Exclusive / a Touch of Heaven Page 5

  She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay. But only a short one.”

  “Deal.” He showed her the stalls, the tack room, and the ring behind the barn where they exercised the horses, and even introduced her to some of the farmhands.

  “How many other people work on the property?” she asked.

  Mike thought for a second. “All in all, including in the house, I’d say there’s about a dozen people.”

  “Including you?”

  He nodded. “We’ve got a great staff here, and it’s a real group effort to keep the grounds looking like they do.”

  “It’s amazing,” she agreed. “You can’t even see it from the road. It’s such a pleasant surprise when you finally get through the trees and see all of this.”

  “And this is just the beginning,” he said with a broad grin and reached for her hand again. “C’mon. Let’s head back over to the garage and I’ll take you on the real tour.”

  Excitement bubbled up inside her as they walked quickly across the massive yard. A cool breeze was blowing and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and Taylor had to remind herself that she was working. So far, she had spent the day catching up with a friend and eating delicious food. Now she was going to drive around without a care in the world.

  Opening the garage door, Mike motioned toward the Jeep that was parked inside. It was topless and a lot newer than Taylor’s, and she could only stop and stare at the beauty of it. Mike caught her expression and worried for a minute. “The Jeep makes it easier to get around on the property. Most of the paths are pretty rough and none of them are paved. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Mind? Are you kidding? I’m having total Jeep-envy right now!” She laughed as she climbed in and buckled her seat belt. She looked over at him excitedly. “I have a super-old Jeep back home, and although I hardly ever have the opportunity—or the need—to drive it, I just can’t seem to let it go.”

  “I can understand that. I pretty much kill a lot of the trucks we have because the paths are so rough, but at the same time, I kind of like driving them. So far the Jeep has held up the best.”

  She smiled and held on as he backed out of the garage. He noticed where her hands were and laughed. “You’ll have a white-knuckled grip before too long,” he teased. When they were fully out of the garage, he looked at her one last time. “You’re sure you’re okay with this? We don’t have to do this today if you don’t want to.”

  Taylor gave him a look. “I’m a lot tougher than you think. I can handle a little bit of four-wheeling,” she said and straightened in her seat. “Bring it.”

  Mike threw the truck in gear and they took off. With the roof off it was difficult to talk much over the sound of the engine and the wind blowing, so Mike did his best to slow down or stop when they hit a point of interest. He hadn’t lied when he said it would be a bumpy ride. The paths were clearly defined but definitely rugged, and some of the entrances weren’t so clearly marked. More than once Taylor felt her heart thumping in her chest. Mike knew exactly what she was thinking and was having fun playing with her like this.

  Over the course of the ride, he pointed out where the large vegetable garden was and talked of what they grew there and how some of what they had eaten for lunch had come from it. Next came the fishing pond—man-made and stocked because Wade loved to fish. As they came around a bend, Taylor noticed animals off in the distance.

  “What kind of livestock does he have here?” she asked curiously.

  “There are about a dozen head of cattle, maybe a half-dozen sheep, plus the horses.”

  Taylor was impressed. There wasn’t much else to see that was so out of the ordinary, but the picturesque nature of the property as a whole kept her mesmerized. Mike continued to drive around—pointing out different types of birds and trees—making sure Taylor was able to get her photos and experience it all.

  When they arrived back at the garage, Taylor was surprised that three hours had gone by. “Wow,” she said as she climbed down. “That was the fastest three hours I’ve ever spent.”

  He had to agree. It had been a long time since he had taken the time to go through the property so thoroughly—even though he knew the importance of it. But it was also the chance to see it through someone else’s eyes—Taylor’s eyes—that had him feeling as if he was seeing it all for the first time. While he knew the place like the back of his hand, he had forgotten the simple joy in spotting a scarlet tanager or a red-winged blackbird. As he watched Taylor’s response to seeing them, he remembered a time when it had been thrilling for him, too.

  When had that stopped?

  They were heading back toward the house when Taylor paused. “I’m sure you have stuff to do that doesn’t include entertaining me. If it’s all right with you, I’m going to go up to my room and start making some notes for the article—you know, talking about the things we saw today and whatnot—and then some questions for you for later. If you don’t mind.”

  “I don’t mind at all. That’s what I’m here for.”

  She smiled at his words and didn’t doubt his sincerity. “Still,” she began, “I don’t want to keep you from anything important.”

  “I’ll let you know if that ever becomes a problem, okay?” He loved watching the play of emotions on her face as she relaxed. “What do you say we meet up for dinner in about two hours? Will that give you enough time to start your notes?” Taylor nodded and walked into the house while Mike stood and watched the door close.

  As much as Mike was enjoying their time together, he definitely needed a little time alone to get his head on straight. He’d known seeing Taylor again was going to cause a little inner turmoil—she was the one he had wanted, but she’d belonged to his best friend. Now, all these years later, it was as if no time had passed at all. One look at her and he was ten years younger and they were connecting just as they had back then.

