by Desiree Holt
Georgie looked over at the man Jinx mentioned. “So why is he in here drinking in a corner and looking like he’s on his last dime?”
“Because he is. His father gambled everything away and now he’s barely got two cents in his pocket. And Ed’s the only one in town who’ll put up with him.”
“Why do I think there’s a lot more to the story than that?” Georgie asked.
“Not one you want to hear,” Amy told her. “I’d rather learn more about you.”
“Also for another day.” Georgie laughed.
“Just let me put a bug in your ear. If Cade Hannigan ever comes anywhere near you, run as fast as you can in the other direction. I mean it.” She refilled her glass from the pitcher. “’Nough said on that topic. For now.”
Georgie enjoyed sitting there chatting with the women. They talked about everything and nothing. She learned more about the county than all her research had unearthed. And unexpectedly, she felt very comfortable with her new friends.
Every so often, her eyes would stray over to the man hunched in the corner, her curiosity piqued. She’d certainly never been as rich as Cade Hannigan, but she’d worked her way up to a solid position of success at Carlton Enterprises before the bottom fell out of her life. She knew what it was to have what you wanted and lose everything, although financially she’d come out of it better off than this man obviously was.
Leave it alone, Georgie. He is what he is. Pay attention to what these women said.
Glancing at her watch, she drained the rest of the beer in her glass. “Well. My day starts very early tomorrow so I better hit the road.” She looked around the table “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you asking me to join you.”
“Everyone needs friends,” Jinx said. “I found that out the hard way. Maybe we just met, but I think we all get really good vibes from you. Let’s make sure you’ve got everyone else’s cell number besides mine. And give them yours.”
“And lunch next week,” Reenie reminded her.
Georgie gave them her cell number and they each punched theirs into her phone. For the first time since she’d run away from the mess in Dallas, she began to feel as if her life was taking an upturn again. She stood up and tugged on her jacket.
“Thanks again,” she told them.
As she turned toward the door, she realized the man huddled in the corner had pushed back his chair and was stumbling toward the entrance. She tried to avoid him but they collided right near the door. She took a step back, overwhelmed by the odor of whiskey.
“Watch where you’re going,” he snarled, knocking her into the nearest table.
She took a step back, holding up her hands. Behind her, she heard the scraping of chairs and glanced over to see that the women she’d just left had all risen from the table. She shook her head.
“I’m good. I’ll just let him get a little distance before I try the exit again.”
As he moved past her, he glanced up from beneath the brim of his hat. For a very brief moment, their eyes locked. She expected to see bitterness and anger in them, but instead she was shocked by the pain and misery there. Then he turned away and shoved through the door.
When he had left, she waved at the women and headed out the door herself. But driving home, she couldn’t get him out of her mind. Not just the odor of the alcohol or his disreputable appearance. The despair she saw there made her want to cry.
What on earth had happened to send a man that far over the edge? Sooner or later, she’d make it her business to find out.
Chapter Two
Bam, bam, bam!
For a moment, Cade thought the pounding was just in his head, so he pulled his pillow over his head.
Bam, bam, bam!
There it went again, but this time he realized it was an external sound. Someone was pounding on his door.
“Holy Jesus,” he groaned. “All right, all right. Put a lid on it. I’m coming.”
Slowly and painfully, he tossed back the threadbare covers and eased himself to a sitting position. The stabbing pain behind his eyes and the sour taste in his mouth didn’t help his mood one bit.
“Open up, Hannigan. Right now or I’m unlocking the door.”
Ed. What the fuck did he want? Had Cade overslept this morning? Missed his shitty cleanup duty?
Thank God, he’d left the shade down on the one window so at least he didn’t have the sunlight to contend with. Shuffling to the door he unlocked it and pulled it open. Ed barreled into the room, nearly knocking him over.
“Hey, what the hell? Am I late?”
“You’re finished. That’s what you are.” Cade tried to get his brain to function, squinting his eyes at Ed who looked as if he was about to pop a blood vessel.
“Wait. What?” He dragged his fingers through his hair. “Finished? Why?”
“That’s why.” Ed pointed at the wastebasket full of empty beer bottles.
“Oh.” Cade vaguely remembered finishing off the last six-pack he’d smuggled out of the bar. After having to watch Amy Stark—no, Montgomery—whooping it up with her friends, he’d wanted nothing more than total oblivion. And he’d gotten it. “So I helped myself to a couple of bottles of brew. Jesus, Ed. It’s not like you’re paying me a million bucks to work here.”
“After today I’m not paying you anything. I warned you. Told you one more time and you’d be out on your ass. So this is it. You’re out.”
Cade scrabbled desperately to get his brain working. “Come on, Ed. It won’t happen again. Holy shit. Give me a break, will you.”
The man walked up to him until they were practically nose to nose. “I gave you a break. Over and over. The only person in the county dumb enough to do it. And you repay me by stealing from me. So this is it. You’re done.” He pulled some bills from the pocket of his jeans and thrust them out. “Consider this your severance pay.”
