the dick he is!”
“Apparently,” Julia said, lowering her voice, as she was being indiscreet, but she thought Miley deserved to hear this, “Blaine is Melanie’s nephew.”
“Get out!” Miley gasped. “No!”
“Yup, but keep it to yourself, okay?” Julia added. “It didn’t go down well with Mr. Bashear, I can tell you that.”
Miley was still staring at her, totally speechless for once, and Julia took advantage by pulling her friend into an awkward hug.
“Thank you for all you’ve done to keep my spirits up during this terrible time.”
“Right back at you.” Miley was grinning like a fool. “We have to go out and celebrate!”
“Let’s wait to see what happens to Melanie and Blaine first. But if they are fired, drinks tonight are on me!” Julia promised.
She went back to her office and for once closed the door. She needed time alone to decompress, consider her future, and most importantly do her own little victory dance to celebrate the comeuppance of the obnoxious Blaine.
When she sat down at her desk, she noticed Miley had left a note concerning Mr. Evans’s ranch in Bridgeport. Apparently, before they made an offer, the potential buyer wanted her to sound out the town council informally about the chances of them getting a permit to build the guest cabins on the ranch land. Mr. Evans and his family had requested she be the one to handle the matter because of her connection with the town.
Julia checked her calendar. Mr. Bashear was leaving for the East Coast early tomorrow morning, which meant that if he had settled matters with all concerned, she could leave for Morgan Valley and squeeze in a visit to Bridgeport on her way home. The information she’d received from Brooksmiths, the historically sympathetic building company, might go a long way to assuaging Mr. Evans and his family’s concerns about selling. And, if he really didn’t want to sell to anyone other than a single buyer, or sell at all, she would not try to change his mind.
The thought of someone trying to pressure her own father into making that kind of decision made her furious. If the buyers were skeptical, she could always say that despite her best efforts, the council was not willing to allow such a development on the edge of their town. They wouldn’t be the first community to make the decision to protect their heritage.
She shut her laptop and checked the time. In just over twenty-four hours she would be home with exciting news about her job and the financial ability to keep her father at the ranch for as long as he wanted. She’d also get to see Kaiden Miller, but what might happen with him was a total unknown. She couldn’t stop hoping that there was some way to fix things between them. Three weeks without any communication had been horrible, and she missed him, it was as simple and complicated as that.
Her cell pinged and she checked her messages. Mr. Bashear wanted her to have dinner with him. She accepted the invitation and got back to work. With Blaine hopefully on the way out, she had a lot to clean up.
* * *
Julia parked her rental in front of Mr. Evans’s front door, patted his dog, and went to knock on the door, only to have it open to reveal a young woman about her own age.
“I do remember you!” the woman exclaimed. “We were on opposing softball teams in high school!”
“Jennifer, correct?” Julia held out her hand. “It’s nice to see you again.”
“Nice to see you, too. Come on in. I bet you’re going to that fancy party at Morgan Ranch tomorrow night, aren’t you?”
“Dad and I have been invited.” Julia followed Jennifer through to the kitchen where she was offered her choice of coffee or lemonade.
“Well, don’t forget to give Kaiden Miller a big kiss on the cheek from me.” Jennifer winked. “I guess he’s all grown up now.”
“Kaiden Miller?” Julia wondered whether she looked as guilty as she felt.
“We dated once. He was such a goofball.” Jennifer grinned. “Dad said he’d grown up real nice, and was nothing like his father.”
Julia considered Kaiden’s abs and nodded. “He sure did.”
“Betty, my mom, is sitting with Grandad, so if you just come through to the parlor, we can talk this out, okay?”
“Thank you,” Julia said, and followed Jennifer into the sunny parlor where she was introduced to Betty and received a grudging hello from Mr. Evans. She offered him a smile and opened her file.
“Okay, I know