  While getting caught up today had been great, Mike knew it was just a matter of time before the past came up in conversation. He had to brace himself for it, because it wasn’t pretty. He had a feeling that even though he was ashamed of the things he had done, Taylor might not be so shocked. He was well aware of what people thought of him back then—and Taylor knew most of it—but he never wanted the ugly part of his life to touch her.

  It was why he stayed away.

  But she was here now. Granted, she was here to do a job and interview Jonathan Wade, but for this week, she was with him and only him. He intended to honor the terms of the contract and let her ask all the questions she wanted about the great author, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to make the most of their time together. There were so many things he wanted to show her, share with her, that he was itching to get started.

  A week wasn’t going to be enough. He knew when his time was up and he had to hand her over to the subject of her assignment, he would be all but forgotten.

  * * *

  Two hours later, Taylor found Mike in the kitchen. She adjusted her glasses and looked around the room. Normally she didn’t wear her glasses around anyone, but she just didn’t have the energy to deal with her contacts right now. She was ready to relax.

  The aroma from whatever was cooking made her mouth water. She stood in the doorway and watched as he set the table and arranged a bouquet of fresh wildflowers in a vase, and couldn’t help but smile. She had yet to see who the mystery chef was, because this was twice in one day that she had arrived and the food was already waiting for her. A girl could get used to this sort of thing.

  As if sensing her presence, Mike turned and caught Taylor’s eye. “Hey,” he said as he straightened. “I was just going to come and get you. Everything’s ready. I hope you’re hungry.”

  “Clearly you don’t know me all that well,” she said with a chuckle. “I’m pretty much always hungry.” She stepped up to the stove and lifted a lid, moaning with delight. �
�And all that stuff they say about the mountain air increasing your appetite? It’s true.”

  Leaning against the counter, Mike considered her. “There’s only one problem with that theory.”

  “What’s that?”

  “We’re not in the mountains.” He waited for that to register and then almost burst out laughing at her crestfallen expression.

  “Oh.”

  “Not to worry,” he said as he approached her. He leaned in close. “They say the same thing about country air.”

  “Oh—you!” She swatted at him playfully. They worked together to put dinner on the table—pork chops, mashed potatoes, sautéed green beans, and a salad. They sat down, and Taylor felt Mike’s eyes on her. “What?”

  “I don’t remember you ever wearing glasses,” he said simply, his chin resting on his hand as he looked at her face.

  “Oh, well…I avoid wearing them in front of other people because I feel like they make me look like a dork, but after flying today and the drive around with the top down and then all the time on the computer, my contacts were killing me. It was either peel them out now or scratch the hell out of my eyes later.” She heard him chuckle. “What’s so funny about that?”

  “You are like no other woman I’ve ever known, Taylor,” he said honestly as he helped himself to a spoonful of mashed potatoes. Then he stopped and thought for a moment. “Then again, you’ve never been overly concerned about your appearance.”

  “Well, thanks a lot!” she snapped defensively and grabbed the bowl of potatoes from him.

  “No, no!” he said quickly. “I didn’t mean that in a bad way. It’s good. More women should be like you.” His voice softened. “I’ve always thought it was cool that you weren’t the type of girl who was more concerned about what she looked like than anything else.”

  She blushed, at a loss for what to say.

  “Of course, it does help that you were always beautiful, so you didn’t need to worry about anything.”

  Her blush deepened and she stood up quickly. “Um…I’m going to grab some iced tea. Would you like some?” Mike shook his head and held up his glass of water, watching her walk across the room as he kicked himself. He had made her uncomfortable. That was the last thing he wanted to do. He rested his head in his hands and tried to come up with something witty to say to change the subject when he heard a crash and Taylor cried out.

  Jumping up from his seat, he saw the broken glass on the floor and blood gushing from Taylor’s finger. “Oh my God, Taylor! Are you all right?” He crouched down beside her and inspected her hand. Carefully, he helped her step over to the sink to get cleaned off. He kept his touch gentle as he ran her hand under cool water and then raised her fingers to inspect the damage. He was holding her from behind and it didn’t take long for him to realize this position was so not helping him.

  Taylor looked over her shoulder with wide eyes. “I…I don’t think any glass got in. It’s just a cut. I grabbed at the glass to try to clean it up and it just slipped.” She looked over at the mess. “I can’t believe I’m such a klutz. I’m so sorry!”

  They were standing so close together that Taylor was having trouble focusing. Mike’s thumb was running rhythmic circles over her wrist as the cool water washed over her hand. He checked one more time to make sure there weren’t any pieces of glass in her skin before stepping back. “I’ll get that cleaned up.” He motioned to the broken glass. “There’s a first aid kit in the pantry.” His voice was a little gruff and he made quick work of moving away from her and getting the broken glass up off of the floor and wiping the area clean.

  Once they were seated back at the table, Mike poured her another glass of tea and placed it in front of her. “I’m sorry about that,” she said as heat crept up her cheeks again.

  “Don’t worry about it, Taylor. It was an accident and it isn’t a big deal. C’mon, relax and let’s enjoy our dinner.”

