Dalton.” The brunette leaned back against the counter and crossed her arms. “Sister to Lindsay.”
That explained the defensive posture. Okay, so he had two enemies in Rust Creek Falls. He’d faced worse. Besides, he wasn’t going to be here long. It wasn’t going to matter what people said about him after he left—as long as he won the lawsuit and reestablished the good reputation of Just Us Kids Day Care. All he needed to do while he was here was temporarily change public perception about himself. Winning the lawsuit would take care of the rest. So he put on a friendly smile and put out his hand. It wasn’t making deals over drinks at a penthouse restaurant, but it would accomplish the same thing. And at a much cheaper price.
“Nice to meet you, Lani.” They shook. “I’m Walker Jones, owner of Just Us Kids.”
“Your day care has quite the tarnished reputation,” Lani said. “Folks here have a pretty negative opinion after all those kids got sick.”
Walker maintained his friendly smile. “An unfortunate event, to be sure. I’m hoping people will see that I’m a responsible owner, here to make things right.”
Beside him on the stool, Lindsay snorted. He ignored the sound of derision.
The bar had begun to fill since he got here, and the people standing in the Ace in the Hole were making no secret of eavesdropping on his exchange with the Dalton sisters. He could see, in their eyes and in their body language that the angry villagers were readying their pitchforks for the evil day care ogre.
If they thought they could intimidate him, they were wrong. He’d faced far worse, from ego-centric billionaires to feisty CEOs who refused to accept their tenure was done when he bought them out. This small town would be a cakewalk. He’d play their game, make nice, but in the end, he’d do what he always did—
Win.
He got to his feet and turned to face the room. He could handle these people. All he had to do was pretend to be one of them. Charming, gentle, friendly. His last girlfriend had accused him of being the Tin Man, because he didn’t have a heart. Maybe she was right. But he could damn well act the part. “Folks, I’m Walker Jones, Hudson’s older brother, and yes, the owner of Just Us Kids. I’m here in town to check on things, reassure you all that we run a quality operation. I’d like to take a moment to thank you all for the warm welcome to your lovely town.”
Cold eyes stared back at him. One man crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Walker. Another woman shook her head and turned away.
He widened his smile, loosened his stance. As easy and welcoming as a new neighbor. “And I can think of no better way to thank you all for your hospitality than a round on me.” A low cheer sounded from the back of the room. Walker smiled and put up a hand. “Now, I know a few beers won’t change much, and I don’t expect it to. I just want to say thank you. And if any of you have any questions, come on up to the bar. I’d sure like to meet the residents of Rust Creek Falls.”
Just as he knew it would, the icy wall between himself and the other patrons began to thaw. A few stepped right up to the bar, giving him a thank-you as they placed their orders.
“I figure it’s always a good idea to make friends with the guy buying the beer,” said a barrel-chested man with a thick beard and a red flannel shirt. “Elvin Houseman.”
“Walker Jones.” They shook hands. “Pleased to meet you.”
Elvin leaned in close to Walker’s ear. “Folks round here are gonna have a hard time trusting you. When those kids got sick over at the day care, it scared a lot of people.”
“I’m doing my best to rectify that, Mr. Houseman.”
The other man waved that off. “Nobody calls me Mr. Houseman. I’m just Elvin.”
“Elvin, then.”
Lani slid a beer across to Elvin. He raised it toward her, then toward Walker. “Thank you kindly. And best of luck to you with the town.” He gave Walker a little nod, then walked away.
Walker glanced at Lindsay. She’d either ignored or hadn’t noticed the whole exchange. She also hadn’t ordered a fresh drink, not that he expected her to take advantage of the round on his tab, but clearly, she wasn’t won over like the other folks in the bar, nor did she seem to be intimidated by him. But there was a hint of surprise in her face. She clearly hadn’t expected him to outflank her by going straight to the town. Walker headed back to his table.
Before he reached his seat, one of the giggling blondes who had come in earlier stood in front of him, her hips swaying to the music. She put her hands out. “Hey, would you like to dance? Come on, we need a man.”
The blonde was pretty, probably no older than twenty-three or twenty-four. On any other day, she’d be the kind of diversion Walker would go for—no real commitment, nothing expected after the evening was over. He’d dated enough of that type of woman to know how it would go—a few drinks, a few laughs, a good time in bed and then back to real life.
He wanted to say no, to tell her he had enough on his mind already, but then he reconsidered. Dancing with the local girl fed into his plan of ingratiating himself with the town, and would also show Lindsay Dalton an unexpected side of him. He wanted to keep the other lawyer as off balance as he could. If she didn’t know what to expect from him, the advantage would go to Walker.
So he shrugged off his suit jacket, undid his tie and the top two buttons of his shirt, then rolled up his shirt sleeves. “Sure.”
The blonde giggled again, then grabbed his hand. “It’s line dancing. Do you know how to do that?”
“Follow your hips?”
That made her laugh again. “Exactly.”
The blonde and her trio of friends surrounded him, and the five of them moved from one side of the dance floor to the other, doing something the girls called a grapevine that they’d learned from that Billy Ray Cyrus video “Achy Breaky Heart.” Though he’d never danced like this before, it was fairly simple, and by the time the first verse was finished, Walker had most of the steps memorized.
He had, however, all but forgotten the blonde. His gaze kept straying across the room to Lindsay Dalton, still sitting on the bar stool and chatting with her sister. He watched Lindsay, just to see if his plan was working, he told himself.
He’d done a little research on his opponent in the hours after court. Lindsay Dalton, the youngest of six children, fresh from taking the bar exam and now working for her father’s firm. She had been successful with some very small cases she’d argued—a boundary line, something about a dog dispute, those kinds of things. Nothing as big as a lawsuit against a major national corporation, albeit one division of the Jones empire. Yet she hadn’t seemed too daunted in the courtroom. If anything, she’d impressed him with her attitude—like a kitten standing up to a tiger.
Though the kitten wouldn’t even get to unsheathe its claws at the tiger, her attempt made him respect her. And made him wonder about her.
Across the bar, Lindsay was laughing at something the bartender had said. He liked the sound of her laugh, light and lyrical, and the way it lit her face, put a little dash of a tease into her eyes. He knew he shouldn’t—she was the enemy, after all—but he really wanted to get to know her better.
It was research, that was all. Figuring out
