Back Where She Belongs(35)

He looked up at the house. Impressive, if out of place in the desert. Mount Vernon, Arizona, was what Tara used to call it.

“What?” The voice from the speaker was Judith’s, the Wharton’s gruff housekeeper.

“Dylan Ryland for Tara.”

The gate swung open and he drove through. He had to ring the doorbell twice before someone answered the door. It was Tara, a toothbrush in her hand, foam on her lips. “Sorry,” she said. “Judith, for God’s sake, why didn’t you get the door?”

“I’m busy here,” Judith grumbled, passing by with a laundry basket.

“Just need to spit and run a brush through my hair.” She dashed for the stairs, taking them two at a time. He couldn’t help but watch her butt. The jeans were criminally tight.

“Ahem.” Judith jabbed a thumb toward the sitting room. He went there, a chastised teenager again. He’d been waiting a few minutes when someone came around the corner. He expected Tara, but it was her mother. “Dylan Ryland. What brings you here?”

“He came for me,” Tara said, popping into the room. “Am I dressed right?” She wore a gray jersey shirt that hung slightly off her shoulders, jeans and lightweight hiking shoes. With her hair pulled back, her face free of makeup, she looked great. “Perfect.”

“For a homeless woman,” her mother said. “But that makes you a matched set.” She looked him over in his worn jeans, faded Wharton Raiders T-shirt and scuffed Timberlands. “What are you two up to?”

“Dylan has something planned,” Tara said, her eyes lit with pleasure. Rachel’s eyebrows lifted. She clearly thought something was going on between them. He knew the gossip had flown after their fight at Ruby’s. Candee had called him early this morning after a friend told her. Victor Lansing had joked that he appreciated the sacrifices Dylan was willing to make to solve the Wharton problem.

He was grateful Tara hadn’t taken him up on his dare about the kiss, though he’d been certain she wouldn’t, not in the Wharton fishbowl. He still wasn’t sure why he’d said that, why his heart had flipped at the prospect, why for a few seconds there he didn’t care who knew they still had feelings for each other.

“Have you eaten, Mom?” Tara asked.

“I’m not hungry.”

“You can’t skip meals. You know that.”

“What have we come to when Tara thinks she has to look after me?” Rachel said to him. “It’s a lost cause, but maybe that’s the appeal.”

“I asked Judith to make you some chamomile tea,” Tara said.

“You two go have your homeless fun.”

Dylan was surprised to see the affection on Rachel’s face when she looked at her daughter.

They left and got into the car.

“I have news,” Tara said as he pulled onto the highway. “This morning at the hospital, Joseph said he wants to hire me as a consultant.”

“How did you manage that?”

“I did my homework, convinced people who had influence with Joseph that hiring me would be smart. Legally it would be a hedge against litigation regarding fiduciary duty and oversight.”

“That’s a mouthful.”

“That’s what I thought, but the legal argument was Joseph’s tipping point. So, he warns me that he will not tolerate group hugs or feel-good mission statements, then he asks me to start on Monday.”

“That was fast. Will he cooperate with you?”

“I think so. I told him I would be his eyes and ears, that my role was to calm the waters, reduce conflict and uncertainty. That seemed to relieve him. He really needs a buffer between him and people.”

“Sounds like you’ll do that for him.”

“Yeah. In fact, he got choked up. He told me that Faye had been like that with employees and that he missed her, that it’s been hard to be at Wharton without her. I was very touched.”

“If you got Joe Banes to open up, you’re a miracle worker.”

“Not really. It’s all smoke and mirrors.”

“I doubt that.”

She looked out the window for a few seconds, then back at him. “You’re right. I mock myself because what I do sometimes scares me. I charge a fortune and clients expect miracles. So far I’ve delivered, but it’s a high-wire act. I have to get the vibe, connect with the true leaders, deduce the unspoken conflicts, coax people to trust each other, and there are a dozen ways it can all fall apart at any time.”

“Sounds complicated.”

“It is. There are predictable patterns, but each company is unique.”

“And you love it.”

“I do. Very much. If I keep growing, I’ll need to bring on a partner soon. First, I’ll need to recover from being away so long, but if I can help Wharton, it’s worth everything to me.”

“On that subject, I talked to Candee about giving you some insights into the business department. She wants the three of us to talk it over.” He cleared his throat, not looking forward to the meeting.

“So...a three-way?” Tara grinned.

“I doubt it will be that fun.” Tara had been right. Candee had been upset by their meeting. He hoped Candee wouldn’t give Tara hell when they met. “She suggested Monday night at my house.”

“Sounds good.”

“I hope it will be.” He hoped it would be brief. The less time Tara and Candee spent together, the less chance they’d get on each other’s nerves, hurt anyone’s feelings or turn on him as the common enemy.

“Things are coming together,” she said sounding happy. “I’ll be working at Wharton, looking into what’s happening there. Once Tony gets the car to his shop to check it, we’ll know what caused the wreck.”

“There’s a glitch there. The salvage guy said your insurance company has to sign off before he’ll release the car.”

“Damn,” she said. “I have to get that adjuster on the phone. That’s all there is to it.” She blew out a breath. “One step forward, two steps back.”

“I did talk to one of the poker players for you,” Dylan said. “Mitch Bender was at the meeting last night, so I asked him about your father.”

“What did he say?” She turned to face him in her seat, eager and nervous, honing in on him.

“He said that Abbott seemed agitated. He lost three hands straight, which was unusual, then he left in the middle of a game to take a call—also odd, since he usually ignored his cell phone and got irritated when the other guys interrupted a game taking phone calls. A little later, he took a break and went to the john, but they could hear him talking on the phone. He left without speaking to any of them.”

“The call must have upset him. Maybe it was from Faye. Maybe she called him, rather than the other way around. Had he been drinking? Did you ask Mitch that?”

“He hadn’t noticed, but Bill Fallon called him the next morning and told him that if anyone official asked about Abbott, he should say that Abbott had had his usual iced tea. That seemed odd to Mitch.”

“So Fallon did think Dad was drunk. It’s still weird that he was right there at the scene. I don’t buy his story about the medicine run for his wife.”

“Maybe the first call your father got came from Fallon. Maybe Fallon wanted to meet your father somewhere.”

“To talk about Mom, maybe? I don’t know. There are too many possibilities.”

“Which is why we need to know more before we—”

“Accuse anyone. Got it. You made your point last night.” She shot him a look.

“Like I said, I never get tired of being right.”

“So how did your meeting go?” she asked him.

“Not bad. The mayor’s an obstacle right now. We need the right candidate to take his place. I’ve got to keep Troy from jumping into the race. My ace in the hole is that he hates politics. He wants to work for the town, not a bunch of constituents ready to recall him.”

“Will the timing work? The election and your shift to full-time manager?”

“Good question.” He’d begun to worry, too, with his father behaving as he had been. He shook his head. “Forget that. We’re supposed to be relaxing.” He took the turnoff toward the river.

“Wait. Are we going to the river for a picnic?”

“We’ll eat eventually,” he said.

“Then is it a hike? It’s beautiful this time of year.”

“Kind of,” he said, smiling in advance, knowing she’d love his idea, certain it would be exactly what they both needed, a chance to enjoy some harmless fun together. He parked in the lower picnic area. A path wound around the hill to a series of caves. There were several trails down to the river from there.