Chloe assured her there were stacks of beach towels in the pool house, along with lounging floats and foam noodles. She handed Jade a bottle of sparkling raspberry water and shooed her out of the kitchen.
* * *
Jade foundherself on a shaded patio between an outdoor kitchen and the pool house. Grabbing a towel, she skirted evergreens and a rock waterfall that gave one a feeling of entering into a luxurious lagoon oasis. Besides the blue water in the amoeba-shaped pool, plenty of chaise lounges along with padded chairs around umbrella tables beckoned. Putting on a pair of black sunglasses, she veered to the sunny side of the huge backyard opposite the outdoor cooking area. Jade set her water down on a white wicker table between two chaise lounges topped with thick blue-and-white striped cushions. Spreading out her towel, she settled herself into a cloud of comfort.
As soon as she closed her eyes, she saw a cowboy wearing a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up his thick forearms. A shiny silver buckle fastened the black belt that looped through his dark blue jeans, which pooled around his black boots.Agirlfriend? No doubt Chase Cooper had a million women after him. Maybe he was married. Chloe hadn’t mentioned a wife. The unabashed way the Desmond woman had flirted with Chase caused Jade to suspect it was known that he was single. Too bad she wasn’t allowed to find out. No man had ever captured her attention until Chase had opened that big front door to his house. Her attraction to him had been as immediate as it was overwhelming. But since going to work in that downtown Victorian mansion, she was anything but free.
“I’m surprised Chase isn’t here,” she heard Chloe comment from a distance.
Jade opened her eyes to see Chloe crossing the patio with a tray in her hands. At her side, a lady with dark auburn hair carried a basket. She figured the woman with Chloe was her Aunt Rachel. Whoever she was, Jade sat forward to make her acquaintance.
“Since when does Chase come over while you have guests?” the older woman asked.
“Since Jade Taylor checked in,” Chloe replied. Setting the tray on a nearby umbrella table, Chloe said, “Jade, I’d like you to meet my Aunt Rachel.”
“Hello.” Jade waved and swung her legs to the side of the chaise. “It’s so nice to meet you, Mrs. Cooper.” She stood and walked to them.
“Rachel, please. Hello, Jade,” Rachel said. She was pretty, with kind eyes and a warm smile. “I hope you don’t mind me joining you and Chloe for a bite by the lagoon.”
“Not at all,” Jade said. “In fact, I was just thinking this oasis looks like a lagoon.”
“Well then, we already have something in common,” Rachel said.
As Jade and Rachel sat down at the table, Chloe placed three white plates heaped with pasta salad and watermelon in front of them. On three smaller plates were hot rolls oozing with butter. From the basket, Chloe handed them silverware wrapped in blue-and-white striped linen napkins and then set crystal goblets on the table. Lastly, she pulled out two bottles of Pinot Noir from the basket.
“I hope you like red wine,” Chloe said as she twisted a corkscrew into the cork and worked it out. “If not, I stock Chardonnay, beer, soda, and water in the outdoor kitchen fridge.”
“I prefer red wine.” Jade didn’t say she wasn’t allowed to drink. Instead, she said, “Due to the grapes it’s made from, Pinot Noir is the healthiest of all the red wines.”
“She’s my kind of girl,” Rachel said as Chloe poured the wine. “Chloe, I see what you meant about Chase visiting.” Raising her goblet, she said, “To Jade. I hope it won’t offend you if I say that next to my precious Chloe, you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
“Chloeisbeautiful,” Jade said sincerely. Bowing her head slightly, she added, “As for me, you’re too kind, but thank you.”
“You’re much too modest,” Chloe assured her, lifting a goblet. “Cheers.”
When Jade raised her goblet, they clinked crystal and drank. Diving into the pasta salad, a cell phone dinged. Jade cringed until she remembered her phone was up in her room. Chloe glanced at a text message, shook her head, and laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Rachel asked.
“Cash says he and Coop are seeing to the new horses while Chase is seeing to Miss Desmond.”
An unusual pang hit Jade, but she laughed along with Chloe and Rachel.
CHAPTERTHREE
“Ithought we were gonna have to hog-tie Miss Desmond in her horse trailer and drive her all the way back to Castle Rock,” Coop said, saddled up on Bowie just outside of the stables.
“Yeah,” Cash chuckled. “Chase has that effect on women.”
“Like you don’t, Cash?” Chase asked with more of a growl than he’d intended.
* * *
Kendra Desmond had provento be one of the more aggressive women he’d met. After Chloe and Jade had left, Kendra hopped on Jubilee bareback and urged him to do the same with Valor. Not appreciating her actions and refusing to be goaded into following her lead, he’d walked Valor to the stables. Kendra hadn’t looked right on the palomino, especially since he’d pictured Jade riding Jubilee. Recognizing the stables were new and betting they were state-of-the-art, Kendra begged for a tour. Pretending she needed help dismounting, she’d squeezed his biceps as he assisted her. Inside the stables, she’d been duly impressed by the dozen, twelve-foot-by-twelve-foot stalls, wash bay, ventilation system, natural lighting, and tack room used for the saddles, horse blankets, bridles, and cleaning equipment. Chase had commented little. Kendra knew horses and stables; he’d give her that. But he’d rather have been showing it all to Jade.
Leading his horses to their new stalls, Kendra had sidled up to him, asking if she could use his phone. He’d agreed, yet with two sets of reins in his hands, before he could reach for his phone, she’d pulled it from his back pocket, groping his butt in the process. Though he’d scowled his aggravation, her smile said there was more where that came from. He’d had enough. Turning the horses over to Cash and Coop, Chase had escorted Kendra Desmond straight to her truck and closed the front gate behind her.
* * *
