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The Elliotts Come Home Chapter 4
“Who’s your new friend, Gage?” a man asked when their dance came to an end, cutting through the other couples to reach them. He was one of Gage’s brothers, Megan realized.
Gage sighed, but he guided her off the dance floor and the newcomer followed them. “Megan Lawrence, meet Carter Elliott, my youngest brother. The dreamer in the family.”
Carter was dressed like Gage in dark jeans and a crisp, white shirt. His hair was a shade lighter, though he had the same brown eyes. Tiny laugh lines crinkled the corners of his eyes. She had a feeling he was an optimist.
“Nice to meet you, Megan. Been a long time since I’ve seen anyone convince this old man to dance.” He nudged his brother.
“Megan is a real estate agent.”
Carter’s eyes lit up. “What a coincidence. Sooner or later we’ll have 120 houses to sell.”
Megan’s heart nearly stopped. “Really?”
“No. Not really.” Gage shot his brother a scathing look. “How many times do I have to tell you your plan won’t work? We’ll be selling the Ridge to Warrington at the end of the year.”
“Only if we fail to meet Dad’s goals.”
“Which you will.”
“I don’t see why. Demand for lumber is at an all-time high. I’ve already got one contract lined up. Pretty soon I’ll have more.”
“And when they run out? Then what?” Gage asked. Megan could tell it wasn’t the first time they’d had this argument.
“By then we’ll have attracted other people to settle the Ridge. People who bring their own work—digital nomads, content creators. Whatever.”
“That type of people don’t want to live in the country.” Gage turned to Megan. “We’ve got one property to sell—the whole thing. I’ll tell Dad to look you up next May. You can broker the deal with Warrington.”
“Like hell.” Carter stepped toward his brother. “If you don’t want to help, you can get out of the way. You know the rest of us feel differently.”
“Pipe down. We’re at a wedding,” Gage reminded Carter. “The first social event we’ve been asked to since we got back. Pardon my brother,” he said to Megan. “He’s forgotten his manners.”
Carter frowned. “This is too important to put off—hey!” he cut off when his brother wrapped a hand around his arm and hustled him away.
“Thanks for the dance, Megan,” Gage called back over his shoulder and soon they disappeared into the crowd.
A hundred and twenty houses? Lainie would have to keep her on if she scored those listings.
Megan supposed that scenario was too good to be true, however. Even if the Elliotts decided to stay and settle the ridge, why would they choose her to be their agent when there were far more experienced ones around?
A worse thought struck her. If Gage thought trying to resuscitate the Ridge was hopeless, that probably meant he didn’t mean to stick around long. She told herself that was none of her business, but she couldn’t pretend she wasn’t disappointed. She hadn’t danced with anyone like him in a long time.
She’d forgotten how it felt when a man you were attracted to held you in his arms like that. When Blake had pulled her close earlier, she’d only felt claustrophobic, but with Gage, she’d felt alive, like—
“Are they ready to sell?” a voice intruded on her thoughts.
Megan looked up to find Blake at her elbow. She stepped quickly away, but just like Gage had done to his brother, Blake wrapped a hand around her arm and guided her to a quieter area.
“Look, we got off to a bad start,” he said. “Sorry if it seemed like I was coming on strong out there.” He nodded to the dance floor. “Truth is, it’s been a while since I’ve had a pretty woman in my arms and I’m a cocky son-of-a-bitch. Everyone says so. Like I told you, I see what I want and I go for it. It works out great in business. Trips me up every time when it comes to women.”
Megan searched his face for any indication he was teasing her, but he seemed forthcoming and she relaxed a little. It was hard to stay angry in the face of such a frank confession. At least he was honest about what he’d done.
“Don’t set your sights on me,” she said. She’d meet honesty with honesty. “You pegged me earlier. I’m a simple, small-town girl and we’re not compatible.”
Blake pulled back and looked at her more carefully than he’d done before. “Hell, that put me in my place, didn’t it?”
“I hope so.” She braced herself for the anger she figured was coming next, but instead, he laughed and when he did, his whole demeanor changed. She got a glimpse of the man he could be when he wasn’t posturing for everyone’s benefit and she wondered why he felt he needed to put up such a front.
“All right, let’s really start over,” he said. “My name is Blake Warrington and I’m happy to be here. I got to know your friend Cindy’s dad when I first got to town and he’s the one who invited me here today. I’m looking forward to getting to know all these people well over the next few years. I want my new business to bring jobs and prosperity to the whole area.”
“I’m Megan Lawrence, a struggling real estate agent who loves this town like nothing else,” Megan said, playing along. “I’ve known Cindy all my life—literally. We played together before we even got to kindergarten. I know almost everyone here, at least to say hi to.”
“Do you know Gage Elliott well?”
“Are you looking forward to getting to know him, too?” She couldn’t help giving him a hard time.
Blake made a face. “Not really,” he admitted. “Especially now. I’m looking forward to getting to know his land, though. I tried to buy it when I first got here, but Edward Elliott put me off. Said to come around next June and see how things stood. I don’t want to wait that long. I want to buy it now.”
She thought about the brothers’ disagreement. “You’ll have to talk to Gage about that,” she said.
Another frown. “Don’t supposed you’d like to do that for me?”
“Are you hiring me as your agent?”
“Couldn’t you do it as a friend?”
“No,” Megan said. “Real estate is my job. If you want to come in tomorrow and sign a contract, I’d be glad to represent you.”
He looked her over again. “You might be better at all this than you think.”