The mayor pressed her lips together, then nodded at a woman in a city park uniform. She pressed a button, and a pulley system was activated. Over the low hum of the engine winding the rope, the heavy canvas rose higher and higher.
Nevada stared at the slender supports, then the bottom of the piece came into view.
The metal curved into a near point. Random squiggling designs decorated the sides. As the cover exposed more, the V shape was more pronounced. At the top, two bulging pods sat on either side of the curving V.
Nevada tilted her head as she stared. To be honest, it wasn’t all that vaginalike — probably a good thing for the town.
“What is it, Mommy?” a little boy asked.
“I have no idea,” his mother replied, sounding puzzled.
“Thank God,” Mayor Marsha murmured.
For the first time in days, Nevada laughed.
TUCKER’S FATHER’S OFFICE was about the size of a bus terminal, with sweeping views of Lake Michigan. Tucker generally enjoyed visiting Chicago. He liked the feel of the city, the restaurants, enjoyed the people. But this time he wasn’t interested in his surroundings. Instead of enjoying the view, he paced in front of his father’s desk.
“I can’t go back,” he repeated for the third or fourth time. “I’m totally at fault. I shouldn’t have gotten personally involved. I know better. I didn’t mean to, but she was there, you know? Just there.”
He paused and looked at his father, who was simply watching him.
“She’s beautiful. That’s part of it. Not traditionally gorgeous like Cat or some model, but there’s something that grabs you, and then doesn’t let go.” He jammed his hands into his jeans pockets, then pulled them out. “She’s good at her job. The guys like her a lot. They respect her. And she’s funny. I have a good time with her.”
He stopped in front of his father’s desk. “So, you see why I have to leave.”
“No,” Elliot Janack said slowly. “I don’t.”
“I can’t be with her. I know what she’d want. Love. Marriage. Forever.”
“Why is that bad?”
Tucker started for the door, then turned back. “I never told you what happened with Cat. Caterina Stoicasescu. That artist? We did the installation for her about ten years ago. It was the first time you put me in charge of a job. I fell for her, Dad. I fell hard.”
Haltingly, he detailed his obsession with the irresistible artist and how difficult it had been to break away.
“I don’t want that. Sure, Nevada is great and I’m going to have a hell of a time getting over her, but I can’t be that man again.”
His father nodded. “So, what’s the plan?”
“I take on another job. Prove myself. I know you’re disappointed that I’m not staying on to finish up the Fool’s Gold resort.” He shook his head and swore. “Finish. It’s not even started. The pipes are just now going in. There’s a lot to do. Will’s a great guy and capable, but this is bigger than anything he’s ever done. He’s going to need help.”
Elliot leaned back in his chair. “Why do you think you have anything to prove?”
“I have to earn my way into the position. You’re not going to leave the company to me just because I’m your son.”
“That might be a concern if you were someone else, Tucker. But you’ve been capable of running Janack Construction for years. Everyone else knows that — I’ve been hoping you’d figure it out, too. The only reason you’re not in charge now is that I haven’t been ready to step down. I didn’t ask you to run the Fool’s Gold project to prove anything. You said you were interested, so I gave it to you. You’ve already earned my trust, and you’ve always had my love. I’m proud of you.”
Tucker felt like he was a kid again, all long legs and awkward gestures. He swallowed. “Thanks, Dad.”
“You’re welcome.” His father motioned to the chair in front of his desk. “Ready to have a seat?”
“Sure.”
He sank onto the soft cushion, then wanted to jump up again. He couldn’t just sit still. He needed to be doing something. Get busy. Or run.
He pushed the last impulse away. He wasn’t running. He was making an intelligent choice. There was a difference. Not a big one, but it was enough.
“When your mother died,” his father began, “all that kept me going was knowing I had to take care of you. I couldn’t stand to stay here, there were too many memories. So I took you wherever the work was. All over the world. I told myself that you would enjoy living in different places, meeting different people. And you did. But while you gained a lot, you also lost out.”
Elliot leaned forward in his chair. “You didn’t get to have the same friends year after year. You never stayed in a school long enough to play sports or fall for the girl. I’m not saying there weren’t women. I still remember that incident with the ambassador’s daughter when you were seventeen.”
Tucker grinned. “Hey, that wasn’t my fault. She’s the one who crawled into my window to wish me happy birthday.”
His father smiled. “Point taken. But while there were different girls, you never stuck around long enough to fall for any of them. Until Cat.”
Tucker studied his dad. “You say that like you knew her.”
“I knew of her. One of the guys on the crew called me and told me what was going on. He said you were in over your head, but I figured it was time you learned about life and love. So I stayed away.”
Tucker grimaced. “They knew?”
His father laughed. “You weren’t subtle. You fell hard, got your heart broken and learned your lesson, just like I’d planned. Only it was the wrong lesson, son. Love doesn’t make you a fool. Some of us are blessed with several partners we can love, while others never find anyone. But the lucky ones find that one person who changes everything. For me, it was your mother. I love her as much today as I did when I proposed. I would rather have had her those few years than have loved anyone else for a lifetime.”
