CHAPTER FOUR
Madeleine made an effort to remain in the trailer and away from anywhere Jake would be. He was the first man she had ever not dated to earn the title of Bastard. She sent Eric with messages for him, ignored his two attempts to call, and went so far as to rename Duke with a more fitting name: Princess.
The next few days passed as a blur. She worked harder and longer to find a way to stretch the funding, to find more funding, to organize Mr. Howard's visit, and to make things work. She found herself forgetting to eat and getting up from the desk only to refill the generator or let Duke out.
She pulled out of the haze after an accidental long nap on the tenth morning of their journey to the desert. Eric tapped on the door and entered wearing jeans, a Javier and Sons Construction T-shirt, and boots.
She glared at him from her position behind the desk. He tipped the rim of his cowboy hat and offered a smile.
“You’re late,” she stated in a hard tone. “And inappropriately dressed.”
“Maddy, I’ve destroyed two pairs of very expensive dress shoes and two pairs of suit pants. Jake suggested I—”
“Fine. Princess needs to go out.”
Eric beamed a smile, looking rested and relaxed in his new gear.
She felt grimy and grisly in the suit she had slept in. She was running short of suits and had neglected to pick up those at the dry cleaners for two days. She needed a decent shower after three days of the trickle in the office’s bathroom, and she wanted nothing more than to sit down at a diner somewhere for a decent meal.
But it was a mere three days until Mr. Howard visited. She had toured the emerging lobby with astonishment and satisfaction; it seemed to be coming along very quickly. At the rate they were building, she wondered why it would take four months to complete the remainder of the building.
Ah, and it was the remainder of the building that bothered her. Nigel wanted the project to look as complete as possible, but there was no way to hide the fact that there was nothing but beams everywhere else. She strained to think of an alternative and was about to start pacing for the fourth time that morning when the door opened.
“Eric, my dry cleaning is—”
And she stopped, staring in surprise at the well-dressed man before her.
Nigel’s deputy, the man who dumped her and took her job, stood in the doorway. Mark Branson was tall and athletic and wore his suit like a king wore his robe. His hair was brown, his eyes bright green, and his aristocratic features as hard as granite. He looked around with distaste. A leather briefcase was tucked beneath one arm, a bottle of water in his other hand.
“Mark!”
“Madge.”
Despite how she had once fawned over the man before her, she had always hated his nickname for her.
“This is an interesting set-up,” he said, and entered. Duke bounded into the office behind him and began to snarl.
“Friend!” Madeleine and Eric cried at once.
The dog sat.
“Quite a set-up,” Mark reiterated.
Eric looked at Madeleine in surprise.
"You’re three days early,” she said uneasily. “Or has Mr. Howard’s schedule changed?”
Mark gave a smile that had at one time wiped her off her feet.
“No, Madge. Nigel thought you might need help making preparations and sent me on ahead.”
He set down the water and held out a hand. Madeleine moved forward and accepted it, leaning in for a kiss on the cheek.
A knock at the door made them both turn.
“Yo,” Toni said, eyeing Mark. “Any word on those new prints?”
“I have them with me,” Mark said, and popped open his briefcase. “I’m sorry if their delay caused any inconvenience.”
“Yeah.” Toni’s gaze was less than friendly. He accepted the blueprints and left.
“How many men are here?” Mark asked.
“Forty-three, a foreman, and the site lead,” Madeleine answered. “Mark, I don’t really need you here. I’m handling things.”
“I’ve heard,” he said, unimpressed. “Judith called me yesterday regarding your second funding increase. You look well, Madge. I’m sorry I didn’t have a chance to see you in the city.”
“Thanks,” she murmured. “Congrats on the promotion.”
“It should have been you,” he said gallantly.
“I’m too honest,” she answered in the same tone.
Mark gave a faint smile, his eyes shifting to Eric.
“You’re acclimating well,” he said. “Nice boots.”
“Jake showed me a great place to buy them north of the border,” Eric answered. “I’d be happy to show you.”
