at her finest, confident and happy with her success. “Well, there are things I’m good at, too.”
“I’m sure there are,” she said, just the perfect amount of barely detectable boredom in her voice. “It’s great to see you, Slaid, but I need to get back to my booth. Why don’t you grab some food and enjoy the band.”
He might accept his defeat today, but he wouldn’t let her dismiss him like that. “Don’t get too confident, Tess. This was just one battle. You haven’t won the war. Not by a long shot. But by all means, enjoy your victory. It might be the only one you have. I’ll see you later. I’ve got some more rustic flyers to hand out.”
Slaid turned to go, but the day had lost its magic for him. Glancing back, he saw Tess still frozen in place, staring after him through the shifting crowd. For the briefest moment, he could swear she looked lost. But before he could even finish the thought, her shoulders were squared, her head was held high and she was sauntering back to her booth, the picture of confidence.
All around him in the growing crowd were happy families eating Renewable Reliance’s food, carrying their colorful information packets and listening to the music they’d provided. It would take even more work than he’d originally thought to keep Benson pristine and windmill-free. But he’d figure out a way to do it. He had to. Behind him, DannyClick had the crowd on their feet. At the singer’s suggestion the audience shouted out another deafening “Hell yeah!” Slaid decided to take the cheer as his own much-needed message of encouragement. He would see his plan through. Somehow. Hell yeah .
CHAPTER NINE
T HE VIDEO SHOOT was not going well. First of all, it was freezing. Literally. And since Slaid, the ice-scraping fairy, had stopped coming by after learning that the windmills would be sited in his pasture, Tess had been forced to sacrifice another credit card to get the thick frost off her windshield this morning. Then she’d had to rush to pick up the CEO of Renewable Reliance, who obviously wasn’t impressed with her late arrival.
Second, the CEO, Allen Tate, proved to be an unhappy guy in general. As he rattled on to her and his unfortunate assistant, a fresh-faced young man named Ben, about the shortcomings of his hotel room and its minibar, Tess fought the urge to yell, “Get used to it!” After all, he and his company had chosen Benson for their project—Benson certainly had not chosen them.
But she had a job to do. A job that today would require all her patience and people skills. Somehow, by focusing on the road and the work ahead of her, Tess managed to hold her tongue and sound sympathetic about the CEO’s woes.
She made a mental note to find a decent bottle of wine or Scotch at the grocery store. She’d send it up to his room tonight to lessen his minibar troubles. For a moment she envied him—if only her troubles were that simple. Tomorrow he’d leave here and fly back to Chicago—and the comforts of his suburban mansion—while she would carry on in Benson, at odds with her best friend and the most attractive man she’d ever met, toiling on a project that she already knew the town didn’t want.
Tess pulled the car over to the gravel shoulder of the road, across from the gate leading into Slaid’s pasture. The Bureau of Land Management’s pasture, she reminded herself quickly.
There were no other cars, even though the camera crew had left the hotel well before she’d picked up Allen and Ben. She put the Jeep in Park and reached for her cell phone, but there was no signal. Of course.
“We’ll have to head back to town,” she told her passengers. “We’ll see if we can locate the camera crew, or at least a signal so we can call and find out what happened.” Allen sighed audibly and Tess sighed inwardly. This day wasn’t getting much better.
She U-turned back toward Benson and Ben held up her phone, waving it wildly around, searching for the
“I’m sure there are,” she said, just the perfect amount of barely detectable boredom in her voice. “It’s great to see you, Slaid, but I need to get back to my booth. Why don’t you grab some food and enjoy the band.”
He might accept his defeat today, but he wouldn’t let her dismiss him like that. “Don’t get too confident, Tess. This was just one battle. You haven’t won the war. Not by a long shot. But by all means, enjoy your victory. It might be the only one you have. I’ll see you later. I’ve got some more rustic flyers to hand out.”
Slaid turned to go, but the day had lost its magic for him. Glancing back, he saw Tess still frozen in place, staring after him through the shifting crowd. For the briefest moment, he could swear she looked lost. But before he could even finish the thought, her shoulders were squared, her head was held high and she was sauntering back to her booth, the picture of confidence.
All around him in the growing crowd were happy families eating Renewable Reliance’s food, carrying their colorful information packets and listening to the music they’d provided. It would take even more work than he’d originally thought to keep Benson pristine and windmill-free. But he’d figure out a way to do it. He had to. Behind him, DannyClick had the crowd on their feet. At the singer’s suggestion the audience shouted out another deafening “Hell yeah!” Slaid decided to take the cheer as his own much-needed message of encouragement. He would see his plan through. Somehow. Hell yeah .
CHAPTER NINE
T HE VIDEO SHOOT was not going well. First of all, it was freezing. Literally. And since Slaid, the ice-scraping fairy, had stopped coming by after learning that the windmills would be sited in his pasture, Tess had been forced to sacrifice another credit card to get the thick frost off her windshield this morning. Then she’d had to rush to pick up the CEO of Renewable Reliance, who obviously wasn’t impressed with her late arrival.
Second, the CEO, Allen Tate, proved to be an unhappy guy in general. As he rattled on to her and his unfortunate assistant, a fresh-faced young man named Ben, about the shortcomings of his hotel room and its minibar, Tess fought the urge to yell, “Get used to it!” After all, he and his company had chosen Benson for their project—Benson certainly had not chosen them.
But she had a job to do. A job that today would require all her patience and people skills. Somehow, by focusing on the road and the work ahead of her, Tess managed to hold her tongue and sound sympathetic about the CEO’s woes.
She made a mental note to find a decent bottle of wine or Scotch at the grocery store. She’d send it up to his room tonight to lessen his minibar troubles. For a moment she envied him—if only her troubles were that simple. Tomorrow he’d leave here and fly back to Chicago—and the comforts of his suburban mansion—while she would carry on in Benson, at odds with her best friend and the most attractive man she’d ever met, toiling on a project that she already knew the town didn’t want.
Tess pulled the car over to the gravel shoulder of the road, across from the gate leading into Slaid’s pasture. The Bureau of Land Management’s pasture, she reminded herself quickly.
There were no other cars, even though the camera crew had left the hotel well before she’d picked up Allen and Ben. She put the Jeep in Park and reached for her cell phone, but there was no signal. Of course.
“We’ll have to head back to town,” she told her passengers. “We’ll see if we can locate the camera crew, or at least a signal so we can call and find out what happened.” Allen sighed audibly and Tess sighed inwardly. This day wasn’t getting much better.
She U-turned back toward Benson and Ben held up her phone, waving it wildly around, searching for the
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