Gold Fire (30 page)

“Sounds great,” Zoe said. “Is Amber here?”

“You just missed her. She went to Juniper with Marcy. They’re working on getting another store to carry our pottery.”

Jase knew Zoe was disappointed, but figured he’d meet Cal’s sister another time. He was more interested in the airy great room they passed through, noting the upright piano, several guitars, and a modern stereo system. No computer, no TV; apparently they weren’t too connected to the outside world. He was introduced to a woman named Feather who was dusting an overloaded bookshelf. She reminded him vaguely of his grandmother, if his grandmother had worn a feather in her hair, a tie-dyed blouse, blue jeans, and a pound of beads.

Kate led them into a large country kitchen and waved at a long, rectangular table. “I called Pete, he’s on his way. Sit down. Tell me all the news.”

“Everyone’s fine,” Zoe said, pulling out a chair next to Jase. “The usual—Sophie’s playing with bugs. Maggie’s playing with Cal.”

Kate set three glasses on the table and sat down,
including them both in her bright smile. “Am I supposed to ask who you’re playing with?”

Jase was amused to see a slight flush of pink on Zoe’s cheeks. “I’m not playing. The Alpine Sky is trying to buy Jase’s land, and things are getting nasty. I’m hoping Pete can help us figure out how to fight back.”

“Us?” Kate asked, zeroing in on the part that had caught Jase’s attention, too.

“Him,” Zoe corrected. She flicked a look at Jase, and shrugged. “Us. I’m not taking my employer’s side in this. They play dirty.”

Kate nodded. “And you like to stick to the rules.”

Zoe frowned. “Instead of sticking with vandalism, arson, and slander? Yeah, I’d rather stick to the rules.”

Kate looked thoughtful and a little worried. Jase had a feeling he knew why. “It’s okay, she’s been bending a few other rules.”

Kate beamed at him. “Thank you. I do worry.”

“No need. I’ve pointed out her rigid qualities, and it turns out they’re not set in stone.”

“You must be a good influence.”

Zoe shot him a what-the-hell look. “Yes, he’s leading me down a path of sin and corruption,” Zoe said. “You’d be so proud.”

Kate patted her hand. “You needed a little sin in your life, honey.” While Zoe rolled her eyes, Kate looked up with a smile. “Here’s Pete.”

They went through another round of greetings, with a bear hug for each of them. Jase was taken aback, but figured the hug meant he’d moved up to friend status.

“Hey, man, good to see you,” Pete said. “Zoe said you had some questions for me.”

“If you know anything about land use and zoning laws, I do.”

Pete laughed, a deep, generous sound that made Jase think of Santa Claus, if Santa wore denim overalls and had a long ponytail. “Know more about them than those establishment fools running B-Pass. Good thing, too, ’cause they’d like to legislate our asses out of here. You gotta keep your eye on the Man, ya know?” He took a chair across from them. “So tell me the problem.”

Jase did, leaning his arms on the table as he told Pete about the Alpine Sky’s offer to buy the Rusty Wire, followed by the vandalism on his truck, the fire, and the accusations that led to closing the place down. “I think Matt Flemming is behind it, but I can’t prove it. He’d buy me out if he could, but I’m not selling, so I need to find a way to make him forget about the land.”

“Can you help us?” Zoe asked.

“Maybe. Hang loose a sec.” Pete scraped his chair back and disappeared into the living room. He came back with a rolled-up map that he unfurled on the table, using salt and pepper shakers, a sugar bowl, and a bottle of hot sauce to hold the edges down. “Show me the piece we’re talking about.”

Jase leaned in to study the roads, orienting himself, then drew an imaginary circle around the Rusty Wire and his adjoining fifty acres. “Here. From Evans Road to the eastern end of the resort.”

Pete considered it for several seconds. “No developed land around it, so no impact on adjacent neighborhoods. Makes it harder. Flat or rugged?”

“As flat as it gets around here.”

“So no geologic hazards like falling rocks.” He
rubbed his chin through his gray beard. “Any wetlands?”

Jase shook his head. “Mostly trees.”

“Hmm.” Pete tugged absently at his beard. “I’ll have Feather look at this later, see if she knows of any endangered wildlife or plants that might be there. If you can show this parcel is the habitat of an endangered species, Mother Nature wins. They can’t do a thing with the land.”

