After a few rounds, when Brynn was settling into the game and realizing she wasn’t half bad at it, beginner’s luck or not, her phone rang.
“Do you need to get that?” Gage asked. “Since we’re between hands, we could take a break.”
He stood and carried an empty bowl to the sink. Avery and Keenan turned in to each other, involved in a conversation of their own, so Brynn decided she might as well catch it. She knew by the ringtone that it was her mother, who was calling with travel details about their upcoming Thanksgiving trip. It would be brief.
“Excuse me.” She stood and fished her phone from her purse. “I’ll be right back.”
The problem with answering her phone was that Brynn hated talking in front of anyone. It didn’t matter if it was a personal or business, or if people were busy or watching her. She just couldn’t.
She thought about stepping outside, but fat raindrops splattered the window panes, discouraging the idea. “Hi, give me just a sec,” she said into the phone, and then covered it.
“Where’s the bathroom?” she asked the couple. Avery pointed to the only bedroom on the main floor, which must have included an en suite bath.
Stepping into the near dark, Brynn closed the door behind her with a soft click and decided she was separated enough from the group. “Hey, Mom. What’s up?”
Brynn clicked on the light and looked around the room, pleased to see it didn’t look like anyone was staying in it. She’d assumed that, as the guest bedroom, either one or both of Gage’s guests would have been using it, but the log frame bed was crisply made up. Its flannel green comforter was bordered with brown grizzly bears marching across the top and bottom. The room was devoid of suitcases or other personal items. There wasn’t even a sweater or pair of shoes tucked out of the way.
“Are you busy?” her mom asked. “Were you talking to someone?”
At her mom’s always-calm tone, Brynn felt her chest relaxing, anxiety from her first few weeks as a business owner fading away. Every phone call was like a reassuring hug. “Just visiting with some friends, but I’ve got a minute.” That would keep it from going too long.
“Oh, good. I called to let you know that we finalized our travel plans. We’ll be arriving late Wednesday—don’t worry about us for dinner or anything—and we’ll leave Sunday morning. How does that sound?”
“Perfect. I’m so thrilled you’re still coming for Thanksgiving.” Brynn paused, not wanting to offend her mother.
“I hear a ‘but’ coming on.” Her mother chuckled. “I know your grand reopening is happening the next day, if that’s what you’re concerned about.”
Brynn was relieved that she didn’t have to say anything. She continued strolling around the room, now looking more closely at the artwork on the walls and the book titles under the leather-shaded tree-trunk lamps on the nightstands.
“Don’t worry about trying to entertain us,” her mother was saying. “And feel free to put us to work if you need extra hands, or not. We can find plenty to entertain us, but first and foremost, we’ll be there for whatever you need, whenever.”
“Thanks, Mom.” One less thing to stress about. “You rented a cabin?” They never would have fit into her tiny duplex unless they didn’t mind sleeping on an old hardwood floor.
A heavy dark walnut desk backed the hallway and looked like the house had been built around it. With its massive size, it had to be heavier than a piano. It was tastefully decorated with leather—a leather-wrapped pen holder, leather-bound books that looked to be a century old, and a leather-cornered calendar showing December 1998. She ran her fingers over the calendar, wondering why no one had ever updated it. It was then that she noticed a single personalized touch to the room—a computer-printed paper that looked oddly familiar.
“Of course.” Brynn could almost hear her mother’s smile. “We weren’t all going to come crowd in on you.”
“Okay. It sounds great. Why don’t you text me a grocery list? The least I can do is stock the fridge for you.” Brynn wasn’t sure when she’d work it into her schedule, but it felt good to offer.
“Oh, no, honey, we’ve got it. We’ll be in town before the grocery store closes. It’s not a problem. You know it’s the one time of year Miles gets to pick out his own juice and toaster pastries.”
“He still eats those?” Brynn asked, more than slightly disgusted. Her little brother might only be ten, but he could do better.
“Once a year,” Brynn’s mom answered. “It’s tradition.”
Brynn grinned at her own memories that wrapped around her like a hug. “That reminds me, though. There’s a new café in town. My friend Espe makes the best pastries. I’ll pick up a few for you and Dad, at least. They’re amazing.”
“That sounds wonderful.”
The support Brynn felt from this easy exchange was exactly what she needed, and Brynn was grateful. “I look forward to seeing you,” Brynn said, eager to inspect the paper more closely when she hung up. “Love you.”
She tapped her phone to end the call and stood transfixed, staring at the blotter with the paper she recognized. She hadn’t been meaning to pry. She would never open the desk drawers or riffle through a folder of papers, but she couldn’t unsee her own business plan sitting on Gage’s desk. She picked it up, examining to see if it truly was hers because that would make no sense at all.
Why would Gage—a handyman on the renovation project, as far as she knew—have the business plan she’d sent to Mr. Konewko? It had no details pertaining to the building improvements, no indication why he would need it. The notes scrawled in the margins were barely decipherable, but she recognized them as the updates and changes she and Mr. Konewko had communicated over several emails.