“Wait.” Cade stood, dumbfounded, as Ed headed toward the door. “What will I do? Where will I go?”
“Not my problem anymore. Get your shit together and get the hell out of here. Oh, and leave your keys on the dresser or I’ll have to send Sheriff Cross after you.” He slammed the door behind him.
Cade stood frozen to the spot, unable to process what he’d just heard. He was fired? Out on his ass? Where the hell was he supposed to go? What was he supposed to do? Apparently, he should have taken Ed more seriously, but he’d just never thought the man would kick him out.
He dropped onto his bed, the seriousness of his situation slamming him in the face. He really didn’t have anywhere else to go. He’d managed to piss off everyone in the county when he was riding high on the hog. He was sure they all had a good laugh on a daily basis over his situation. And he’d done nothing about mending fences since then, preferring to nurse his resentment at his situation instead.
He looked at the money in his hand. That wouldn’t last him a week even in the cheapest motel. And then what?
He took a minute in the tiny bathroom to relieve himself and then stared at his reflection in the mirror. For the first time since the bottom had fallen out of his life, he realized he had lost all his options. No one was going to tell him it had all been a mistake. Or that a hidden stash had been found. Even his so-called friends walked around him as if he was shit on their shoes. Just as he’d always done to everyone he’d looked down on.
Figure it out, jerkhead. You’re one week away from begging on the streets.
The past few weeks had shown him exactly how far down he was on everyone’s shit list. None of the guys who’d been happy enough to ride his credit card seemed to have the least interest in reaching out to him now. Without a cell phone, he was reduced to making calls from the payphone at the Gas It Up. Where everyone could hear him calling his former friends, who too quickly slammed the phone down on him. It seemed even the worst of his so-called friends didn’t want his stink to rub off on them.
Never in his life had he expected to be this low. The fall had been abrupt and shocking
and he was still reeling from it. The worst part of it was overhearing what people said about him and wondering, for the first time in his life, if they were right. If that was why he was the outcast of Rowan County. He had certainly never been an introspective person, but the prospect of sleeping in the streets and starving to death could definitely jar your brain loose. Without even Ed and the Lone Star Bar, his outlook was, well, bleak?
So what now, jerkhead?
And then bits and pieces of last night came floating back to him. Amy and her friends in the Lone Star Bar. The blonde who’d wandered in and was swept up by them. The blonde who’d bought the old Marek B&B, empty now all these years since every one of the heirs had died off. There was a shitload of work to do on that place, and from what little he’d overheard, she was doing it on a tight budget. But she’d said she was in the market for a handyman with a variety of skills.
Okay. He might have walked around in hand-tooled boots and custom slacks, but Cade’s father had made sure he knew what hard work was too.
“If you’re gonna run a ranch, you better know what to do if everyone runs off and leaves you.”
How many times had he heard that? His father had long ago stopped swinging a hammer, as had Cade, but the skills were there, albeit a little rusty. What he didn’t know he’d figure out.
Ed was probably waiting downstairs, eyes glued to his watch, making sure Cade split right away. But his first order of business was to make himself presentable so the woman didn’t slam the door in his face. He showered in the tiny stall, deliberately using cold water to wipe the rest of the cobwebs out of his brain. With a hand that he wished was a lot steadier, he shaved as meticulously as he could, only nicking himself twice. He brushed his teeth carefully and rinsed with the last of his mouthwash. Finally, he found his cleanest shirt and pair of jeans, polished his boots as best he could, shook out his jacket and clapped his Stetson on his head.
He dragged his one remaining suitcase out from beneath the bed and stuffed it with the clothes he’d held onto. He’d never tell anyone that he’d driven two counties over more than once to sell pieces of his wardrobe to a thrift store. That had taught him what real humiliation was.
Okay. You can do this. Just keep remembering what the alternative is.
Wishing for just one last drink, he made his way down the stairs, unlocked his truck and tossed the suitcase in the back seat. He stopped only for some black coffee, a double, before heading for his destination. By the time he finished drinking it, his hands weren’t shaking quite so much. The B&B was just at the edge of town, sitting at the end of a wide tree-shaded driveway.
Cade pulled up next to a navy SUV and parked, turning off the engine and repeating the mantra again.
You can do this. You can do this. You can do this.
He damned well hoped so, because he was flat out of options.
Putting on what he hoped was a humble and respectful face, he climbed the steps to the front porch and, nervous for the first time in a long while, knocked on the door. No answer. She was here. Her car was here. Was she ignoring him?
Hell, how could she even know it was him?
He knocked again, this time a little more forcefully.
Georgie was up even before her alarm in the morning, excited to get to work. Meeting those three women last night, tasting the beginning of friendship, had totally energized her. She smiled to herself as she realized she actually had people she could call if she had questions and needed answers. People who could steer her in the right direction.
She was pretty sure their offers of friendship were genuine. They didn’t seem like the type to make a game of it. Not like the women she’d worked with in Dallas at the Carlton Hotels. They’d only sucked up to her because Everett Carlton had taken an interest in her and pushed her career along. She’d never quite become part of the inner circle, no matter how far up the ladder she’d moved.