He hadn’t even thought of that. “I’ll take her there if she wants to see it.”

“Not necessary. She’s probably already been there and taken notes. She monitors all the flora and fauna around B-Pass so she can raise hell if anyone tries to mess with irreplaceable resources.” He moved his improvised paperweights and rolled up the map. “Let us think about it for a few days, see if we can come up with something.”

It didn’t sit comfortably. “I didn’t mean to give you a project. I’m sure Feather has other things to do than tramp around my land looking for endangered daisies or marmots or whatever.”

Pete laughed. “I guarantee Feather has already covered every inch of your fifty acres, and taken notes. She keeps a file, and she doesn’t ask permission—Feather’s not cool with obeying laws, especially when it comes to private property. She says no one can own the land, it’s here for everyone.”

“Oh.” He didn’t know what else to say to news that an old hippie woman was sneaking around B-Pass, taking notes and keeping files.

Zoe smiled. “Thanks, Pete. If anyone can help, it’s you and Feather.”

“Hope we can. We’ll go over it tonight. For now, I think Jase and I have some fishing lures to look at.”

Jase grinned, more confident of getting valuable tips on lures than advice on saving his saloon. “I’m looking forward to stealing all your secrets.”

Pete did his Santa laugh again. “The only secret is a strong magnifying glass and jeweler’s tools. That’s why we’re going to my shop. You too, Zoe. There’s something I want you to see.”

“Oh, boy, jewelry.” She jumped up. “Did you come up with a new design? I volunteer to be the first on my block to wear it.”

“Not exactly new, but there has been a change.” He winked at her, making it sound mysterious, which only made her smile more.

“Great! Jase, you gotta see the stuff he and my mom make. Maggie carries some of it in her store.”

He let her pull him along after Pete, walking hand in hand with her as they left the house and crossed the compound. They took their time as she threw sticks for their canine escort while pointing out the goat barn, pastures, and pottery shop. As they approached the jewelry workshop she explained that it was housed in the commune’s original farmhouse, where she’d been born.

He looked at everything, but looked more at Zoe. Her bright exuberance was in sharp contrast to the stiff, suit-wearing woman he’d first met. He’d known there was heat beneath that straightlaced facade, but hadn’t guessed at the easy, carefree side of her, the one without checklists and rules. The one who romped with dogs and giggled over the antics of kid goats. He figured it must take a lot of effort to hide the real Zoe.

Or a lot of fear. Distancing herself from the wild Larkin girls had taken her too far in the other direction. She might not like it, but he was going to have something to say about that.

Pete ushered them into his workshop, and back to a table where a young man was bent over a magnifying glass, doing something with a length of silver wire. “I’d like you to meet my new apprentice.”

The man raised his head, expectant smile already in place. A second later it slipped into a surprised stare.

Zoe had the same expression. “Eli?”

“Twinkie!” he blurted out.

She grinned, then whipped around, giving Jase a stern look. “You did not hear that.”

Eli came around the table to wrap her in an enthusiastic hug. When she came out of it, she said, “Jase, this is Pete’s son, Eli. He and I grew up together here, and he left . . . what, about ten years ago?”

Eli nodded. “Princeton, then the Peace Corps, then some humanitarian work in Guatemala.”

“Does this mean you’re back here to stay?”

“Hope so. Brought my wife, Gwen. She fell in love with the place. We’re expecting our first baby this fall, and hopefully it’ll be born here, same as you and I were.”

Zoe laughed. “The next generation of the People’s Free Earth Commune! I want to meet Gwen. Is she here?”

“Probably somewhere around the barn. She’s into weaving, and wants to start a herd of sheep so we can make clothing with the wool, maybe start a new business.”

“I love her already. See you later, Jase.”

“Hold on. You want to explain Twinkie, or do I ask Eli?”

“Oh.” She smiled self-consciously. “You can probably guess. Junk food was nonexistent here. When I was about ten we visited some friends who had left the commune, and I discovered these little cream-filled pieces of heaven. I overindulged, and the result wasn’t pretty. My friends at the commune, being sensitive, caring people, never let me forget it.” All traces of embarrassment suddenly disappeared, replaced by a severe look. “But you will.”

He smiled, making no promises. “Did you ever eat them again?”

The mischief flashed back into her eyes. “Are you kidding? Cream-filled heaven. They’re my favorite dessert.”

