, but I finally got them.” She deposited several boxes on the
floor in front of them.

“You’re in time. I think it will be a few
minutes yet.” He leaned toward her. “The tall guy in the dark blue suit is
Victor Channing. We had a minor run-in a few minutes ago.”

Kristy casually glanced around. “I see him.
Who’s the big guy with him?”

“That’s Douglas Ashton. He’s Victor’s
personal assistant. I was about sixteen when Douglas started working for him.”

“Do you think the rest of the council will
follow Channing’s lead?”

“He thinks they will. See the older
gentleman, white hair, standing to Channing’s left? That’s Jess Bennett. He’s
on the Merchants Association as well as the City Council. With the members of
the association here, he’s going to be under a lot of pressure to go along with
us.”

She smiled up at him smugly. “It’s a good
thing you invited the merchants. From the reactions I’ve heard in town, the
City Council must have wanted to keep it quiet.”

“I’m sure they did. Channing would have
loved to make it an executive session to keep people out.” Cole caught the eye
of a reporter, who winked at him. Cole grinned back. The man had been
instrumental in seeing to it that the council didn’t hide behind closed doors
for this. He turned back to Kristy. “Is everyone here?”

Her eyes swept the audience again, looking
for familiar faces. “I think so.” Suddenly her gaze locked on something to
their right. “Man, if looks could kill, I suspect I’d be toes up right about
now.” She turned back to face the front. “For both our sakes, you’d better hope
Charley doesn’t have a gun in her purse.”

Cole threw back his head and laughed. “I’m
afraid to look. But don’t worry, she’ll know who you are before the night is
over.”

“Good, because I just reconsidered
volunteering to make her jealous. I’m too young to die.” She took another quick
peek. “Who’s the brunette with her?”

“Probably Frannie, her cousin.”

As the council members took their places,
the Mayor pounded his gavel on the table in front of him. Charley was only
dimly aware of the noise, and missed his opening remarks completely. Her eyes
were fixed on Cole and the blonde with him.

“Who’s that with Cole?” Frannie whispered.
“She’s gorgeous!”

“I have no idea,” Charley whispered back.
“I’ve never seen her before.” She suddenly felt Frannie’s gaze on her.

“Are you gritting your teeth?” She grinned.
“I think a light just came on. You don’t want him, but you don’t want anyone
else to have him either.”

“Maybe I changed my mind,” Charley
muttered.

Frannie stared at her. “You and I are going
to have a long talk, cousin.”

Charley sighed. They could talk all they
wanted to, but if the blonde was someone special to Cole how could she hope to
compete with the original California Golden Girl? Her gaze swung to Cole’s
broad back as he stood and moved to the projector, the dull ache in her middle
all too familiar. Why had he reacted to her like he had that morning? She might
only have experience from that one occasion, but there were some things a man
just couldn’t fake.

As slides of scale models, studies, and
location shots flashed across the screen at the front of the room, Charley
replayed Cole’s kiss in her head. He had said he wanted her, and there was no
doubt in her mind that he had been telling the truth. But he’d also said he was
going to continue fighting those feelings. She hadn’t thought about why at the
time, but maybe she’d just found the reason. Her eyes went to the blonde, then
returned to Cole just as he faced the audience. Even as he continued to talk,
his gaze found hers and held.

As Kristy took his place by the projector,
Cole let his gaze rest briefly on the spot where Charley sat, and cursed under
his breath. She looked upset as hell, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out
why. Kristy. No matter how badly he wanted to explain, he couldn’t. The only
thing he could do was hope that his plan from this morning hadn’t been ruined,
and make sure she was introduced to Kristy before this night was over. It was
beginning to feel like he couldn’t do anything right where Charley was concerned.
He looked back toward the front, waiting while Kristy explained the plans for
Duncan Mills to the council.

When the lights came back up, Cole stood.
“As you can see, ladies and gentlemen, CJE, Inc. has a lot of plans for this
area. It’s going to involve changes for all of you, but in the long run, we
think it can only help the economy. If there are any questions, I’ll be more
than happy to answer them.”

