“Delighted to meet you, Meg.” Harlan held out his hand.
Meg shook his hand and smiled. “I’m glad to meet you, too, Mr. Locke.” She was glad, if only to understand Rafe better.
“Call me Harlan, please. Mr. Locke makes me feel old.”
“Harlan it is, then.” She guessed that age was a sensitive topic with him. With twenty-nine-year-old sons, he had to be in his fifties, yet he could pass for someone ten years younger.
“I see your bag,” Rafe said. “I’ll go grab it.”
“Thanks.” Harlan turned back to Meg. “Nice of you to come along and keep Rafe company on the airport run.”
“I wanted to. Olivia and I have been best friends for most of our lives, so I’m the advance promo team for her. You’re very lucky to get her as a daughter-in-law.”
“That’s what Wyatt tells me. I’m hoping she will convince him to get serious about this trekking business of his.”
“Oh? I thought he was already quite committed to it.”
Harlan shook his head. “To the work itself, I suppose, but he’s blind to the growth potential. He never should have closed his San Francisco operation and moved everything here. He could have put someone else in charge up there and made this a second location. I’ve been advocating expansion for years, maybe franchise the concept. Colorado, Arizona, Florida, maybe even go international with it.”
“I don’t know. It’s hard to imagine Wyatt as a tycoon.”
Harlan laughed. “Isn’t it, though? Rafe, on the other hand, is well on his way to making his first million. I wish Wyatt had some of Rafe’s business sense.”
“Got your suitcase.” Rafe appeared pulling a Gucci rolling bag that probably cost the same as two months’ rent on Meg’s condo in Pittsburgh.
She hadn’t thought to investigate what sort of suitcase Rafe had brought. Probably one like this if he could so easily recognize his father’s. And he had bought her a necklace with a gasp-worthy price tag.
According to his dad, Rafe was on his way to making his first million. That was intimidating. She’d tried to push Rafe’s sophisticated lifestyle to the back of her mind because it pointed up their differences. Maybe she’d be wise to remember those differences did exist.
Harlan murmured his approval of the Lexus when they loaded his suitcase in the trunk. Meg urged him to sit up front with Rafe, but he insisted on taking the backseat. As he climbed in, his phone chimed.
For most of the ride back to the Last Chance, Harlan took calls on his cell phone. Meg tried making conversation with Rafe, but she felt weird talking over Harlan so she finally gave up and rode in silence.
“He’s on the phone a lot,” Rafe said in a low, apologetic voice.
“So I see. Business must be good.”
“Oh, it’s very good. I used to think he worked hard to provide luxuries for my mother, but now that they’re divorced, I realize he just likes working hard.”
“Mmm.” Meg had a million thoughts running through her head and couldn’t voice any of them. Someone had once told her that if you wanted to see what a man would be like in twenty-five years, look at his father. Meg shuddered to think Rafe would turn out like this.
As they neared the outskirts of Shoshone, Harlan ended a call and, amazingly, his phone didn’t ring right away. “So, Rafe, looks like you’ve gone native. Never thought I’d see you duded up like a cowboy.”
“It’s more practical to dress like this. Turns out I like to ride.”
“Horses?”
“Yeah, it’s the damnedest thing. Meg taught me the basics, and we went out on a trail ride yesterday. I enjoyed the hell out of it.”
“Will wonders never cease. Just don’t try to get me on one of those animals. I like my transportation to have a steering wheel and foot pedals. So this is Shoshone, huh?”
“This is it.”
“Not much to the place, is there?”
Meg turned toward the backseat. “Depends on how you look at it. For anyone who prefers the simple life, then it’s perfect.”
Harlan laughed. “Yeah, Wyatt’s told me all about the simple life around here. He warned me not to expect decent espresso or full-service day spas in Shoshone. He mentioned one bar, one diner, an ice cream shop, a gas station and a feed store. Did I miss anything?”
“That about covers it,” Rafe said.
“I don’t know how you’ve been surviving, Rafe. You must be going stir-crazy.”
“Actually, I haven’t.” Rafe glanced over at Meg and gave her a secret smile. “It’s been a nice break from my usual routine.”
“I doubt if I’ll be able to say the same on Sunday, but I can’t let my son get married without showing up and meeting the bride. I’ll tell you this, though, I can see why Diana left. A wide spot in the road wouldn’t suit her at all.”
Rafe stopped the Lexus at the town’s only traffic signal. “So, Dad, what about her parents? Did she ever tell you about them?”
“Only that her mother was a full-blooded Shoshone and her father was Anglo. Apparently they died.”
“At the same time?” The light changed and Rafe pulled through the intersection.
“I think so, yeah.”
“Was there a traffic accident, or what?”
“I don’t know, Rafe. You’ll have to ask her.” His tone indicated that the subject was closed as far as he was concerned.
“It just feels strange to think that they were my grandparents, but I know nothing about them.”
