Page 34 of Heating Up (Nugget)
Gia played with a loose thread on her shirt. “My boyfriend . . . now ex-boyfriend . . . bilked thousands of people out of their life’s savings, college funds, and retirement money.... Some had to sell their homes just to scrape by so he could sit on a tropical beach somewhere, drinking Mai Tais with their hard-earned money. These poor victims want blood. Preferably his blood. But they’ll take mine in a pinch.”
“But the FBI cleared you,” Dana said. “You were a victim too.”
“Most people don’t believe that, and even if they did, they don’t want to see me recouping my losses by preaching financial gospel . . . telling people on national TV how to avoid predators and scammers. They don’t want to see me living in a four-million-dollar Manhattan penthouse while they’ve been forced to file bankruptcy.” Gia took a deep breath and gazed out onto the horizon.
“I’m sorry. This can’t be easy.”
Gia lifted her shoulders. “It is what is. What’s next on the tour?”
“Ordinarily, at this point in the program, I would take you to lunch and we’d go over the pros and cons of what we’d already seen so I could get a better idea of what to show you next.”
“I am hungry,” Gia said. “But how likely is it that people won’t recognize me?”
“I could drive us through the Bun Boy and get food to go. Not the most elegant lunch, but in the car people would be less likely to recognize you. You do realize, however, that it’s just a matter of time?”
“I just don’t want the tabloids to know I’m here to buy property. I can see the headlines now: ‘Evan Laughlin’s victims go bankrupt, Gia Treadwell goes shopping.’”
Dana had to admit it wouldn’t look good. “As long as you don’t mind eating takeout. We could find a nice spot to have a picnic.”
“Sounds good to me.”
They drove back to town, and Dana joined the line of cars waiting to give their order at the drive-through.
“Funny place,” Gia said, glancing out the window at the lawn, where wooden tables and benches were jammed with diners. “It seems to do a great business.”
“Even in winter,” Dana said. “There’s no seating inside, so people either take the food home or eat inside their cars.”
When they finally got to the speaker, Dana asked for two cheeseburgers with sides of curly fries and vanilla shakes.
“I haven’t been this decadent in years.” Gia ducked down a little so no one at the window could make her out. “Pretty soon I won’t have to worry about the camera adding ten pounds.”
“Even if you gained ten pounds you’d still look thin,” Dana said. Unexpectedly, she felt quite comfortable with Gia. Her client was turning out to be much more likable than she would’ve expected for a celebrity.
Dana glanced at her watch. “We have an hour before our next appointment. On the way, there’s a good spot near the river where we can eat.”
Nosing the car out of the square, she headed to the highway, knowing the area she had in mind would be quiet. Dana turned off on a paved road and instead of turning right to Lucky Rodriguez’s cowboy camp, she made a sharp left and then a right. Ten minutes later, she parked in a dirt turnout.
“We just have to hike down a few feet to the river. If I remember correctly, there’s a picnic table there.”
Gia got out of the car, stretched her legs, and took in the view. Dana grabbed their lunches and motioned for Gia to follow her. Just as she’d remembered, there was a weathered old table and two benches perched on a knoll above the water. She grabbed a couple of napkins from the sacks of burgers and wiped it down.
“This work?”
“It’s lovely. Is this the Feather River?”
“It is. Usually, there’s more water from the snow runoff from the mountains. But we didn’t have much snow this winter.” Dana handed Gia her food, and both women started eating.
“My God, this is good,” Gia said with a mouth full of burger.
“The Ponderosa’s food is delicious too. When you’re ready to come out in public, I’ll take you there for dinner.”
Gia nodded. “I’d like that. So is this a park or something?”
“No, this is Rosser Ranch. Ordinarily, Ray Rosser would shoot us for trespassing, but he’s in jail.”
Gia laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope. He killed a cattle rustler and is facing murder charges.”
