“We don’t have a relationship.”
She fixed her gaze on the window. Pearl gray dawn was breaking over the fields. “Yes, we do, Sawyer. Dolly is our relationship. I know you love her. We may not like each other but we both love Dolly and Dolly loves us. Can’t we start from there and do this small thing for her? One lunch. That’s all she wants. She’s even getting her hair done. It’s been weeks since she’s even been interested in leaving the house. Since the heart attack she’d kind of given up on life. I thought I was losing her until now. I can’t go back there and tell her it was all a lie. I can’t tell her she has nothing to look forward to after all.”
A headache was forming behind Sawyer’s eyes. He pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. “You’ll have to,” he said wearily. “This is only going to get more messed up if you don’t tell her the truth.”
“If telling the truth was an option, I would have chosen it before driving out here at four o’clock in the morning. If you won’t help, I don’t know what to do.”
“You’re over-reacting. She’s stronger than she looks.”
“How would you know? You haven’t seen her in weeks. Didn’t you wonder why she’s kept to the house these past few months? Did you ever call to check on her?” Porter rubbed her eyes of fatigue, or tears, Sawyer couldn’t tell which. She looked as exhausted as he felt. “This wasn’t easy for me, coming to you like this. You aren’t my favorite person.”
“No, indeed.”
“If there was any other way, I’d jump at it, but I can’t go back there and tell Dolly I lied. The disappointment … I can’t do it to her. I’m only asking for a couple of hours of your time. Please, Sawyer.”
“Look, Shelby, I love Dolly but I can’t pretend I’m in love with you.”
Shelby peered at him across the gloom. “Is it because of Janice? Look, if the two of you are working things out, I understand why you can’t do this thing for me. Obviously. If you’re getting back together, I’ll just—I’ll think of something to tell Dolly.”
Sawyer shook his head, remembering his beautiful ex-fiancée. “No, it’s definitely over between me and Janice.”
Janice Feron had arrived in Mandrake Falls three years ago with Martha Stewart visions in her head. But Sawyer’s glamorous interior designer girlfriend found adapting to rural life more difficult than she imagined, or so she told him as she packed her bags to leave. She was ambitious—too ambitious to settle for being a sheriff’s wife. Sawyer was glad she figured it out before they got married; he only wished she saw the light before the wedding invitations were mailed. The locals had been tiptoeing around him ever since.
“Actually, the only incentive there is in going along with this plan of yours is to look like a guy who’s bounced back. It’s hard to enforce the law in a town that feels sorry for its sheriff.”
“Well, I’m not sorry for you. I always thought you were making a mistake. You weren’t yourself when you were with her, and if you can’t be yourself, the relationship is in trouble.”
“How would you know I wasn’t myself? I was myself with Janice.”
“Okay, okay—relax. Good grief, it was just an observation.” She leaned back in the armchair and closed her eyes. “But I noticed you stopped having breakfast at the diner with the guys. And you didn’t laugh as much as you used to. You looked like a guy with something stuck up his you-know-what. Dolly never liked her, by the way.”
“She didn’t like Roger Cutter either so I guess that makes us even.”
Shelby’s eyes opened and narrowed behind her glasses. “She didn’t?” Sawyer could feel the tension in her small lithe form reach across the room to him.”Why, what has she told you?”
“Roger broke it off. She didn’t know why and I didn’t ask. He didn’t have a criminal record so it was none of my business. What are you going to tell her when this relationship of ours doesn’t go any further than lunch?”
She sat forward. “Does that mean you’ll do it?”
Sawyer dug the heels of his hands into his eyes. “I’m thinking about it. But let’s get something straight. Dolly’s no fool. My godmother could always see right through me. If I go along with this, I’m not going to be able to lie to her. I can tell her we got together last night and you asked me to lunch but that’s it. You’ll have to think of a way to get us out of this.”
