“Is that the way you want to play?” I laughed, scooping a handful of mud from the front of my pants.
“I surrender,” Cash said, taking a few quick steps backward. His body lurched when he stepped into the slick mud. Faster than I could think, I reached out and wrapped my arms around his waist to steady him. Something between a growl and a hum rumbled from somewhere deep in his throat.
He leaned down and whispered in my ear, “Now I know what it’s like to fall into a pair of waiting arms. No wonder you girls are always pulling this stunt. It’s not half-bad.”
Flames licked at my cheeks from inside my body when Cash wrapped his arms around me. I didn’t care that there was now mud on my back as well as on my stomach and face. Cash was holding me, and I was holding him.
Someone on the other side of the fence cleared their throat. Right. Grandmother. How could I have forgotten?
“I do have some news, if you’re interested,” she said.
Cash flashed me a look that told me we’d finish this later—whateverthiswas. “We’d love to hear your news,” he said, refocusing his attention on her.
“I’ve found it.” She beamed despite her destroyed slacks.
“I’m sorry, you’ve found what?” I asked, still trying to clear my head from the moment I’d just shared with Cash.
“I’ve found the perfect property.”
My heart dropped and my stomach soured. How had she found a property already? This real estate hunt was supposed to last the summer and end in failure so she’d cut me a check instead.
But the look in Grandmother’s eyes told me I might have to rethink my survival strategy for this summer… again.
CHAPTERNINETEEN
Grandmother’s big news had my head buzzing. “How did you find a property so quickly?” I stammered as I sluffed off the mud clinging to the bottom of my shirt. I thought elderly people were supposed to be slow, but Grandmother seemed to have missed the memo. “Shouldn’t we look at more properties before picking one?A lotmore of them?”
“When you’ve been investing in real estate as long as I have, you develop a sixth sense about things. This really is the perfect opportunity for a beginner like you.”
“You’re sure it’stheone?” Cash asked, placing a steadying hand on my back. “You know Willow. She’s kind of particular.”
“She comes by it naturally,” Grandmother said, straightening her already stiff posture. “I’m rather particular myself, which is why I know she’s going to love this property when she sees it next weekend.”
I gulped. “Next weekend?”
“Yes, it’s not one you’re going to want to let slip away from you. It’s commercial with established tenants who aren’t going to be interested in moving their businesses any time soon. That’s good news for you because it means guaranteed rent from proven tenants.”
My plan to drag my feet and reject every property we looked at seemed to be going up in smoke, and I didn’t have a fire extinguisher. “Well…” I chewed the inside of my cheek searching for something—anything—to say. I had nothing. So much for my scheme to outsmart a woman who had lived on the planet three times longer than I had.
“The seller is leaving town on business this afternoon, but we can go make a deal next Saturday.”
“Make a deal?” My voice cracked. “As in, buy it?”
“If you decide that’s what you want to do. The seller is motivated and asking below market. Some sort of mid-life crisis is my bet. But their loss is your gain, Willow. That’s the way it works. We have to strike while the iron is hot. He’s agreed not to sell to anyone before we meet again.”
I looked up at Cash, sending him every silent plea for help that I could muster. “What do you think? Can we make it next Saturday?”
Cash draped his arm around my shoulders. “I won’t be able to go with you. I have to work a full shift before the cookoff that night. My schedule’s already so tight that day that I don’t even know how I’m going to have time to make the trip out to the farms to pick up my fresh produce for my dishes.”
“Can’t you take the day off?” Grandmother asked Cash. Dear naive, rich Grandmother didn’t understand what it was like to work for employers who didn’t believe in allowing their employees to have a life outside of work.
“No, ma’am. The restaurant is expecting lots of foot traffic because of the cookoff. I’ve got to have everything prepared to help them have a successful night while I’m out on the street. I’m lucky the head chef allowed me to get off when he did.”
That cookoff meant a lot to Cash. He deserved to get his signature recipes in front of people, and he deserved to do it without a bunch of extra pressure. It was bad enough he was most likely going to have to deal with his ex-best friend and ex-fiancée that night. That was more stress than anyone needed. “I’ll pick up the produce for you,” I said. “You just focus on winning that food truck.”
“Really? Some of those farms are way out in the sticks. You sure you want to do this?”
I laid my hand on his forearm and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You’ll have enough on your mind without having to dash all over the place on a last-minute grocery run. Saturday night is your time to shine. Razzle-dazzle everyone who even smells your food”—I leaned close and winked—“and show ’em all what they’ve been missing.” I looked into his eyes and saw that he knew exactly who I was talking about. There was nothing quite so satisfying as making an ex regret being a jerkwad, and I was looking forward to Cash having that moment.
