Read Roadside Attraction (Castle View Series Book 2) Online
Authors: Lynn Cahoon
Roadside Attraction (Castle View Series Book 2)
Roadside Attraction
BOOK 2 OF THE CASTLE VIEW SERIES
LYNN CAHOON
Dedication
To My Idaho friends and family. I miss you all and think of you often.
Table of Contents
1
Maggie Castle stared out the darkened window, focusing on the lights around the tiger enclosure. The big cats would all be asleep by now, unless someone had forgotten to herd them into their night cages. The windows cast a ghostly reflection back at her, the white linen covered tables behind her appearing to float above the wooded area. Her restaurant set on the hill overlooking the big cat sanctuary, the main tourist draw for the Castle View property. She sat at the table giving her the best view and yet, she hadn’t even looked outside until now.
She should be home, sleeping in her own bed, or at least sitting in front of the television waiting for Tami to call from her University of Washington dorm room. Except, her almost-adopted daughter only called on Sunday nights, not wanting to intrude on Maggie’s new freedom.
Freedom to work long hours on marketing plans for her restaurant. Wednesday nights were slow in the community of St. Josephs, even if she hadn’t been avoiding dealing with her new life. The small town, nestled in a mountain valley in northern Idaho, tended to roll it’s sidewalks up as soon as the sun set. Especially on weeknights.
She’d been on her own when Tami had moved in with her, but Maggie had done her best to give the kid a stable home life. Now, Maggie could do anything, anytime. She turned her attention to the empty dining room. “Boy, do I know how to party or what?”
“Boss? You need something?” Cari, her night manager was working across the room, refilling the bar’s glass fridges with bottles of beer. The building was divided into two sections. The upscale dining room on one side faced a Hemingway- inspired classic bar on the other side. Considering the financials she’d just completed yesterday, the currently empty bar was more profitable than the restaurant section. The bar had become a destination stop for the local town folks. Tomorrow night, the local men’s club had their monthly meeting in the party room. The meeting tended to run long and turn into a just-for-fun poker game. At least, that’s what Sheriff Gaines called it, since he was a frequent participant.
“I need a life.” Maggie laid her head on the table, pushing her hair back behind her ears.
“Coffee coming right up,” Cari called back.
Maggie didn’t know if Cari intentionally misheard, but Maggie lifted her head and returned to working on the marketing plan that her brother Mark, and newly appointed tsar of Castle View, wanted on his desk tomorrow. Although he really didn’t need a title to be a royal jerk. Ever since he’d gotten back from his honeymoon with Abigail, he’d been on a tear to get Castle View in the black. Not just the tiger sanctuary that his wife managed, but the restaurant, winery, and ranch sections as well. When he’d brought the siblings together for the last meeting, he’d called it their responsibility to Mom.
Dad had let too many things slide. This was her inheritance as well as their own livelihood. Maggie thought Mark was over reacting to the reality of becoming both a husband and father with two words, I do.
However, even if his motives were questionable, the fact was, they did need to be more serious about the business. Dad wasn’t here anymore to make the hard choices. Or
not
make them, which had been their father’s typical fallback plan, which had gotten Castle View into its current financial woes.
The front door opened, bringing the chilly night air in along with a man. Dressed in biker leather, he paused, the confused look on his face as he glanced around the room made Maggie smile. The dining room had already been set for tomorrow’s lunch crowd and probably looked like a magazine shoot. White tablecloths covered the tables in the dim room with the goblets catching the colored lights from the bar area. Shaking his head, he turned back toward the door, but instead of leaving, made his way to the bar on the left side of the room. Slipping off the heavy leather jacket, he ran a hand through his too long, dark hair and, in the mirror, Maggie could see him smiling up at Cari.
Maggie took the time to enjoy the view. If she’d ordered up a perfect man from a catalogue, or the online dating site she’d considered signing up for, it would be this man. At least physically. He was over six foot tall, lanky, and with a bit of a scruff on his face. Man candy to the max.