“I’d like that,” Mark responded. “I see Madge hasn’t adjusted yet to the Texas dress.”
His gaze fell to the accounting book on the desk.
“Eric, why don’t you show Mark around while I clean up a bit?” she said quickly. “Mark, I believe you’ll be surprised at the rate Jake’s men work.”
“A tour sounds great,” Mark agreed. He set his briefcase on the desk and looked her over again before joining Eric at the door.
Madeleine watched them go, barely restraining herself before the door closed. She snatched up her BlackBerry and dialed one of the few people she trusted in the office.
“Dotty, it’s me.”
“Good morning, Maddy!” Dotty sang out.
“Mark’s here.”
“I thought I heard he was coming out early,” Dotty said in a quieter tone. “He’s supposed to provide Nigel with a full report of everything. There are some issues with your requests for funding, and Nigel’s concerned with the lack of progress.”
“So Mark is here to put me on course or rat me out to Nigel?” Madeleine asked.
“The latter, dear. Mark is Nigel’s right hand man for a reason, and it wasn’t because he wanted to piss you off by bringing your boyfriend into the office. Mark's folks are loaded and influential.”
“Ex-boyfriend,” she corrected. “I bet Nigel is laughing himself silly right now.”
“Probably so.”
“Any more surprises I should know about?”
“I’ll keep my ears open. You keep your hands off Mark. You know how charming he can be when he wants,” Dotty warned.
“Not a problem,” Madeleine said. “Can’t forgive the man who left you at the altar.”
“I should hope not.”
“Thanks, Dotty.”
Madeleine eyed the reeking bathroom. With Mark there, she didn't dare leave long enough even for a shower. She tucked her accounting books away beneath the seat cushion to keep them out of immediate reach. Resigned, she held her nose and entered the tiny bathroom.
She'd barely bathed and changed when Eric brought Mark back, and she prepared herself to waste her time entertaining a man she despised.
* * * * *
“Here come the prissy twins,” Toni warned.
Jake tossed his gear into the back of the truck and his hard hat onto the driver’s seat. He slung one arm over the door frame and waited, watching the two approach. Madeleine stumbled more than once but refused Mark’s arm both times, instead distancing herself more from him.
“Eric said they were engaged at one time,” Toni said in a low voice.
“Really?” Jake glanced at him. “Bet we can get the story out of him with a couple shots of tequila.”
“He’s so easy it’s barely a challenge,” Toni agreed. Then, looking at Mark, he remarked, “That city-boy's suit cost as much as your truck.”
“Yeah,” Jake said. He could see why any woman would be attracted to Mark. It irritated him that someone who had been so intimate with Madeleine had followed her all the way into the desert.
Madeleine stumbled again.
“I’m sending that fool a pair of boots,” Jake said with a frown.
“Bet you a beer she doesn’t wear them.”
Madeline and Mark stopped before the two. Jake stuck out his hand, and he and Mark shook.
Jake was less impressed the second time he met Madeleine’s new coworker than he was the first. While polished and sophisticated, Mark was the kind of self-serving politician Jake had been thrilled to leave back east. Mark oozed civility and charm, but there was no depth to the man beyond his own ambitions.
Madeleine looked more tired and drawn than the last time he saw her. She refused to meet his eye and looked perfectly in place next to the politician. Both wore expensive suits and spoke in the same educated manner.
And yet there was something between them akin to tension. Toni noticed it as well as Jake. Mark went out of his way to behave in a charming manner, but Madeleine was as civilly cold to him as she had been to Jake. In fact, he believed her to be more abrupt with Mark than she was with him.
He reaped some satisfaction out of the realization.
“Good evening, gentlemen!” Mark said with a charismatic smile. “Done for the day?”
“Yep,” Toni answered. “You?”
“Yes. Madge said you’re headed toward town. Thought I might catch a ride with you.”
“Sure,” Jake said. “Hop on in.”
Madeleine turned to leave.