“Lunch should be enough for now. She just wants to see me attached. It doesn’t matter to whom. In time, I’ll meet someone and I’ll tell her we broke it off. Her health should be better by then and with a real boyfriend to take your place, she won’t be too upset. I hope.”
“Now I’m definitely worried. I don’t want to wind up having to marry you just to keep Dolly happy.”
“Oh my darling Sawyer,” she hissed, rising to her feet. “Hell will freeze over first.”
Sawyer’s mouth twisted. “Now there’s the Porter I’ve come to know and love. We are lucky, you and me, that we don’t have to pretend with each other. We can get right down to business.” Shelby watched him, warily. His eyes found hers and he rubbed his bare arms to warm himself. “If I’m going to do this, I need something from you.”
Shelby shivered. “Name it.” Her voice was like smoke.
“The story you’re going to run on the pond, I want you to hold off until I’ve had a chance to look into it.”
Shelby stared. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“I’m not.”
“No. No way.”
“Porter, listen to me. You have a source at McIntyre Construction who’s obviously feeding you wrong information.”
“Not wrong information, just the wrong time. That pond is being threatened. Maybe not last night, but my source has solid evidence it’s going to be dredged. The informant can’t turn the proof over to me right now, it’s too risky, but he will.”
“Shelby, this is very important. I want you to come to me first with any evidence of wrongdoing you get on McIntyre Construction before you print it. Better still don’t investigate anything to do with this project without having me present. Someone is setting you up.”
“In your opinion.”
His jaw twitched but he nodded. “In my opinion. But this is one time I’m asking you to set aside your prejudices and trust me.”
“You’re trying to protect Ryan. You’ve always looked out for him.”
“True, but this time it’s not Ryan I’m looking out for, Porter, it’s you.”
Shelby opened her mouth to scoff but the sarcasm died on her lips when she caught the look in Sawyer’s eye. He meant what he said. Even in his boxers, Sawyer was all cop, and right now his expression told her something was wrong. But what? What did he know that she didn’t?
“All right,” she agreed grudgingly. “I’ll hold off on the story until you give me the all clear. And if I learn anything more, I’ll let you in on it but I’m not going to reveal my source. That’s the best I can do.”
Sawyer hesitated for a fraction of a second and then nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yes. Okay. I’ll do it. Just lunch. And then you’re on your own.”
He held out his hand and Shelby shook it.
The contact was electric. Heat prickled her scalp. Sawyer’s eyes darkened and his mouth moved as if to say something. His hair was almost black, thick on top and clipped at the sides, slightly old-fashioned. Stan, the only barber in town, had learned to cut hair from his father circa 1945 and was loathe to switch up the program. Sawyer’s hair was cut like a soldier’s from the First World War.
“Why me, Shelby?”
“I told you. Dolly saw your jacket and misunderstood.”
“You could have straightened her out. You could have made up a name.”
She looked at their hands still folded in the handshake, like business partners frozen in time, sealing a deal. “You seemed like the best choice. Dolly always said she hoped you and I would get together one day. Maybe I was subliminally influenced by that.”
She cleared her throat. They were standing as close to each other as they’d probably ever been in their entire lives. “Why do you ask?”
“Something with us happened at the construction site.”
“Yes.” She stared at his collarbone, afraid to think. “I felt it too.”
“Does it mean anything?”
“I don’t know,” she breathed.
He bent his head and kissed her. A soft, tender, barely-there kiss. Shelby responded, hesitant and slightly confused. Sawyer McIntyre kissing Shelby Porter. It wasn’t possible. Ask anyone. But then Sawyer put his hand on her lower back and there was no doubt. He kissed her deeply, but unwillingly—she could tell. Or maybe she was the unwilling one. She’d never been in a situation where the man made the first move. The sweatshirt bunched between them but his bare skin seemed to be everywhere her hands touched.
Sawyer straightened slowly, like he was coming out of a fog and frowned at her.
“Well?” She pushed her glasses up on her nose, mildly frustrated.
