“Have you already listed it?”
“Just yesterday, as a matter of fact.”
Worried about who would buy it and the effect it could have on her, she asked, “Have you had much interest yet?”
“No, but it’s only been a day.”
“Okay. Thanks for letting me know.”
“Good luck with everything, Amethyst. I’m sure it will all work out.”
“I hope so.”
She disconnected the call, then tried not to worry about the possible ramifications for her. Instead, she turned her focus back to making sure she looked her best before she went to see Justin. Over the past few days she’d seen him come and go a few times, and when they’d been outside at the same time, she’d waved and said hello. When he hadn’t come to talk to her at those times, she’d been disappointed, but his behavior had only confirmed her suspicion that he didn’t feel the same connection to her that she felt to him.
Then why was she bothering to go see him? Not exactly sure, she knew she wasn’t ready to write him off just yet. Besides, she had told Chloe she would ask about Chris.
With a purpose in mind, Amethyst headed next door.
Sawyer turned the volume up on the tv so he could hear the sports announcer better. It was a playoff game, and although he wasn’t a huge baseball fan, watching the game was better than dwelling on the sorry state of his life. Back in LA he’d had friends he hung out with regularly, and of course running Tyler’s club had kept him extremely busy. Now, with nothing to do but wait for the DEA to finish their investigation and hopefully put Tyler behind bars, Sawyer was going out of his mind with boredom.
To top it all off, each time he’d seen Amethyst over the past few days, he’d wanted nothing more than to talk to her. Every time he’d been with her he’d felt happier and full of optimism.
Then why was he cutting himself off from her? Did he really think Tyler would find him? He had probably never heard of Emerald Falls and never would. Sawyer needed to live his life.
Audibly sighing, Sawyer pushed himself off of the couch and went in to the kitchen to grab something cold to drink. While he was staring into the refrigerator, the doorbell rang.
Startled—no one but Amethyst ever came over and he really didn’t expect it to be her—his heart began to pound in fear.
Maybe Tyler had found him.
Then he realized how unlikely it would be that Tyler would be so polite as to ring the bell. Instead, Sawyer was sure, Tyler would break into the house in the middle of the night when Sawyer was off of his guard. That’s when he’d attack.
The stark reminder of the way Tyler operated was like a splash of ice water.
The doorbell rang again.
Sawyer shut the door to the fridge, then walked to the front door. Looking through the peephole, to his delight he saw Amethyst standing on his front porch. The sight of her helped him to move his thoughts away from Tyler and to happier things.
“Hey there,” he said with a smile after he’d pulled the door open.
“Hi, Justin.”
“Uh, do you want to come in?” He wanted nothing more than to have her distract him from his troubles.
“Sure.”
He seemed happy to see her. Unsure how to take that, Amethyst followed Justin into his living room.
He turned the tv off, then gestured to the couch. “Have a seat.”
“I don’t want to interrupt. If you’re watching a game, I mean.”
“I don’t care about that.”
“Okay.” She sat near one end of the couch and he sat a couple of feet away.
“So, Amethyst. What brings you over today?”
I wanted to see if we have a connection. “I haven’t talked to you in a few days, so I wanted to see how you’re doing.”
“I’m doing all right.”
She could come up with a more sparkling conversation than that. “Good.” She paused a beat. “So, I was wondering if you’ve talked to your brother yet. About coming for a visit.”
“Uh, not yet. No.” He smiled. “Why?”
“It’s just that I told my friend Chloe that I’d ask.”
He nodded. “I see.”
She noticed he didn’t commit to calling his brother. How often did they talk? But she wasn’t going to ask about that. It was bad enough when she had asked about his past relationships. No, this visit was about the two of them and if there was a connection there. Not about him and his relationship with his family.
Chapter 20
It sure would be nice if he could let his guard down with her. But since he couldn’t, Sawyer settled for giving as much as himself as he was able.
“I found out something today that might be bad news,” she said, and he was immediately interested.
“What’s that?”
“The boutique in town where I sell a lot of my jewelry? The owners are selling it.”
He listened as she told him what the owner had told her. “With any luck, you won’t notice any changes with the new owner,” he said with a look he hoped expressed encouragement. “Unless they’re good changes.” He thought about the changes he’d suggested to Tyler when he’d taken over managing his club. Most of the changes Tyler had chosen to implement had been in the early stages of proving lucrative. How successful would those changes have made the club if he hadn’t left?
Thinking about that made his desire to be a business consultant flare within him.
“I hope so,” Amethyst said. A wistful expression filled her face. “I wish I could buy it. I love that little boutique, and there are a lot of things about it that I would change.”
Sounded like she was a kindred spirit. “Why don’t you then?” he asked.
She laughed. “I’m an artist. Not a business person.”
“Why can’t you be both?”
She shook her head, but the more she thought about it, the more the idea excited her. Then the obstacles filled her mind. “I don’t know if I could get a loan.”
“There’s only one way to find out.”
She held up her hands. “Hold on. I barely found out about them selling. I’m not ready to think about buying it so quickly.”
