Sweet on You (The Bridesmaids Club Book 4) (13 page)

“I’ll arrive in the afternoon. It could lead into dinner depending on how long it takes.”

Alex leaned under the bonnet of the Mustang. “Make it last a long time.”

Jacob stared at his brother. With typical Alex Green logic, his brother had found the answer to one of Jacob’s problems. The other, if everything went to plan, would sort itself out once his marketing campaign kicked into high gear.

“You want to pass me the flex-head ratchet?”

Jacob looked on the bench behind him and passed Alex a yellow-handled tool. “What are you doing?”

“Replacing the spark plugs. What are you taking to Molly’s for dinner?”

Jacob ran through the takeout options in Bozeman on a Wednesday night. “Pizza?”

Alex laughed. “If you want to impress a woman, you don’t take pizza for dinner. What about Chinese or Thai?”

“I don’t want her to think it’s a date.”

Alex shook his head. “Do you want a second date?”

Jacob nodded.

“Go with Chinese takeout.”

“What if she doesn’t like Chinese food?”

Alex sighed. “Ask Emily before you leave. If the New York deal works out, you’ll be gone in five weeks. That’s not much time to fit in another date, especially with your track record.”

“Are you trying to make me feel better or worse?”

“Just saying. It’s time to do what you do best. Form a strategy, mitigate the risks, and make it happen.”

Jacob glared at his brother. “Molly’s not a business deal. She wouldn’t appreciate being treated like a property acquisition.”

“It’s your choice, but after twelve months of nothing happening, you might be fighting a losing battle.”

Jacob took the spark plugs Alex handed him and frowned. His brother could be right. Molly might want nothing to do with him. But if he didn’t push her out of her comfort zone, he’d never know.

He just hoped she didn’t see through what he was doing. He couldn’t push anyone’s comfort zone from New York. Whatever was going to happen needed to happen now.

Starting with Chinese takeout.

***

Molly opened her front door and stared at the box Jacob was holding. There must have been twelve separate containers of Chinese takeout inside the box. “Were you planning on feeding an Army with all of that food, Jacob Green?”

He looked at the containers and frowned. “I didn’t know what you liked, so I got a bit of everything.

Molly moved out of his way and waved him inside. “You’d best be bringing our dinner inside, then. Welcome to the O’Donaghue apartment.”

Jacob walked into the living room and looked at their odd assortment of furniture. “I like your home.”

“Thank you. Becky bought most of the furniture before I got here, but some of the pieces we found together.” Molly smiled at the surprised look on his face. He’d been expecting something different. Something that wasn’t a collection of secondhand furniture.

Becky had found a lovely blue sofa and a wooden bookcase in a thrift store. The big rectangular rug in the middle of the floor had come from a church, and the dining table and chairs had been auctioned as part of an estate sale.

When Molly moved to Bozeman, Becky had taken her to every market and garage sale they could find. It wasn’t because they couldn’t afford to buy new furniture, it was because they chose not to.

Nothing gave Molly more pleasure than seeing someone else’s unwanted furniture come to life with a new coat of paint or a little reupholstering. “Your Chinese takeout smells wonderful. Would you be wanting dinner before we look at your photos or after?”

Jacob adjusted his hands around the edge of the box. “I’m happy either way.”

Molly sniffed the air. Her stomach rumbled. “Let’s eat first. You can put dinner on the table. I’ll go and get some plates.”

Jacob slid the box onto the table and started unpacking the cartons. “How long have you lived here?”

Molly raised her voice so that Jacob could hear her from the kitchen. “Becky bought the apartment three years ago. I moved in when I arrived in Bozeman.” She smiled as she found plates, glasses and cutlery. The apartment she shared with her sister wasn’t big, but with two bedrooms and a small study it suited them fine.

She walked into the living room and set the table. “It’s a grand place to be living. We’re close to Becky’s work and there’s plenty of parking for when friends come visiting.” She put a serving spoon in each of the dishes and passed Jacob a plate. “You start. I’ll get the wine and juice that I put in the fridge earlier.”

“I can wait. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Molly shook her head. “Nothing that’s important. I made a cheesecake for dessert, but I’ll get that later.” Molly went back into the kitchen and sighed. The only thing she needed was a good dose of common sense.

When Jacob had first suggested bringing dinner with him, she’d said no. But with Becky in Billings at a florists’ convention, Tess on her honeymoon, and Sally and Annie getting ready for their own weddings, it was nice to have company.

She took the wine and orange juice out of the fridge and walked back into the living room. “Here you go.” She popped the cork off the wine and held it toward Jacob. “Would you be wanting a glass of this fine Chardonnay?”

He nodded and Molly poured him a glass.

“You’re not having any?” he asked.

Molly shook her head. “Wine makes me as giggly as a school girl. I need a sober head when I’m doing business. What have you been doing today?”

While they were putting Chinese food onto their plates, Jacob told her about a meeting he’d had with a local businessman. He was interested in one of the parcels of land and asking all the right questions for a quick sale.

“Which one would he be interested in?” Molly asked. She hoped it wasn’t the property with Jacob’s house on it. Each was grand, but the log house overlooking the lake made her feel connected with the land like none of the others. It was peaceful and pretty, everything she’d be looking for in a place to call home.

“He’s looking at the land closest to Big Sky Resort. He’s got a young daughter, so he wants to be a little further back from the lake.”

“You must be pleased?”

Jacob nodded. “I am, but he hasn’t signed a contract yet. I’ll be happier when I have four unconditional sale and purchase agreements in my hand. What about you? Have you been working on anything special today?”

