“Look,” he said, “I’m only coming to this party to avoid the alternative.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll be glad you came.”
“Why do you care if I attend this party or not?”
“Why?” She risked another glance at him as soon as the road straightened, then turned her gaze ahead again. “You and the others who’ll stay at the lodge after you are doing something tremendous for our town. Why wouldn’t we want to thank you for that?”
He shifted uncomfortably on the truck seat. “I can’t speak for the others, but I’m not doing this for you or your town.”
“Then why?”
His mouth flattened into a grim line. “It’s not important.”
“But it’s important enough for you to come here. To stay for a month?”
Still scowling, he said, “I’m here. As to the month…I don’t know.”
A small spear of panic jolted through Keira at the thought that he might leave. If he did, then, according to the terms of the will she’d read, the town of Hunter’s Landing would get nothing and the lakeside mansion would be sold.
She couldn’t let that happen.
She had to convince Nathan Barrister to stay for the whole month. And maybe the best way to do that was to show him the town he and his friends were going to help. To let him see firsthand what a difference a month of his time could make to all of them.
But if he really wanted to go, how could she make him stay?
“But you agreed to the month.”
“I did,” he said, and she sensed, more than saw, him shrug his broad shoulders. “But I don’t know that it’s feasible. I have businesses to watch over. Places I’m supposed to be.”
Already he was making mental excuses. Giving himself an out. Looking for a way to escape the terms of the will. The panic Keira’s heart felt a moment ago jumped into hyperactive life and did a quick two step in the pit of her stomach. Did he believe that by making that incredibly generous donation he didn’t have to complete the terms of the will?
“You wouldn’t really leave soon, would you?”
He shifted in his seat and the leather creaked as he moved. “If you’re looking for guarantees, I can’t give them to you.”
“But you agreed to the terms.”
“Yes.”
“So your word’s not worth much?”
He frowned at her. “Is insulting me your grand plan to get me to cooperate? If so, it’s a bad idea.”
“Probably.” She sighed and took the final turn down the mountain road. Just a half mile ahead was Hunter’s Landing, where her friends and neighbors were celebrating and planning the changes that would be coming at the end of six months.
She wondered how happy they’d all be to meet Nathan Barrister if they knew just how close he was to ruining those plans.
Pulling the car off to the side of the road, Keira threw the gearshift into park, yanked up the emergency brake and turned in her seat to look at him head-on.
“Problem?” he asked.
“You could say so,” she said. In the darkening light, his pale blue eyes shone like chips of ice—and were just as welcoming. “This might not mean much to you,” she said, “but your staying here for the entire month can mean a huge difference to the people here.”
“I didn’t say I was leaving,” he pointed out.
“You didn’t say you were staying, either,” she countered.
“I am for right now,” he said.
“That’s supposed to make me feel better? Right now?”
“It’s all I can give you.”
Keira wanted to grab him and shake him, but she knew that wouldn’t do any good. He was so closed-off, so shut down from anything other than his own feelings, she’d need a hammer to pound home her point. Tempting, but probably not logical.
“You’ve been here only one day. Give it a chance. Give us a chance.”
He looked at her in the waning light and, just for a second, Keira thought those eyes of his warmed a little. But she was probably mistaken since an instant later, they were cool and distant again.
“If you do,” she added, “who knows, you might just like it here.”
One dark eyebrow rose. “I’m not expecting to like it.”
“Well,” she said, smiling as she turned to shift the car into gear again and head into town, “surprises happen every day.”
“Whether I stay or go is really none of your business.” His tone clearly stated that was the end of the discussion.
Well, Keira wasn’t sure who he was used to dealing with, but she wasn’t about to back down under that king-to-peasant attitude.
“That’s where you’re wrong, Nathan.” She paused and threw him a smile designed to either put him at ease or worry him half to death. “You don’t mind if I call you Nathan, right? Well, Nathan, it is my business to see that you stay here. As mayor, I can’t let you walk away from something that will mean so much to us.”
He studied her for a long minute. She felt his gaze on her and forced herself to keep her own gaze focused on the road ahead of her. As they got closer to town, she heard the still-distant sounds of the band playing and steeled herself for whatever he was going to say next.
“Just so you know, Keira, if I decide to go, there’s no way you’ll be able to stop me.”
She took the last turn in the road and saw Hunter’s Landing spilling out ahead of her. Party lights were strung across the street, tiny blazes of white in the gathering darkness. People crowded the whole area, and a few couples had already started dancing.
Her heart swelled with love for the place and the people she’d grown up with. Determination filled her as she turned to glance at the man beside her. She smiled and said, “Nathan, never issue a challenge like that to me. You’ll lose every time.”
They were swept into the party the moment she parked the truck, and Keira watched with some amusement as Nathan was dragged unwillingly into the center of things. The man was so stiff, so aloof, he stood out from the crowd like an ostrich in a chicken coop.
With the band’s music pouring over them in a continuous wave of sound, Keira stood to one side and watched Nathan’s features tighten as a few of the older men gathered around him to give Nathan some advice on fly-fishing.
The devil inside her told Keira to leave him to it. To let him be surrounded by the townspeople she’d so wanted him to meet. But a rational voice in the back of her mind drowned out that little devil by pointing out that if he hated it here, he’d have little reason to stay for the month to insure the town’s bequest.
So she walked up to the group of men, smiled and said, “Sorry, guys, but I’m going to steal Nathan away for a dance.”
“Aw, now, Keira, we’re just telling him about the best spots in the Truckee River for fishing,” one of them argued.
“And it was fascinating,” Nathan said, dropping one arm around Keira’s shoulders and dragging her in close to his side, as if afraid she’d change her mind and leave him there for more fishing advice. “But if you’ll excuse me, gentlemen, I did promise the lady a dance.”
Keira hid her smile and told herself that the warmth of Nathan’s arm around her had more to do with body heat than sexual pull. Although she