Home > The Heartbreaker of Echo Pass(6)

The Heartbreaker of Echo Pass(6)
Author: Maisey Yates

   “Are you suggesting we should barter?”

   “Yes. That is exactly what I’m suggesting. I’ll bring you food. I’m going to be making dinners anyway, and I’m going to be making baked goods. I’ll cook for you.”

   “How do you know I need someone to cook for me?”

   She looked past him, at the decrepit cabin. “Just a hunch,” she said.

   “What makes you think I want that?”

   “I don’t know. But I’ll trade you. Domestic services. And the percentage of my profits. And if after twelve months it’s not worth it to you, then it’s done. But it’s just empty right now, and I guarantee you that very few people in town are going to be able to make that rent. Even if they do, it’s going to be some fool who came up from California—no offense—and thinks that they know how to run a business here. They’re going to think they know better what people here want. They’re going to aim to please tourists, ignoring the fact that you have to give something to the locals as well. I know this town. I know these people. Like I said, my sister is the police. My brother is one of the most well-respected men in town. My cooking is something people know about.” She straightened, lifting her chin. “I’m something of a legend.”

   “Are you?”

   “Yes.”

   “You’re very small for a legend.”

   “And you’re awfully talkative for a mountain. But here we are.”

   And he didn’t know what to say to her. Mostly because he had no reason to argue with her. Not really. He could give her what she was asking for. The only thing he needed money for these days was the equine facility down in Santa Barbara. And most of his previous investments handled that.

   And yeah, there was the house. And it had to be finished. A promise was a promise. It had just taken him a while to get here. And then, taken a while to get to where he could think about starting. But in the meantime, he didn’t need exorbitant rent money. And if he had someone bringing him food, he could leave the house less often. He could actually get a decent start on building.

   And yeah, doing it by himself was something a little bit past foolish, but he’d gotten to where it was possible. And anyway, it was about the only thing he could do to occupy himself.

   “Come on in,” he said, jerking his head toward the door.

   Likely, when she saw the place, she would run.

    He kept a close eye on her as they entered, trying to gauge her response.

   And at this point, he wasn’t sure whether he hoped she would go, or hoped that she would stay.

   He looked around the dilapidated cabin, trying to see what she was seeing. It was... Well, it was a mess.

   The furniture was in disrepair, and everything was shoved into one room, and the floors were buckled. It was dim and dark, and it didn’t bother him any. But she looked bothered.

   “Do you have electricity?”

   “I have a generator. Sometimes I bother to run it. Mostly I don’t.”

   “So, you live here...alone.”

   “What gave that away?”

   “All right,” she said, as if steeling herself for a battle. “All right. I will clean this place twice a week, plus provide dinner for every day. And dessert that goes with whatever I’m making at the bakery. And twenty percent of the profits.”

   “Twenty-five.”

   That lit her face up like a beacon. “Twenty is more than generous.”

   “And no rent is something a bit past generous. And I’m not known for that. So, if I were you, I’d take a deal when one is offered.”

   She looked mulish. “Fine.” Still holding the plate of cookies in one hand, she extended her other for a handshake. “Griffin Chance,” she said, “you’ve got yourself a deal.”

   “Sounds good, Iris.” He grasped her hand in his, and for a moment it was like the world tilted.

   She was soft. And warm.

   And right then, he was trying to remember how long it had been since he’d touched another person. He’d never even had another person in this cabin.

   “What’s your family name?” he asked, dropping his hold on her hand.

   “Daniels.”

   “Sounds to me like we’re business partners, Iris Daniels.”

   “Sounds like it.”

   “You start Monday.”

   “That’s tomorrow,” she said. “That’s not very much time.”

   “Then I suggest you get busy.”

 

 

CHAPTER THREE


   IRIS WAS VIBRATING with energy by the time she got back to Hope Springs Ranch. She had done it. She had... Gone up the mountain a hausfrau and come down a bakery owner.

   Sort of.

   There was still so much to consider. So many things to put into place. Thankfully, she knew that the building had the facilities she needed to do what she wanted, more or less, since it had been a bakery prior to her taking over. But she was still going to have to... Well, bake more than she ever had in her life, figure out a name, figure out so many things.

   And somehow, add cleaning a cabin that seemed entirely made of dirt and cooking dinner for a hermit.

   He was not at all what she expected.

   The cabin wasn’t at all what she expected.

   Griffin Chance was a man who seemed to own real estate, and have the ability to negotiate business deals. The way that he talked about things made her certain that he was familiar with the practice.

   And he lived in a hovel.

   It didn’t make a lot of sense.

   But she had accomplished her goal, thanks to her cookies, so she was going to go ahead and call it a win and not worry about the rest.

   She scrambled around the kitchen, finishing off the meat loaf that she was preparing for dinner.

   Everyone was coming over tonight. Which made her very happy indeed.

   It was a strange thing, wanting to distance herself slightly from the family, while also missing them desperately.

   The way they were.

   Because they’d been a soft cushion for her for so many years, and deciding that she needed to move on, deciding that she wanted more, didn’t mean...

   She missed it. Feeling satisfied with this.

   It wasn’t comfortable to want so much.

   To be dissatisfied.

   “Iris.” Her sister-in-law Sammy came into the room with baby Astrid strapped to her chest. “I didn’t want you to cook dinner by yourself.”

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