Page 17 of Love You
“Have a good day at work and kiss your fiancé for me.” Nana waggled her eyebrows, making Darcy laugh.
When she got to GA she immediately brewed coffee. She was the only one in the office who made a decent pot. TJ came by her desk and stood over her while she checked messages.
“Yes?” After a year of working at Garner Adventure she’d finally become accustomed to TJ’s abrupt style. In the beginning, he’d intimidated the heck out of her. Now, she was discovering that she could talk back. In fact, he even liked it when she did. “What can I do for you?”
TJ sat on the edge of her desk, his long denim-encased legs stretched out in front of him. “How are plans coming along for this weekend?” TJ didn’t leave things to chance like his younger brother. If you looked upType Ain the dictionary, you’d find TJ Garner’s name in the definition.
“Good,” she said, even though they didn’t have any concrete plans. Win couldn’t sit long enough to strategize, which would leave Darcy to do it all. Same song, different station. Working for Lewis, she knew exactly how this went. She’d done all the work, Lewis had taken all the glory. She didn’t need, or even want, to be the star of the show. All she’d ever asked for was to be valued and not ignored. Or in her mother’s case, not endlessly criticized.
Off the top of her head she threw out, “There’s a professional bull rider in Nugget who we’re thinking of taking the group to meet. Apparently, he gives lessons.”
“Lucky Rodriguez,” TJ said, repeating the same name Boden had given them at the bar. “I like it. But keep in mind he owns a dude ranch that offers corporate team building too. We wouldn’t want FlashTag to ditch us for him.”
“Should we not go, then?” This is where it would’ve been handy to have Win add his two cents. But she hadn’t seen him all morning. As far as adventure sports and team building went, she was completely out of her depth.
“Go. I think it’s a great idea. Just keep in mind that we’re competitors, though Lucky’s outfit focuses on rodeoing. Calf roping, steer wrestling, bull riding, barrel racing, that kind of thing. But there’s no reason we can’t join forces to give our clients a full adventure experience.” TJ checked his watch as if he had somewhere to be. “What else do you have planned?”
“Uh, we’re working on it.”
“It’s Wednesday, Darce, work faster.” With that he headed out the door.
It looked like Darcy was on her own to line up the weekend, starting with lodging. She got on the phone to the Four Seasons where GA had an account, then made a reservation at the Indian place for dinner. The restaurant was formally Zaika but everyone within a fifty-mile radius simply called it the Indian place. It had become a destination restaurant in the Sierra Nevada, that’s how good it was. She called the Morning Glory and Old Glory and reserved tables for breakfast and lunch.
When she finished planning their meals and making reservations, she Googled Lucky Rodriguez, kicking herself for not simply asking TJ for the number to the dude ranch. She found him easy enough, though. There were at least a dozen or more news articles about him, including aSports Illustratedpiece about his champion bull-riding days and how he was hanging it up to found a cowboy camp and be with his family. She plugged in the termsNugget,cowboy campandLucky Rodriguezin the search engine and voilà. A beautiful website, almost as nice as Garner Adventure’s, popped up. Darcy dialed the number on the camp’s home page and in no time at all she was setting up their visit.
When noon rolled around she had mastered a pretty tight itinerary and strolled over to Tart Me Up to reward herself with a sandwich. And maybe one of those fruit tarts Rachel made that were to die for. Then she remembered disapproving Mommie Dearest was in town and the thought of consuming anything worth eating soured in her stomach.
Today, she’d been extra careful with her wardrobe choices, selecting pants that fit snugly through the thighs and flared at the bottom, a top with vertical stripes, and heels with a low-cut vamp. According toCosmo, this was supposed to trick the eye into making her appear tall and willowy. According to Darcy’s mirror, nothing had changed. But at least Geneva couldn’t fault her for her selections.
There was a line to take a number at the bakery, making Darcy consider her options. They were in the thick of tourist season so any of Glory Junction’s eating establishments would likely be busy. Carrie Jo Morgan, Colt’s receptionist at the police department, was ahead of her. Darcy didn’t know her well but she’d always seemed nice and funny, saying anything that popped into her head, even to Colt, who scared the crap out of Darcy. He’d never been anything but nice but he had a gruff, hard-as-cement exterior that made Darcy stumble over her words every time he talked to her. Once she nearly choked on a doughnut while he was in the room.
Carrie Jo took a number, saw Darcy, and came over to wait with her in line. “This is nuts, isn’t it? I told Rachel she should franchise.”
It was pretty crazy. But then again Oprah had recommended the bakery and now people drove up from San Francisco, more than three hours away, to get a piece of strudel. Darcy didn’t think Oprah had ever been to Glory Junction but somehow she knew about Tart Me Up.
“Someone should open one of those little food carts on Main Street, sell hot dogs, pretzels, and falafel,” Darcy said.
“In winter, chestnuts. They’d make a fortune.” Carrie Jo checked the board to see what number they were on. “At this rate, I’m going to have to get back to the office before it’s my turn.”
“How much time do you get for lunch?”
Carrie Jo hitched her shoulders. “Technically, thirty minutes but His Royal Pain in the Ass doesn’t keep tabs.” Darcy assumed she was talking about Colt. “What’s going on at GA? I hear Snapchat’s coming to town.”
“FlashTag. They’re considering using us for corporate team building.” It was the first time Darcy had ever used “us,” which worried her. She used to think Snyder Real Estate was an “us” until she found out it was just a Lewis.
“Cool. I hope it works out.”
Carrie Jo’s number got called and she went up to the counter to put in her order. Not long after, Darcy’s flashed on the board. With her half sandwich and fruit salad, she went back to the office and ate at her desk.
Around three, Win walked in the door. Despite hours on the lake or river or mountainside or wherever he’d been, he still managed to look like a Ralph Lauren ad. Windswept but not stirred. The man was so good-looking it was nauseating.
“What’s cooking, good-looking?”
She would’ve been flattered except he used that line on everyone. “Thanks to your lie, my mother’s in town.”
“Huh?” He cocked his hip against the counter and stared down at her. “What’re you talking about?”
“Lewis told my mother we were engaged. She came to help plan the wedding.” She expected him to freak out a little but he just laughed. Because the joke was on her.
