THE PARK OF SUNSET DREAMS

by Ava Miles

  And the fun continues... “I don’t know if Dare has a Scrabble club.”

  Rob’s chuckle soothed some of his nerves. “Well, you’re in luck. That’s what you’re paying me to find out.”

  “Of course, I can always ask my family. Between Jill and Uncle Arthur, they probably know everything.”

  “But you said your uncle will want to remain neutral, so I wouldn’t push that.”

  Uncle Arthur might bluster about a Hale running for mayor, but deep down, Matt knew he would help him any way he could. “I know how to walk that line. Plus, Uncle Arthur has no problem speaking up for himself.”

  “I’ve always wanted to meet him,” Rob commented, setting aside his beer. “What he’s done up here, starting a newspaper from scratch and building it into an empire. Well, it’s a tremendous accomplishment.”

  “I know it,” Matt said.

  Colleagues and friends of his in Denver read The Western Independent. It had always made him proud to see the impact his uncle had on people’s lives. His was the voice of the West.

  Perhaps he and his uncle had that in common—Matt too was interested in informing the public. He just wanted to take it a step further. He wanted to inform them of the ways in which their city was off course and help them change those things.

  “Okay, so I think I know everything there is to know about you,” Rob commented, resting his beer against his cashmere V-neck sweater.

  Matt’s eyebrow lifted at that. “Oh, you do, do you?”

  Then Rob pulled out a sheet of paper from his briefcase and started to ask him all sorts of personal questions—some Matt had been expecting, and others that were flat-out flabbergasting.

  “Have I ever been with a hooker or call girl?” he sputtered. “Seriously, man?”

  Rob shrugged. “Things I gotta know.”

  “Hell no. Not my thing.”

  His friend checked what must have been the “No” box and kept right on going. When he finished, he smiled and said, “Okay, you pass the all-American boy test. Now all you need to do is make sure not to be seen with a hooker between now and November.”

  “What?” Matt asked, shoving off the couch. “As if.”

  “After working on election campaigns for years, I think there’s some imaginary hooker download that happens once a man decides to enter a race. It’s insane.”

  “I somehow don’t see that happening in Dare Valley.”

  “No wild trips then,” Rob said. Based on the way his mouth was twitching, he was clearly enjoying this conversation. “Now, tell me about this girl you’re seeing.”

  That put Matt’s back up. “No. Absolutely not. She’s a nice girl, but she’s not a part of this.”

  Rob stood up and walked to stand by the fire. “Do people in town know you’re dating?”

  His sigh was long-suffering. “Yes, but—”

  “No buts, Hale. If she’s part of your life, she’s going to be talked about. Who you see reflects upon you. Even more so since you’re a single man running for office. They might be wondering whether she’s good marriage material.”

  Matt shot off the couch then. “Now wait just a minute. We’re a hell of a long way from anything like that.”

  Rob gave him that steady gaze all lawyers perfected in law school. “Did you or did you not grow up in a small town?”

  When he thought about it for a second, he could almost hear the talk at Kemstead’s Bakery over coffee and donuts. “Shit.”

  “I’m sorry, was that an answer? Have you forgotten how things work?”

  Apparently he’d opted to remain ignorant. “You’re pissing me off.”

  The makings of a smile creased Rob’s face. “I know. What do you think your opponent is going to do? I’m supposed to piss you off first so you don’t make a mistake in public.”

  A reluctant chuckle escaped from Matt. “Is that why I’m paying you the big money?”

  “Yes. And there’s nothing in my contract saying I don’t get to enjoy seeing you flustered.”

  “Asshole.”

  “Thank you. I think I added that to my resume recently. Now, this girl…”

  He turned and gripped the mantle, staring at a picture of his family. Were they going to be discussed too? Andy had mentioned people in town were already talking about their mom and dad’s separation. And his mom was from Dare. Jane wasn’t. The questions about her would be even more invasive, and he had an idea about how well she would handle that… Not well.