“Does it matter?” Harlan sounded slightly irritated. “They won’t be any good to you at this point. You had Nana and Papa Locke while you were growing up.”
Meg wished she could lay a comforting hand on Rafe’s arm, but she didn’t want to telegraph anything about their relationship to Harlan. Rafe was asking perfectly legitimate questions, things she’d want to know in his shoes, but his father displayed no empathy at all. What a shame.
Harlan’s phone chimed soon after that, and he returned to his business.
“There might be a way to research your grandparents,” Meg said softly. “Do you know your mother’s maiden name?”
“Not off the top of my head. But it would be on my birth certificate back in San Francisco.”
“What about Wyatt’s birth certificate?”
He sent her a look of gratitude. “You’re a genius.” He took out his cell phone and hit a button. “Hey, bro. Yeah, we have the parental unit in the car. Listen, can you put your hands on your birth certificate? I want to know Mom’s maiden name.”
He paused to listen. “Well, I thought I’d research our grandparents and find out…You did already? How come you didn’t tell me?” His expression slowly changed from excitement to sadness. “Yeah, I can see why you wouldn’t be eager to share that in the middle of happy times. But it’s good to know. Yeah, thanks. See you tonight.” He disconnected the phone and sighed.
“What did he say?”
“He had the same questions I did, so a couple of weeks ago Olivia helped him track down the information. He didn’t tell me then because it’s not all that positive, and Wyatt likes to dwell on the positive.”
That made her smile because it was so true. “Will you tell me anyway?”
He glanced at her and then checked the rearview mirror. His father was still on the phone. Rafe lowered his voice. “Wyatt found somebody who actually knew them. They were heavy drinkers, and they chain-smoked, too. My mother had gone to a teenage slumber party the night her par
ents got drunk, as usual. They accidentally set fire to the house and they both died in the fire.”
Meg gasped softly. “Oh, Rafe.” She squeezed his arm, no longer caring if Harlan noticed.
“You can see why Wyatt wasn’t ready to lay that on me in the middle of all the wedding festivities. I wonder if Jack knows. I have to believe he doesn’t or he wouldn’t be so hard on my mom. Something like that…well, it helps explain a few things.”
“I’m sure.” Meg had been prepared to dislike Diana even more than she already disliked Harlan, but knowing this sad tale changed her knee-jerk reaction. She’d been willing to condemn a woman who would abandon her child. But in a way, Diana had been abandoned, too.
When they reached the ranch, Sarah must have been watching for them, because she came out on the porch to greet Harlan as warmly as she might have welcomed an old friend. Fortunately Harlan didn’t walk up the porch steps while talking on his cell phone. He was all charm and courtesy as they went into the house.
That irritated Meg even more. If Harlan saved his disrespect only for his nearest and dearest—and, by extension, their friends—that would be worse than if he treated everyone in the same high-handed way. It was as if his status as father and former chief breadwinner gave him the right to ignore common courtesy with his own children.
He might very well have shown the same arrogance with his wife, now his ex-wife. Once again, Meg decided she needed to reserve judgment until she’d met Diana and could get a sense of the woman. But the jury was in on Harlan Locke. She didn’t like him.
“So, what do you think of my dad?”
She’d been so lost in thought that Harlan and Sarah’s departure hadn’t registered. She and Rafe stood alone in the living room. And he’d just asked her a question she didn’t want to answer.
“It’s okay, Meg,” he said gently. “I didn’t think you’d get along with him.”
“We haven’t had much time to talk.” Because he’s been on the phone.
He chuckled. “Let me rephrase that. You’re from completely different planets.”
She sighed in relief at being given a graceful way out of the discussion. “Yes, we are.” And his father was from the Planet of the A-holes, but she wasn’t going to say that out loud.
“It’s funny, but I used to accept that he’d be on the phone all the time whenever I was with him, but this afternoon I saw it through your eyes. It’s kind of obnoxious, isn’t it?”
“Let’s say I wouldn’t do that.”
“And I hope to hell that I wouldn’t do that, but they say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I’m going to pay more attention to my phone habits from now on.”
“You haven’t been the least bit obnoxious with your phone since I’ve known you.”
He trailed his finger down her cheek. “That’s probably because you’re such a good influence on me.”
“Darn it! And here I hoped that I was a bad influence, the kind of wild woman who parades down hallways naked.”
Heat flared in his dark eyes. “I’ll never forget that. And just so you know, I’m not giving up on having some alone time with you. We’ll go make out in the barn if we have to, but I—” He paused and glanced toward the staircase as Sarah and his father started back down. “Later.”
She winked at him. “You bet, cowboy.” Her heart felt considerably lighter knowing that he could accept her reservations regarding his father.
“I just talked to Wyatt,” Harlan said as he made his way back over to where Meg and Rafe stood. “He’d like to meet up in about thirty minutes at that bar we passed on the way in—the Spit and Spots, or something like that. He’s bringing Olivia.”
