by Alison Kent
He waited a moment, his weight shifting from one hip to the other. “Does he know you’re here?”
“Hard for him to know when he moved to Boerne to be near his son.”
He smiled. She felt it in the way he relaxed his stance, in the pull drawing her to face him. It was hard to resist, that pull, because she knew what she would see. But it was so so easy for the very same reason. Looking up at his face gave her a very great and particular sort of enjoyment. “Have we met?”
He was shaking his head when he said, “I was about to ask you the same.”
She held out her hand. “Indiana Keller.”
“Keller,” he said, taking it, holding it, his shake firm and lasting. “As in Tennessee? Though if you’re Indiana, that’s a really dumb question to ask, the state thing and all.”
She thought of Dakota and her smile faltered. “And you are?” she repeated, even though she knew.
“Oliver Gatlin.”
“As in the Caffey-Gatlin Academy? Though since you’re standing on the center’s property…”
“Sounds like we’re both full of dumb today.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Oliver.” Officially. Since they hadn’t been introduced the night she’d first seen him.
“And you, Indiana,” he said, then released her. “Though… weren’t you at Luna and Angelo’s wedding reception?”
“I was,” she said, inordinately pleased that she hadn’t been invisible after all. She never knew, actually, if what little effort she took with her appearance made her stand out, or blend in, or any difference at all. “And you were.”
His expression darkened, but in a searching, curious way. It was nothing nefarious. Nothing strange. “And you didn’t introduce yourself?”
“Then?” She shook her head. “You were too busy with Angelo.”
“I’m never too busy to meet a new friend.”
Friends. Was that what they were going to be? Because what she was feeling… “And now you have. It’s always nice to be friends with the people you see regularly.”
“Will we? See each other regularly?” he asked, and this time the look in his eyes did give her pause.
It was an interesting look, one that had her pulse blipping a bit as she made him wait. “I imagine we will, since I bought Hiram’s place.”
“Ah,” he said, nodding. “So not a trespasser after all.”
She looked over her shoulder at the buildings making up the Caffey-Gatlin Academy, then down at the driveway before lifting her gaze to his. “Not on Hiram’s property anyway.”
“And not here,” he said, returning her smile, his simply devastating, with dimples and deep lines like a starburst at the corner of his eyes.
That was good to know, though her friendship with Luna Caffey kept that from being a worry. But Oliver extending such an invitation, when they had no history and had only just met, tickled her. Warmly. “Are you working with the center now?”
While she waited for him to answer, a truck slowed in front of them on Three Wishes Road, before turning into the driveway Hiram had rarely used to park behind her Camaro. The tire tracks were more ruts than anything, and visible, though the strip between was green with weeds gone wild. It was just like Will Bowman, however, not to care about the state of things beneath his wheels. Like Indiana, he let very little get in the way of what he wanted.
And that had her wondering about Oliver Gatlin. Did he share the same trait? And did it matter? It wasn’t like she’d be working with Oliver as she would be with Will—though having her IJK annex across the road from the Caffey-Gatlin Academy might put them into contact more often than otherwise.
A silly thought. Luna and Angelo’s reception had been a fluke encounter. She and Oliver Gatlin belonged to completely different worlds. She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about the possibility of seeing him regularly.
Working with Will Bowman was going to cause her plenty of grief as it was. The man drove all who knew him to drink with the way he had of dodging questions, changing subjects, digging for truths those under his scrutiny preferred not to reveal. Revealing nothing of himself in the process.
It occurred to her then she had no idea what, besides enjoy his family’s money, Oliver had done with his life. Then again, she knew nothing of Will Bowman’s before he’d started working for Ten.
But when Oliver spoke, it wasn’t in response to her question. “I’d ask if you had a trespasser, but since there’s a Keller Construction sign on the side of that truck, I guess he’s expected.”
Will Bowman was never expected. A strange thought, but there it was. “Yes. I was early to meet him, so thought I’d enjoy the view from here.”
He was quiet for a long moment, finally shoving his hands in his pockets and saying, “Then I’ll leave you to it.”
And that was it. He turned with only the slightest nod and walked back into the house, vanishing as if the last few minutes had been conjured by her imagination. Such a dismissal was probably the norm for Oliver Gatlin, but she knew so little about men, and even less about his silver spoon variety.
That lack of knowledge was likely the culprit behind the difficulty in her closing the gap time had left between her and Ten. She was trying. Oh, but she was trying, putting herself in Hope Springs, in his path, hoping to get back what she could of what they’d lost. Ten just seemed… unreachable, as if keeping her at arm’s length was the best he could do. As if he wasn’t ready for anything more.
“Too bad for you, big brother,” she muttered, taking a deep breath before heading across the street. Because if all went according to plan, she was not the only family member who’d be coming back into his life.
