Teresa Carpenter – Twin Ties, Twin Joys: The Boss's Double Trouble Twins / Twins for a Christmas Bride / Baby Twins: Parents Needed (страница 14)

Darcy frowned doubtfully as they pulled up in front of the ancient building. A two-story frame in a rustic Victorian style, standing out alone on the treeless plain, it looked like a survivor of another age. The sign said, Tree Stump Bed And Breakfast. Another sign, hanging by a tattered rope, said, Café. And there were a few tables and chairs set out on the browning grass of the front yard, in the shade of a small stand of cottonwood trees.

“Mitch, are you sure?” she began.

“Absolutely,” he said, getting out of the car. “We can get some lunch here. Come on.”

She followed him but she wasn’t too keen on this. The place almost looked abandoned.

“I don’t know,” she murmured, frowning.

But Mitch was cupping his hands and calling toward the entry to the building. “Hello! Anybody here?”

There was a dusty silence for a moment, but just as Darcy was starting to turn away, a gruff voice came from the house.

“Go away. We’re closed.”

Mitch grinned, giving Darcy a wink. “It’s him,” he said before stepping closer. “Ry Tanner, ya ole reprobate. Is that you?”

There was a pause, then the voice sounded again. “We’re closed, I tell you.”

But Mitch had mounted the steps to the front door and was peering in through the milky glass. “Ry Tanner, come on out here.”

“Who’s that?” the voice demanded.

“Mitch Carver.” He spread out his arms. “Don’t you remember me?”

The door opened a crack and a grizzled head appeared. “Mitch Carver! Is that you?”

“It’s me, all right.”

The door opened a bit more and the old man stood in the light. “What are you doin’ here? I ain’t seen you for years.” His gnarled face turned and his beady black eyes took in Darcy, too. “And you got yourself a pretty girl. Poor thing. I never thought you’d find one would put up with ya.”

Mitch laughed. “She doesn’t. But that’s another story.”

The man shuffled out onto the porch and nodded toward the tables on the grass. “Come on over and set a spell,” he said. “Out here in the cool breeze.”

“We came to get some food,” Mitch said as they followed him to the table.

He shook his gray head. “We’re closed.”

“A little snack will do. That’s all we need.”

Dropping down into a chair, Ry Tanner frowned at his company. “I told you, we’re closed.”

“No, we ain’t.” A plump, pretty woman who looked to be in her forties came out of the house.

“Don’t listen to him,” she said, smiling at them all. “He’s just playin’ hermit. You’re old friends of his? Y’all sit down. I’ll get you some food.”

Ry grumbled, but it was becoming apparent that his grumbling didn’t mean much. Darcy and Mitch sat down across from him and the woman, whose name was Betty, took their order and hurried into the house to prepare their food.

“You two married yet?” Ry demanded, glaring at Darcy.

“No!” they both said at once.

He nodded, looking at Mitch. “Good.” He leaned closer, confiding. “But you watch out. Here’s a life lesson, son. They try to trap you.”

“Trap?” Darcy knew he was just an old man but she couldn’t hide her outrage. “Why would I want to trap anyone?”

He glanced at her, then back at Mitch. “Marriage. That’s all any woman wants, you know. She wants to pluck you off the vine and plunk you down into her own little teacup.”

Darcy blinked at the strangely mixed metaphor.

“I have never tried to trap anyone into anything, much less marriage. And you know what? I’ll tell you a secret.” She leaned toward him conspiratorially. “I wouldn’t marry him if he asked me to.”

“See?” He waved a finger in the air. “That’s the first trick they use. Playin’ hard to get.” He nodded knowingly, narrowing his eyes as he looked at her sideways. “Watch out for that one, my friend.”

She shook her head. Mitch was silently laughing, his blue eyes dancing. She glared at him. He was having too much fun with this.

“The male ego never ceases to amaze me,” she muttered.

Ry seemed to take offense. “Well then, what are you coming by here bothering people fer?”

