Finding Her Heart (McCormick's Creek Series Book 2)

by Jen Peters

  “Hey, look.” He nudged her and pointed. A hawk dived toward a pasture from where it had been circling high above.

  “Yup,” she said. “Probably a red-tail.”

  “Oh, like you know all the hawks in the area?”

  “My best friend knows all the animals,” Ree said. “I know some of the human ones." Why did she say that? She snuck a glance at him. “Your turn. Tell me something about you that I don’t know.”

  He shrugged. “I’m a lawyer, I’m from Portland. Not much else about me.”

  His walls weren’t going to come down easily. She suddenly felt like taking the challenge on, but she’d have to go about it carefully. “Tell me what high school was like. Were you a book nerd?”

  He smiled. “No. Well, probably. I mean, I studied hard because I wanted into a top law school on my own merits, not because my grandfather got me in. But I did a few other things.”

  Mitch was silent, watching the hawk that was now back up in the sky.

  “What other things,” Ree prodded.

  After a long moment, he finally answered. “I tried out for the basketball team. I used to do free throws in the gym when I needed to work a problem out in my head.”

  “You were a jock?”

  “Not really. But when it rains three-quarters of the year… well, inside is nice. Anyway, I was pretty good at them. I knew I couldn’t keep up with the others in endurance, but I figured I could shoot baskets with the best of them.”

  “And?”

  He smiled ruefully. “And on tryouts, I only got about 1 in 10 in the hoop. Worse than dismal.”

  Ree was surprised. Mitch seemed like he would succeed at whatever he started. That his concentration and will would drive the resolution. “That’s awful,” she said, laying her hand on his arm. “What happened?" His warmth came through his shirt, and her hand tingled.

  He lifted one shoulder and let it drop. “Never did figure out why. I finally decided it just wasn’t meant to be, that I was meant to be spending my time doing something else.”

  “What did your grandfather say?”

  “Not much. His bark is worse than his bite. He helped me sort through a few things, but let me run my life the way I wanted, as long as I was headed in the right direction." Mitch turned to her. He took her hand from where it still lay on his shoulder and twined his fingers into it. The touch made her tingle down to her toes.

  He rubbed his thumb gently over her knuckles. “Want to walk a bit farther?”

  The sensation of his hand enclosing hers sent tingles up her arm and down her spine, and her voice trembled. “Sure. We can head down Oak Hill Road and see if we can get closer to the hawk.”

  Was he as attracted to her as she was to him? He was her boss—shouldn’t they be avoiding this?

  * * *

  Ree’s hand was soft in his as they left the creek, and Mitch felt more relaxed than he had in years. Far more relaxed than on that “date” with Melanie, anyway. They said hello to Mrs. Murphy sitting on her front rocker, watched a cat saunter across the street. Justin drove past in his red pick-up and waved. Ree waved at a girl driving the other way, a dog in the front seat of her car.

  “Who’s that?” Mitch asked.

  “Robin Cooper, my best friend from school. Actually our whole lives—I think our mothers had us in strollers at the park together.”

  “Any relation to Justin Cooper?”

  “His little sister." She started to say more, but he watched her mouth clamp shut. He wondered what she wasn’t saying.

  “Right, her mom is Nora, of Nora’s Place? And she was my waitress the other day?"

  Ree nodded.

  “I gather times are tough around here,” Mitch said. What could he say that would let him get behind her public facade?

  She gave him a sideways look. “They’re tough everywhere even if you’re middle class, not rich. Obviously times aren’t tough for people with plenty of money.”

  Mitch raised one eyebrow. “People like me, you mean.”

  Ree kept her eyes on her sandals. “Well, no offense, but you aren’t exactly struggling to make ends meet.”

  “No, but I work hard for my money." Blasted hard, he thought, not to mention the toll it took on his conscience. He wasn’t sure there was a high enough salary to make up for that.

  “I’m sure you do,” Ree said. “But some people work just as hard and don’t have near the rewards you do. I don’t know if it’s what you’re born with or the opportunities you have or what happens along the way. Or maybe it’s just your talent and drive to succeed. I just know some people have the same drive and no matter what they do, they can’t make life work the way they want.”

  “You sound like you know that from experience.”

  She looked away. After a moment of silence, he changed tack. “And what do you want, Ree Swanson?"

  “To get out of here, of course.”

  “It’s a nice town.” Mitch protested.

  Ree snorted, a totally unladylike snort. “Everything I’ve done from the time I was 15 was to go somewhere else, to get away from McCormick’s Creek and travel the world. I majored in Hospitality and Tourism, not just because it’s interesting, but because it could take me to other countries. And because it would be impossible to run a hotel and stay here." She looked at him. “And then you went and bought the old mansion.”

  “Mr. McCormick bought it."

  “Maybe legally, but it’s practically yours. You don’t think about anything else while you’re here, and you’re here more than any big-shot lawyer ought to be.”

  Mitch shrugged and didn’t answer.

  “Well, you might like small town living, but I’ll do what it takes to get out of here. Whatever it takes.”

  Mitch looked sideways at her. There was a hint of ruthlessness in her voice. Just how far would she go to make her dreams come true? “You could always rob the bank,” he said with a smile.