“Okay. But I think you’d be awesome.”
She tilted her head. “How can you say that? You don’t know anything about the way I run my jewelry-making business.”
“I know you make a living with your business, so you must be doing something right.”
He was right. Maybe she should consider it. But she didn’t know. “There’s a lot more to running a store than what I do with my little business.” Discouraged by the idea of failing before she’d even tried, her shoulders slumped a little. “Maybe if I had someone to help me. Someone with experience.”
Sawyer wanted to jump up and say Me! That would be me! But he’d told her he was in sales, not that he helped business owners run their businesses. Still, he didn’t want to see her give up when he knew he could help her succeed. “If you do it,” he began, “I might be able to help.”
Skepticism was written all over her face. “No offense, Justin, but how much experience do you have in running a business?”
It was his area of expertise. “My father owned his own business.” A lie. “And it was really successful. He taught me a lot.”
A spark of interest lit her eyes. “Really?”
No, but he really did know his way around businesses. “Yeah.”
“What kind of business did your dad have?”
Scrambling to embellish his lie, Sawyer cleared his throat. “It was a little diner in the town where I grew up.”
Interest filled her face. “You never told me where you and Chris grew up.”
Great. Now his lies were only going to multiply, because he didn’t think she would consider Los Angeles to be a little town. “You’ve probably never heard of it.”
“What’s it called?”
Mentally crossing his fingers that she’d never been there before, he said, “Ashland, Mon
tana.”
“You’re right. I haven’t heard of it.”
He held in the sigh of relief that wanted to burst from his mouth. The only reason he’d heard of it himself was because he remembered one of the regulars at the club telling him about the place.
“So is that where Chris lives?”
Why stop lying now? “Yeah.”
“You surprise me, Justin.”
“Why’s that?” Because he was learning to lie so easily? Holding back a frown, he waited to hear her comment.
“I didn’t realize you were from a small town. Emerald Falls must feel kind of familiar then.”
“Yeah.” Not at all. It felt really strange, actually.
Gaining confidence in the idea of trying to buy Emerald Chic Boutique now that she knew Justin might be able to give her some pointers, Amethyst’s spirits rose. “You know,” she said, “we should go to dinner. We can talk about my ideas for changes to the boutique and you can give me feedback.”
Plus, she knew she felt a connection to him, and she really wanted him to feel a connection to her.
Thrilled with a reason to spend time with her that wasn’t strictly romantic, he jumped at the chance. “That’s a great idea.”
“It’ll be my treat,” she said with a grin.
“All right. When do you want to go?”
Her smile grew. “What about tonight?”
Glad to have something to do besides watch tv, especially when that something involved Amethyst, he agreed.
“Great! I’m going to call Todd and let him know I’m interested, then we can go to dinner about six.”
“Perfect. I’ll come get you then.”
She stood. “Thanks for your encouragement, Justin. It was just what I needed to hear.”
He walked her to the front door, and when he saw the sparkle of excitement in her eyes, more than anything he wanted to take her into his arms and kiss her, but he held back. “I’m glad, but all I was doing was telling you the truth.” For a change.
Amethyst smiled, and as she stood close to him, she could feel it, the connection she’d felt before. Did he feel it too?
He gazed at her, and she mentally urged him to kiss her, but when he didn’t, she consoled herself with the knowledge that in a few hours they’d have dinner together. Maybe after that he would kiss her.
“See you in a while,” she said, then she walked back to her house.
The moment she closed her door and sat on the couch, she called Todd Davis and told him she was interested in buying the boutique. He told her the asking price, and when Amethyst heard the amount, she thought it might actually be doable.
“To tell you the truth,” he said, “Mary and I would love it if you bought it. We know you’d treasure our little shop as much as we do.”
Optimistic that this might actually work, Amethyst discussed details with him, then told him she would have to see about getting a loan before she made a final decision.
“I promise I won’t sign a contract with anyone else until I hear back from you,” he said.
“Thank you so much, Todd. I’ll let you know as soon as I can.”
After they hung up, excitement at the possibilities raced through her. And with Justin’s help, she wouldn’t be completely on her own.
Eager to share her news with someone, Amethyst called Chloe.
“Wow,” Chloe said after Amethyst told her. “That’s really exciting.”
“I know.”
“A little scary too though, don’t you think?”
“Justin said he’d advise me. He said he learned a lot about running a business from his father.”
“Do you think he really knows how to run a business?”
Not liking her excitement dampened by doubts, Amethyst knew she had to consider Chloe’s question. “He seemed pretty confident.”
“Okay.” Chloe paused a beat. “Plus, you can always ask Gage for advice.”
Amethyst pictured their friend who owned the bakery in town. “Exactly. So I’m not worried. It’s more a case of whether I can swing the cost.”
“What about the time it will take away from your work?”
“I was thinking of setting up a studio at the boutique, right out front. That way I can work on my jewelry and oversee things at the same time. I think people might find it interesting to see me working. And if it’s super busy, I can hire a part-time employee, but I think I’ll be able to manage.”