Darcy’s jaw dropped. This crazy old man! “We don’t mean to bother you. Mitch just thought …”

He looked triumphant. “Ya see there?” He nodded to Mitch. “There she goes, takin’ your side, letting you think she’s defending you. That’s number two on the roster. Write these down, son. You need to keep a list about you at all times. Ya gotta be prepared to counter their attacks.”

Mitch was laughing, Darcy was confused between reluctant amusement and annoyance, and Ry Tanner seemed to be in his element now.

But Betty had her own advice. “Don’t listen to him,” she suggested as she put a pair of huge hamburgers, with fries, out in front of them. “He just likes to hear himself talk. Don’t you, Pops?”

Ry grumbled, but the hamburgers were good and Darcy was famished. She had to admit the old man was like a piece of old Texas. He should be in a museum somewhere. But she couldn’t say he was much of a lunch companion. Mitch seemed to have a strange affection for this old man, but she didn’t think she could share it.

“So, Ry Tanner,” Mitch was saying casually. “What do you know about the Heartland Project? I hear it’s going in right next to you here, isn’t it?”

Ry nodded. “Yes, that’s true. They even wanted to buy out my land. But I’m hangin’ tough.” He shook his head. “We’ll see.”

Darcy’s eyes widened and she stared at Mitch. The two men went on talking about the project, about what was being planned and how Ry’s land might enter into the deal, but she hardly listened. So this was what Mitch had come along with her for, this was what had been his reason for hunting down Ry Tanner.

And here, a part of her had been thinking he might just have wanted to be with her. And that part of her had been reveling in that hope, hadn’t it?

What a fool she was! In the first place, for wanting him to want to be with her. And in the second place, for wanting that despite the danger it posed. Was she crazy? So it seemed. That did it. She was going to have to be much tougher on herself from now on. After all, she’d fallen for this man’s charm before. She had a record to live down. She had to be doubly careful.

Mitch had a devilish look in his eyes as they walked back to the car. She glanced at him suspiciously. “What?” she asked him.

He leaned against the car door and his gaze rose slowly to meet hers. “The Heartland Project,” he said softly. “I want it.”

She stared at him, mouth agape. “You’re crazy!”

“Pipe down,” he warned, laughing at her. “Get in the car. Let’s not advertise it.”

“There is no way you can get that project,” she went on as she slipped into the driver’s seat. “You know that, don’t you? There are plenty of big boys after it. Ned Varner, for one.”

“Ned Varner has been my family’s nemesis for years, you know,” he told her casually. “He makes moves every time he thinks my father’s hold on the company is weak. Fear of what he was up to was the very reason my mother got me to come home.”

“Oh. Well, I’m sure she was thinking defensively, not for you to try a suicidal move like trying for the Heartland Project.”

His head rose and he had a steely look. “I’m going after it.”

She was astonished at his crazy naive attitude. “What are you talking about? You don’t have the experience, the background. You don’t know what you’re doing!”

“I could do it.” His blue eyes were intense as they held hers. “You and me together. You can teach me the ropes. I’m a quick study.”

Her breath caught in her throat. “Wait a minute.

Why would I be teaching you the ropes?” She threw her hands up. “If I know so much, why aren’t I heading the project?”

“Because you don’t have the credentials.” Reaching out, he cupped her cheek in his hand and looked deeply into her eyes. “Let’s face it, Darcy. They won’t let you. But you and me together—we could do it.”

His touch was something between fire and silk, and she knew it could act on her like a drug. She pulled away, shaking her head. “You’re nuts,” she said, starting the car.

She was fuming and he was making jokes. He wanted the Heartland Project, and he wanted to use her to help get it. Now wasn’t that just special! If she wasn’t careful she would get roped into having even more of her life taken over by this man. Who did he think he was, anyway?

But she knew the answer to that, didn’t she? Oh! She wanted to scream.

Still, she managed to control herself and she was quiet most of the way back into town. So was Mitch.

Probably thinking over ways to get her to pull in the Heartland Project for him. That was not going to happen!

But how was she going to avoid it, working for him in that office every day? She’d known this was going to be a problem from the beginning.