Playing For Keeps (Emerald Lake Billionaires 2) (3 page)

Sophie knew next to nothing about ladies’ shoes, but it couldn’t be that hard to sell them. “Everyone was happy when they left the store, and I had plenty of repeat customers. I enjoyed my job, but I needed a change.”

Tess nodded as if she could understand someone wanting a change. “I don’t need more staff in the café, but if anything changes I’ll keep you in mind. Have you got a phone number I could call if I need to contact you?”

She nodded and pulled out the phone she’d bought as she was leaving Chicago. She told Tess the phone number and put it back into her pocket.

“Where else have you asked about vacancies?”

“I’ve walked along Main Street and no one has any jobs available. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“Have you got somewhere to stay tonight?”

Sophie shook her head. “I thought I’d see if there were any campgrounds around Bozeman. Can you recommend any good places to stay?”

Tess glanced up as someone walked through the café’s front door. She smiled at her customer and patted Sophie on the hand. “Stay here. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Tess spent the next five minutes
serving the lady at the counter.
She put the home baking the lady chose into brown paper bags and handed them to her.

While Tess was busy making a cup of coffee for her customer, Sophie checked her cell phone. Her sister was going to text her tonight to let her know how their mom was.

It had been a long, hard two weeks for Sophie. She hadn’t been away from Chicago for more than two days since her mom had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and she was worried about her.

Tess came back to the table and sat down. “There’s a campground not far off the interstate. It’s called the Bozeman KOA. But are you sure you want to stay in a campground?”

Sophie knew she didn’t have a choice. Her money was running out fast. She didn’t have a job, and the only person she knew was a cowboy called Ryan. She took a deep breath. “Until I find a job I can’t afford to stay anywhere else.”

“You could stay with me? My fiancé has gone to visit his mom. It will be nice to have some company.”

Sophie bit her lip.

Tess smiled.
“I’m a pretty good judge of character,” she said, “and I’d say you need a friend about now. It’s just me rambling around inside our big home. You could stay with me for a couple of nights?”

Sophie was tempted. She’d been living out of two suitcases and sleeping in her car since she’d left Chicago. Her eyes filled with tears at Tess’ kindness. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Say yes. You’d be doing me a favor,” Tess said. “I’m used to having someone around. When Logan isn’t home the house seems too quiet.”

She thought about Tess’ offer. If she stayed with Tess, it would give her more time to look for a job. She could unpack her suitcases and sort through everything she’d thrown in her car before she’d left Chicago. “Thank you. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

“I think I might have a small idea. Sometimes you just need a helping hand. That’s what we do in Montana.”

Sophie wiped her eyes. Bozeman had been a good choice after all.

***

The next day, Ryan lifted a bucket of paint out of the back of his truck. Once the temperature had cooled down, he’d start painting the laundry. In the meantime, he had a lot more prep work to do.

“Did you get the sandpaper?”

Ryan passed Jamie O’Brien another bucket of paint. Jamie and a couple of other contractors had been working with him for the past three months. Before Ryan started making money from his music, he’d earned a living as a contractor. When he needed to get out of Nashville, he’d decided it was as good a time as any to start building his new house.

About a year ago, he’d come to Montana for his cousin’s wedding. While he was in Bozeman, he’d seen a parcel of land advertised in the local paper. Jacob Green, a well-known property developer, had shown him around. He was selling three unique properties around Emerald Lake.

Ryan had never wanted to build his own home. It had always been easier to walk into a house, check that it had the required swimming pool, music studio, and media room, then make an offer the owners couldn’t refuse. But as soon as he’d seen the parcel of land he knew he had to buy it. It had stirred something deep inside him. He’d imagined coming back to Montana; creating a life for himself that was better than what he had.

He just hadn’t realized he’d be coming back so soon.

Jamie had been building another house beside Emerald Lake. When Ryan had seen the craftsmanship and care they’d taken with Molly and Jacob’s house, he’d decided to ask Jamie to manage the construction of his home.

“The sandpaper is in the back of the truck. I bought extra brushes, too.”

Jamie grunted. “If you washed the other brushes out properly, you wouldn’t need to buy new ones every second day.”

Ryan smiled. After four months of working with Jamie, he was beginning to appreciate his sense of humor. For the last two weeks, he’d had to put up with jokes about his painting abilities. Leaving a paintbrush in the sun before cleaning it had turned into a big drama. Anyone would
think
he’d put the roof on backward with the number
of jokes going backward and forward.

“You do know that I left the brush in the sun on purpose? I didn’t want you to think I was perfect.”

“You don’t need to worry about that,” Jamie said. “We’ve seen the way you swing a hammer. Reminds me of someone playing a guitar.”

Ryan opened the back door of his truck and passed Jamie the sandpaper. “Old habits die hard. I was more worried about the blisters on my hands after the first week of working with you.”

“You’re doing a good job for someone who hasn’t been on a building site in years. Put the paint in the living room. Danny’s in the second bedroom putting the architraves around the door. Once he’s done that, the frame will be ready for an undercoat. Just remember to wash your brush out at the end of it.” With the sandpaper and buckets of paint in his hands, Jamie walked toward Ryan’s home.

The two-story house was everything Ryan had wanted it to be. From the moment he’d seen the architect’s plans, he’d been blown away by the use of glass and steel. Most of the rooms had incredible views of the lake; views he’d enjoy even more when his home was finished.

He hoisted another bucket of paint out of the back of the truck. If he didn’t get a move on, Jamie would be after him for loitering in the front yard.

He walked inside the entranceway and looked at what they’d done over the last couple of days. Danny had plastered the drywall, sanding everything back to a smooth finish. He’d done a good job, better than Ryan would have been able to manage. Now that he had actual walls, he could imagine the colors, the light fittings, and the art that would bring his home to life.

