Adler James

by Christa Wick

  The numbers weren’t good enough to put in a restaurant or an actual convenience store. So there was the run-down attendant’s shack, the pumps, a unisex bathroom, and some covered vending machines. Cash wasn’t accepted. If there was a problem with the pump’s reader, the transaction was conducted through a small window with a cut out to slide credit cards through.

  To use the restroom, the attendant had to leave the shack. Cooling off required keeping the sliding glass door open, and therefore unlocked, because there wasn’t even a window AC. With the building thin metal and glass, with nothing to shade it, a sunny spring day was enough to roast its occupant. And, no matter the time of day, there was only ever one attendant on duty. Again, the numbers weren’t good enough for more staff and there was little enough work for one person to do, let alone two.

  All of this only mattered to Adler because Dalton Burnett, Jr., was standing in the shack wearing a pie-eating grin as he interviewed a job applicant.

  A tall, blonde, voluptuous applicant.

  This is going to make her angry, Adler thought, leaving his truck and walking toward the shack.

  Furious, even—but he had to do it.

  He rapped on the glass, surprising both of the shack’s occupants. Adler had pulled in when a big rig was fueling and Sage’s back was to the sliding door. Dalton had been too busy eyeballing his potential new employee that he hadn’t noticed Adler’s big black truck after the semi left the lot.

  Now that Sage recognized him, the first thing that flashed across her face was fear. She slid the door open.

  “Leah?”

  “Huh?” It took Adler a second of feeling dumb before he realized she thought he was the bearer of bad news. That was true, in a way, but not like she thought.

  “No,” he answered. “No one has been hurt or anything. I’m here to talk to Dalton.”

  Shoulders flaring, the man pointed at Sage. “I’m in the middle of an inter—”

  Adler shook his head, the simple gesture silencing the man. Maybe it was more than the shake of his head, Adler realized. He could feel a tightness in his eyes and mouth, a tightness fueled by anger.

  He felt all levels of anger directed at multiple targets. He was irritated that Sage was applying for a job far below her skill set when he had already told her the ranch had openings, all of them listed online as well. Of course, he had told her that before mauling her in the bathroom on a Sunday of all days.

  So he was mad at himself, too. Dalton was definitely high on his shit list for ogling Sage and keeping the sliding door shut so she got all hot and sticky in the metal building in a way that probably made the man want to leer at her even more.

  Most of all, he was furious that Jake would let his sister apply for the job. Dalton was only looking to fill the overnight shift. Daytime was bad enough to leave a woman alone in a building that was barely more than corrugated metal and glass on a road mostly traveled by truckers at intervals that could leave the lot empty long enough for the worst to happen.

  Putting Sage on the night shift was simply unconscionable.

  She slid past him, her spine stiff and her face set as she walked over to the covered vending area.

  “Now what’s the meaning of this?” Dalton hissed.

  “She’s family,” Adler answered. “You’re not hiring her.”

  All Dalton could do was lean in and glare with an impotent heat. The ranch’s vehicles might not stop at the station often, but Tumbleweed had a contract to fill the storage tanks at both the ranch and Walker’s timber operations. That made Adler and his brother the biggest customers Tumbleweed had. Losing them would put the company out of business.

  Adler countered the glare with a sharp smile. He had a mind to leave Dalton roped up until his daddy came out to collect him. Instead, he just growled at the man.

  “You think real hard before you put any woman in this dump after dark.”

  Adler left the shack and returned to his truck as Dalton walked over to the vending machines and spoke a few words to Sage. Her face was resigned before the man opened his mouth. She said something in reply, the first two words looking like “thank you.”

  She turned her back to Adler after Dalton slunk away to the shack. Knowing she needed a return ride to town unless she wanted a long wait, Adler foolishly expected her to come over to his truck.

  Clearly, that wasn’t going to happen.