“It’s the Spirits and Spurs.” Sarah’s voice had lost some of its welcoming warmth. “My daughter-in-law Josie owns it.”
“Oh. Sorry. I didn’t get a good look at the sign when we drove through.” Harlan turned back to Rafe. “So I said we could probably do that.”
“We can.” Rafe glanced at Meg. “Would you like to come along?”
“Thanks, but I really need to do a few things around here.” She was moving from mild dislike to active dislike when it came to Harlan Locke, so the invitation held little appeal for her. Besides, she wanted Livy to form her own opinion without picking up negative vibes from her best friend. They could compare notes later.
Rafe looked as if he’d hoped for a different answer, but he gave her an understanding smile. “Right. I’ll see you at dinner, then.”
“Yes, I’ll see you then. Nice to have met you, Mr. L—uh, I mean Harlan.”
“Same here, Meg.”
With one last glance in Meg’s direction, Rafe followed his dad out the door.
Sarah let out a deep sigh. “And he’s supposed to be the good parent.”
Meg nodded. “And speaking of Diana, I just heard something you might want to know before she arrives.”
“Let’s go get a cup of coffee and sit out on the porch while you tell me about it.” Then she smiled. “Archie and Nelsie sometimes added a little Baileys to their coffee when they felt the need. I’m feeling the need. How about you?”
“Absolutely, Sarah.” Meg was so glad she’d stayed home instead of riding into town. “Hook me up.”
17
AS THE HOURS WENT BY, Rafe asked himself if his father had always been such an arrogant snob and had to admit that he had. Rafe had excused his behavior because the guy worked so damned hard, but his dad seemed to believe that dedication to his work made him superior to everyone else.
That sense of superiority hadn’t been so obvious in Harlan’s own environment when he was surrounded by people like him. But here it stood out in stark relief. Seeing his father as the Chances surely did was disorienting.
He’d looked up to his father all his life and considered him a role model. He’d followed in his dad’s footsteps, partly because he had a natural ability when it came to money management, but partly to please his dad. Harlan was pleased, and made sure to tell everyone at the dinner table that night how financially successful Rafe had become under his tutelage.
With every self-congratulating word out of his father’s mouth, Meg’s attitude grew more distant. Rafe could see it in her eyes. She didn’t much like his father, and the more Harlan referred to Rafe as a “chip off the old block,” the less she was going to like Rafe. He needed to reconnect with her.
As everyone left the dining table to gather in front of the fire in the living room, Rafe drew Meg aside. “Could I interest you in a walk in the moonlight, little lady?”
Her answering smile was tentative. “Wouldn’t it be rude to do that when the evening’s still in progress?”
“Not if I come up with an excuse. Leave it to me.”
She still looked doubtful. “All right.”
As everyone sought chairs and Sarah offered after-dinner drinks, Rafe spoke up. “I could be wrong, but I think there’s a partial eclipse tonight. Meg and I are going out to take a look.”
“An eclipse?” Wyatt frowned. “I don’t remember hearing about that.”
“That’s because you’re obsessed with wedding plans,” Jack said. “I heard about it.” He looked over at his wife. “Didn’t you, Josie?”
“No, I—oh, wait, yes, now that you mention it.” She ducked her head and suddenly became very busy playing with little Archie.
Rafe felt a surge of gratitude toward Jack and Josie. They knew he’d made up the eclipse story and
were helping substantiate it.
“I heard about it, too,” Olivia said. “You two go check it out for the rest of us.”
“We’ll do that. Come on, Meg.” He hustled her outside before any more questions were asked.
“An eclipse?”
“There could be.” He took her hand as they went down the steps to the gravel driveway. “You never know. Let’s go see.” He led her into the shadows created by two giant blue spruce trees on the far side of the drive.
She laughed. “Don’t you need to be out in the open to look at the moon?”
“That’s one theory.” He pulled her into his arms. “We can discuss it later.” Then he kissed her with the desperation of a man who’d gone too long without feeling her lips on his.
She kissed him back, but her response felt subtly different. Instinctively he knew she wasn’t giving herself to the experience the way she had before. She’d injected a note of caution into her kiss.
Reluctantly he lifted his head. “Talk to me, Meg.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
He couldn’t see her expression very well in the shadows, but he didn’t have to. He heard the hesitation in her voice. “Tonight at the dinner table I felt you pulling away. Was I wrong?”
“Rafe…”
Icicles settled in his gut. “I know my dad’s been getting on your nerves, but I’m not him. I hope never to be like him.”
With a sigh, she cupped his face in both hands. “I’m sure you won’t, but listening to him I realized how truly different you and I are. You’re focused on making money, and I’m focused on being happy. That makes our goals and values miles apart.”
“What if making money makes me happy? I enjoy my work, Meg. How much I earn doing it is a way of keeping score. Is that so terrible?”
“No, it’s not terrible at all. It’s just different from my way of looking at things. We have different priorities. I’ve been kidding myself that we could extend this…whatever is going on between us…longer than this week, but—”
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