Victor Channing leaned back in his chair.
“I believe there are a few, Mr. Jordan. Our streets are just like they have
been for the last hundred years. The traffic flow alone will be horrible. I
don’t think we’re equipped to deal with something like that.”

Cole gestured toward Kristy and she began
handing out folders. “What you have in front of you is a proposal drawn up by a
city planner who studied Canyon Bend. With the addition of a few traffic lights
and some rerouting, there shouldn’t be a traffic problem.” He paused. “Maybe I
didn’t make myself clear at the beginning of this meeting, and if not, I apologize.”

His gaze moved to Channing. “I wasn’t
asking your permission to carry out these plans. I’m here merely as a courtesy
to let you know what’s about to happen. How you handle those changes is
strictly up to you.”

Channing smiled. “Well, now, Mr. Jordan.
You can’t very well carry out your plans if Canyon Bend doesn’t implement these
changes, can you?”

“Mr. Channing, that won’t even slow me
down. It’s simply a matter of building a relatively short bypass around Canyon
Bend. The land already belongs to me and the county has agreed to maintain the
road if we turn it over to them after it’s built.” He shrugged. “Of course,
that means Canyon Bend won’t receive any of the business we generate, but
that’s your problem, not mine.” Cole almost smiled at the low murmur of
indignation from the merchants in the audience, and began packing up his
equipment. “One last thing. There are several experts here tonight that are
willing to work with you and answer any other questions you might have. They’ve
agreed to stay after the meeting and talk to anyone who’s interested. In two
weeks, if I haven’t heard from you, work will begin on the bypass. Once it’s
started, it won’t be stopped, so I suggest you let me know what you’d like to
do before then. I’m sure you know where to find me.”

Without another word, he turned down the
center aisle, Kristy following him. As soon as they were outside, Cole stopped.
“Damn. I promised myself I wasn’t going to let Channing get next to me.”

“I don’t think it was Channing that got
next to you. It was Charley—” She broke off abruptly as the door opened behind
them.

“Excuse me. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I
just wanted to apologize for Uncle Victor.” Charley’s gaze moved between them.

Cole deposited his load in the back of
Kristy’s car. “Why? Are you responsible for his attitude?”

“Of course not. Uncle Victor makes up his
own mind. But I really believe he just wants to protect Canyon Bend, Cole.”

He closed the car door and faced Charley
again. Frannie had come out and was standing next to her. “Yeah, good old
Victor Channing. Always trying to protect something.” Cole couldn’t keep the
sarcasm out of his voice. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. “Sorry.
That was uncalled for.”

“I don’t blame you for being upset. I’ll
talk to him again. I’m sure he’ll eventually see how much good this will do the
city.”

Cole’s jaw clenched. “I don’t need you to
talk to him. As I pointed out before, there’s nothing he can do to stop me. He
may as well find that out now.” He put one hand on Kristy’s arm.

“Kristy, this is Charley Hart and her
cousin Frannie Hart. This is Kristy McIntire, my executive assistant and
soon-to-be stepsister. You’ll both probably be seeing quite a bit of her when
things get rolling. Kristy is in charge of the Duncan Mills project.”

“Stepsister?” Frannie was looking at Kristy
with great interest.

Kristy smiled at her. “Yes, Dad finally got
Maggie Jordan to agree to marry him. Only took him five years,” she grumbled.
“The wedding is going to be in two months.”

“That’s wonderful!” Frannie gushed. “I love
weddings. I’m engaged, myself. It’s just that Ben and I can’t agree on a date.
He wants to elope, I want a big wedding with all the trimmings.”

Suddenly Cole’s entire attention was fixed
on her. “Ben?”

“Yes, Ben Zimmerman. You may remember him.
He’s the sheriff now.”

Cole glanced at Charley and smiled. “Yes,
as a matter of fact, I do remember Ben.”