  He stalked his way back across the lot, telling himself over and over that he needed a calm voice and calm words to diffuse Sage’s anger and get her to see the sense. It didn’t help that this was like Jake refusing a job all over again. Adler had a sneaking suspicion it was for the same reason—something in Jake’s past they wanted to keep hidden.

  “If your brother had a lick of—”

  Sage interrupted him mid growl. “I don’t screen my jobs with my brother, so don’t think he was okay with this or even knew I was out looking.”

  That stopped Adler short. He swiped a hand roughly through his hair then stepped under the awning. Sage retreated to the opposite side of the shaded area. She was still sweating or he figured she would have left the shade just to avoid being anywhere near him. He couldn’t blame her, not after the incident in the bathroom.

  Growling, he turned to one of the vending machines and fed it enough money to purchase two bottled waters. Cracking the seal on the first one, he offered it to Sage. She looked at his hand like it was some kind of snake or feral animal.

  He made a show of checking the parking lot. “Please tell me you didn’t hitchhike out here.”

  “Of course not, Betty…” Sage trailed off, then a fresh coat of red colored her face. “She called you, didn’t she?”

  Indeed, Betty Rae had contacted him. He knew exactly how Sage had arrived at the Tumbleweed and how it would be a good half hour before Betty Rae swung back around after her doctor’s appointment in Roundup to retrieve Sage.

  Still, he wasn’t going to straight up admit it.

  “Now why would she contact me?” he asked. “Could it be so I could keep you from getting a job that would put your life in danger? Or maybe so I could give you one with better pay, benefits, good hours and a room just off your office for Leah to play in and be watched over by you and the rest of the family?”

  Sage glared at him, her breathing harsh, like a prized mare getting ready to rear up and crack him one on the head.

  He sighed. There was no way to make a woman see sense when she had her back up. Especially when she had plenty of reasons to doubt his real intentions.

  Adler barked out his frustration. “You plan on staying here stewing until Betty Rae swings around again?”

  Sage didn’t answer, just left the protected area and walked around to the opposite side of the shack, all nature of unpleasant odors creeping out from under the bathroom door.

  Still carrying the water bottles, Adler followed.

  The calm tone and soothing words finally came to him, though he wasn’t sorry for what he said earlier. He would move heaven and earth not to have someone he cared about work at a location like the Tumbleweed. And Sage was family now, so he de facto cared about her, whether or not she welcomed his concern.

  “Look, it doesn’t matter to me where you work, as long as it’s safe. I’m not having Leah lose someone so soon after Dawn passing.” Seeing a small measure of retreat in her pale green gaze, Adler softly pressed forward. “And I don’t know what passed between you and Jake that he didn’t even want to acknowledge that you exist, but I believe he would be wrecked if anything happened to you.”

  The green gaze turned wet and a small tremor vibrated across her mouth.

  At last, he was getting somewhere with the stubborn, prideful woman who had somehow captured his interest in ways he didn’t want to admit.

  “Let me take you by the office, Sage, show you what the work is. You already know the set-up is perfect for having Leah there. I don’t want to take money away from Nora Woods with how she’s been looking after
Leah since Dawn died, but…well, don’t you think Honey Bee is better spending her days with family?”

  He saw the gears turning in Sage’s head, saw them spinning in the direction of another rejection by the way her mouth flattened as she drew a deep breath.

  But then she surprised him.

  “I have a limited liability company,” she said. “It’s registered in Delaware. You can contract with the LLC. I’ll work on site, but you pay the LLC in advance, a month at a time.”

  He tried to process what she was telling him. Why would someone living in Maryland have a Delaware company—unless this was all about keeping secrets?

  “I don’t need to know what the job is,” Sage pressed. “I’ve read all your job listings. There’s not anything on the administrative side that I can’t do.”

  He nodded. He didn’t care if she could do the work or not. Her next ill-advised job application might be for some company where he couldn’t pull rank and keep them from hiring her. He needed her safely at the ranch until he could figure things out, not least of all why it meant so much to him to know Sage was safe and looked after.

