Behind the counter, the jeweler began to make noises.
“Yeah, yeah.” Jordan waved him off. “I know the spiel. Id rather hear what my pal here has to say.”
“I can assure you that stone is an excellent quality. Burmese ruby at three carats, set in eighteenkarat gold. The craftsmanship of the—”
“Why dont you get me a loupe?” Brad suggested pleasantly. “The guys buying an engagement ring. Its a moment.”
He might not have been happy, but the potential sale had him producing a jewelers loupe and offering it to Brad.
Playing it out, Brad hemmed, hawed, andhmmmed before setting both the ring and the loupe on the black velvet pad. “Youre buying yourself a hell of a rock,” he said. “It hits the three Cs— color, cut, clarity, and at three substantial carats, rounds it out nicely. Shell love it.”
“Yeah, thats what I thought. Wrap it up,” he told the jeweler.
“We should go get a beer now, right?” Flynn glanced warily at the other rings in the glass case. “And Jordan should buy, in a symbolic gesture of… oh, hell with all that. I just want a beer.” “All in good time, my pretty.” Jordan pulled out his wallet, dug out his credit card. “Weve got another stop to make on the way back.”
THE way he looked at it, he was going to make a clean sweep. A kind of romantic hat trick. He got the girl, hed bought the ring. Now, he thought as they pulled through the gates of Warriors Peak, he was going to see if he could finesse the house.
“This is wild,” Flynn said from the backseat where Moe snored beside him, exhausted by the thrill of the car trip. “I think Im in some sort of shock.”
“Pretty wild,” Jordan agreed. “But the fact is, I always wanted this place. Even when I was a kid.”
“Okay, before you go in there and make some sort of insane offer, lets just take one more pass through the routine.” Brad shifted. “Let me point out, once again, that this place is enormous.”
“I like big.”
“Its isolated.”
“I like isolated.”
“You havent asked Dana if she wants to live up here.”
“I dont have to. I know how shell feel about it.”
“Its like talking to a brick,” Brad muttered. “Okay, if youre set on going through with this, at least take the Im-a-big-sucker-with-a-lot-of-money sign off your ass.”
“Theyre gods, son.” Jordan parked, pushed open the door. “I dont think a poker face is going to make much difference.”
“I dont know why you think theyll consider selling the place to you,” Brad continued. “They only bought it a couple of months ago. Gods or not, there are the small matters of equity, taxes, capital gains.”
“Listen to the suit.” Flynn grinned as Moe leaped over him and out of the car.
“Shut up. Youre in shock, remember? Takes a good thirty minutes to get down to the Valley from here,” Brad continued.
“The way you drive, it does,” Jordan muttered under his breath.
“I heard that. Thirty minutes,” Brad repeated, “for a mature adult who has respect for the speed limit. And thats in good weather. Fine for you, you can stay home and write in your underwear. Danas going to be running a business in town, six days a week.”
“Six?” Jordan turned from studying the house. “How do you know theyre planning on being open six days?”
“I got that fromZoe in between her sniping at me. The point is, shes going to have to travel down there most every day. And in the winter—”
“Ill buy her a four-wheel, a goddamnHumvee . Stop fretting, Mary.”
“Just for that, I hope—if theyre in the market for a buyer—they hose you.”
Rowena opened the door and was already laughing as she bent down to greet Moe. “Welcome! How lovely. Three handsome men and a handsome dog.”
“You call that dog handsome,” Jordan commented. “It must be love.”