expire.”
“So what if I’m Australian? It doesn’t mean I have to go back and live there. I love it here. And my company wants to hire me permanently, so they’re going to sponsor a green card application for me.”
Yeah, she was bending the truth a little. Looking into the prospect of helping her obtain a green card was a bit different than actually going ahead with it. They’d cautioned her there could be unforeseen obstacles.
But she didn’t want to think there could be issues. She was hoping that by the end of next week her application process would be started.
“I don’t understand any of this,” Gage muttered and put the cat back on the ground. “What the hell was the old man thinking?”
“I can’t answer that. And I truly am sorry, Gage. I told you I liked Sweet Ridge when you came to my office. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed coming here until last night when I pulled into town. Now that I’ve seen the place”—she waved a hand behind her encompassing the house—“I know Jack must have worked out that my true home was here in Texas, and so he gave me one.”
Gage snorted. “Oh, that’s just so
lovely,
isn’t it? My father, the insightful one. Well, if he was so damn insightful, why did he leave me with twenty-five percent of a company I don’t want to own and have no interest in, as well as a stupid key with some cryptic note? He promised me, dammit, he promised me this land.”
“I’m sorry, Gage. I know it must be frustrating for you to think you were getting something only to have it snatched away.”
“Save it. You know nothing. I don’t think it’s necessary to have lunch now,” he retorted before he stormed toward his car, Oil Slick scampering behind him.
Her heart bled a little as she took in the house and the surrounding land. As much as she might dislike Gage, she didn’t enjoy hurting him. Why did this land mean so much to Gage? Why was he fighting so hard to get it?
Why
did
Jack leave it to her?
CHAPTER 7
“Geez, cat, will you leave me alone?” Gage plucked Oil Slick off his desk again and put her on the ground. A second later she jumped back up and walked across his keyboard before sitting down beside his left hand. A mass of jumbled letters stood in the middle of an e-mail to a surveyor requesting a further assessment of a piece of land in Louisiana. He erased the letters Oil Slick had thought needed to be included in the e-mail, then quickly finished it. He hit send and closed down the program so the cat couldn’t edit any more e-mails.
Even though the price of oil was at an all-time low, Gage wasn’t going to sit on his laurels. Now he had a little time to investigate potential new sites so that when the price did indeed increase, and it would, he would be ready. Of course, he wouldn’t have to make so many new plans if he’d inherited Dad’s land. The likelihood of him owning it at all seemed impossible now. Especially after his run-in with Charlotte last weekend. He’d not even heard from her during the week with regard to more requests to make his rigs and operations safer on the environment.
He sighed and opened his desk drawer to pull out a fresh notepad and start brainstorming some ideas on possible new drilling sites instead of thinking about what might have been and Charlotte’s e-mail silence.
Gage spied the note and key his father left him, sitting in the drawer. Instead of grabbing the pad, he picked up those items.
He didn’t need to look at the note. The words were imprinted on his mind.
Son,
The key to everything is happiness.
Was he happy? He liked to think he was. Although he wasn’t entirely happy at the moment. But prior to hearing that he couldn’t buy the land off Charlotte, he’d been pretty damn happy with his lot in life.
And what was this
everything
his father was going on about? Did he mean achieving all his dreams and goals? Or was Dad talking about personal possessions? That seemed unlikely, considering Jack
“So what if I’m Australian? It doesn’t mean I have to go back and live there. I love it here. And my company wants to hire me permanently, so they’re going to sponsor a green card application for me.”
Yeah, she was bending the truth a little. Looking into the prospect of helping her obtain a green card was a bit different than actually going ahead with it. They’d cautioned her there could be unforeseen obstacles.
But she didn’t want to think there could be issues. She was hoping that by the end of next week her application process would be started.
“I don’t understand any of this,” Gage muttered and put the cat back on the ground. “What the hell was the old man thinking?”
“I can’t answer that. And I truly am sorry, Gage. I told you I liked Sweet Ridge when you came to my office. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed coming here until last night when I pulled into town. Now that I’ve seen the place”—she waved a hand behind her encompassing the house—“I know Jack must have worked out that my true home was here in Texas, and so he gave me one.”
Gage snorted. “Oh, that’s just so
lovely,
isn’t it? My father, the insightful one. Well, if he was so damn insightful, why did he leave me with twenty-five percent of a company I don’t want to own and have no interest in, as well as a stupid key with some cryptic note? He promised me, dammit, he promised me this land.”
“I’m sorry, Gage. I know it must be frustrating for you to think you were getting something only to have it snatched away.”
“Save it. You know nothing. I don’t think it’s necessary to have lunch now,” he retorted before he stormed toward his car, Oil Slick scampering behind him.
Her heart bled a little as she took in the house and the surrounding land. As much as she might dislike Gage, she didn’t enjoy hurting him. Why did this land mean so much to Gage? Why was he fighting so hard to get it?
Why
did
Jack leave it to her?
CHAPTER 7
“Geez, cat, will you leave me alone?” Gage plucked Oil Slick off his desk again and put her on the ground. A second later she jumped back up and walked across his keyboard before sitting down beside his left hand. A mass of jumbled letters stood in the middle of an e-mail to a surveyor requesting a further assessment of a piece of land in Louisiana. He erased the letters Oil Slick had thought needed to be included in the e-mail, then quickly finished it. He hit send and closed down the program so the cat couldn’t edit any more e-mails.
Even though the price of oil was at an all-time low, Gage wasn’t going to sit on his laurels. Now he had a little time to investigate potential new sites so that when the price did indeed increase, and it would, he would be ready. Of course, he wouldn’t have to make so many new plans if he’d inherited Dad’s land. The likelihood of him owning it at all seemed impossible now. Especially after his run-in with Charlotte last weekend. He’d not even heard from her during the week with regard to more requests to make his rigs and operations safer on the environment.
He sighed and opened his desk drawer to pull out a fresh notepad and start brainstorming some ideas on possible new drilling sites instead of thinking about what might have been and Charlotte’s e-mail silence.
Gage spied the note and key his father left him, sitting in the drawer. Instead of grabbing the pad, he picked up those items.
He didn’t need to look at the note. The words were imprinted on his mind.
Son,
The key to everything is happiness.
Was he happy? He liked to think he was. Although he wasn’t entirely happy at the moment. But prior to hearing that he couldn’t buy the land off Charlotte, he’d been pretty damn happy with his lot in life.
And what was this
everything
his father was going on about? Did he mean achieving all his dreams and goals? Or was Dad talking about personal possessions? That seemed unlikely, considering Jack
Similar Books