“I can’t tell if we’ll be bringing out the worst in each other by doing this, or if this truce will be the making of us.” He moved to the door and pressed his back against the frame. “But you better go before I forget who I am.”
Shelby nodded and squeezed past him into the hall. She made her way downstairs, considerably lighter in heart, but more confused in her head than she was when she arrived.
The McIntyre kitchen was a large sunny room with butter yellow walls and white cupboards. Shelby smiled inwardly, suddenly feeling as optimistic as the kitchen looked. Sawyer had kissed her. A truly incredible event. He didn’t laugh her out of his room. Or slam the door in her face. Or call Dolly and tell her everything. He kissed her.
She pushed open the screen door. The early October air was crisp with wood smoke although it was still Indian summer. She gazed over the misty fields, pale dawn light bouncing off her glasses and then closed the screen door quietly behind her. With one last look at his bedroom window, Shelby climbed into her car thinking of Dolly’s crazy wish that Sawyer and Shelby would wind up together one day.
Funny the ideas old people got into their heads.
Chapter Four: The Friend of My Enemy
RYAN MCINTYRE gloomily paced the office of Mayor Gene Cooper. He wasn’t a nervous man by nature, but waiting for the mayor to read over his proposal was bringing him to the brink of a nervous collapse. With his luck, the staff of the Mandrake Falls Gazette would jump out from Gene’s desk, camera phones flashing, recorders shoved in his face, poised to bring him down with a few pointed questions. Nothing would surprise him as far as that rag was concerned.
Ryan plucked an imaginary piece of lint from his flawlessly tailored suit. The hell of the last few years, with one development deal after another killed in council because of negative press, had brought him to this. He thought he’d finally caught a break with his barn conversion—a proposal so clean that even the Gazette couldn’t poke holes in it. The old barn was just off the highway, a heritage building doomed to collapse until Ryan made plans to convert it to a small shopping center known as The Country Barn. Artisans, craftspeople, a health food store and a book store clamored to rent space as soon as the proposal was made public. Apparently the Gazette had nothing against basket weaving and candle dipping. County officials were on board and for once, no one had anything to complain about. Ryan McIntyre was a hero. He was just beginning to relax as the preliminary renovation work got underway in the summer. Then all hell broke loose. And her name was Shelby Porter.
The first scathing editorial appeared after Shelby discovered Ryan was bending Vermont State environmental law slightly to expedite the work. In the end he’d had to backtrack over the work already done, losing time and a whole lot of money in the process. It was an expensive lesson; one that Ryan was determined not to repeat. The Country Barn was now a model for sound environmental construction. But Shelby Porter didn’t need to know that.
Mayor Cooper stopped reading and met his eye nervously. Ryan ran a manicured hand over his smooth dark hair and grinned. “Am I going to live, Gene? You look like a man about to give some very bad news.”
Mayor Cooper’s twitching fingers rustled the blueprints and projected revenue, the environmental impact studies and cost estimates, all carefully pulled together for this meeting. It was clear he wasn’t biting. The Mayor shifted, his leather chair made squeaking, sighing noises. Gene was nervous and if the mayor was nervous that meant Ryan was in trouble. There was no more wiggle room. Ryan needed this proposal to pass or he’d lose everything. The money was gone—evaporated in the slowdown in construction. To continue, he’d borrowed from backers who demanded changes of their own—an entertainment complex: cinemas, arcade and a casino. Rent from art supply stores didn’t generate revenue on the scale that gambling did. Ryan couldn’t argue, but he knew he’d have his work cut out for him getting town council to agree. He got straight to the point. “What’s wrong with it?”
“Nothing that jumps out, but you know how it is. I can’t back every change you make to the original plan. I like it, Ryan. I’m not saying I don’t. It’d bring jobs and we could use some of those but there’s not enough here in my mind to support it.”
“You’ve got the environmental impact study. You’ve got the projected revenue. What more do you need?”