Molly smiled. “You could say that. Your photos have taken up most of my time. I’ve put the finishing touches on them and arranged them in a way that I hope is pleasing to the eye. I’ll be interested in your opinion.”

Over sweet and sour pork, and combination chop suey, they talked about their families, the things they’d done in their lives. The time passed quickly, quicker than Molly thought it would have. Jacob was easy to talk to. He surprised her with his sense of humor and insight into the ways of the world.

He’d made his fortune buying and selling property, but he hadn’t stepped on anyone in the process. He was kind and generous, exactly the type of person she needed to be careful around.

Jacob wiped his face with a paper napkin and pushed his plate away. “Have you tasted the chicken and ginger stir-fry? It’s good.”

Molly shook her head. “I’m fit to bursting. If you’ve finished eating we could put the food aside and look at your photographs? I’ll bring out dessert once we’re done.”

Jacob’s smile dimmed. “Sure. I’ll give you a hand to put everything in the kitchen.”

“You don’t need to do that. There’s not much to move.”

Jacob didn’t listen. He picked up the empty containers and stacked them in a neat pile. “Where would you like these?”

“If you rinse the containers, you can put them in our recycling box. I’ll show you where it is.” Molly picked up two containers that were almost untouched and led Jacob out to the kitchen.

It was a small space. Big enough for Molly and Becky, but definitely not big enough for Jacob. “How did you get to be so tall?”

Jacob smiled. “Beats me. Mom and dad aren’t tall. I must be a throwback to another generation. What about you?”

“My gran was tall. She stood six-foot when she was my age.”

“Did you ever think of being in front of a camera instead of behind it?”

“Modeling wasn’t for me. I like eating too much.” She thought about some of the young girls that had come and gone from the international modeling scene. “It’s a tough career if you’re not used to it. The pressure on the models is immense, far more than they should have to endure. You have to have a firm sense of who you are, or you get hurt by the pressure.”

“Is that why you left?”

“Some of it,” Molly said quietly. “Let’s look at your photographs. There’s no point dwelling on what was.” She walked back into the living room and put her laptop on the table. “I decided to add some soft classical music to the background for today. You can change it to whatever you like.”

Molly’s fingers flew across her keyboard. She found the file she was looking for and pulled a chair out from beside her. “Sit for a while, Jacob, and enjoy a presentation like no other.” She pushed play and watched his face.

The opening scene had been filmed from Victor’s helicopter. Molly hadn’t been brave enough to do it herself, so she’d called a friend who’d worked with her on another project. He’d strapped a safety harness to his body and leaned out of the helicopter. Victor had swept low, making Molly feel weak at the knees by the time filming was over.

The next series of photos were of each property, the dips and curves in the land, the building sites and access points that Jacob was so fond of.

Then came to shots of his home, the lake, and the breathtaking scenery.

Jacob glanced at her when a video of a young woman replaced the still photographs. She was walking along the edge of the lake with a basket of wildflowers in her hand. “I didn’t know you were going to use a model?”

“Keep watching. We can discuss the details later.”

Jacob turned back to her laptop and frowned when the next film segment appeared on the screen. The same woman was sitting on a ridge overlooking Emerald Lake. They’d filmed at sunset with the lake shining like a curtain of amber silk. A man wrapped his arm around the woman’s waist and she rested her head on his shoulder. It was beautiful and touching. A fine ending to a presentation that Molly was proud of.

“What did you think, Jacob?”

“I need to watch it again.” He pushed play and leaned forward, watching the presentation with an intensity that worried Molly.

He hadn’t smiled, hadn’t shown any flicker of emotion as the images had come and gone. Molly had kept the story simple, unfolding it in small parts that could become a new life for someone else. “If you don’t like the film, it can easily be removed.”

“Why did you add it in the first place? I only asked for photographs.”

Molly took Jacob’s question at face value. She had to. Otherwise, she’d worry herself silly. “The lake will draw people to your property. You need to bring their dreams to life, create a sense of movement and magic. My photographs did that, but it needed more. Your land deserves more.”

“And the film taken from the air?”

“Did you like it?”

Jacob looked surprised that she’d asked. “It was incredible. How did you do it?”

“A friend took the film. I’m not comfortable with leaning out of helicopters.”

“What?”

Molly frowned. “You don’t need to raise your voice.”

Jacob took a deep breath. He didn’t need to say anything - his glare said it all.

“We were perfectly safe. Victor supervised Simon while he put the safety harness on.”

“What about you?”

“I didn’t need a safety harness. Victor made me sit in the front with him. It was an experience I don’t want to repeat.”

Jacob stared at her for so long that she thought she must have grown three heads. At least he looked a little less stressed than he had a few minutes earlier.

“You paid for Victor, your film friend, and a model from the money I gave you?”

“Not quite. You’d already booked Victor for another fly-over. We just modified his flight instructions.”

Jacob’s eyebrows shot upward.

Molly cleared her throat and kept talking. “Simon owed me a favor, so his time didn’t cost anything. He also doubled as the male model at the end of the presentation, so that was a bonus. Caitlin, the young woman with the flowers, goes to college in Bozeman. She works part-time with Tess at her café. She was grateful for the extra money.”

“Did you make anything out of the money I gave you?”

Molly squinted at Jacob. “You gave me far too much money. I refuse to bank your check until you change the amount.”

Jacob’s mouth set in a stubborn line. “You’ve earned every cent I paid you. Bank the check, Molly.”

“No.”

“I’m not writing another check.”

“You can please yourself, Jacob Green. But I’m telling you now that I won’t be accepting anything more than this project is worth. I had a grand time and have full use of the images. You’ll not be changing my mind, so you might as well give in gracefully and do as I say.”