Page 19 of Pay Dirt

Chapter 9

We headed back to the house. Everyone who’d finished eating was sitting on the porch, eyeing our approach as if William and I were their evening entertainment.

William gestured to the door. “Mildred, heat up our plates so Cassie and I can finish eating.”

“All good?” Nathan asked as he stood.

William met Nathan’s gaze. “Good enough for now. Next time, just warn me.”

Nathan let out a long audible breath, and relief flooded his face. “Yes, sir.”

William rested his palm on Nathan back. There was a knowing glint in his father’s eyes. This was a family who told each other everything. No secrets in this bunch. I envied the connection and felt horrible about the fact he’d been willing to lie.

“If your girlfriend is right, she’s about to be rich. You might want to hang on to her before anyone else snatches her up.”

Nathan’s brows dipped. “But she told you…”

“I know what she told me, son. Cassie is an honest woman who’s just here to meet your family. We’re glad to have her.”

Nathan gave me a questionable look as I followed behind William and Mildred back into the house.

“Come on, child. Let’s heat up your food.”

Nathan walked with me, leaning in to whisper, “Didn’t you tell him?”

I nodded. “I told him everything. He’s willing to go along with it.”

Nathan snapped his mouth closed and pulled out my chair again. His father watched as we each sat at the table.

“No one needs to know the truth; besides, you picked a perfect week to have outsiders here.”

“The rodeo,” Nathan said, grabbing a biscuit and peeling it open.

“And your mother’s benefit Saturday night. I hope you brought your tuxedo.”

“Benefit?” I asked, trying to remember what Nathan had told me.

Mildred walked in, carrying a pitcher of tea. She refilled our glasses. “The Founder’s benefit and auction. All proceeds go to a shelter to help women dealing with domestic abuse.”

“This will be perfect,” Cassie said.

“This isn’t perfect, Cassie. There will be a lot more people in town, a lot more suspects, a lot more strangers I’ve never seen. This is the opposite of perfect,” Nathan said.

I understood why he would think that, even though my brain wasn’t wired the same way. In my job it was easier to go unnoticed, to get close to the target, and that was what we needed. In his job, criminals that stood out made it easier for him to make an arrest. The money was here. It was a simple question of where.

I smiled at Nathan and, beneath the table, rested my hand on his knee. “This is a good thing, Nathan. I’ll get to meet everybody, and if our fun adventures take us off the beaten path, it will make sense. What do I know? I’m not from these parts.”

Mildred crossed her arms over her chest and regarded us suspiciously. She raised a single brow. “Adventures and Nathan? Those two words are never used in the same sentence. Nathan is by the book. Every time a vacation was planned, Nathan was the one who had the entire travel itinerary typed up and ready to distribute. He doesn’t know the word spontaneous.” She glanced between both of us. “Nathan, I’ve known you since you were in diapers. Your mother and I taught you how to walk, talk, and two-step. You’re not adventurous, and you never bring home women, much less women who have drivers. You don’t encourage socialites, and you don’t flaunt your money, so start explaining.”

I rose from my seat and grabbed a napkin, loading it with a drumstick and another biscuit. I gestured over my shoulder. “I’m going to eat this on the porch. I’ll let you guys…explain.” I raised my napkin toward Mildred. “Love your cooking by the way. It’s better than anything back home.”

Obviously acting as a girlfriend was harder than acting as anything else when I’d tried to get close to people to serve papers. I probably should have taken lessons from Gwen growing up. I hadn’t been in town more than a couple hours and people were already onto our lie. The only opinion that mattered to me was William’s, Nathan’s father. Once we cleared the air, I felt better about finding the money. I could track money, I could find things, but I couldn’t fix broken families.

Pete and Ed were out in the field where I’d placed my pirate X-marks-the-spot sticks. Clayton was sitting in a rocking chair when I sat down on the swing. Amanda was missing in the wind. “I came clean to Nathan’s dad. I think Mildred is trying to figure things out.”

Clayton shook his head and continued in the slow sway of his chair. “You didn’t even last a full day.”

“I know,” I added with a sigh. “I’m normally so much better than this when I have to get close enough to serve papers.”

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