  Ree shouldered him good-naturedly, then stumbled herself. “That was actually one of my teenage schemes,” she laughed, recovering her balance. “That, or marry a millionaire. I dropped the idea of bank robbery pretty quickly, but I can’t tell you how many scenarios I dreamed up of some rich prince coming to town and me convincing him to carry me away.”

  Mitch raised an eyebrow, but inwardly he was cursing. Another woman after a guy with money. Did that early desperation carry over to now? If so, she sure came at it differently than Melanie Xanth and her tenacious talons.

  But the way his breath caught when he saw her was more than he’d ever felt for Melanie. There was more here than just avoiding another gold-digger. If he could handle Melanie, he could handle Ree’s small-town version.

  Besides, how could she know how wealthy he was? Nobody here knew he was a McCormick. Nobody here knew he would inherit his grandfather’s millions as well as the controlling interest in the law firm.

  Mitch was determined to keep it that way. He liked being an unknown go-between.

  But he truly hoped Ree was as innocent as she first seemed.

  * * *

  “I cannot believe I said that to him!” Ree lamented later that night. She sprawled across the lawn in Robin’s backyard and covered her face with her hands. “I don’t think I can show my face the next time he’s in town.”

  “Too bad you can’t suck words back like you can chug Diet Coke,” Robin said. She reached over and pulled Ree’s hands down. “Come on, it’s not like you want to date him or anything, is it?”

  “Yes. No! I mean, he’s awfully good looking, isn’t he? But he’s way out of my league.”

  Robin spewed soda onto the grass. “He’s way out of your league? Girlfriend, have you looked in the mirror lately?”

  Ree just shook her head. She knew what she looked like. Other than her hair, which she had to admit was glorious, her appearance was rather plain. Or maybe not plain, but not beautiful. She didn’t have thick, dark eyelashes, her nose was too straight, her mouth a bit too wide. And she cert
ainly wasn’t a lovely size six. Just average, which she often felt described her whole being.

  She looked up into the night sky. The moon was high, but the stars were still strong. She could pick out the W of Cassiopeia easily, and the Big Dipper hovered above the trees, but she still had to put her hand up and measure to find the North Star. And that was about all she remembered from her high school astronomy class.

  She wondered if Mitch knew anything about astronomy. Was he looking out over the same sky right now?

  She sat up suddenly. Why in the world was she wondering about that? Mitch was her boss. She was NOT interested in him.

  Was she?

  She glanced over at Robin, stroking a puppy in her lap and idly plucking grass stems with the other hand. There was one way to clarify her feelings—her old standby left from high school. The idea was to see how you felt when you gave up something, or someone, you weren’t sure you wanted.

  Ree opened her mouth, suddenly nervous. “Hey Robin?” she finally said. “Would you like to date Mitchell Blake?"

  There. So how did she feel when she offered him to her friend?

  “Me?” Robin grunted. “You’ve got to be crazy. He wouldn’t look twice at me. In fact, he hasn’t looked twice, and he’s been around the restaurant enough.”

  But it didn’t matter what Robin thought—Ree’s stomach was tense just from asking. She obviously did care what Mitch thought of her. Cared enough to be jealous just posing the question. She thought back to their walk that afternoon, the way his hand felt when he took hers.

  Yes, she had caught her breath. Yes, it sent a tingle through her. And if she admitted it, she looked for him first thing every time she went to the inn, even when she knew he wouldn’t be there.

  So now what? There was no way he’d even think about her that way—they were too different. But how was she supposed to work when she had a crush on her boss?

  Ignore it, that was how.

  This was business. The McCormick Inn was simply experience to help her get out of town and into the wider world. Anything extra needed to be set aside as a distraction.

  Chapter 9

  Distractions, Ree thought repeatedly over the next couple days. Her life was nothing but distractions. They had to find a way to pull customers up to McCormick’s Creek, and she was sure she could do better than the list of advertisements the PR firm had set up. They could certainly do weddings at the inn—could they turn it into a destination wedding spot? And she had told Mitch there were special things about the town that outsiders wouldn’t know—how could they capitalize on that? Hikers and mountain bikers weren’t particularly their target audience.

  She helped Harriet narrow the choices on china and glassware, hunted antique shops online for furniture, and made list upon list of supplies they needed to buy.

  She worked in the flower shop, doing arrangements almost by rote while her mind played with marketing ideas. How many special dinners could they do for people who would tell their friends? What would Mitch’s friends be like? Could they do more than just a brochure in the Eugene and Salem tourist offices?

  Her cell phone chimed Thursday afternoon, and Mitch’s name appeared on the screen. “Hey there,” she answered, putting the greenery down. Her fluttering stomach was only general tension. Truly.

  “Hello, Ree. I just wanted to check in, see how things were going. Harriet didn’t answer.”

  The flutters left. If he had called Harriet first, it really was just business. She shouldn’t be surprised—she had known she’d need to ignore her feelings, and this should make it easier. She wouldn’t think about how much her heart had just dropped.

  “Everything’s fine,” she said. “We’ve got the china ordered, and the linens should be here next week.”