“Great! You can catch up on old-times
Thursday night. I’m having a birthday party for Charley at the Red Dog.”
Frannie smiled at Kristy. “You’re invited, also. Bring a date if you want.”

Kristy nodded. “Thank you. I’d love to
come. It’s been kind of lonely around here with no one to talk to but him.” She
yanked her thumb in Cole’s direction with obvious disgust.

Charley looked positively fascinated at
Kristy’s sisterly attitude, and Cole almost laughed.

“Are you staying here in town?”

“I’m staying at Cole’s for now.” Kristy
smiled at Charley. “He has so much room it seemed silly to rent something. As
soon as everything is done here, I’ll be going back to L.A. to handle his
business there. You should drop by sometime. It’s really a beautiful house.
Bring your swimsuits. The pool is great.”

“Thanks. We may just do that.” Cole saw
Charley sneak a quick look at him to see how he was taking the invitation. He
did his best to look like it didn’t affect him one way or the other.

Kristy glanced at her watch. “I have to get
going. I promised Mrs. Paulson I’d be home as soon as possible. The woman is
convinced there are wolves all over the mountains just drooling to turn her
into a midnight snack.” She climbed into the car. “See you later.”

Frannie started toward her Volkswagen. “I
have to go, too. I’m meeting Ben in a few minutes. Night!” She waved.

Cole looked down at Charley, wishing he
could come up with an excuse to stay with her. The darkness that surrounded
them seemed to get deeper and quieter.

“Who’s Mrs. Paulson?” She sounded nervous.

“My housekeeper. She’s never been out of
Los Angeles before and thinks we’ve moved her into the wilderness. It’s Kristy’s
fault. She’s always telling her stories about the Wild West and scaring her to
death.”

He saw her hesitate. “Kristy seems very
nice.”

“She is. I hope you take her up on her
invitation. She could use a friend or two.”

“How long have you known her?”

It was his turn to hesitate. They were
finally having a conversation and he didn’t want to stir up the bad memories
again. But he couldn’t lie to her. “Ten years. Jim McIntire was the first
person I met when I got to Los Angeles. It was the day before Kristy’s
fourteenth birthday.”

She nodded. “And now you’re all going to be
a real family.”

“We always have been. Jim doesn’t have to
marry my mother for that to happen.”

Charley looked up at him, searching his
face in the moonlight. “You know, it’s funny. I keep forgetting that you’ve
been somewhere else, living another life for all this time. Nothing ever
changes around here. You see the same people every day, do the same things
you’ve always done, and it’s like the rest of the world doesn’t exist.”

Mesmerized, Cole watched her lift her hand
to his cheek. He was afraid to move, afraid to breathe. Suddenly, his heart was
slamming into his ribs.

“But it does exist. You’ve been there.” Her
head tilted as she studied him. “It’s changed you, hasn’t it? You aren’t the
same person you were before. Not even the same one you would have been if you’d
stayed here.” Her thumb moved over the stubbled beard of his chin and up to
caress the edge of his lips. “You look the same, but deep down, you aren’t. I
don’t think I know you anymore.”

“Would you like to?” He could no more
prevent the husky quality of his voice than he could stop the surge of hope
that ran through him.

“I don’t know. Maybe. I think I’m afraid,
Cole. Afraid that too much will be changed, and at the same time, afraid it
won’t be.” She dropped her hand back to her side, the movement leaving him
bereft.

“There’s no rush, Charley. I’m not going
anywhere.”

She was still looking up at him. “Do you
think maybe we could be friends, again?”

No, he thought. He and Charley could never
be just friends. But at least it was a place to start. “If that’s what you
want.”

He saw the brief flicker of a smile on her
face and then she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. “Welcome home, Cole.”
Before he could move she turned and ran across the parking lot to her Blazer.
Welcome home. No one else had told him that, and he was surprised by the lump
it created in his throat. He was still standing there staring after her as the
meeting broke up.

