Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86020 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86020 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Charlie eyed the metal surrounding her. “Eventually, it’ll be a cowboy on a horse roping a steer. It’s a commission for a Texas oilman.”
Dane snorted. “Of course he’s a Texas oilman. And his family were probably ranchers way back when.”
Charlie’s eyes twinkled. “How did you know?”
He shrugged. “Only an oilman from a ranching family would want a life-size sculpture of a cowboy and a steer.”
With that same twinkle, Charlie changed the subject. “Have you come here to talk about a Tyrannosaurus Rex for your yard?”
His thinking cap had definitely been on. “Depends on how big.”
“I haven’t seen your estate, but from the little I know of you, I don’t think you want something as large as the dinosaurs at the Flintstone House in Hillsborough.”
He’d passed by the house many times driving up Highway 280 on the way to San Francisco. Some people thought it an eyesore, but he found it charming, with its domed style and all the massive metal creatures populating its yard. “You’re right. Rex might be intimidated by something that big.” He grinned. “He needs something he can look down on and feel like he can vanquish.”
Charlie pursed her lips into a half smile. “I have the perfect thing.” She opened a pair of cabinet doors and waved him over. “These should be perfect for T. Rex. He can lord it over them.”
Dane couldn’t stifle the half laugh, half snort. “What the hell are they?”
She held one of the metal sculptures on the palm of her hand. “It’s a Zanti Misfit.”
He eyed her. “What the heck is a Zanti Misfit?”
Charlie rolled her eyes. “Haven’t you ever watched The Outer Limits?”
“Can’t say I have.”
“It was an old episode with Bruce Dern. Zanti Misfits are aliens who land in the desert with nefarious intentions.”
He looked at the creature, shaped like an ant with a huge, garish grin of metal teeth and bulging painted eyes. “That might be a bit too terrifying for Rex.”
Charlie snorted. “If Bruce Dern could vanquish the Zanti Misfits, you can be darn sure T. Rex will too.”
He laughed outright. “Charlie Ballard, you are one very odd woman.”
She smiled, accepting the compliment. “Thank you very much. I’ve never wanted to be normal.”
Then he added, “I need at least five.”
She waved her hand toward the cabinet as if she were a magician. “Take all you want.”
They still might terrify Rex, but Cammie would love them. “Thanks. That’s very generous.”
“I just make them when I need to think,” Charlie explained. “Making something I can practically create in my sleep frees up my mind to brainstorm other ideas.”
“That’s an interesting observation. I feel the same way about golf. It frees my mind to think.” Especially when he played with Cammie. Then, his mind could wander back to their first golf game, to that one night, her skin so sensitive, her touch on him so exquisite, her taste so sweet.
Damn, he needed to slap himself.
He dragged his thoughts back to why he’d asked for this visit. “Cammie and I are excited to talk to you about a new project we have in mind.” He opened his computer on Charlie’s workbench. “It was her idea, so I’d like to include her, if that’s okay with you.”
“Of course.”
Dane brought up the video app. Cammie answered, her face lighting up the screen as if she’d been waiting all day for his call. Dane suspected she was glad to step away from her uncle’s estate management.
“Hey, Charlie.” Cammie waved.
Charlie fluttered her fingers. “I’m so sorry about your uncle.”
Cammie blinked, as if she needed to hide the tears that suddenly pricked her eyes. “Thanks so much. I miss him, but I’m glad he’s not suffering anymore.”
“I understand completely.” Charlie would understand more than most, since she took care of her mother, Francine. She’d settled her in a Los Gatos facility, which happened to be one of Ava’s. The small bedroom community sat at the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains, and Dane knew Charlie was over there regularly. Of course, Francine could have lived with Charlie and Sebastian, but she claimed she wanted her independence.
Dane started the conversation. “Since it’s your idea, Cammie, why don’t you tell Charlie what you had in mind?”
Cammie huffed a breath. “It wasn’t really my idea. I just posed a question, and you ran with it.”
They’d brainstormed, tossing ideas back and forth, but using Charlie’s work at the resorts had come from Cammie. She didn’t even realize that she truly was his idea genie, no matter how many times he told her. Cammie’s touch was pure magic.
She jumped into the proposal. “We’d love to have you create a sculpture for the lobby of each of Dane’s resorts. Some of them have courtyards, some are marble entryways, some are open air. But we thought greeting his guests with an accent signifying the location of each particular resort would be amazing. A bald eagle for the Montana resort. A Joshua tree for the desert. But really, it should be whatever you feel is appropriate.”