Elliot’s mouth twisted. “I would give all this away.” He motioned to his office. “I would sacrifice everything but you to have her back just for a day. To love is to be blessed. What you had with Caterina was…”
“An obsession,” Tucker said grimly. “I’ve heard.”
“But you don’t believe. You think you can’t love and still be who you are. You think the price of love is too high. You’re wrong. Love is worth everything. Not that I’m going to be able to convince you,” his father added.
“Probably not.”
Elliot nodded. “Fair enough. Let’s get together in the morning and talk about the next step. We can start the transition for you to take over the company now or find another job you want to run.”
That was more than Tucker had expected. “Thanks, Dad.” He rose.
“You’re welcome.”
His father stood and walked around his desk. The two men hugged. Elliot put his hands on his son’s shoulders.
“Your mother would be very proud of you. She loved you.”
Tucker thought of the vague memories that had no real form and wished he could have had her in his life longer. But she’d been taken without warning, leaving behind a little boy and a grieving husband.
Tucker left.
Once he was in the hallway, he crossed to the elevator and pushed the button to go down. He kept a small apartment in the city. Getting some sleep seemed like a good idea. Then he’d give some serious thought to what he wanted to do next. Getting out of the country sounded good. He would stay busy. Forget. Because there was no going back.
SOMETIME AROUND THREE the next afternoon, Tucker decided to throw his TV out the window. There was nothing on the damn thing. Despite the fact that he hadn’t slept in two days, had spent nearly three hours working out in the gym in his building and had walked most of the city, he couldn’t relax, couldn’t focus and couldn’t find anything to watch on television. He needed to be in a rain forest somewhere. Maybe a decent jungle fever would put his world into perspec
tive.
He got up from the sofa and crossed to the small kitchen. In the refrigerator he found beer and leftover pizza. Neither appealed. Still restless, he walked toward the bedroom. Maybe if he took a shower he would get sleepy, or at the very least, forget.
He was halfway there when someone rang his doorbell.
Nevada!
He knew it was her, he thought, as he jogged to the door. She’d come to knock some sense into him. To yell at him and tell him why he was wrong. She would convince him and he’d let her and…
He opened the door only to find Cat standing in the hallway of the condo building.
“Oh,” he said, disappointed and frustrated. “It’s you.”
“I’m not that happy to see you, either,” she snapped, pushing past him. “I feel horrible. I haven’t been working. I’m lost and nothing helps.”
She stepped into the middle of his living room and faced him. Misery pulled at her face and her mouth was a full pout.
“I hate this,” she said, then stomped her foot. “I miss Nevada and I miss that stupid little town. What little creativity I felt is gone. But now I don’t know what to do. Cody was a disappointment.”
“Who’s Cody?”
“Oh, one of the college boys renting a room from Nevada. I thought he would help, but he doesn’t. Then I remembered how good you and I were together, so I came here. You have to fix this, Tucker. I need you.”
Her voice was a whine, her expression petulant. She was a child who hadn’t gotten her way. After stomping out of the party, she regretted what she’d done and wanted to go back.
“Sorry. I can’t help you.”
“You can, but you won’t.” She crossed to him and put her hands on his chest. “How can you resist me?”
“Easily,” he said without thinking, knowing it was the truth.
The truth slammed into him like a professionally thrown fastball. It hit his gut going ninety-seven miles an hour and knocked the wind out of him.
“I love her,” he said.
Cat’s big green eyes narrowed to angry slits. “What did you say?”
He pushed her hands off his chest and stared into space. “I love her. I have for a while. I didn’t love you at all. Being with you was like being a junkie waiting for my next fix. I could never match the previous high but I was sure the lows were going to kill me. Nevada isn’t like that. Every time I’m with her, I feel better and stronger. She gives everything.”
He turned in a slow circle, not sure where to go or what to do. “She told me she loved me and I left. What the hell was I thinking?” He grabbed Cat’s upper arms. “She said she loved me. What am I doing here with you?”
His car keys were on the small table by the drawer, where he always tossed them. So was his cell phone. He picked up both as he headed out the door.
He was halfway down to the parking garage when he realized he probably should have packed something, or closed the door to his condo. Whatever, he thought with a shrug. Cat would shut the door behind her. Or maybe not. Either way, he didn’t care. This wasn’t his home — he didn’t belong here. He belonged with his woman and, by God, he was going back to her.
NEVADA THOUGHT maybe she should get a pet of some kind. While the self-sufficiency of a cat was appealing, maybe a dog would be better. Some kind of mixed-breed rescue dog who could come with her to the job site. She logged into the Fool’s Gold Animal Shelter website with the idea of looking at pictures. Maybe staring into big, brown dog eyes would make her feel better. Eventually something would have to.
She missed Tucker. She wanted to be strong and brave and say that she was over him. That he’d been an idiot to leave, and if that was how he treated her declaration of love, then she was better off without him. It was possible that one day she would actually believe that, but today wasn’t that day. Today, or rather, tonight, she ached. The hole where her heart used to be endlessly reminded her of what she’d lost.
