Page 52 of Spring Showers

“Oh, so you did get it. Good!” he chuckled for no reason at all, which chafed her again.

She crossed her arms in front of her chest, the way she did whenever she was on defense. “Why are you here, Davis?”

“For you. Is that so hard to believe?”

“Yes,” she said. “I didn’t know you were the potential investor here, or I would have?—”

“Invited me sooner?” he finished. “I wish you would have. This place is a disaster. Not what I thought I’d be walking into today, to be honest,” he added and seemed to be looking past her and out to the property. “Grant’s my consultant, and he made this place out to be a paradise.”

“He did?” Thandie said, and her heart filled with gladness at such a glowing report about the week, despite the terrible weather.

“You know Grant. He’s great, right? Professional and to the point.”

Thandie kicked the ground on the way out into the sun. “How could I be so stupid?” He’d been the spy all along and she didn’t notice? Or she did suspect and wouldn’t admit the glaring truth to herself. She had convinced herself that the consultant was the bubbly Daisy and her disinterested Brent, and had ruled Grant out. Like an idiot.

Davis followed her outside. “Are you alright? You seem agitated,” he said.

She took a breath and relaxed into a pleasant face devoid of the ire she felt pressurizing in her chest. “Everything is fine.”

Davis reached for her hand and held it the way he used to with his fingers intertwined with hers. What used to be a comfort now felt wrong, and she pulled her hand back and faced him.

“I know that when you say you’re fine, you’re not. But no matter. I’m here now, and I have some business to get to. We can have a proper reunion later.” Davis leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. Holding her shoulders awkwardly, she was stiff as a cornstalk in October under his touch.

“Thandie?” Grant’s voice sounded from behind her.

Suddenly wanting to die, she rolled her eyes towards the sky, hoping to see a guardian angel there to save her from the blowback she was certain was about to hit. “Hi, Grant. I didn’t know you were standing there.”

“I see that,” Grant said with a shake in his voice. The same shake that had been present when he had spilled his heart to her about losing his wife so tragically.

She took a step toward him, and he took an equal step away from her. “Grant...” she reached for him, but he didn’t reach back. Instead, Davis caught her hand in midair and held her fingers intertwined with his.

“This Davis, isyourDavis?” Grant asked.

Davis tugged on her arm so that she faced him again. “You told him that I wasyour Davis? So, you did get that voicemail. I was wondering because I never heard back from you, and I meant every single word. I want you back Than. I made the biggest mistake of my life letting you go.” Davis pulled her closer and locked her in an embrace. His lips crushed against hers and she was helpless to get away. His moan at their sudden connection turned her stomach.

Thandie slid her hands between them up to his chest and used her own body as leverage to push him away, but it was too late. When she finally freed herself from Davis’s hold, Grant was gone.

CHAPTER24

“So, is that a yes?” Davis asked.

“You cannot be serious. Do you really want to do this right now?” Thandie walked back inside, half looking for Grant, and half looking for some food to fill her mouth with. Chewing a sandwich was preferable to chewing him out in front of everyone. She wanted to say all the things that she had stored up for months, but it wasn’t the time nor the place for such an eruption. “Look around. Can’t you see there are more important things that need to be done right now than this?” She gestured back and forth between them.

“Like taking a bulldozer to this place?” He laughed without humor.

“That’s incredibly insensitive, Davis,” she scolded him. “You have no idea what these people—what I went through in the last twenty-four hours. Grant told you this was a paradise, and until yesterday, it was.” She found her plate of food and walked back outside.

America met her near the door and whispered. “That man you’re talking to is the investor.”

Thandie knew exactly who he was, and she was quite aware that she held a metaphorical wrench that could put the entire deal in jeopardy. She nodded and chewed a little slower as she let the events play out. America escorted her back inside to thecucina, where Leo and Davis shook hands. Thandie stayed quiet and continued stuffing her cheeks.

“Oh good, you two have met,” Leo said and beamed with pride. “This is my amazingly talented and resourceful activities director, Thandie. She is responsible for such a successful inaugural week here.”

Thandie saw Davis raise an eyebrow in suspicion as he looked around the area. A backhoe and bulldozer were working on the finishing touches of the new drainage system around the barn and down to the old dock. Long timbers had been placed across the ditch as a temporary access road. Construction and storm debris was piled high along the main road, and a machine with a large claw scooped and dropped the debris into a red dumpster.

Everywhere she looked, people were helping people, just like the folks from her hometown would have done. Though she felt no love for Davis, love was definitely in the air in all the ways that mattered. Davis’s scowl, however, told another story. He would never get it. The only thing he would ever fully grasp was the bottom line. And a bottom line is what she would give him.

First, Thandie thanked Leo for his endorsement of her work there. Then she turned to Davis, taking his cheeks between her hands like she was going to plant one on him. “Davis, look at me. I’m only going to say this once and I want to be very clear. You listening?”

---