Playing For Keeps (Emerald Lake Billionaires 2) (10 page)

“Whatever time Tess told you it takes, you might as well double it. She works so hard that some days I swear she’s Wonder Woman in disguise.” Rachel stirred a spoonful of sugar into her hot drink. “I’m looking forward to this coffee. There’s something about living with sixty-eight children for three days that makes me subhuman. Bella’s a dream compared to some of the children we were looking after.”

The doorbell jingled again and Sophie looked across the room. She stared at the woman standing inside the café. Her blonde hair formed a perfect halo of curls around her head. Her big blue eyes had been made to look bigger with carefully applied eye shadow and smudge-proof mascara. Unlike Sophie, she looked as though she’d just stepped out of a beauty salon.

“Can I help you?” Kate smiled at her new customer.

The woman looked around the café. “I don’t want anything to eat or drink. I’m hoping you can give me directions to a property outside of Bozeman?”

“I’ll do my best.”

The woman pulled a piece of paper out of her bag. “I’m looking for Ryan Evans. He lives somewhere around Emerald Lake. This is his address. I should have brought a map with me, but I didn’t think Bozeman would have changed that much.”

Kate headed toward a brochure stand at the side of the room. “We’ve got some maps, but I don’t know if they go as far as the turnoff to Big Sky Resort. The properties around Emerald Lake share the same road.”

Sophie felt Tess’ gaze on her. She might have been waiting for her to say something, but Sophie was trying to figure out who the woman could be. She hadn’t seen her before and Ryan hadn’t mentioned any visitors.

Kate pointed to the map. “Take Gallatin Road out of town, turn right into Big Sky Resort Road, then keep going until you get to Emerald Lake Drive. It will take about forty minutes.”

The woman nodded. “Do I owe you anything for the map?”

Kate pulled a pen out of her pocket and wrote something on the side of the brochure. “The map is free. If you get lost, call the café. We’ll be here for another hour. If you’re looking for somewhere to stay, Big Sky Resort has plenty of accommodation options.”

The woman folded the map in half. “Thanks for your help.”

“You’re welcome.”

As she left the café, the visitor glanced at the two women sitting at a table by the front window. The two elderly women frowned.

The doorbell had barely stopped ringing when Rachel leaned across the table. “Do you think that was Ryan’s ex-wife?”

Tess frowned. “I don’t know. She’s probably about the right age.”

One of the women sitting at the front of the café turned around. “That was Cindy Armstrong. She left Bozeman with Ryan when he started making a name for himself. Marrying her was the worst thing he ever did. Cindy always had dreams that were bigger than anyone else’s.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that, Doris,” Tess said. “If you don’t have dreams, you’ve got nothing to aim for.”

Doris sniffed. “Cindy spent more years living off Ryan’s dreams than hers. From what I’ve heard, life hasn’t been too good since she divorced him. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s planning on wiggling herself back into his life.”

“You don’t know that,” Kate said. “She could just want to say hello. It’s not against the law to keep in contact with your ex-husband.”

“Ryan would be safer if it was. You mark my words, Cindy’s up to no good.”

Sophie didn’t hear the rest of the conversation. She was too worried about what she was going to do next. Ryan’s home had enough bedrooms for everyone, but nothing was furnished. If Cindy stayed the night, she’d need somewhere to sleep. And then there were the sheets, pillows, and towels that she’d need.

“You need to call Ryan,” Tess said softly. “Regardless of what Doris said, he needs to know that Cindy’s driving to Emerald Lake.”

Sophie pulled her cell phone out of her bag. She glanced at Doris, then at Rachel. Their conversation had moved onto someone else, but Tess was still watching her. She found Ryan’s number and called him.

He answered his phone on the first ring. “Sophie? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, at least I hope it’s nothing. I’m at Angel Wings Café. Someone came into the café.” She glanced at Tess. “Your ex-wife is on her way out to your house.”

“Cindy? What’s she doing in Bozeman?”

“I don’t know. She’ll be there in about thirty minutes.” She heard Ryan mutter something under his breath. “Is there anything you want me to get while I’m in town?”

“Just get back here fast. Cindy and I aren’t getting along that well at the moment. If you’re here she might keep her visit short.”

“I don’t understand,” Sophie said. “Has everyone else left?”

“They’re still here, but Cindy needs some extra encouragement to leave.”

Sophie didn’t have a clue what he was talking about, but she couldn’t ignore the worry in his voice. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’ve just got to pick up a few supplies from another store.”

“I’ll see you when you get here.”

Ryan ended the call and Sophie stared at her phone. If his marriage had been as bad as Doris had said, Cindy wouldn’t be welcome in his home. Everyone seemed to realize that except Cindy.

“You did the right thing,” Tess said.

Sophie hoped so.

***

Ryan watched a plume of dust get closer to his home. Sophie wouldn’t have made it home yet. It must be Cindy, his ex-wife and soon to be tormentor.

“Everything all right, boss?” Danny asked.

“Not really. My ex-wife is on her way out here.”

Danny looked toward the driveway. “She’s not wasting any time. It must be urgent.”

The only urgent thing on Cindy’s mind was getting her hands on Ryan’s money. He turned away from the driveway and walked inside.

Danny followed him. “What are you going to do when she gets here?”

“Encourage her to leave.”

“Do you need any help from us?”

Ryan unbuckled his tool belt from around his waist. “I’ll be fine. You might want to warn Sophie that Cindy’s already here. I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.” He didn’t wait to see what Danny did next.

He’d already called Dorothy. She’d been in a meeting and was going to call him back as soon as she could. He’d bet his last dollar that Cindy’s lawyer didn’t know she was here. As usual, she was prepared to take matters into her own hands to get what she wanted.