Her hands shook with confusion and her mind felt foggy with fatigue, yet at the same time was suddenly on high alert. In some way, somehow, Gage was lying to her, of that she was certain. Had Mr. Konewko hired him to keep an eye on her, to spy on her before actually meeting her? Suddenly sick to her stomach, Brynn had to leave. She should probably confront Gage, press him until she had answers, but perhaps she was being paranoid. Perhaps this didn’t mean what it appeared to mean.
Placing the paper back in as close to the same position as she remembered, Brynn walked out of the bedroom to face Gage, steeling herself to ask.
“Is everything okay?” Gage met her at the door to the bedroom, his voice husky again. For the first time, she realized it was raspy due to a cold. Momentarily disoriented, she wasn’t sure if he was asking about her phone conversation or checking on something else. Her trust in him melted like snowflakes on her skin. She couldn’t stay.
Brynn gave him a wan smile and walked past him. “I’m sorry, guys,” Brynn said to the group together. She couldn’t look Gage in the eyes. “I need to call it a night.” She rounded the table to give Avery a hug and then Keenan as well. “I’ve really enjoyed working with you guys. I hope I get to see you another time.”
With her back straight and ignoring the turmoil in her chest, Brynn pulled her jacket off the chair and shrugged into it. She then grabbed her purse and headed for the door.
“What, no good-bye?” Gage hurried to beat her to the doorknob.
“Of course not.” Brynn tried to lift her eyes to his, she really did, but only got as far as his chin. His strong, stubbly chin that was topped by lips she would have loved to kiss a few short hours before. She reached out to give him a perfunctory hug, realizing they’d never been this close to each other before. “Great getting to know you. In a town this small, I’m sure we’ll run into each other again.”
She dropped her arms and turned to exit, leaving a piece of her broken heart on his doorstep.
Chapter 14
Gage was frozen to the spot. He wasn’t quite sure why, but seeing Brynn walk into the cold rain, closing the door with finality behind her, brought the heavy weight of remorse. He was baffled by her sudden change in demeanor. What could she have possibly heard on that phone call to ca
use such a quick departure? That she wouldn’t look him in the eye as she left was infinitely more disconcerting.
Things were getting more than complicated trying to keep his identity as Joseph Konewko from Brynn. His cover was so close to being blown when the issue of the cash register counter came up earlier that day, he almost couldn’t breathe for fear she’d never listen to his explanation if she found out that way. He still wasn’t sure how to explain things, but it was time. Until the phone call, things between the two of them were moving more and more toward a dating relationship, and while Gage wanted nothing more desperately than that, he couldn’t allow them to start dating without full disclosure.
He’d done everything he could think of to repair the damage he’d inflicted by those first overbearing emails, and in the process, he’d found that he enjoyed Brynn’s company—craved it even. She was business-smart, fun, willing to work hard and try new things, and beautiful enough to steal his breath away when he caught even the slightest glimpse of her in his periphery.
He almost wished he didn’t have to expose who he was, but it was beyond time. They had to pin down the layout of the store, the division of labor, heck, the name of the store. His checklist was long, but mostly, he wanted to be free of the dishonesty. He wanted Brynn as a true partner—one with all the facts in hand and who still chose to work with him, explore with him, laugh with him, be with him. Gage anticipated that finding out the truth would be a setback in their relationship, but he hoped the good experiences would eventually outweigh the shock and betrayal she most likely would feel.
Excusing himself from Avery and Keenan, Gage went to the bedroom he used as an office. Sitting at the desk, he pulled out his laptop and began writing the email he’d put off much too long.
To: Brynn Caley
From: Joseph Konewko III
Time to Meet
Brynn—
I bet you’re wondering if I’m even real. Here it is, a week and a half from our grand reopening, and we haven’t even met in person. I meant to do it a couple of days ago, but I’ve been feeling a little under the weather. However, I can’t put it off for the week it will take for this cold to run its course.
Would you have time to meet me at Basque in d’Light at 1 p.m. tomorrow? It seems we have some work to do, partner, and I look forward to doing it together.
JGK
Gage sent the email, not even re-reading it in his haste to get it done. If he thought about the ramifications too long, he’d talk himself out of doing this now, especially with Brynn upset at him for some reason. This had to be done now, no question. He just hoped she wouldn’t hate him when she found out the truth—and if he was being honest with himself, that had a heck of a lot less to do with the store than it did in his growing feelings for her.
Chapter 15
“Meet?” Brynn repeated softly to herself, her heart pounding in fight-or-flight mode. Good or bad, it was going to change the way things had been, but everything was changing already anyway. With renovations done, Keenan and Avery were on their way back to Texas, and she had no daily, built-in reason to see Gage anymore.
She typed a quick reply to the email affirming she would be there, and then promptly started to panic. Brynn wanted everything perfect from a business standpoint. Logging on to her computer again, she pulled up the business plan she and Mr. Konewko had agreed to—the one she’d seen at Gage’s the night before, but she pushed that thought aside. There was no time to stew over that puzzle right now. Glancing down the page, she placed a check beside the items that had already been completed. As she did so, she jotted talking points onto sticky notes that she affixed to the side of the page to serve as reminders.