  “Terms?” he asked. Even if she had him over a barrel, he didn’t want to give her that impression.

  “Five thousand a month for a standard forty hour work week. The LLC means you don’t have to pay any benefits or the employer side of social security, unemployment and Medicare taxes. That’s the LLC’s responsibility. And no more funny business.”

  He lifted a cold brow. “Believe me, nothing like that will happen again.”

  She probably thought he was lying, probably had the same opinion of him as she did of any of those celebrity shits getting their names in the news recently.

  “Nothing like that has happened before,” he said.

  With an eye roll, Sage showed just how much she believed him.

  “Fine. No funny business. When would you start?” he asked, handing her the open water.

  This time she took it. “Next Monday if that’s all right.”

  It was Wednesday afternoon. He hadn’t seen or otherwise talked to Sage since their encounter in the bathroom. He sure had thought about her all of Monday and Tuesday, far more than he would ever admit.

  His head bobbed in agreement. “Monday is fine. Leah’s birthday is Sunday, lots of planning to do before that.”

  He pointed at his truck. “Let’s swing by the ranch before I drop you at home. You can print up an invoice there and I’ll write you the check.”

  She studied his face for a second before answering, the green eyes darting in search of a trap. He stared steadily in return, silently willing her to understand he wasn’t her enemy.

  “I told you, that’s never happening again,” he said after a minute passed without Sage moving a muscle.

  “Okay,” she relented.

  “Good.” He smiled, but only a small fraction of the tension that had filled him ever since Betty Rae’s call drained from his shoulders.

  Walking over to the truck, he picked up the pace so he would reach the passenger side before Sage. He opened the door and extended his hand to assist her in stepping onto the side rail and into the cab. She offered a moment’s hesitation, but then her fingers slid across his palm and curled to grip his hand. He felt the contact all the way up his arm and into his chest.

  When it came time to let go, he had to force his hand to withdraw.

  The ride to the ranch was just as forced. He didn’t want to sit there lock-jawed. But talking to her was a minefield if he didn’t want Sage to change her mind about coming to work for the ranch. The normal small talk filled with questions would send her running away.

  So he talked about the ranch, which led him to talking about his parents, and then his brothers and then, as they turned onto the drive and surfed the perpetual twilight between the trees, he talked about Dawn.

  When he pulled up in front of the house and turned the truck off, Sage did the unimaginable. She reached across the front seat and covered his hand with hers, offering a light squeeze before retreating.

  “I wish I had met your sister. She sounds like a truly wonderful person. She certainly has raised an amazing little girl.”

  He nodded, suddenly numb, all the pain he had suppressed since the funeral rushing at him. On wooden legs, he rounded the front of the truck, opened Sage’s door and helped her out.

  Walking her through the house to the office, one thought kept circling through Adler’s head. It was true Sage hadn’t met Dawn—and the fault was Jake Ballard’s.

  8

  Balloons and ribbons festooned the front of the Turk family home. Sparkly gold letters spelled out Leah’s name. Below that, pink and silver glitter competed to crown her the “Birthday Princess.”

  “Daddy, my name!” Leah squealed, a huge smile plastered across her delicate face.

  “That’s right, baby girl.” Unbuckling Leah’s safety harness, Jake lifted her out of the car seat.

  “Birthday, daddy!”

  “Is it?” he teased.

  Seeing the genuine smile on Jake’s face, Sage felt an invisible giant pressing its foot against her chest, breathing suddenly impossible. Her brother had spent the last few days pacing back and forth after she told him she would be working for the Turk’s cattle operations. Even after she explained using the LLC, she couldn’t get him to relax. Nothing could dispel the cloud of doom he imagined hanging over his head, tracking his every step.

  Nor could Sage get him to understand that the lies and omissions he had fed the Turks were worse than the truth he and Sage shared between them.

  At least, for the moment, seeing his little girl so happy, he was happy, too.