He picked up an empty box and started putting food into it. He needed to take everything out of the kitchen before the flooring contractors arrived in the morning. Cindy’s unexpected arrival wouldn’t slow him down.

He heard a car door slam and took a deep breath. Cindy had arrived.

“Ryan? Are you here?”

Her shoes clicked across the floor. He glanced over his shoulder and frowned. “If you’ve got high heels on, you’d better take them off. They’ll dent my floors.”

Cindy stopped in the middle of the room. “You haven’t changed. A simple request would have been better. But then you never were very good at asking for anything.”

“I’m not going to fight with you, Cindy. I’ve got nothing to say to you, so I suggest you leave.”

“Of course, you want me to leave. With all of those dollars burning a hole in your pocket, I’d say you’ve got lots of ideas on how to spend every cent. It’s just as well one of us knows what they’re entitled to.”

“We’ve been through this before. Six years ago. You got everything you were entitled to after our divorce. You don’t get to walk away and then come back for a second piece of pie. You made your decision six years ago and I suggest you make the same one now. Leave my home. There’s nothing here for you.”

Cindy walked toward him. “There’s a lot here for me.” She looked around the double-height room and smiled. “How many millions is it costing to build this house?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Oh, I think it is. From the look of things, you won’t miss another four million dollars going into my bank account. My taste in buildings isn’t quite so adventurous, but I should be able to buy something nice to live in.”

“Does your lawyer know you’re here?”

Cindy lifted her chin. “My lawyer doesn’t tell me what to do.”

“Your legal team will be charging you a lot of money. It’s about time you started listening to them.”

Another car door slammed. Ryan didn’t think that Jamie or Danny would have been going anywhere, so it must be Sophie.

“Ryan?”

He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Sophie’s voice. “In the kitchen.” He waited until she was standing beside Cindy before introducing them to each other. “Sophie, this is Cindy, my ex-wife.”

Sophie smiled at Cindy. “It’s nice meeting you.” She looked around the kitchen. “Where’s Jamie and Danny?”

“Jamie’s upstairs and Danny’s making sure we’ve got everything organized for the flooring guys tomorrow.”

Cindy looked from
Sophie to
Ryan.

He knew exactly where her mind was going and he hoped it stayed there. An uncomfortable silence settled in the room.

Sophie’s eyes locked on his face.

She wanted to leave them to what would come next, but he wanted her to stay. He needed her to act as a buffer between Cindy and the crazy things she’d say. He shook his head, hoping Sophie got the message and took pity on him.

He looked at his ex-wife. “Why are you here?”

“I want what’s mine,” Cindy said. “If you think I’m going to sit back and watch you spend millions of dollars on a house in the middle of nowhere, then you’re delusional. You wrote,
Sad Time Coming
while we were still married. I’m entitled to half of the royalties.”

“You know damn well that a judge will throw out your case. That’s why you’re threatening to release the photos. I’m not giving you any money. You can do what you like with the photos because I don’t care anymore.”

Cindy’s gaze settled on Sophie. “How does your girlfriend feel about the photos being released? Has she even seen them?”

A trickle of sweat ran down Ryan’s back. No one had seen the photos except Dorothy and she hadn’t been impressed. He didn’t want Sophie seeing them, but he had a feeling his day was about to get a whole lot worse.

The smile on Sophie’s face wasn’t a spontaneous, happy smile, but something more calculated. He was beginning to realize there was more to her than what he’d thought. After everything that had happened today, he was almost looking forward to seeing what she did next.

Sophie looked up at him through her long dark lashes. Her smile softened. “Ryan showed me the photos. I didn’t believe they were him at first. I guess he’s one of those people who get better looking as they get older.” She turned her fake smile toward Cindy. “Ryan is an amazing man, but you knew that before you came out here. Have you considered what people are going to think about you when they see those photos?”

Cindy crossed arms in front of her chest. “I don’t care what they think. All I care about is letting the world know what Ryan Evans is really like. His squeaky clean, boy-next-door image will last about five minutes when his fans see the photos.”

Sophie looked as though she was considering what Cindy had said. “You could be right, but I imagine most people will wonder about the person who took them. I don’t know who your friends are or what you do, but people can be so nasty. But you’ve probably thought about that already?” She didn’t wait for Cindy to reply. “I really must find Jamie. I promised him I’d help look at paint samples. I hope your plan doesn’t backfire.”

With a quick kiss on Ryan’s cheek and a charming smile plastered across her face, Sophie left them to sort out their problems. Ryan didn’t know whether to follow her upstairs or keep battling with Cindy. He was tired of worrying about the photos and what they would do to his reputation. Cindy had taken up far too much of his time and it had to stop.

“I can’t do anything for you, Cindy,” he said slowly. “It doesn’t matter what I think or say, you’re going to do what you want to anyway. Don’t come back here again. I’ll see you in court with my legal team.”

Cindy’s mouth opened and closed like a goldfish gasping for her last breath. “You can’t tell me to leave. I haven’t finished talking to you.”

Ryan walked across to the large doors that opened onto a patio area. “I’ve listened to you for more than a month. If you have anything else to say, ask your lawyer to call mine. Otherwise, I’ll see you in court.” He held one of the doors open and waited for her to make a move.

Cindy glared at him, then sauntered through the door as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Maybe she didn’t, but she might have a few more worries after her visit today.

“This isn’t the last you’ve heard from me,” Cindy threatened.

Ryan stared at her. He couldn’t understand what he’d ever seen in her. He didn’t remember her being so mean-spirited or greedy. Cindy had always had a firm idea of where she wanted to go and what she wanted to be. He’d admired her drive and determination. When he was eighteen years old, he would have done anything to please her.

She’d been spoiled by her family and everyone she knew. He doubted that anyone would have the same patience now.