  She nodded, and found that “enjoy” would be an understatement. Just as lunch had been, dinner was absolutely delicious. She placed her fork and knife down and took a sip of her drink. “So, I’m curious,” she began. “Food appears and yet I don’t see anyone here. The staff must be super discreet.”

  He laughed and took a drink of his own beverage. “No, they’re not.”

  “Sure they are. This is my second meal here and I haven’t seen anyone. How is that possible if they’re not being discreet?”

  He put his elbows on the table and gave her his full attention—because he didn’t want to miss her reaction. “You’ve seen the cook,” he said easily.

  “No, really, I—” And then it hit her. “You? You’re the cook?”

  His smile broadened. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “But…how? Why?” She slumped a little in her seat. “I don’t get it.”

  He shrugged. “I enjoy cooking. And basically, there’s only two people at the most here to cook for, so it was pointless to hire a cook to keep on staff. We need people to help with the property and the animals and to come in and clean the house, but cooking is something I don’t mind doing. Actually, I give the housekeeper a shopping list and she gets everything I need and then I can cook.”

  She mimicked his pose and placed her cheek in her hand as she studied him. “Boy, you are just full of surprises today. If this is what our first day is like, I can’t imagine what you’ve got in store for me tomorrow.”

  Again, he knew she was fishing and he figured talking about what he had planned for her was a fairly safe topic. “Well, besides being available to answer all the questions you come up with, I plan on showing you around town and some of the local hot spots.”

  “Are these places Wade frequents?” she asked as she cut into her dinner.

  Mike nodded. “Can I ask a favor?”

  “Anything,” she said with a smile and then let out a little “mmm,” at how good the food tasted.

  “Would it be all right if we didn’t talk about work tonight? I mean, I know that’s why you’re here, but I’d like to kick back and relax and just get reacquainted.” He watched for her reaction and when she just stared at him—without blinking—he thought that once again he had put his foot in his mouth.

  “So…you just want to talk about…life, and whatnot.” It wasn’t a question.

  “If it’s all right with you,” he rushed to say. “We have an entire week to talk business and…well, I just thought it would be nice to hear what’s been going on with you other than the basics we talked about earlier.”

  She considered his words for a minute before nodding. “Okay, but just know I’m going to want to know about you, too. And not just about your job. I’m probably going to ask what brought you here. I promise not to turn it in the direction of Wade and your work for him, okay?”

  “Sounds fair to me.” They continued to eat for a few minutes, then Mike broke the silence. “So, do you keep in touch with any of your old friends?”

  Taylor shook her head, her long blond hair moving behind her. “Not really. Most of them have gotten married and moved away. Plus, after I moved to the city, it was hard to find the time—and the money—to go to the Island to hang out.”

  “I can imagine. It’s still a shame, though. I know you had a lot of good friends who you were always with.”

  “Well, I did, but that summer was our last one together. Besides, with everyone getting ready to head off to college, once things went south with Eddie, I sort of stopped hanging out.” Mike nodded at her words, but she dreaded the topic of his former best friend. “Do you still keep in touch with him?” There was only a slight tremor in her voice and she cursed it. Eddie was ancient history, but he had definitely done his share of damage to her ego.

  Mike looked down at his plate and then pushed it away before folding his hands on the table, his smile sad. “We did for a while. He got married the summer after I met you. Did you know that?
” Taylor nodded. “Anyway, he moved to Maryland and had a couple of kids in just as many years and then he split.”

  Feeling a little uncomfortable, Mike rose and walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a beer before rejoining Taylor at the table.

  “He moved up north for a while and moved in with his mom. We hung out a bit, and then he met wife number two, got married, and moved away.”

  “Where to?” Taylor couldn’t help but ask.

  “Back to Maryland. He said he wanted to be near his kids.” He sighed. “Next time I heard from him, another year had passed. He’d had another kid and was living alone. His wife threw him out after finding him in bed with their babysitter.”

  “Some things never change.” Taylor chuckled humorlessly. Eddie had been, she thought, the great love of her life. At eighteen, Taylor was in love with him and they had started planning their future together, only it wasn’t meant to be. She had gone out of town with her mother for a long weekend toward the end of the summer. It was supposed to be a time for them to have a girls’ weekend before Taylor left for college. She came home early to surprise him.

  It was Taylor, however, who had been surprised.

  She found Eddie in bed with one of her friends. Foolishly, she’d shown up at his house on a Saturday afternoon. They had been dating for so long that she was comfortable entering without knocking or ringing the bell. His parents weren’t home and she had simply walked in and gone looking for him.

  Big mistake.

  Or maybe pure luck.

  Either way, it had taken a long time to recover from that. If she were being honest with herself, she would say she still hadn’t completely recovered from his betrayal. Maybe that was a reason she felt okay not being in a relationship: there was less chance of getting hurt that way.

  It had been years after that incident before she let herself get involved with anyone. She had always been cautious where the male population was concerned. After being abandoned by her father, her mother had instilled in Taylor a fear of how easily her heart could be broken. Eddie was the first and last man she’d allowed herself to get close to.