In the beginning, she thought it was her lack of education. Carlton had a number of highly placed female employees with business degrees from high-profile universities. Then she’d discovered they resented the fact she’d acquired the skills that made Everett Carlton open doors for her. Now, after the fiasco when Everett retired and the new CEO thought paying her a salary gave him extra privileges, she was guarded about connecting with people.
But the women she’d met last night weren’t like the catty females in Dallas. It was hard to move around town without hearing references to them, all of them positive. So Georgie was cautiously optimistic that things were taking a turn for the better.
The sun was barely up when she made her first pot of coffee and treated herself to one of the delicious muffins from Muffin Man. Her blood was zinging through her veins and she was seized with a burst of energy. Today she planned to attack the dining room, steaming off the old wallpaper so she could scrape the walls. Then she’d apply a coat of fresh paint, the very soft green she picked out. Restful, she’d thought when she’d selected it. And it brought a touch of the outside into the place.
Fortified with three cups of coffee and the muffin, humming along to her iPod, she was busily running the steamer up and down the wall with slow strokes when a pounding somewhere disturbed her. She pressed the off switch on the steamer and pulled out her earbuds so she could listen better.
Yup. Someone was definitely knocking on her door. Who on earth could it be? She thought if one of her new friends had decided to come over they’d call first. Or maybe not. Maybe this town was just that friendly and she needed to get used to it. And she so wanted to get the dining room done today.
Smile, Georgie. You don’t want to scare them away the first time they really reach out to you.
But when she opened the door to see who was standing there, she was dumbfounded.
What the hell?
Cade didn’t think he’d ever been this nervous in his life, and looking at this woman didn’t help. Today she had her blonde hair up in a ponytail and worn jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt caressed a figure that made his cock want to stand up and salute. Unlike most of the women he knew, her face had a fresh quality to it and the thick blonde ponytail looked like a cascade of silk. He couldn’t say for sure, but he’d bet it was the real deal, nothing from a bottle.
But it was the crackle of electricity that snapped between them that was the real shocker. He could see she felt it too, her eyes flaring with the realization. Go figure. No makeup, a smudge of something on one cheek, and she quite literally took his breath away.
No, no, no, no. You are not putting the make on this woman. She’s your last chance. Your only chance.
She stared at him for a long moment before he saw recognition flare in her eyes and she took a step back. She was holding the handle of something that was part of some kind of machinery and she unconsciously held it up as if to ward him off.
Oh, Jesus. Those women last night had probably given her an earful about him. He was dead before he got started.
“Can I help you?”
He gave himself a mental shake, doing his best to stop gawking at her.
Be polite. Really polite.
He took off his hat and put on what he hoped was his most earnest face.
“My, um, name is Cade Hannigan.”
“I know who you are.” She was still holding that whatever-it-was in front of her.
Swell. So they had told her all about him. He’d better be plenty humble and make his case to her since his only other choice was the gutter.
“I wondered if I might speak to you for a moment.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I can’t imagine what we’d have to talk about. Now if you’ll excuse me.”
She was going to slam the door in his face. Oh, shit, shit, shit.
“I’ve never been in a position where I had to beg for anything,” he told her quickly, “but I’m begging now. For five minutes of your time. Just listen to me. If the answer’s no, I’ll turn around and drive out of here and you’ll be rid of me.”
&nb
sp; He watched her study him as she tried to make up her mind. Finally, she stepped outside and closed the door. She pulled a cell phone from her pocket and dialed 911 but didn’t push Send.
“I must be out of my mind, but okay, five minutes.” She held up the phone. “As you can see, one press of the button and this call goes through.”
“I won’t give you any reason to do that,” he tried to assure her. “I promise.”
“Okay.” She looked at her watch. “Your five minutes start now.”
“My name is Cade Hannigan, like I said. I’m sure the ladies you met last night gave you an earful about me. Everything they said is true. At least it was up until this morning.”
“What happened this morning?”
“I got fired from the only job I could get, lost the only place I have to live and I’ll be broke by the end of the week even if I only eat one meal a day.”
Was that a smile teasing at her lips?
“Well, Mr. Hannigan, it seems you’re in quite a fix. What makes you think I can help a broken-down, disreputable cowboy like you?”
“I heard you last night. At least some of it. I know you bought this place.” He waved his arm to encompass the building. “And that you’re looking for a handyman to help you.”
Now she did smile. “And you think you’re the answer to my prayers? The way I heard it, you aren’t handy with anything except your mouth.”
Damn it, damn it, damn it.
Whoever said the past is always with you was certainly right.
He sighed. “To tell you the truth, Miss—” He stopped, suddenly realizing he didn’t even know her name. “Well, this is embarrassing.”
“Zielinski,” she told him. “Georgia Zielinski. Georgie.”
“Okay, then. To tell you the truth, Miss Zielinski, I don’t think I’m the answer to anyone’s prayers. But I’m desperate.” He gripped the brim of his hat. “A very unfamiliar situation for me.”