“We’re having a barbecue tonight, if you’d like to come. Eric’ll be there,” Toni said.
“Thanks, but I had a long flight. Think I’ll change and bring Madge some dinner,” Mark said with a wink.
Madeleine stopped mid-turn and straightened to face them.
“Actually, I’m planning on attending the barbecue,” she said.
Jake glanced at her, surprised.
“Oh, are you?” Mark faced her. “I understood from Eric you stayed in the office for dinner.”
The two exchanged a look. Mark raised an eyebrow with an inviting smile while Madeleine gave him a warning look.
“Jake’s sister is a fledgling cook. I’m supposed to try her homemade sauces tonight,” Madeleine said.
"We’re leaving now,” Toni said. “Why don’t you ride with me, Mark? Jake’s AC doesn’t work.”
Mark paused only for a moment before smiling.
“Thank you, señor,” he said. Toni rolled his eyes.
Jake opened the door wider and motioned for Duke to enter the cab. Madeleine said nothing to him but circled the truck and climbed in. Their tense silence was broken only by the roar of the engine and the panting dog. Jake rolled up both windows and blasted the AC. Madeleine looked at him.
“Your AC does work.”
“Yes, it does,” he said. “Can’t stand Mark.”
She gave a faint smile and turned her gaze out the window. Encouraged, Jake asked, “Why would you date someone like that?”
He expected some sort of hesitation or even a bitter remark of how there was nothing redeeming about Mark.
“He’s handsome, wealthy, comes from a good family, intelligent, witty, and ambitious,” she responded.
“So he’s perfect,” Jake said, gripping the steering wheel tight enough for his knuckles to turn white.
She said nothing to counter. He floored the truck, and its tires spun in place before kicking up a small sandstorm and propelling them forward. She gave him a sidelong glance and gripped the door handle.
“If you’re going to kill us over this … he’s not perfect. He’s an ass like you, Jake,” she said.
Jake didn't care to be ranked at the bottom of the barrel, but as long as Mark was there, too, he was content.
“Thank ya, ma’am,” he said with a wink.
“Drop me off at my hotel,” she ordered.
“No can do. We’re going to a barbecue.”
“I don’t care to go, Jake. Just tell Mark I felt sick.”
“Nope,” he said.
Silence.
“You need a good meal in you and a night of rest,” he added. “You’re looking like a ghost.” He waited for her to argue, but the fool knew he was right.
“You all are doing well with the lobby,” she said.
“It’ll look nice, but Mr. Howard will have to tread carefully.”
“Why?”
“We’re sacrificing quality for time,” he stated. “As I said, it’ll be a superficial fix only.”
“I’ll need to go back after dinner.”
“You can’t afford one night of sleep?"
“Maybe after Mr. Howard’s visit,” she said.
“You really shouldn’t stay out there overnight. The thugs who have been there twice might come back.”
“It’s easier for me,” she said. “They don’t have a reason to come back if Alex’s gone.”
“There’s a drug trafficking gang that regularly comes through these parts. I think that’s who came by to find Alex,” he said.
“Why? I don’t think he does drugs or ships them or anything,” she said, turning her attention to him.
“No, but they tax the locals for passing through their territories. Or he might've owed one of them money.”
“Tax?” she asked blankly. “Is that legal?”
“No, but neither is a drug cartel,” he said with a laugh. “The law here is a little different, Madge.”
“Don’t call me that! I hate that nickname!”
Jake smiled, satisfied to get a rise out of the woman.
They rode in agitated silence the remainder of the way. She said nothing to him even when they arrived at the hacienda. Madeleine took his dog by the collar and left him sitting alone in the truck. He watched as she wound her way through the crowd of people until she found Eric.
Jake didn’t know why he felt so damn angry. He stayed by the truck until his chest loosened enough for him to breathe normally. Toni joined him as he walked toward the massive barbecue pit and the tables Kitty had filled with food.
“Mark knows a lot about construction,” Toni said. “In fact, I think he might know what a building is.”