Next, she pulled out the sketch she’d made of her proposed layout for the store. When the four of them had been attaching the larger items to the walls, she had guided Gage and Keenan where to place them, and though they might have thought the objects were randomly scattered, they corresponded exactly with the sketch she was going to propose to her partner. She almost felt manipulative in getting what she wanted, but she told herself it was merely efficiency, and Mr. Konewko had been given an opportunity to do the same if he’d at all cared to.
The website was up and running, though it wasn’t quite finished. To anyone who didn’t know, it looked complete with its beautiful home page and running slide show of Ruidoso panoramas. Across the top were tabs for the history of Owen’s Outfitters, winter and summer products, and winter tutorials. The latter contained sign-ups for private ski and snowboard lessons to be taught by Brynn, dates and times to be announced as soon as the snow came and conditions right. Similar tabs for spring fishing and canoeing existed, but for now, they merely alerted the interested customer that they would be held in the future. There was even a tab with links to local sights and community activities that had nothing to do with Owen’s.
What was missing was the personalization. She hadn’t taken pictures of the remodeled store since it wasn’t quite operational. And although it advertised the date of the grand reopening, in her mind’s eye, she saw a gaping hole where the new store name and logo should be.
The final bit she needed to pull together for the business meeting were lists of products they currently had in their inherited inventory, as well as those things she wanted to expand to include. Because she’d been working on these documents for the past few weeks, it didn’t take her long to pull it all together.
By ten o’clock in the morning Brynn finished prepping for the meeting, but even being thoroughly ready didn’t stave off the nerves. She puttered around her duplex, washing and drying a couple of dishes, but there wasn’t much that needed to be attended to there either. She had to do something or she would go crazy. What if Mr. Konewko didn’t take her seriously? What if they didn’t get along? What if their business ideas were miles apart? Brynn had already invested way too much, and any disappointment would crush her.
Keenan and Gage had vouched for Mr. Konewko, and she’d grown to appreciate Gage’s business sense. For someone who specialized in handyman projects, Gage seemed to know more about marketing than he did about renovation. His input about store layout and stock items, as well as timing and advertising, were spot-on. He couldn’t have been getting all of that from Mr. Konewko, could he?
Gage. He was just the person she needed. He’d be a good diversion from her worries. He’d be calming, distracting, confidence-boosting, and funny. Or at least he would have been—if she still trusted him.
If only she could forget last night had ever happened. Then again, maybe it was better to go talk it out with him. This would be her only chance to get the truth from Gage before she met Mr. Konewko later in the day, and she couldn’t go into the meeting wondering exactly how she’d been deceived. More than anything, she wanted to smooth things out with Gage. Just the idea of being at odds with him hurt.
Busy? she texted Gage.
Not especially. The reply was quick, giving credence to the words.
Home?
Yep. Come over? His invitation even when she was already basically weaseling in was one of the things she liked about him. He always had time for her.
If you’ve got a few minutes.
For you? Of course. But warning—I don’t look so great.
She seriously doubted that but didn’t contradict. See you in a minute.
The day was warm for November. One of her favorite thick sweaters—the one she considered comfort food for the body—was sufficient. As she walked to her car, the cool air smelled of pine, a scent she could never get enough of. She loved her new hometown, her new friends, and hoped she would still be excited about her new store after she met Mr. Konewko. The knot of apprehension in her chest threatened to pull taut again, so she forced that thought from her mind and took another deep breath of the fragrant air. She could worry about that later, but for now, she was going to be happy and visit her friend.
When Gage answered the door, he did, in fact, look disheveled. She could have b
elieved he hadn’t even gotten out of bed yet, and the end of his nose was bright red and starting to peel. She’d seen him wipe his nose a few times, but until now, he’d been fairly good at covering the severity of his cold.
“Hey, friend.” He said this with sincerity and opened the door wide, an invitation she accepted readily. Did that mean he forgave her? Did she forgive him? Seeing him, the worry about the business and Mr. Konewko faded. There had to be a reasonable explanation, and one that didn’t seem to matter anymore.
She stepped toward him, ready to give him a hug, but he stepped back slightly, lifting hands full of used tissues.
“You might be wise to keep your distance.” He closed the door with his foot and walked through the small kitchen to throw away his mess. “I was trying to clean up. I just have no energy.”
She motioned to the couch. “Don’t clean anything for me. You need to rest.”
Brynn crossed her arms over her chest in her best stern schoolteacher look until he followed her orders and settled onto a love seat. She picked up a throw blanket and tucked it around him, getting so close, she could smell his faded cologne. Her first impulse was to snuggle up to him—whether to make him feel better or herself, she wasn’t sure. How could he be this attractive even when he was sick and obviously feeling awful?
Brynn swallowed her selfish inclinations and leaned back. “Can I make you some hot chocolate or oatmeal or something?”
He leaned his head back against the cushion. “I’m good. Really. I was just getting a little extra sleep because I have a meeting this afternoon for work and I want to be at least passable.”
She gave him a weak smile, the nerves bursting in her stomach again. “You have a work meeting too? So do I. I’m finally going to meet Mr. Konewko.”
She watched him closely to see if he’d react. Something that would show discomfort at deceiving her all this time. But she saw nothing different in his expression.
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