He left the buckets of paint in the middle of the living room and looked for Danny. The guy had a habit of turning up unexpectedly and scaring the living daylights out of him. Ryan didn’t know what it was about him, but he knew better than most how to move silently around the big house.

Ryan walked toward the kitchen. As well as moving quietly, Danny was also the hungriest person Ryan knew. If he couldn’t find him, the kitchen was a good place to start.

“I thought you’d be in here.”

Danny looked up from the kitchen sink. “It’s all right for you,” he said with a grin. “You get preferential treatment because you’re the boss. Some of us have to put up with Jamie all day.”

“I heard that,” Jamie said from the doorway. He pointed to the punch-out sheet in his hand. “Standing in the kitchen isn’t going to keep us on track. The flooring contractors arrive in two weeks. If we haven’t got the house painted by then, we’re in serious trouble.”

Danny wiped his hands on a dishtowel and opened a packet of cookies. “I need food. I brought half a dozen packets of Oreos with me this morning. Do you want some?”

“I know what your Oreo breaks turn into. Before I know it, you’ve eaten an entire week’s worth of cookies in ten minutes.” Jamie walked across to the counter and helped himself to an Oreo. “If I wasn’t happily married to your sister, I would’ve
thought twice about hiring you.”

Danny put half a dozen cookies in his pocket. “If my sister knew that you were starving me, she wouldn’t make you any pecan pie.”

Jamie smiled. “Your sister knows you better than I do. Why do you think she makes me pie and not you? It’s because I appreciate what she does.”

Ryan knew that this conversation could go on for hours. His cell phone rang and he looked at Jamie and Danny. “You two can argue over Oreos for the whole afternoon if you want to. Some of us have work to do.” He picked up a cookie on his way through the kitchen. With his other hand, he answered the call.

“Ryan Evans speaking. How can I help you?” There was a moment of silence, almost as if the caller hadn’t expected him to answer his phone.

“I don’t know if you remember me, but it’s Sophie. You helped me yesterday when my car ran out of gas.”

Ryan recognized her voice.
It would have been hard to forget the pretty brunette with the long straight hair and brown eyes. He’d thought about her last night, wondering how she was getting along. “Did you make it back into town?”

“I did. Thanks for your help yesterday. You probably think it’s strange that I’m calling you, but I’m not sure what else to do.”

Ryan stopped in the hallway. “What’s happened?”

“It’s not life-threatening,” Sophie said quickly. “I’m okay, but I’m wondering if you could help me? I’m looking for a job. I’ve been everywhere in Bozeman and no one’s got any vacancies. Have you heard of any jobs that are available?”

Ryan didn’t know what it was about Sophie, but from the moment he’d met her, he’d felt as though he’d known her for years. “I don’t go into town all that much, except for building supplies.”

“That’s okay. I just thought I’d call you and ask. What are you building?”

Ryan looked at his half-finished home. “A house. It’s on the shore of Emerald Lake.”

“I don’t know where Emerald Lake is, but it sounds pretty. Do you need someone to help you?”

Danny and Jamie would laugh if he suggested employing Sophie. She was the most unlikely looking builder he’d ever seen. “Do you have any construction experience?”

“I’ve painted two apartments. I know how to fix a leaky faucet and fill holes in the walls. My last apartment looked terrible when I moved in. No one recognized it after I’d finished my renovations.”

Ryan could hear the hopeful note in her voice. He didn’t normally have a problem saying no to people, but with Sophie it was different. “We’re still drywalling some of the rooms. You could help with the plastering and painting.”

“Really? Are you sure it’s okay? Do you have to check with someone else?”

He’d almost forgotten that she didn’t know who he was. “It’s my house we’re building. Jamie is in charge of the construction, but he won’t mind another pair of hands helping.” Ryan hoped he didn’t. Jamie had high standards. If Sophie wasn’t a good painter, it could be the shortest job of her career. “How about you work with us for two days? If Jamie’s happy with what you’re doing, you can stay for longer. It’s probably only a couple of weeks’ work, but at least it’s something.”

“You won’t regret it, I promise,” Sophie said in a rush. “I’ll be on time and I’ll work hard.”

“I guess we’ve got a deal, then. How soon can you get here?”

“I’m staying in town. If you give me directions, I’ll leave in the next half hour.”

By the time Ryan had told her how to get to his property, she was more excited than he was. In an hour and a half, Sophie would arrive in her little blue car, ready to show him what she could do. He ended the call and put his phone in his pocket.

“Are you ready to start work?” Jamie said as he walked past.

“I need to ask you something.”

Jamie turned around. “You can’t change the color of the walls in the spare bedroom. Danny ordered the paint yesterday.”

“It’s not the paint that I need to talk about. I just offered someone a job.”

“Where?”

“Here. Helping us. She needs a job and we need someone to help us paint the interior walls. If we don’t finish the walls in time, the flooring guys will start on another job.”

“Did you consider discussing this with me before you offered her a job?”

“She’s desperate. It’s only for a few days. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll tell her we don’t have any more work for her.”

Jamie raised his eyebrows. “I’d like to see that happen. Does this mystery woman have a name?”

“Sophie.”

“And what does Sophie look like?”

Ryan frowned. “That’s got nothing to do with it.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. What can she do?”

“I’m not sure. She’s renovated an apartment.”

Jamie’s eyes narrowed. “Have you lost your mind?”

“Not today. She’ll be here in an hour and a half.”

Jamie shook his head. “You’d better live up to your side of the bargain. If she doesn’t work out, you’re the one who
needs to tell her.”