“I need to know that the Gazette isn’t going to make me look like a horse’s ass! Can you guarantee you’ve dotted all your i’s and crossed your t’s? You know what I mean. When it comes to environmental law, you get careless, Ryan, and I can’t be seen condoning that kind of thing in my community. Not if I want to get reelected in November.”
“Gene, if I followed the law to the letter nothing would ever get built in this town. There’d be no progress. No jobs. No construction. We do our best but it’s never enough. Who appointed Shelby Porter the environmental watchdog of Mandrake Falls anyway?”
“She wouldn’t be watching you if you didn’t give her something to watch. You’d have support if you had a reputation for living up to your promises, but your history of letting things slide has finally caught up with you. Council pays attention to public opinion and like it or not, public opinion is influenced by the Gazette.”
Ryan settled his long immaculately dressed body into the leather chair opposite Gene Cooper’s desk. “When I get through with the Gazette and Shelby Porter,” he said softly, “the public won’t be able to trust her with the farm report never mind investigative coverage of McIntyre Construction.”
“Stop right there. The less I know the better.”
“All perfectly legal, Gene. Nothing to worry about.” Ryan smiled. “Is there any chance of keeping the Gazette out of the meeting this afternoon so you fellows can go over the amended proposal in peace?”
“Not a chance. Those meetings are open to the public. The best I can do is to add it to the agenda under new business; the Gazette’s reporter is usually gone by then to make his deadline. I’ll meet with council in-camera early next week to go over it before bringing it to a vote. But if the newspaper gets wind of this, I can’t make any promises the vote will go your way.”
“You deliver the votes and let me take care of the Gazette. Shelby Porter is going to have her hands full in the next few days. As early as the next edition, in fact.”
The mayor’s eyes slid to a spot behind Ryan and he turned to see his brother standing in the doorway, gazing at him with an unwavering blue intensity. Ryan loved his big brother and was never prouder of him than when he was elected county sheriff, going on to forge a reputation in law enforcement that placed him among the best in the country. In the back of his mind, Ryan assumed he would benefit by having a sheriff in the family. He was wrong. From his first parking ticket, Ryan realized his big brother wasn’t going to cut him any deals.
And from the look on Sawyer’s face right now, he also knew his brother wasn’t going to pretend he didn’t hear what he just heard.
�
��Hi Sawyer.”
“Ryan. Didn’t expect to find you here so early in the day.”
Ryan cut the Mayor a conspiratorial grin. “Sawyer’s been on me about sleeping late since I was in the fourth grade. He’s the early riser in the family.”
He took heart in Sawyer’s greeting, remembering that there was no love lost between Shelby and Sawyer. Ryan didn’t mind her on a personal level; his problems with Shelby were just business. But Sawyer was never able to get along with her. Maybe his brother would be willing to turn a blind eye this once, at least when it came to the Gazette.
Gene Cooper waved Sawyer in. “Morning, Sheriff. Your brother and I were just finishing up here. We’re going over his proposal for the council meeting this afternoon.”
“Which proposal is this?”
“A family entertainment complex. I’m still fine-tuning the logistics.” Ryan hastily gathered together the blueprints. “Thanks for the input, Mayor, but I don’t want to take up any more of your time. You and Sawyer have business to discuss.”
“If it’s okay with you, Gene, I’d like Ryan to stay,” Sawyer said. “I was going to call you anyway. My report concerns McIntyre Construction.”
“Oh?” Ryan tried to sound interested but neutral, wondering how much Sawyer had overheard.
“I found Shelby Porter trespassing last night at the Barn site. She said she was checking out a lead. Someone called her with a tip that McIntyre Construction was draining the pond on the property—a nesting ground.”
“What? That’s absolutely false!”
Sawyer held up his hands, cutting Ryan off. “I let her check it out and she didn’t find anything but she’s convinced you’ve covered your tracks.”
“I don’t understand why she’s out to get me. Shelby and I always got along. You’re the one she has trouble with. Who’s her source, did she say?”
Lie For Me: Autumn (Mandrake Falls Series Romance Book 2) Page 4