She clicked on the dog pictures, then just as quickly left the site. It wasn’t responsible to get a dog now — while she was grieving. She had to figure out how to deal with her loss. Then, when she felt better, she would decide if she was ready to take on the responsibility of a pet.
Very rational and mature, she told herself. Her mother would be so proud.
The phone rang.
She glanced at the clock and saw it was after ten. Had something happened to someone in her family?
She glanced at the caller-ID screen and her throat went dry when she read Fool’s Gold Police Department. She pushed the talk button.
“Hello?”
“Nevada, this is Chief Barns. No one is dead.”
She drew in a breath. “Good to know.”
“That said, I have a problem. I need you to come to the town square right away. No one’s hurt. Don’t worry about that, but there’s…a situation.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’ll be a whole lot easier to show you.”
With that, the line went dead.
Nevada had no idea what the police chief was talking about, but she wasn’t going to get any answers just waiting. She got up and pulled on boots, then shrugged on a heavy coat and gloves. It was barely above freezing this late at night.
She jogged through the quiet residential streets, grateful it wasn’t windy or wet out. As it was, her ears were freezing by the time she rounded the last corner and could see into the square.
Streetlights illuminated the benches, the bushes that were mostly naked this time of year and the police car parked just to the left. The floodlights that had been installed for the giant vagina shone up on the weird sculpture. They also showed a ladder, a man on that ladder and the sparks of a blowtorch.
Chief Barns stepped out of the shadows and walked toward her.
“I don’t understand,” Nevada said, confused by what she was seeing. “Is he—”
The man moved then and she recognized him. Tucker. Tucker? What was he doing here? Was he back?
“Seems to me some vandal is dismantling that eye-sore,” Chief Barns said cheerfully. “The good news is Cat believes in simplicity of assembly. It went together quickly and should come apart just as easily. In the morning, one of my officers is going to find that it’s missing. What a shame. There’s going to be a lot of paperwork with this one.”
Nevada could only stare at the man on the ladder. “You’re not going to stop him?”
“Why? I don’t see anything.”
“What will happen to the piece?”
The police chief shrugged. “Rumor has it the whole thing is going to a sculpture garden in San Francisco. I’m sure they’ll appreciate it more than we do here.”
The chief slapped her gloved hands together. “I need to get home. One of my boys is studying for a history test tomorrow and I need to ride herd. You have a good night.”
With that, she got in her police car and drove away.
Nevada walked slowly toward the statue. Sparks were flying, then one side of the giant vagina fell to the ground. She instinctively braced herself for the sound of metal crashing into concrete, only to realize there was padding in place to protect the pieces.
“Tucker,” she yelled.
He turned and looked at her, then turned off the blowtorch. He hung it over the rung and started down.
She stood there waiting. Her heart thudded rapidly as she battled hope and fear and a twisting kind of nausea in her stomach.
When he reached the ground, he tore off his protective gear and swept her into his arms.
His mouth was hot and hard and claimed her in a kiss that made her toes curl. She hugged him back, holding on as if she would never let go.
“I’m sorry,” he said, pulling back enough to speak. “I was an idiot. Worse, I was the jerk who hurt you. I’m sorry, Nevada. I shouldn’t have left, except I had to. It was the only way for me to figure it out. But I’m back now and I’m never leaving. I talked to my dad on the way out and I’m moving the business her
e. I want to be here with you, in this town.”
He stepped back and took her hand in his. “I love you, Nevada. I have for a while. You were right — what I had with Cat wasn’t love. It wasn’t anything good. But I couldn’t see that and I never wanted to go there again. Because of that, I nearly lost you. I hope you’ll give me another chance. We belong together. I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy. Say yes.”
She was floating. Honestly, she could feel her feet leaving the ground. This couldn’t be happening, only it was. He loved her. Tucker Janack loved her.
Warmth and promise and happiness filled her. She stared into his dark eyes and knew that they would always have each other. That their future was going to be more wonderful than she could imagine.
She smiled. “You haven’t asked me anything,” she said, her voice teasing. “What am I supposed to answer?”
“What? Oh. Right.” He dropped to one knee. “Nevada Hendrix, will you marry me?”
Right there, in the night, with the stars as witness, in front of a giant vagina. Only in Fool’s Gold, she thought happily, pulling him to his feet.
“I love you,” she whispered, before kissing him. “Of course I’ll marry you.”
He picked her up and swung her around, then set her down slowly and kissed her.
This was perfect, she thought, kissing him back. They held each other close, before he turned back to the statue.
“I need to get this finished.”
“I’ll help,” she said. “It’ll go faster that way and then we can go home.”
EPILOGUE
5:45 p.m. New Year’s Eve
Gold Rush Ski Lodge and Resort
A LIGHT SNOW had been falling all day. Just after sunset, it had taken a turn for the serious. White carpeted the parking lot and roads. The valets checked the guest list one more time to confirm that everyone had arrived. As all the guests would be spending the night at the hotel, getting the roads plowed could wait.
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