  “I’m going to need another beer for this conversation.”

  Rob followed him into the kitchen. Matt popped the top off another microbrew and took a deep gulp.

  “Tantrum over?” Rob asked.

  Matt shot him a sharp look, but then began to tell him what he knew about Jane. By the time he had finished, his friend’s brow was knit together, just like when he’d heard news he didn’t like about a client.

  “Everything sounds good until she falls off the radar after Harvard,” Rob commented. “I mean, up until then, she’s the perfect…companion to a man running for office. The rest of it… Well, something’s not right. How do you leave Harvard with honors as an MBA and then disappear, only to reappear in Dare Valley working for The Grand Mountain Hotel before becoming the dog walker to a champion poker player? If she weren’t using her real name, she’d be a candidate for witness protection.”

  “Let’s not get carried away here.”

  Still, he couldn’t ignore the fact that his friend’s concerns mirrored his own.

  “I’m going to have to look into her, Matt, if you’re really going to run for mayor,” Rob said, resting against the kitchen counter. His stance might be casual, but his gaze was sharp.

  “No. I don’t want that,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m working on getting her to trust me. That will completely mess things up.”

  “Do I need to remind you that you lost Patricia’s case because you didn’t look deep enough into the nurse’s background? Because you thought she was a good person for being a whistleblower?”

  The burn seared through him all over again. She had been a nice woman, just not entirely forthcoming. Rob was right—he should have done a better job. “It was buried deep,” he muttered.

  Rob crossed his arms. “Not deep enough. Matt, we practiced law together for long enough for me to know your cardinal weakness.”

  His jaw clenched.

  “You believe the best of people, and sometimes my friend, it’s not warranted.”

  “Just because there are gaps in Jane’s life doesn’t mean she’s a bad person.”

  “No it doesn’t,” Rob agreed. “But even a first-year law student could deduce that there’s something wrong here.”

  Dammit. Didn’t he know that?

  “You’re paying me to do a job, Matt. If you won’t take my word for things like this, our arrangement isn’t going to work.”

  “Give me a few days, Rob,” he compromised. “This is my life, and while I trust you to do your job, I get the final say here.”

  His friend met his steady gaze. “Understood. But you also need to remember that I’m not the enemy here. I want you to succeed, and it’s my job to do everything it takes to make that happen.”

  “Within reason,” Matt added, which for him did not include running a background check on his girlfriend. Oh God, his girlfriend. He hadn’t used that word for her before, not even in his head, but it felt right.

  “We’ll have to see how things go then,” Rob commented and wandered back to the main living area. “And now that I’ve put you in a bad mood, I’m going to head back to the big, bad city.”

  Matt followed him. “Hey man, I’m not doubting your counsel here—”

  “Hale,” Rob interrupted. “Do I look upset? You’re going to need to toughen up if you’re going to be in politics. As far as I’m concerned, this is just our first serious client consultation. It only gets more intense from here on out.”

  Not what he wanted to hear. “Dare Valle
y is a nice town with good people. I don’t think running for mayor here is going to be anything like what you’re thinking.”

  Rob neatly arranged his papers in his briefcase and then buttoned his coat. “I hope you’re right, but if you’re not, we’ll deal with it.”

  “Let me take Henry out while I walk you to your car.”

  They shook hands in front of the Mercedes SUV. Rob rolled his eyes when Henry tried to jump on him, only restrained by Matt’s hand on his collar.

  “And try to get your dog under control. Voters love seeing a candidate out with his dog but not one who’s going to jump on little children.”

  “Funny,” Matt said as Rob got into the car.

  When his friend’s car pulled away, Matt leaned down to rub under Henry’s soft ears. “You’re getting better, aren’t you?”

  When he let go of the dog’s collar, he jumped on him, and between the combined force of the blow and the slippery snow beneath his feet, he plummeted to the ground. Snow and ice crunched under him, and his stupid dog gave his face a couple of licks before he pushed the numbskull away and sat up.