•  •  •

He spent two happy hours talking trout fishing and lures with Pete before he tracked Zoe down. He found her sitting on the ground running her hands through the wool of a placid black-faced sheep as it lay on the grass, chewing cud and ignoring her. She jumped up when she saw him.

“Come over here, Jase! Feel my hands. Aren’t they smooth and silky? Lanolin, it’s all over the wool. You can do so much with sheep!”

He rubbed his hand over the lotion slickness of hers, then kept it, twining their fingers together. “You sound dangerously like a kid with someone else’s puppy who wants one of her very own.”

She laughed. “I already have a job. But I have to tell Maggie because she could market the hell out of a commune clothing line.”

The way happiness sparkled around her, he had to say it. “You love it here.”

“I do.”

“Did you ever think about coming back to stay, like Eli?”

She tilted her head as if considering it now. “Once. But it’s not what I want for my life. Besides, give up Twinkies?”

“Right. The most important consideration.”

“You’d better believe it.”

•  •  •

Zoe thought the day couldn’t have been more perfect, and it had a lot to do with sharing it with Jase. Taking him to the commune allowed him into the part of her life she held closest to her heart. If he’d been distant and polite, she would have been crushed. But he’d acted as if a family of gray-haired hippies was the most normal thing in the world. She’d been both pleased and proud of him.

They stopped by the house to say good-bye before starting back down the mountain, collecting more hugs and a bag of homemade granola that Kate thrust into Jase’s hands. “All natural, grown without pesticides,” she told him.

“Of course it is,” he said, and kissed her cheek. Zoe’s mom beamed. A wave of warmth spread through Zoe.

Jase looked in the rearview mirror as they drove off and shook his head. “I had this image of hippies lying around smoking dope and listening to old Hendrix records. Boy, was I wrong. That’s the most ambitious, capitalistic group of people I’ve ever met.”

She laughed. “I know. It takes work to make a
commune succeed. My family taught me to try hard at whatever I do, and I guess it stuck. I tried hard to be the best at rebelling. Then I tried hard to be good at hotel management.”

He was supposed to smile. Or agree. Instead, he grew quiet, watching the road until she thought he’d forgotten the conversation. “Ever thought of being good at being Zoe?”

She frowned, because it sounded suspiciously like criticism. “What does that mean?”

“It means that teenage rebel and the supercompetent hotel manager . . . neither one is you, Zoe. And I wonder if you lost yourself somewhere in the middle.”

If it wasn’t criticism, it was at least presumptuous. She was pretty sure she knew herself better than he did, but she wanted to hear where this was going. “Really? If you know so much, then who am I?”

“Someone less extreme. Less controlled.” It came out so quickly she knew he’d given it some thought. “Someone who doesn’t gauge every move against a list of acceptable behavior. I caught a glimpse of that Zoe several times today, and she knocked me out.”

The knocking-out part put a tiny jump in her pulse, which irritated her because she wanted to be mad at him. She wasn’t
extreme
and
controlled
. “I’m happier up here because I’m not at work handling staffing and booking problems. So what? That’s not extreme. In fact, I think that makes me pretty normal.”

“I didn’t say you were happier. I said today you weren’t measuring yourself against some imaginary ideal. No checklist to make sure you did the proper thing. No plan, just you being you.”

“Is that how you see me? Everything planned, nothing spontaneous?” The mad started edging back in, mostly because it sounded too true for comfort. “Is that what you think I did the night before last, put a big checkmark beside ‘Sleep with Jase’?” She managed to say it without blushing, since she hadn’t bothered to check that one off yet.

“No.” Now
he
looked irritated. “That’s not what that was. I know it, and so do you. There’s something between us, something more than you’re-hot-and-I-want-to-jump-your-bones. We acted on it.” He took his eyes off the road long enough to give her a hard look. “Don’t make that part of this, because I think that woman who let down her guard for one night was the real you, and I hope to hell I see her again.”

Damn it, how could he flatter her and insult her at the same time? “What’s wrong with having a plan? That’s how people succeed. You can’t tell me you didn’t have a plan for reaching the Olympics—how much to practice, what races to enter, even what to eat and not eat.”

“You’re right, I had a strict plan. But not for my private life, not for who to date, where to be seen, where I could go. And I didn’t worry about what anyone else thought of it.”