Everyone in this town knows everything about everyone else, and they love to tell anyone who’ll listen. Speaking of hotels, please tell me you’re staying at The Conquistador Inn and not the other one.”
“I am.”
“I didn’t know there was a route there from the interstate that took you by our dealership.”
“I must have gotten lost.”
She nodded, but it seemed unlikely this man couldn’t follow a simple GPS route. Maybe it was his one fatal flaw. After all, he couldn’t be rich, handsome, have a good sense of humor and follow directions, right? That would be asking too much.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” she said, still grinning.
He looked at her for what felt like the longest few seconds of her life, then cleared his throat. “Is working for the family business your dream job?”
“Not even close,” she said before thinking, then flushed. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”
“Yeah, you did.”
What was it about this guy? On TV, in person, it was like he could see right through her.
“I used to work for a big Fortune 500 company in their finance department. I loved it,” she admitted. “Even the long hours. It was exciting. You must know what I mean. The adrenaline surge when all your numbers come out right and you realize your profit margin is exactly where you want it to be.”
“That’s what you call exciting?”
“Don’t you? You work for a huge oil company. You’re the CEO.”
“Yeah, but I’d rather be wrestling cattle.” He frowned, like he hadn’t expected to say that. It made sense, though. This feeling of restlessness she’d picked up from him even through a flat screen.
“You want to be a rancher?”
“I am a rancher. At least, on the weekends.”
“But you want to do it full time.”
“That’s impossible. I have responsibilities.”
“Does this ranch have a name? Please tell me it does. Hold on. Let me guess. The Dusty DeLuca?”
He looked like he’d just sucked on a lemon. “That’s a terrible name. It’s the Pitchfork Pines. Named by my great grandmother Ruth.” His voice somehow got deeper, twangier, as he proceeded to tell her all about the ranch he and his mother and sister lived on and the nearby town of Baylee Flats.
“It sounds terrific.”
“It’s two hundred and fifty thousand acres of heaven,” he said.
“Wow. That’s like huge.”
“Not by Texas standards.”
She snickered. “Because everything’s bigger in Texas?”
“You got that right, little lady,” he drawled, doing a terrible John Wayne imitation that made her smile anyway.
“You should do it. You should quit your job and run the ranch full time.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Sure it is. You can hire someone to take over as CEO of the oil company, right? Or promote from within? Life is too short to go through it unhappy. Especially if you have the means to fix it.” She put her elbows on the table and leaned in closer. “You know who made me see that? You did. You’re the reason I’m breaking up with Walter.”
He jerked back.
Annie rolled her eyes. “Not you, you. I mean, yeah, you’re like every girl’s dream guy right now, but it was what you said on that morning show that got me thinking. I deserve to feel the zing. And so does Walter. He deserves someone who loves him with all his heart. But that person isn’t me.”
Before he could respond, Connie came by their booth. “Sorry to kick you kids out, but I’d like to go home.”
“What?” they said, once again in unison.
“We closed twenty minutes ago.”
They glanced around the diner. The lights were dimmed, and they were the only customers left. “Sorry about that,” said Sam.
“No worries. You two seemed to be hitting it off so well, I hated to interrupt.”
Sam paid the check and walked Annie outside to her car.
“This is me,” she said, pointing to her Subaru.
“I guess this is good night then.” He almost sounded disappointed, like he wanted the night to go on.
For one crazy second, Annie thought about inviting him to get a drink somewhere. But … no. That would be too presumptuous of her. “It was great meeting you. You’re my first famous person.”
“I’m not famous,” he insisted.
“Says you. Let me give you a tip. Don’t buy any flowers while you’re in town unless you’re into mother-daughter threesomes.”
He shut his eyes briefly. “I don’t want to know what that means.”
She laughed, then pulled the keys from her purse and opened the car door. “So long, Sam. Good luck.” As she pulled out, she glanced up in the rearview mirror to see him