  “Dammit, Henry,” he said as the dog bounded away.

  Rising, he brushed off the snow on his backside. Great, he was going to have to change now. After chasing Henry down and bringing him inside, he mulled over what Rob had said and realized his chest felt like a boulder was sitting on it. He was worried about the situation with Jane.

  And then he thought about how vulnerable she’d looked when she’d asked him to be patient with her. He wanted to give her the time she needed, but since he was announcing his run for mayor so soon, time was the one thing he didn’t have.

  Chapter 13

  Jane was buying another outfit for Annie online, a hand-knit turquoise sweater with sunflowers and a matching hat, when she heard Rhett knock on the door. Her stomach turned as though she’d swallowed spoiled milk. She wasn’t looking forward to this discussion.

  When she opened the door, he was all smiles—as he was all the time now. Love looked good on Rhett, and after all the years she’d known him, seeing him so happily settled made her want the same for herself.

  “Hey, sugar,” he drawled and kissed her cheek before plucking a delighted Annie up off the ground and nuzzling her face. Tucking the little dog in the crook of his arm, he sauntered into the house like only Rhett could and dropped down onto the couch, Rufus following him patiently for a nice rub down.

  “Thanks for coming,” she said and then clenched her fists together. “Can I get you some sweet tea or something?”

  He glanced over and raised his brows. “You made sweet tea? Now I’m really getting nervous. You aren’t planning to quit on me, are you?”

  “No. I love working for you.” She was horrified he’d even think that.

  “Okay, then,” he said, rubbing Rufus and then shoving off the couch, “let’s get this sweet tea and sit for a spell. You clearly have troubles, and Rhett is here to help.”

  It comforted her tremendously when his big hand pulled her in for a side hug. You could always count on Rhett. “Thanks, Rhett.”

  “Sure, honey.” Then he joined her in the kitchen.

  Her hands trembled as she poured him a glass. “Lemon?”

  “Yes, but let me slice it. I’m afraid you might cut off a finger, your hands shaking like that. You really have me worried, Jane. Should I call Elizabeth and have her join us?”

  The guilt she felt over excluding Elizabeth rose up. “I wanted to talk to you first since this has the biggest impact on you.”

  After garnishing his drink, he picked it up with one hand and wrapped the other around her shoulder. “Okay, then, best spit it out before you give me a heart attack.”

  They returned to the living room and settled on the couch, and for once she broke her cardinal rule and brought Annie onto her lap for comfort. The dog rolled into a little ball, and Jane stroked the white cowlick on top of her head.

  “Well, you know how I’ve been seeing Matt Hale,” she began.

  “Did he do something?” Rhett asked sharply.

  She immediately shook her head. “No, nothing bad. It’s just…well…”

  “Weeds in winter could grow faster than you right now, honey. Just lay it out.”

  Right. She was hemming and hawing as Rhett was fond of saying. “Well, he wants to know about me. Things like my background.”

  He cocked his head to the side. “Ah, I see. And there’s a rather large gap in your background.”

  “Yes. It’s just…I’ve never felt this way about anyone, and Rhett…I don’t want to mess this up or lose him because I can’t tell him about my life.”

  He scratched his jaw. “How much are you thinking?”

  Unable to sleep after their date, she’d greeted the sunrise with some difficult answers about her best steps forward. “I’m going to tell him where I’m from. About my parents. And more about Harvard. But I’d also like to tell him I’ve been working for you for the last seven years as your poker scout, which I know is a huge thing to ask.”

  He remained silent, his poker face as unreadable now as ever.

  “I won’t tell him about being Raven because…well, because it’s too much to share at this point. And it places you and Elizabeth in an uncomfortable situation. While we didn’t do anything illegal, some people on the circuit might make a ruckus if they find out your scouts were so close to the table. I would never want to risk that. Or cause any problems with people in Dare… But I have to tell him something.” She thought of how kind Matt had been last night, what he’d said about trust. “No, I want to tell him something.”