“Sounds like you’ve thought of everything.”
“I’m super excited, Chloe.”
She laughed. “I can tell.”
“I also thought of a way for you to check out Justin.”
“Ooo. Tell me.”
“I’m taking him to dinner tonight, so if you’re not busy, you can stop by The Glasshouse when we’re there. Our date’s at six. It will be like you just happened to be there. I’ll introduce you, you can chat with him for a few minutes, and then you can let me know what you think.”
“Oh, I’ll be there.”
Amethyst laughed. “I knew you would.”
Chapter 21
“I’m taking you to The Glasshouse for dinner,” Amethyst said when he came to her house at six.
“Sounds good.” His gaze swept over her. “You look lovely, by the way.”
Looking down at her dark grey slacks and turquoise blouse, she smiled, then met his gaze. “Thank you.”
“After you,” he said, then he followed her out of her house and to his car, where he helped her into the passenger seat.
Once they reached the restaurant and were seated, she told him about her conversation with Todd.
“Sounds like he wants to sell it to you,” Justin said.
“I know. I’m so glad. And I have so many plans already.” They ordered their meal, then she told him about her idea to set up a work space right where everyone could watch. Suddenly worried it was a terrible idea, she asked, “What do you think?”
“I think it would be awesome. When I’ve seen that done before, it’s always a big hit. When people see how your pieces are hand-crafted, they’ll want to buy them all the more.”
Hearing him echo her thoughts built her confidence about the idea. She told him other ideas she had, and by the time the server brought their food, her excitement had only grown.
He was glad he had encouraged her to do this. It was making her happy. He just hoped she could get the loan.
“Hey, Amethyst,” a woman said a moment later. “How are you?”
Sawyer looked to see who was talking and saw a pair of attractive women approaching their table. More than a little uncomfortable to have to interact with additional people in town, he pushed a smile onto his face.
“Hi, Chloe,” Amethyst said. “Hi, Gabby.” Then she turned to him. “Justin, these are two of my good friends. Chloe Rollins and Gabby Peters.”
Standing, Sawyer held out his hand. “Hello, ladies. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too,” Chloe said as she shook his hand.
“Yes, nice to finally meet you,” Gabby said as she took his hand.
“Where’s Travis tonight?” Amethyst asked the woman with the long, dark hair—Gabby.
“He’s hanging out with his buddies, so Chloe and I decided to do a girls’ night out.” Her eyebrows rose. “Chloe tells me you may be buying Emerald Chic. That’s so exciting.”
Amethyst looked over at Sawyer and said, “Yes, thanks to Justin’s encouragement.”
Gabby turned to him. “I think she’d do great. She’s got the right personality for it, don’t you think?”
Glad that they weren’t asking questions about him, he said, “Amethyst is an amazing woman and I think she can do anything she puts her mind to. ”
The other woman, Chloe, smiled at him, then nodded at Amethyst. “I like this guy.”
Glad he’d said the right thing, he had to remind himself that this dinner was about her business ideas, not about a romantic relationship.
Ple
ased that Chloe’s first impression of Justin seemed to be positive, Amethyst looked at Gabby to gauge her reaction. Gabby smiled, but didn’t give any other indication of what she thought of Justin.
“So,” Chloe said as she focused on Justin. “Amethyst tells me you’re in sales.”
Glancing at Amethyst, Justin shifted in his seat. Did he suspect she’d orchestrated this impromptu meeting? She needed to get feedback from her friends, so she didn’t think she had done anything wrong.
“Yeah,” he said. “But I’d rather talk about Amethyst and her plans. Did she tell you any of her ideas for the store?”
Chloe’s gaze shifted to Amethyst. “Just about setting up a work space in the front of the boutique.” She turned to Justin. “I think it’s a fabulous idea.”
He nodded. “Me too. I was telling her earlier how I’ve seen that done in other small shops and how much customers seem to enjoy it.”
“I’d like to see you create jewelry,” Gabby said. She laughed. “In fact, I’ll be one of your first customers.”
Touched by her friends’ support, Amethyst felt tears fill her eyes. “You guys are so great. Thank you.”
“Just let us know what we can do to help,” Chloe said.
“First I have to get a loan, but then, yeah, I’ll definitely let you know if I need any help.”
“Perfect,” Gabby said. She turned back to Justin. “It was nice meeting you, Justin.”
He smiled. “Likewise.”
“See you later,” Chloe said.
He nodded, then Gabby and Chloe went to a table a distance away.
“Your friends are really nice,” Sawyer said. And despite the fact that he wanted to minimize how many people in town he talked to, he hadn’t minded meeting them.
“I know,” Amethyst said. “They really are the best. I’ve known them since high school.”
“Really? That’s pretty cool.”
“You probably have a lot of friends in Ashland though, right? I mean, with it being a small town and all.”
Dangerous Lies: Sawyer and Amethyst (An Emerald Falls Romance, Book Two) Page 9