Jake smiled and glanced at his uncle and longtime friend.
“The man’s a slick one. Belongs in the city,” Toni continued.
“At least he didn’t give you the silent treatment for the ride,” Jake said.
“Maybe we can swap on the way back.”
“That woman hates me, Toni."
“Kitty says you yelled at her and kicked her out the other day, and Madeleine overheard your comment about the end of the world,” Toni teased. “I’d probably hate you, too.”
Jake grunted and made an effort to shake the tension from his shoulders. Kitty waved him over and handed him a plate piled high with food. He walked to the barrel filled with ice and beer, intent on eating and leaving.
"Mind if I join you?" Mark Branson, the slick city-boy, asked.
Jake shrugged, hoping to dissuade him with silence. Mark didn't take the hint, and Jake hunkered down over his food, irritated.
* * * * *
Madeleine wanted to avoid both Mark and Jake. Hanging out with Eric was the logical alternative, until she saw Eric was happily absorbed with two pretty blonds. She paused a short distance from him, looked his Texas gear over with a frown, and moved away.
Duke followed and nudged her hand when she grabbed a plate.
Kitty stood proudly behind one of the tables displaying an array of barbecued meat, several pots of chili, and all the fixings. She saw Madeleine and hurried over, grinning.
“Maddy!” she exclaimed. “You must try my sauces!”
Madeleine smiled, appreciative of a real meal and space from the boys. Kitty claimed her time for an hour as she excitedly explained her processes and rationale behind her choices of spices for different dips, barbecue sauces, and pots of chili. Madeleine listened, amused and interested in the lively woman. She couldn't help but feel out of place among the cheerful picnickers and their casual dress. Kitty glowed with health and happiness, and Madeleine felt all the more isolated and detached from her surroundings. She was fatigued, exhausted, grimy after only half a day of working AC, and desperately in need of a good, hot bath and solid night of sleep.
It would be nice to have nothing more than spices to worry about, she mused with yearning. The laid-back lifestyle was foreign to her but appealing, though she doubted she could adjust well after years of deadlines, schedules, and obsessive attention to detail. How would it be to drop all those things and simply live?
The idea alone made her anxious. How did one pay the bills when unconcerned with work? How did one actually have a life outside of work? Where did friends come from?
“Who’s that?” Kitty interrupted her own soliloquy on cinnamon.
Madeleine turned to see Mark and Jake deep in conversation.
“Mark,” she said. “Sent to spy on me by my lovely boss.”
“Really?” Kitty’s eyes widened. “He’s really handsome.”
Madeleine studied the two men. Both were wonderful eye candy. Jake was taller and thicker than Mark, but both were toned, muscular, and athletic. Jake had size but didn't strike Madeleine as being as competitive, sly, and ambitious as Mark could be.
“Your brother’s more handsome,” she assessed. “Though I wonder who would win in a brawl.”
“Jake, easily,” Kitty said. “Mark looks like a good match, but Jake always wins.”
“He’s in brawls often?” Madeleine asked with a smile. “It doesn’t seem like much affects him.”
“Oh, he’s been in a few,” Kitty said. “It’s hard to rile him up, but he’s got a fierce temper when it’s lit.”
“They seem to be getting along right now,” Madeleine observed. “Figures.”
“How so?”
Madeleine shook her head. Kitty suddenly uttered a small sound of disgust, and Madeleine glanced up from her plate to see the same petite blond from earlier once again hanging around Jake.
“She has a lotta nerve showing up,” Kitty grumbled. “If Jake invited her back after all she did to him, I’ll kick his ass!”
Madeleine debated against asking, but curiosity won out.
“Ex-girlfriend?”
“Yeah. Lily. Absolutely no shame or sense.”
Lily sidled up to Jake and issued Mark a dazzling smile as she wrapped one arm around Jake’s waist and leaned into him. Jake didn't move away; neither did he acknowledge her. Mark smiled in return, but the two men were once again quickly in discussion.