* * * * *

The rattle of glass led Cole unerringly
down the hall to the front of the Red Dog the next morning. For once, Charley
had beaten him in to the office. After their conversation the night before, he
had no idea how to treat her. Friends, she’d said. How did you treat the woman
you ached for like a friend?

He stopped in the entry and watched her.
She was standing on a stool behind the bar, taking bottles out of a box and
inserting them into the slots that lined the wall. Her jeans hugged her hips
and legs snugly. Every time she stretched to reach the slots over her head, her
T-shirt rode up, giving him a glimpse of bare skin and outlining the soft curve
of a breast. His reaction was immediate and uncomfortable. Friends, he thought
ruefully. Not a chance in hell.

“You’re going to fall off and kill yourself
if you aren’t careful.” He finally moved out of the entrance and stopped behind
her.

Charley glanced over her shoulder and
smiled. “Don’t be silly. I do this all the time.” She put the last bottle in
place and turned.

He couldn’t resist the chance to touch her.
Putting his hands on her waist, he lifted her down. For an instant, something
flared in her eyes, gone so fast he wasn’t sure if it had really been there.

“I didn’t expect to see you here this
morning. Weren’t you going to the hotel site?”

“Yes, but I thought maybe you’d like to go
with me. They’re pouring the footing today, and it’s the same crew that will be
working on the restaurant. You should meet the foreman since you’ll be working
with him.”

It only took a second for her to make up
her mind. “You’re right, and I really don’t have that much to do today, anyway.
Let me leave Frannie a note and I’ll meet you outside.”

Cole had just finished putting the top down
on the Jag when she came out. Casually, he tossed her the keys. “You drive.”

Catching the keys reflexively, she came to
a sudden halt, looking in amazement from him to the car. “You can’t be
serious.”

He moved around to the passenger side. “I
told you I’d let you drive it sometime. Now is as good a time as any.” Sliding
into the deep bucket seat, he fastened the safety belt and waited while Charley
hesitantly climbed in.

Pushing in the clutch, she turned the key
and Cole felt the powerful engine purr to life. Charley’s hands tightened and
released spasmodically on the steering wheel and he smiled. He could still
remember the first time he’d driven the Jag. His reaction had been almost
sexual in nature, intense and exciting. He could see something of the same in
Charley’s face.

She let out on the clutch and the car eased
across the parking lot and onto the highway. Delight lit her face as she
increased the speed, her movements quick and sure as she shifted gears. Soon
they were flying down the highway, the wind of their passage flattening grass
on the roadside.

“How fast have you driven it?” she yelled.

Cole laughed. “One-hundred-eighty, but that
was on a straight stretch of road. I don’t recommend doing it in these
mountains.”

She nodded and downshifted as they entered
a curve, increasing the speed again halfway through. In spite of himself, Cole
was impressed. She handled the car like she’d been doing it all her life. Only
her smile and the tinge of red in her cheeks gave away her excitement.

They reached the building site all too soon
for him, and Charley pulled the Jag smoothly over to the side and shut it off.

“That was fantastic! I had no idea driving
a car could be such a rush.” She looked like an adorable little girl who’d just
discovered everything on her Christmas list was under the tree. He had to fight
the urge to give her the Jag on the spot.

“When it’s a car like this one, it is.”
Before he could stop himself, he brushed back a lock of hair the wind had
tugged loose from her braid, and gestured toward the activity going on next to
them. “What do you think?”

Her flush deepened at his action, but she
turned to survey the building site. Cole had to admit, it didn’t look like much
at the moment. Men and concrete trucks were everywhere as they poured the
foundation. Rusty rebar stuck up from the hole, with a backdrop of bright blue
Porta Potties against the green mountains. Off to one side, well out of the
way, sat a small, white trailer that served as an office.

“Noisy, isn’t it?” Charley half yelled to
make herself heard over the beeping of the trucks as they backed up, and the roar
of motors. “From the slides of the model, I didn’t expect it to be this big.”