Much as I might want to trust that Jack was right, I knew better. Our Katie was torn in two and there was no telling which way she'd go in the end.
I didn't feel any better about the situation when she arrived looking frazzled and irritated. Gone was the sweetly satisfied woman who'd let me eat her pussy in her kitchen a few hours ago. What the hell had happened in that time to make her look so rattled?
Jack gave a quick questioning look as she strode past him into the living area and I shrugged in response. Something was up, that much was obvious. Whether that something worked in our favor or not was impossible to tell.
"What's going on, doll?" I came up behind her and took her purse from her shoulder, setting it on an end table so I could rub her shoulders and neck. Sure enough, she was a bundle of knots. Before she opened her mouth, I had a good idea what she was going to say. There was one name I was starting to hate because it was bound to have this effect on her.
"Fucking Roberts," she spit out.
Jack groaned and fell back onto the couch. I couldn't blame him, at this point it felt like we were beating our heads against a brick wall trying to get Katie to face the fact that her life back in New York was toxic and unfulfilling. At least I'd tracked down her ex and called him. Chatted about his behavior. Chatted, and when he wasn't as accommodating as I'd wanted, threatened a stalking charge, a restraining order, both of which would be public record and something the senior partners at Barker, Paul and Cambridge might be interested in. After that, we'd seen eye-to-eye and I was satisfied he could be crossed off Katie's list of jackasses. But Roberts? The only way he was going to go away was if Katie did. To Bridgewater, permanently.
"What did he do now?" Jack asked.
I inwardly groaned, wishing he hadn't. I hated seeing Katie so worked up over that asshole thousands of miles away. If he could fuck with her at such a distance, I had to wonder what he was like in person.
Before she could launch into a tirade about whatever the fucker had done this time, I cut in. "What did you find out at city hall?"
She blinked in surprise and I could practically see the gears shifting in her head. This was why she and I worked. We thought alike, were able to multitask to the extreme. I knew how to push her buttons-challenge her, make her think. And she did the same for me. I looked over to see Jack taking a swig of his beer as he lounged on the couch.
Thank God we had Jack to round us out. To make us remember that life was sometimes pretty damn simple. The perfect threesome. Well, pretty damn close to perfect anyway.
Katie reached for Jack's beer, taking it out of his hand and making him laugh as she drained the rest of it. Then she turned to me. "It was eye opening, I can tell you that."
She recounted what she'd learned and at the end, Jack let out a low whistle. Being a rancher, he knew water rights inside and out. I knew them from a legal perspective, knew what Katie now owned-controlled-without having to go to city hall. "Wow, that's some power you've got there."
"You could make half the ranches in the county go belly up." Just over something as simple and basic as water. I should have kept my mouth shut, judging from the glare I got from her.
"What are you going to do?" Jack watched Katie with a look I knew well. It was the same look he gave me every time he was giving me shit … playing devil's advocate. He knew damned well Katie wouldn't do anything to hurt this town or the people in it-because she loved it here. But he wanted her to admit that simple fact. Maybe then she would admit that she wanted to stay, that she belonged in Bridgewater.
Shit, sometimes my cousin was smarter than he looked.
Right on cue, Katie got all riled, worse than when she'd first arrived. "What do you mean, what am I going to do?"
"It's a lot of money, doll." I took a step toward her, putting my life on the line judging by that glare. "No one would blame you if you were tempted to take the deal."
Her jaw fell open and she stalked over to me, closing the distance between us. Stabbing a finger into my chest, she said, "How can you even say that? Do you know what would happen if I sold to that developer?"
"You'd be stinking rich?"
She stiffened up like a rod and Jack grinned.
She whirled around so quickly her hair whipped my face. "And I'd screw everyone in this town over in the process." Shaking her head, she backed up so she could face us both, her arms crossed in front of her chest.
"Now simmer down, doll."
Those words had the exact opposite effect I wanted. I wouldn't have been surprised to see smoke coming out her ears at that point. Surely she had to see it now. It had to be obvious that she cared about this town and its people. She couldn't walk away from it any more than me or Jack could. This town was in our blood and where we belonged, and it was the same for Katie.
She belonged with us, here in Bridgewater. Now she just had to say it.
"And if I don't, are you going to spank me?"
Those were fighting words.
"Hell, no. Spanking's for when you need a good fucking and your mind's elsewhere. This?" I waved a hand at her. "This is you using that smart brain of yours."
"Then don't tell me to simmer down. I have every right to be mad at you two. If you two think I could do that-hurt all those people and destroy Charlie's legacy in the process … " She shook her head and grabbed her purse. "If you think that, then clearly you don't know me as well as I thought."
She bolted for the door before we could stop her.
"Clearly, you don't know me at all."
CATHERINE
Tears were blinding me, making it hard to see the road as I drove back to Charlie's to grab my things. My cell was ringing, but for once, I ignored it. If it was Roberts, I'd probably go postal. But he'd done his damage for the day. It was Sam and Jack. I knew it, but I didn't want to talk to them. Not now.
I swiped at the tears as I ran inside and threw my belongings into my suitcase. I hated crying, always had. I'd overreacted back there and I knew it. But still, the fact that Sam and Jack thought so little of me hurt more than I cared to admit. I might not want to stay in Bridgewater, but that didn't mean I wanted to hurt the people who'd only been nice to me. Yeah, I was a ruthless lawyer, but I wasn't heartless.
I'd known then and there that it was time for me to go. Those two had been my weakness-to think I'd almost considered staying for them had me jamming my makeup into the toiletry case with more force than needed. When I walked into Sam's house, a little part of me had actually been hoping they'd convince me to stay. Okay, a big part.
I just wanted someone-no, two someones-to want me for me.
Anger had my hands shaking as I wadded up clothes and threw them into the luggage. First Roberts rubbed my face in the fact that he'd stolen my case and then Sam and Jack basically accused me of being a money-hungry, callous bitch.
That made up my mind for me and I sped down the two lane highway toward the Bozeman airport. I wouldn't stay here if that's the way they felt and I glanced in my rearview mirror as the lights of Bridgewater faded away. Lightning strike, my ass. Besides, I had to get back now or risk losing my chance at the partnership once and for all. I could get a flight to Denver tonight, then be on the first flight to New York in the morning. Maybe there'd even be a red eye. I'd be in the office by nine. This was the right decision. The inevitable choice. I'd always put career first and nothing had changed that, especially since two hot cowboys weren't standing in the way any longer.
I was far too early for my flight so I went to the airport's one restaurant with the view of the runway and the mountains in the distance. At the bar, I ordered a wine and settled in to wait. I downed the first glass trying to quell the churning pit in my stomach. My mind kept flip flopping between the job I was heading back to and the could-be life I was leaving behind in Montana. I ricocheted back and forth between stress and an aching loneliness.
Shit, where the hell was the bartender with my second glass?
Elaine called while I was waiting. Seriously, how long did it take to open a new bottle? Her familiar voice should have been a comfort, but at that particular moment, it was another reminder of what I was going back to. The catty office backstabbing, the alliances and the battles as if we were in some sort of battle to the death and not co-workers at the same firm. Roberts was ruthless, vindictive and had zero ethics. Perfect for a lawyer.
"Did you hear the news?" she asked as soon as I answered.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking. And how are you?" The bartender came over, filled my glass all the way to the top. When I glanced up, he tilted his head toward my phone, then winked.