  It was so silent she could hear his pen scratching on paper. Finally he spoke again. “Still on schedule for opening?”

  “Of course,” she said automatically. She was still working out just what needed to be done, but she’d make sure the inn opened on time. “Do we have—”

  “Hold on a moment,” he broke in.

  Ree heard a woman’s voice in the background, then he said, “Sorry, something’s come up. Call me later.”

  And the call cut off. Keeping their contact at a professional level obviously wasn’t going to be a problem.

  She put her phone down and stabbed a few more carnations in the current bouquet. She’d said she was capable, and she was, but enthusiasm and schooling only took her so far. She needed information. She needed a resource list. She needed more hours in the day. She’d been spending all her mental energy on the inn and was getting behind in her college classes. She’d have to make time to study for exams, or she’d never graduate.

  Because even while she was wrapped up in the planning, the inn was only a stepping stone until she could go elsewhere. She was not going to stay in McCormick’s Creek the rest of her life.

  Back to work, she reminded herself, only to be interrupted by a knock on the back door. She’d be here all night at this rate. She sighed and clipped another carnation while someone fumbled with the doorknob. “Come on in,” she called.

  Robin entered, hands busy with a wriggling puppy. “Shh, Maggie, it’s okay,” she murmured to it.

  Ree smiled. “You need a job petting puppies all day.”

  “I’d take it! This is heaven as far as I’m concerned.”

  “Yeah, well, petting puppies won’t get you a new car, will it?" Ree paused while the door clicked shut, an idea taking hold. “Are you interested in a job that might?”

  Robin’s hand stilled on the puppy’s head. “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve been figuring out what needs to be done in the next six weeks. And with my classes and the flower shop, there’s no way I can do it all. I need an assistant.”

  Robin frowned. “I’m already working for Mom.”

  “I know,” Ree said. She put the clippers down and leaned forward. “But you could do this in your down time. A few hours a day, more when you’re off from the restaurant.”

  “Doing what?” Robin was wary, and Ree didn’t blame her. Robin had always been a little shy until she got to know someone, but the bullying episode in high school had left her wary of most people.

  “I need help making phone calls and organizing deliveries,” she explained. “I should visit tourism offices in person. And I have more online lists to get on and magazines to research for possible ads. Plus whatever else I haven’t thought of.”

  Ree waited a long moment until Robin finally said, “I can help with the ads and online stuff. I think I can do phone calls—it would be easier than taking orders at the restaurant, and I’ve had to get used to that. But don’t ask me to visit tourist centers and try to present something to strangers.”

  “I won’t, then." Ree hugged her friend, then mentioned a wage. “I’ll have to double check with Mitch, but I don’t think it will be a problem.”

  Robin grinned. “Check with Mitch, huh?” She waggled her eyebrows.

  “It’s only business” Ree said shortly. “He made that pretty clear today.”

  * * *

  After long days of work, dealing with the frustrations and eating Tums as if he owned stock in the company, Friday morning was over the top. Mitch kept his expression blank as his newest client talked.

  “I can’t afford to have competition so close to me, so I got some friends to post bad reviews online.” The smirk on Clive Bidwell’s face was enough to make Mitch vomit. “We’ve dropped our prices to about twenty percent less than theirs, and the two things combined are really draining them."

  “Can you sustain your low prices?” Mitch asked, keeping his voice bland.

  “Oh sure, for six months or so if we have to. Our finances are good, which is why I can come to you instead of our regular lawyer. I want to make sure nothing goes wrong when we get them to sell out.”

  Mitch seethed inwardly. Of all the careers out there, this was what he had chos
en to do for a living? He hadn’t started out this way—it used to be larger corporations fighting it out, and even the occasional amicable mergers. But one small client had told another, and word got around. Somehow they were always assigned to him.

  Perhaps it was just a test, and someone else could handle these jerks when he made partner.

  Or not. You earned your way to partner with your reputation, and this was his.

  It was only noon when Mr. Bidwell left, but Mitch had had enough for the day. Billable hours were important, but at this point he really didn’t care. He could make them up later. Right now, he needed to get out of town.

  He began to call Ree, then stopped. He wanted to see her, but wasn’t ready to share his inner turmoil. He punched a different number into his phone. “Justin, it’s Mitchell Blake. I’m coming down. Any recommendations for something to give peace to a man’s soul?”

  Two hours later, he pulled Ree away from her studies, and they headed for the trail Justin had recommended.

  “He said it was up here somewhere,” Mitch said, looking past yet another moss-covered log. The ground felt soft under his feet, especially if they went off the path to check out a berry bush. The trees up here were incredible, not that he knew which were pine and which were fir. Some of them towered high into the sky, nearly as tall as his apartment building. Some sort of berry vines were growing near the path, little bumpy red things that didn’t look like raspberries. He didn’t know if they were edible, so he left them alone--better safe than sorry.

  “Not quite like Portland, huh?” Ree asked, a smile in her voice.

  “No, I’m more used to towering glass and steel than towering trees. There are some parks of course, especially one I like to run through, but nothing like this." He inhaled, the sharp tang of the forest filling his senses.