She smiled at her obvious attraction, then went back to her laptop. A few minutes later, Cari approached her with a cup of coffee and a brownie from the kitchen. She set the cup and plate on the table and stared at her boss. “You work too much.”
Maggie nodded to the man sitting at the bar, a bottle of domestic in his hand and watching the television they kept on the sports channel. “If I’d gone home, I would have missed him. He’s adorable.”
“Don’t let him hear you call him that. Men like that don’t like being called cute.” Cari laughed but snuck a look back at newcomer too. “He ordered food, whatever the kitchen could stir up at this late hour. Tony’s back there grumbling about turning off the grill, but he said he’d get him a burger or something.”
“Tony’s always grumbling.” Maggie sighed. Tony was her main chef, but he had made it clear, he wasn’t going to stay another winter in the northern Idaho wilderness as he called St. Josephs. She opened her calendar and made a note to put out feelers for a replacement.
Twenty minutes later, a shadow crossed over her computer screen. Cari was probably here to join the Maggie-needs-a-life camp. “I’m close to finishing, I promise.” She looked up with a tight smile on her face. And froze.
“Well, that’s good to know because I’d like to play some pool, and I hate playing alone.” He nodded to the pool table in the corner. “I’ll buy the beer.”
Maggie swallowed and glanced at her laptop. She could tell him she needed to work. She should tell him she needed to work. Instead, she returned for another look at his deep brown eyes and she decided. “Give me a second while I put this away in my office.” She held out a hand. “I’m Maggie, by the way.”
“Josh.” He took her hand carefully and for a second, Maggie thought he was about to bring it up to his lips to plant a kiss on the top of her hand. A second later, he shook it softly, his grip strong. “You have a preference on beer?”
“Cari will know my usual poison.” She watched as he walked back to the bar and ordered their drinks. Her bartender looked over at her and Maggie nodded a silent,
Yep, I’m doing this.
She quickly turned off the laptop and put her papers into a file. For a second, she couldn’t name the feeling that was rushing over her, then she grinned. She was giddy about a silly pool game. Josh was the first man to even pay a bit of attention to her in an awful long time. Of course, he didn’t know her past. And for tonight, that was a good thing. Tonight she was just Maggie.
“The girl who would kick his ass in pool,” she whispered to the empty hallway.
She took her stuff into her office and set it on the desk. She grabbed her purse and coat and turned off the light, locking the door behind her. No matter how this evening turned out, she was done with work for the night. Tami would be shocked when she told her about tonight during their Sunday night talk. But the kid had been saying she needed to get out. A pool game wasn’t exactly a date, but it was a step in the right direction.
Besides the guy’s brown eyes looked deep enough to swim in and his arms were sporting some guns, that was certain. It was a hard assignment, but someone had to do it. When she got to the pool table, a bucket was sitting on the wooden table next to it with six beer bottles on ice. She paused, “Planning on a long game?”
He grinned and twisted off the cap of a bottle, then handed it to her. “Planning on several games. I haven’t played since before I left California.”
She took a swig of the amber liquid. “I have to warn you, I play a lot.”
“Then I’ll enjoy our games. I hate running the table with no competition.” He sipped his beer and then looked at the label. “Coeur d’Alene Dark? Didn’t I just pass that town? Is this a local brewery?”
“They specialize in craft beer. The distribution isn’t very wide. But I love it and we sell a lot of it in the bar.” The rack was already set up on the pool table. “You want to flip to see who goes first?”
“Of course not, ladies first. My mama wouldn’t have it any other way.” He pulled off his plaid overshirt, revealing a faded grey t-shirt with an old Corona label. The muscled arms that the jacket had only hinted at were now on full display. He tilted his head in one direction, then the other, stretching his neck. “Thanks for playing. I needed some time off the bike. I feel like I’ve been riding for days.”
Maggie chose a cue from the rack and tested its straightness on the table. “Check your cue stick. I’ve replaced most of them a few months ago when I started playing regularly, but there is still a few that have seen better days.”
Satisfied with her choice, she placed the cue ball in position, leaned over to line up her shot and then slammed the stick into the white ball. The resounding crack of the rack breaking made her smile.
