glad it’s going well,” he told her.
“Because you don’t think I can do well enough in time?”
He surprised her by gently touching her cheek. “This was a whole lot easier before I got to know you.”
“Agreed, but I still need to win.”
“Me, too.” He dropped his hand. “Tell me about your soap empire.”
“It’s not an empire yet, but I have orders and the promise of more. I’m getting word out on the internet. I’m going to need a website. Annabelle says she knows somebody in town who can do it.” Probably time to change the subject. “Are the animals settled for the night?”
“Last I checked. Llamas and sheep. What was she thinking?”
Heidi wasn’t sure, but still admired May for doing exactly what she wanted.
Rafe leaned back in the chair. “We’ll have to have Lars check their hooves next time he’s around.”
“I hadn’t thought of that. Do sheep and llamas need their hooves trimmed?”
“Lars will know.”
“Why do you say it like that?”
He gave her a slow, knowing smile. “Lars wasn’t happy dealing with me instead of you. He seemed…smitten.”
“Oh, please.” She returned her attention to her soap wrappers. “I barely know him.”
“You’ve made an impression.”
“Speaking of that sort of thing, how was your night out with your matchmaker girl?”
He shrugged. “Fine.”
“Oooh, when you say it like that, I want to know when you two are setting the date.”
“It was one date.”
“You were home early.”
“I’m surprised you remember that.”
She didn’t remember much else about the evening, but she did recall that Rafe had beaten her home, and she hadn’t been out all that late. There were some other blurry images, something about kissing, but she wasn’t going there.
“She wasn’t the one?”
“No.”
“But she drove all the way out here to see you. That has to be worth something.”
“Not to get too cynical, but do you have any idea how much I’m worth?”
“Not really.” She thought about the little she knew and what Trisha, her lawyer, had told her. “A lot?”
The slow, sexy smile returned, making her fingers fumble on the soap wrapping. “That’s as good a number as any.”
“You’re saying she was in it for the money and not your sparkling personality?”
“It’s a concern.”
Probably a realistic one, she thought. “Maybe you should have your matchmaker play down your fortune. So you can find someone who loves you for who you are.”
“I’m not in it for love. I want a partnership.”
“That’s romantic.”
“I tried the romantic route. It didn’t go well.”
Heidi had a feeling that if Rafe and his ex-wife had walked away from their marriage with no regrets, then they’d never been in love. Her experience with the emotion was entirely different. Love could hold you in its grip and never let go. She thought of Melinda and knew people died in the name of love.
“Where did you take her?” she asked.
“Who?”
“Your date.”
“To the hotel restaurant.”
She sighed. “That’s your problem. You need to do something more special.”
“A moonlit horseback ride?”
“Not if you don’t warn her to dress right. Fool’s Gold is a great town. There are lots of little restaurants that have more ambience than the one at the hotel. Or take her up to the Gold Rush Ski Lodge and Resort. At least you could ride the gondola to the top of the mountain. That’s romantic.”
“It’s cold.”
She rolled her eyes. “You could put your arm around her and keep her warm. Jeez. No wonder you’re forced to use a matchmaker. You’re not very good at the whole dating thing.”
“I’m very good at it. The problem isn’t me, it’s the town. Being here. Being back.”
“Too many memories?”
“Yeah.”
She thought about what May had told her about Rafe and how difficult things had been back then. “You’re not that kid anymore. You can take care of your family.”
He drew in a breath and picked up one of the wrapped packages of soap. “They brought us baskets every holiday. There was plenty of food. Not leftovers that someone dug out of the back of his pantry, but real food. Turkeys and hams, big roasts. All the fixings. Pies and cakes. There would be movies for us kids and books for my mom.”
“That sounds nice.”
“It wasn’t. I always knew when they were coming. I answered the door and I could see the pity in their eyes.”
As he spoke, Heidi knew he wasn’t the Rafe Stryker she’d met, but instead, a ten-year-old boy who couldn’t provide for those he loved. The one who had been left with an impossible task—providing for his family.
“It wasn’t your job to take care of everyone,” she murmured.
“Someone had to.”
“Your mom was doing it.”
“She was overwhelmed. There was too much work and no help.”
“So you did what you could.”
“It wasn’t enough.”
She understood why he was so concerned about May. Back then, he’d been unable to protect her. Now he could protect them all. Yet that attention came at a price. When one of his siblings didn’t measure up, Rafe was unforgiving.
“Tell me about your sister.”
He stared at her. “What do you want to know?”
“What is she like?”
“Younger. I was
