Page 89 of Grit
Melissa stood, frozen. “Okay.”
Cary caught her expression. “Told you I was going to kiss you whenever I wanted if we weren’t in front of Abby.”
She nodded woodenly, then walked to the truck and came back with a small bucket of ice to refill the bowl with the lemon curd.
Tayla and Daisy were waiting with triumphant expressions.
“I knew it!” Daisy said.
“You two are insanely hot together. How old is Cary again?”
“Forty-six,” Melissa muttered.
“Damn, that man has aged like fine wine.” Tayla leaned over the table and craned her neck. “And he has an amazing ass. I can’t lie, I love my boyfriend, but I can’tnotcheck that out when we’re climbing.” She held her knuckles out to Melissa. “Nicely done, my friend.”
Melissa leaned back to block Tayla’s gaze. “Why are you staring at my…” She almost said boyfriend but stopped herself because honestly, it felt weird to be calling a grown man a boyfriend. “Why are you staring at my significant other’s ass?”
Tayla’s eyes went wide. “You can stare at Jeremy’s if you want. It’s very cute.”
“He’s my little brother’s friend! Ew!”
Daisy cackled. “This is awesome. But you’ve got to think up a better name for Cary than significant other. That sounds like a legal term.”
“What sounds like a legal term?”
Melissa turned her head and saw Adrian Saroyan perusing the flyer that readSave Jordan Valley!at the top.
“Adrian! How are you doing? I have been meaning to call you for literally weeks now about this thing, and I keep forgetting because my life is insane. Has anyone from the committee called you?”
He looked confused. “What committee?”
Adrian Saroyan was a commercial real estate agent in Metlin, but he did a lot of work out in Oakville too. He was trusted by most of the community because his grandparents had pistachio acreage on the west side of town and were founding members of the Armenian church. He was a good guy who dealt fairly with farmers and ranchers, which made him well-respected in Melissa’s neck of the woods.
He frowned. “You know, I got a voice mail from someone, but I wasn’t sure what they were talking about and I thought they maybe had a wrong number.”
“I’m sorry. Seriously, I meant to call and explain things, but I forgot. How are you doing? How’s business?”
“I’m doing good.” Adrian was frowning as he scanned the flyer. “When did this start?”
“The Allen Ranch thing?” Melissa said. “A few weeks ago. Maybe the initial proposal was at the end of the summer. I’m not sure. They’ve been cagey about it. I wanted to call you because the town council is refusing to do an environmental impact study, and I’m not sure if that’s legal or not.”
Adrian’s mind seemed to be elsewhere. He turned to Tayla. “Do you know if Gus knows about this?”
“Jeremy’s grandpa?” Tayla shook her head. “I don’t think so. I haven’t heard him mention it.” She took a flyer too. “Wait, is this Gus’s old ranch?” Her eyes went wide.
Adrian muttered, “Sure is.”
Cary walked over. “Am I missing something?”
Melissa nodded at Adrian. “Adrian hadn’t heard about the Allen Ranch project.”
“Yeah, I mentioned it to Jeremy, but he didn’t think Gus could do much, so he was debating whether to tell him or not.”
“I’ll call Gus,” Adrian said. “Give me a couple of days.”
Cary crossed his arms. “You heard of JPR Holdings?”
Adrian glanced at Melissa. “Yeah. I know who that is.”