  The sigh he heaved out was long and deep, and his chest rose from the sheer force of it. “Times are changing all ‘round, aren’t they? We’ve never talked about disclosing the truth outside our tiny circle because none of us have ever had anyone that important in our lives. Abbie knew about y’all all the time, even if she didn’t approve, and none of us questioned her confidence. Now this… What we have here is a new situation. How does Elizabeth feel about it?”

  Guilt made her look down. “I haven’t talked to her yet. I wanted to talk to you first since I…well, I work for you. And I know she won’t like it. She’ll tell me all the reasons not to trust a man with something like this, something he can turn around and use against me. Us.”

  He leaned over and tipped her chin up. “You girls ever going to tell me what happened to her at Harvard?”

  The whole matter was closed off in a box, and both she and Elizabeth had agreed years ago never to open it. “It has to be her choice, not mine.”

  His hand opened, and Annie jumped off her lap and into his. “Fine. We’ll leave it for now. As for your issue, are you sure you can trust him with this? I’m a little concerned about it getting out. You’re right—scouts are pretty common now, but some players might try and make an issue of the proximity.”

  She crossed her hands over her chest. Poker players weren’t exactly diplomatic. It wasn’t hard to imagine how rough their comments would be on social media—or the whispers that would be passed between key people at the big tournaments or hotels. Would anyone ban Rhett? God, it didn’t bear considering.

  “The other big issue is the poker babe masquerade. If people discovered that, especially in this small town, it would upset Abbie, and we’ve finally gotten past all that.”

  Yeah, who could blame the love of Rhett’s life for being embarrassed by two poker girls named Raven and Vixen, even if they were her man’s secret scouts?

  “We like living in Dare,” Rhett said. “And Mac does too. We’ve all decided to put down permanent roots. Mac’s going to let Cincinnati handle most of the hands-on work with any additional hotels he decides to build. I don’t want to mess up our inroads with this community. They’re finally taking a shine to me now that I’ve settled down.”

  His wink didn’t settle her stomach any. Seeming to sense her distress, Annie returned to her lap.

  She knew
what even a whiff of scandal could do in a small town. And this? Well, people might think she and Elizabeth were Rhett’s high-priced call girls. People on the tour had suggested salacious things before, but the three of them had just laughed about it since they knew the truth and it wasn’t hurting anyone. Now, it could, and her fingers tightened on Annie, who gave a little bark.

  “Sorry, princess.”

  “I need to talk to Abbie and Mac about the situation. No one has a finer head for this sort of tangle than Mac Maven. It’s important to think through the angles, and it wouldn’t hurt to check out Matt Hale just a little more. Any idea how he might react to hearing you were Raven?”

  She shrugged. God, if that question hadn’t kept her awake last night too.

  “Of course, I warned him to treat you right,” Rhett continued, “or he’d have to deal with me.”

  Suddenly it was like someone had lit a hearth, inside her chest. “You did? When?”

  “When I ran into him at the hotel gym. He’s a member.” His hand settled on her shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze. “You need to talk to Elizabeth about this too, you know.”

  The bile in her stomach skyrocketed. “She’s going to be angry with me for even suggesting it.”

  “Well, now, I think you two have been friends for long enough to handle upsetting the apple cart every once in a while. It’s going to be okay, Jane. We’ll figure something out. Why don’t you tell Matt about your family for the time being and buy me some time to talk to everyone?”

  Even that thought made her throat feel raw. How was she supposed to talk about the very thing that hurt her the most? “Okay. That should be plenty of this couple sharing thing for the time being.”

  His mouth quirked up finally. “That couple sharing thing. I’ll have to use that on Abbie. Now, how about we play some poker online and see who wins?”

  Rhett was always challenging her to play, and today, the distraction was welcome.

  “Are you sure you can take it? I’ll probably kick your butt.”