“Nice break.” He held up his bottle in a salute.
She studied the table. A nice mix-up of balls set on the table with several falling into different pockets. She leaned back in to line up the next shot, calling her ball as she pulled back. “Solids.”
She missed her third shot and returned to the table where Josh was staring at her, his eyes wide.
“What?” She took a swig of her beer. “I told you I played.”
Smiling, he set his beer down. “I knew you’d be fun.” He lined up several shots and Maggie had to admit, the guy wasn’t a bad player. When he missed a shot, she knew she had one last chance to win or he would on his next turn.
She sank the rest of her balls and then took aim at the eight ball. She tapped the cue where she planned on the ball landing. “Corner pocket.” Not hearing anything, she turned to look at him. He was staring at her butt, not watching the game at all. Emotion flushed through her and she could feel the heat on her face. Luckily in the dark, her reaction was invisible to him. “Earth to Josh, did you hear me? Corner pocket?”
“I heard you. I was just a little distracted, that’s all.”
She leaned into the shot, intensely aware of his eyes watching every move she made. This was feeling more and more like an actual date. She chided herself for the thought.
You’ve been out of the field too long. The guy just wanted someone to play with for a while
. Then the devil in her laughed. Pushing away both arguments, she focused on her shot and the black ball sailed into the corner pocket, just like she’d called it.
She went back to the table. “Losers rack. And they go first.”
“Get ready to be first next game then.” He walked over and put quarters into the table causing the balls to drop. Again the rack was set, waiting to be broken. Instead of lining up his shot though, he came back to the table and leaned against it watching her. “So you know I’m from California. What’s your story?”
Maggie laughed. “You’re looking at it. I’ve lived my entire life in the surrounding five miles.”
“The place looks beautiful, but you had to have gone somewhere sometime.” He sipped his beer. “Did your high school have senior trips? Where did you go?”
“We went to Spokane.” Maggie pointed toward the west. “Ninety miles away. I voted for Seattle, but the school wouldn’t let us take a bus that far.”
He pressed his lips together. Maggie assumed he was trying not to laugh and be rude. “Okay, then college?”
“I went to University of Idaho. Moscow. You probably drove through there too if you came up 95.” She peeled at the label on her beer.
“Moscow is more than five miles away, so you’ve already exaggerated once tonight. I’ll have to keep a close watch on you from now on. You’re deceptive.” He waggled his eyebrows at her as he finished off the bottle then stood. “And you’re not going to win this game.”
This time, Maggie didn’t even get a shot. The guy ran the table. When he returned, he opened another beer and sat on the stool. “Losers rack.”
Maggie held up her almost finished bottle. “I’m drinking right now. So, let’s talk about you. You’re from California and rode up here on your bike? Harley?”
He shook his head. “Indian.”
Maggie’s jaw dropped. She’d heard of the motorcycle brand, but she’d never met anyone who actually owned one. It was like seeing a Rolls Royce parked on the street in front of the grocery store. “You’re kidding me.”
“Swear to God.” He held up a hand in some form of a salute. “I know, I get a lot of attention with the bike. Typically it’s from the male genre, not a cute brunette who can keep up with me in pool.”
“Where in California?” She wasn’t going to let him get away with blowing off her question. She’d been totally truthful with him.
He took a sip of his beer and then ran a hand across his chin, his face grimacing when his hand met the stubble. “Small town down past Pismo. Santa Maria. No one’s ever heard of it.”
He was right. At least Maggie had never heard of it. She didn’t even know where Pismo was located although it was clear he thought she might. “College?”
“Seattle. I majored in European History.” He snorted. “Then went home and worked at the family business. Waste of four years, if you don’t count the awesome parties.”
“Tami, my foster daughter is at U-Dub. She loves it.” Maggie smiled as she remembered last Sundays call when Tami had gone on about all the clubs she’d joined and how many activities there were. “I think I’m going to have to remind her she’s there to attend classes, not just work on saving the Monarch butterfly.”