  Adler bounded down from the porch. He didn’t make it to the truck in time to open Sage’s door, but he stood ready to carry the big, wrapped box containing Jake’s present for his daughter while Sage grabbed the smaller gifts.

  Meeting his gaze, she involuntarily matched his smile as a little of the pressure in her chest eased. She had plenty of reasons to both dislike and distrust the man. He’d nearly given her a heart attack the first time they met and had essentially blackmailed her into taking the job. And no matter how wet and willing she had been in the bathroom, he had tried to use her arousal to get the truth out of her. Despite all that, being around Adler gave Sage the sense that things would work out. That, by sheer force of will, he would make things right.

  “Honey Bee drive you crazy this morning?” he asked.

  Sage’s smile broadened into a grin. She liked Adler using the nickname and his question brought to mind the hectic but joyful morning getting the little girl ready for her party.

  “She certainly was buzzing around a lot,” Sage answered. “You would think that box you’re holding was one giant flower as much time as she spent hovering next to it.”

  He leaned close, whispering in her ear. “Is it the pink vintage dream kitchen? I remember Dawn was saving up for that.”

  Hitting the porch steps, Sage nodded then froze for a second. “What is that smell?”

  “It’s a ranch,” Adler joked. “Which of the hundred plus smells are you talking about, Miss Ballard?”

  “My cake,” Lindy guessed, holding the screen door open to let everyone pass through.

  “My cake, Gam-Gam,” Leah corrected as Jake put her down in the hallway.

  “Yes, love. It’s your cake, I just baked it.”

  “It smells so good I’m afraid to have any.” Sage followed Adler into the great room where more presents were stacked around the fireplace. “Like when you’re a little kid and first discover ice cream and it makes perfect sense that’s all you should ever eat again.”

  “Was it store-bought ice cream?” he asked, taking the bag of smaller gifts from her.

  Their hands brushed for a second during the exchange. An electric thrill raced across Sage’s body. She hadn’t touched him since Wednesday right before they got out of his truck. That was when, without thinking, she had placed her hand ove
r his and offered a light squeeze. There had been no hot sizzle then. For her at least, she had felt a deep ringing, like a bell or one of those big metal plates being struck over and over. It had echoed all through her. Even her bones had vibrated with the sensation.

  “Yes, store bought.” She caught herself before she could say that her mother never had time to be much of a homemaker. Meals were healthy, rooms were clean, homework had a guiding hand when necessary—but the rest of her mom’s time was devoted to long hours at work keeping a roof over her children’s heads.

  “Well then, this is going to be ten times more earth-shattering than when you discovered ice cream.” Leaning all the way in, his lips brushed her ear for a second as his breath steamed her neck with a whisper. “Siobhan calls it the O Cake. I wouldn’t say it’s quite that good, but close enough.”

  A whole lot of heat flooded Sage’s cheeks. It wasn’t just what was said, but the man saying it and how close he stood, how intimate the whisper. It was the memory of his touching her, kissing her, making Sage ready and wet for him.

  She was going to need a lot of ice water to put out the fire if he whispered in her ear again.

  “Whoa, baby girl!” Catching Leah about to open the big box, Adler darted over and scooped the toddler into his arms. “Party first, presents later.”

  “Box first!”

  When Adler shook his head, she cupped her hands around his chin and tried to get him to nod. Tears of laughter glinted in his eyes as he handed her off to Jake.

  The porch screen banged shut as Siobhan entered the house, pulling in her wake a man and a woman, both of them around Lindy’s age. Both were dark haired with strands of gray showing. The man had eyes that matched Adler’s, marking him as a Turk. The woman’s were a dark brown, like Siobhan’s. Broad cheeked with a short chin and light brown skin that didn’t look like a tan, Sage guessed the woman’s heritage was at least partly indigenous. She also guessed the woman was Siobhan’s mother, their height nearly equal and only time differentiating their beauty.