Abruptly Madeleine wanted to leave. A perfect little doll, Lily was more than Madeleine could stomach after her rattling run-ins with Jake. How could he think her superficial when the petite ex-girlfriend was smiling invitingly at every man she crossed?
She knew the answer. Lily was beautiful. Beautiful women didn't have to work at life like non-beautiful women.
“Men are so stupid,” she muttered.
“I know!” Kitty exclaimed, her attention on reorganizing the cheese tray.
Madeleine turned her back on the scene, soured once more. She watched a humming Kitty move dishes around and add more spices to her chilis.
“Hey, Kitty,” Jake called as he and Mark approached. “I think you need some more dirt in this sauce. There's not enough flavor.”
While he made an attempt to make his words light, his voice carried a tight note.
“It’s not dirt!” Kitty retorted.
“Madge, I thought we’d go do dinner tomorrow.” Mark’s voice was smooth and warm. “Around six?”
Before she could respond, Jake did.
“Madeleine works until midnight at least.”
“We have some upper management issues to discuss,” Mark continued.
“You’ll have to do it at the site,” Jake said, elongating his Texan drawl in a way she recognized as being a sign of agitation.
“Kitty, can you make me a plate?” Madeleine asked the attentive sister. “I think it’s time for me to leave.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Management is funny like that. The higher you get, the less you do,” Jake said.
“There's much to be said for planning, strategy, and decision-making. I don’t expect the grunts on the ground to understand or have the mental capacity to participate,” Mark said with a smile.
She almost sighed. Something had gotten into both of the men, and she truly didn't care what. It was probably nothing more than a severe affliction of testosterone.
“We dumb hicks work for a living,” Jake said in an exaggerated accent.
“Madge, I’ll pick you up from the site at six tomorrow,” Mark said, ignoring him.
“You’ll have to bring dinner with you. Madeleine doesn’t leave the site,” Jake repeated. “Why don’t you bring some work clothes with you, and I’ll show you what real men do out west? It’ll be a nice story for your wine-sippin’, gym member, hippie brethren back east.”
Kitty looked startled, and Madeleine knew a challenge between two such men would not be pleasant. She accepted her plate from Kitty with a mouthed thank you.
“Why don’t we do this.” Mark’s voice had hardened. “Why don’t I bring a team of my assistants, and we can have a little competition. Your guys against mine.”
“Christ,” Madeleine muttered, and started away.
“Madge, dinner tomorrow?” Mark called after her.
“I have work to do,” she replied, then yelled to a nearby Eric, “Eric, give me your keys! Princess, come!”
She wanted nothing to do with either of the bickering men. For the first time in ten days, she wanted to return to the safety of the stench-filled trailer and stare at mismatched numbers until she fell asleep.
Mark’s arrival was nothing but a twist of the knife in her back. She was losing control of more than the entire project, and she couldn't exactly understand how money and time were sliding so quickly through her fingers while she did her damndest to keep them both in line.
No sooner had she settled into Eric’s rental and unfolded a map when her BlackBerry buzzed. Madeleine touched the earpiece without looking at the caller ID.
“Madeleine Winters.”
“Hey, it’s Jake. There’s something I didn’t want to mention in front of the others."
“Go ahead.”
He paused, and when he spoke again, his voice held a familiar, unidentifiable edge.
“My banker called and said there was a glitch in the funding deposit. We can’t continue until the payment is straightened out.”
“I’ll take care of it first thing in the morning,” she said in a more subdued tone. “I apologize, Jake.”
“Don’t,” he said. “I know you were thrown into a screwed-up situation. If you were running things from the start, there would never be a problem with anything.”
Pleased by the compliment, Madeleine smiled for the first time that day.
“I’ll keep the men busy at the site in the morning until this mess is fixed,” he continued. “You might as well stay at the hotel tonight.”
“I will. I’ll keep Princess with me.”
“You don’t rename a man’s dog,” he growled.
“Good night, Jake.”
She hung up and started the car, somewhat relieved that she would have a chance for a hot bath after all.