Summer Days (Fool's Gold #7)

Or she could simply ask around. Someone would know who owned the cats. But she liked the idea of a mystery, of being able to pretend the cats had exciting secret lives after they left here.

She put away her stool, checked to make sure the goats had plenty of water, then picked up the buckets and walked back to the house. She entered to the smell of coffee. As she poured the raw milk from the stainless-steel bucket to the glass containers she would put in the refrigerator, she told herself it was nice that May had gotten up early and made coffee. That Rafe wouldn’t be the one waiting for her when she walked into the kitchen. Because anticipating anything about him would be very, very bad. But anticipation nearly overwhelmed her now, as spending mornings with him was often the best part of her day.

She was finding it more and more difficult to remember that he was the enemy. Being around him was…nice. He made her laugh, and she looked forward to spending time with him. In other circumstances, she would have taken the chance and offered him her heart. But these weren’t other circumstances, and if she forgot what he wanted, she could lose everything.

Heidi put away the milk, closed the refrigerator door and walked into the kitchen. Rafe stood leaning against the counter, his dark eyes brightening when he saw her.

With all the hard work he put in on the ranch during the day, he usually showered before dinner rather than first thing in the morning. There was something to be said for a man who wasn’t so crisp around the edges. She liked the faint shadow of stubble on his jaw, the slight muss to his hair. He wore a plaid cotton shirt, the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and faded jeans with a tear by the front pocket.

Somewhere along the way, he’d ceased to be the guy in the suit. Now he was just Rafe. And just Rafe was turning out to be a lot more dangerous.

“Morning,” he said, handing her a mug of coffee.

“Hi.”

She saw that he’d already added cream and, she would guess, sugar, preparing it just the way she liked.

“How are the girls?” he asked, moving toward the table.

“Good. Happy to see me.”

They sat across from each other, as they did most mornings. This was their quiet time together, before May and Glen were up and the work crew arrived.

He had a few sheets of paper on the table and now nudged them toward her. “I was thinking about your cheese and soap, and made some calls.”

She glanced down and saw three names, along with phone numbers. Next to the names were countries. Two were China and one was Korea.

“These are sales reps who already have distributors for American products in select, upscale Asian markets. Right now, goat cheese is hot.”

She looked from the paper to him, trying to understand. “They’ll take my calls?”

“They’re interested in what you have to sell, and they know how to get started in those countries. There’s little risk to you, because you’re using infrastructure in place. Why reinvent the wheel?” He tapped the list, next to the second name for China. “She’ll want samples of your soap. If she likes it, she’ll take it on consignment, carrying the shipping costs herself. The only risk on your end is paying to have it returned if it doesn’t sell. However, she knows her customers and what they want to buy. From what I’ve heard, the biggest problem is how fast the orders tend to come in.”

A problem she could totally handle, she thought, considering the bars of soap curing and how many more she could make in the next few weeks.

Selling locally was one thing, but getting into the overseas market, especially in Asia, could mean real money. Possibly enough money to pay back May. Rafe had to know that.

“This kind of business takes time,” he said gently. “But it will pay off eventually.”

So he was good at business and a mind reader, she thought. “Thanks for the contacts,” she said. “I’ll call them all today.”

“They’re waiting to hear from you.”

Conversation shifted to work on the barn, but Heidi kept thinking about what Rafe had given her. Assuming he was right, and she had no reason to doubt him, she wouldn’t see any profits before they were to meet with the judge again. But if she could show an aggressive payback plan, that would help her cause. So why was he taking the chance?

Did he have that much faith in his lawyer? Or was he starting to have feelings for her? She knew he liked her, that they had a good time together. Did he wonder what would have happened if they’d met under other circumstances? He’d turned out to be very different from what she’d expected. Maybe it was the same for him. Maybe they were both discovering an unexpected connection.

* * *

RAFE LIT THE COALS in the barbecue and watched in satisfaction as the blue flames jumped toward the sky. Sure, a gas grill would be faster, but there was something gratifying about cooking meat the old-fashioned way.

Heidi walked out onto the back porch. “No explosion?”

He chuckled. “The grill will be ready in about thirty minutes.”