Summer Days (Fool's Gold #7)(82)

“So did you,” his mother snapped. “Rafe, I would never agree to give up the ranch for a housing development. A few acres, maybe. At the far end and closest to the casino. But not much more. And I would never allow you to throw out Heidi and her goats. You took charge, like you always do. You assumed you knew best.”

She rose. “I know some of that is my fault. I depended on you too much when you were little. I made you grow up too quickly. Now you steamroll over everyone.”

He felt the ground shifting as the attention focused on him.

“Wait a minute,” he began.

“No. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

His mother walked out of the kitchen. Glen followed.

Rafe walked to the table and took one of the chairs. “Happy?” he asked as he sat.

“Of course not. This isn’t what I wanted.”

“What did you want?”

“Not to lose my home. I thought about coming to you, trying to reason with you, but…” She shook her head. “You have to win. Always. I can’t believe your mother talked to you about those vacation homes and you didn’t tell her what you had planned.” Her eyes narrowed. “I’ll bet you were figuring out a way to have both. Put in the vacation homes she wanted, and use the extra land to build your development.”

He didn’t have an answer to that, mostly because it was true.

“I see,” she said quietly. “Let me guess. There wasn’t any room for me in the new plan, either.”

He shifted on the chair, feeling guilty and uncomfortable.

“Heidi,” he began.

“No,” she told him. “You can’t talk your way out of this. As far as you’re concerned, I’m someone you slept with. Nothing more. You don’t care about me or what happens to me. You would be very content to toss me out.”

“That’s not true.”

“Okay, prove it. Show me where I fit in your plan. Point out one square inch of this ranch you had left for me.”

He stood. “I don’t have any details,” he hedged.

“You don’t have anything.”

She stared at him for a long time. He waited for her to start yelling, but instead, she was quiet. Her eyes grew sad.

“I was wrong,” she said quietly. “I accept that. I did what I did to protect my home, and while that’s not good enough, at least it’s a reason I can accept without feeling like a jerk. You did what you did for profit. You ignored everyone but yourself. Your mom is right. You force your will on everyone, consequences be damned. The reason you didn’t feel anything when your marriage ended is because you don’t know how to care about anyone but yourself. Using a matchmaker is a really good idea, Rafe. Just make sure Nina explains to your prospective bride that the man she’s marrying was born without a heart.”

* * *

RAFE HAD ALWAYS THOUGHT he had a pretty good handle on his world. He understood the rules, the consequences, and he played to win. Sometime in the last two days, he’d completely lost control. Heidi had lied to him and his mother, tricked the town and been outed by a reporter. But instead of anyone standing up and asking what the hell she’d been thinking, he had become the bad guy.

His mother had asked him to move out of the ranch and back to the hotel in town. He hadn’t seen Heidi, Glen wasn’t speaking to him and everywhere he went in Fool’s Gold, he was getting angry stares.

“People really hate you,” Dante said cheerfully, his long legs stretched out in front of him.

They were sitting in the bar at Ronan’s Folly. Rafe had moved back to a suite there, and Dante had joined him to wrap up a few business details. In a couple of days, they would both head to San Francisco. There was no reason to stay in Fool’s Gold. It wasn’t as if anyone wanted him around.

The situation was too pathetic for him to stand, he thought grimly, as he gripped his Scotch.

“It’s an interesting insight into human behavior,” his partner continued. “Technically, Heidi is the one who broke the rules. She deceived everyone. All you did was scratch out a few tentative plans for some houses. Yet she’s forgiven and you’re the devil.”

“Thanks for the recap.”

Dante looked around. “I like it here.”

“You’re a sick guy.”

“Maybe. But there’s a sense of community. Heidi’s the pretty, helpless woman done wrong by the big, bad developer.”

“I didn’t develop shit.”

“But you could have. And your sins would be much greater. I respect the sense of loyalty.”

“I hope you respect the lack of profits. There’s no way we’re going to be able to develop any houses around here.”

“Not on your mother’s land, no. But there might be other places. After all, the casino is still going to need to hire people.”

Rafe shook his head. “No, thanks. I’m done with Fool’s Gold.” His initial instincts had been right. He should never have come back.

“Then I might look around.”

“Help yourself.”

Rafe started to say more, only to be distracted by angry, stomping footsteps approaching. He looked around and spotted Shane headed toward him. His brother didn’t look happy.

“Brace yourself,” Rafe muttered.