Cold Case Cowboy

"Skye Painter is a hard-nosed perfectionist, Sasha. I've read about her. She'll expect you to do your best and more. Don't disappoint her, or me." Inside her Land Rover on an icy Colorado back road, Sasha Myer set her cell phone on the dash and squinted through the windshield at the blowing snow. The prediction that Sasha's architectural skills would be a strong reflection on her mother's success as a parent became a buzz in her ears. Sasha had lost track of how many similar conversations they'd had, but it must be in the thousands by now. Barbara Leeds's life had not gone according to plan, so it was up to her children-- Sasha and her half brother, Angus--to fill in the blanks. "Skye is a direct descendant of the town's founder, George Painter," Barbara continued. "She has money, social standing and more business savvy than any of her late husbands. Do me proud and design a stunning resort for her." Careful not to let her amusement show, Sasha asked, "What kind of social whirl do you think I'll find in Painter's Bluff?" "Don't be smart, Alexandra. You're three days late arriving. It's not a promising start." Sasha hated when her mother used her formal name. "I've been through this with Skye, Mother. She and I have workedout a number of details already, over the phone and through e-mail. I've explained why I'm late for the site inspection." "You don't explain, you apologize. And you don't call her Skye." "She told me to, and I did apologize. She's not upset." "Of course she isn't. Why would she be?" Contrary as always, Barbara huffed out a breath. "Her son's an attorney with the Justice Department. Lucky woman. Mine's a college dropout who plays on his charm and is forever giving in to his itchy feet. Speaking of which, have you seen Angus lately?" "Not since Christmas." "He should be in school." "He's twenty, Mother. And backpacking through Europe never hurt anyone." "Stop making excuses for him." "I'm not." "Yes, you are. You do it all the time, for Angus and for yourself." She sighed. "You're twenty-nine, Sasha. You should be settled." Sasha considered breaking the connection and blaming it on the weather, but that never worked. Barbara would simply call the hotel tonight and harangue her until--well, until she got tired of it, Sasha supposed. Unfortunately, her mother seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of energy for haranguing. "You could have married that cosmetic surgeon in Philadelphia," Barbara stated. "You'd have been set for life." "Well, one of us would have." She imagined her mother's neck turning pink. "He only did one small lift for me." "On the house," Sasha reminded her. "We weren't compatible, okay? You got your lift, I got out. Everyone's happy." Not entirely true, but Sasha really wanted this conversation over. "I enjoy living in Denver. I like being near Dad and Uncle Paul.""You like being away from me." Sorely tempted now to toss her phone out the window, Sasha made a face at it instead. "My new firm's doing well, Mother, and Denver's always felt like home to me." "Yes, as I recall, I wasted seven years of my life there once." "Eight, and to date it was your longest marriage." "Also my longest and, I might add, least satisfying teaching assignment. Eight fruitless years spent trying to instruct teenagers on how to speak, read and write the English language, appreciate poetry and recognize literary genius. If nothing else, my private school students here in Boston know how to listen. It's an art you and Angus never quite mastered." Wind swooped down to batter Sasha's SUV. "The weather's really bad here, Mother. I need to concentrate on the road." "You need to concentrate on the job you've been hired to do." "Does that mean you're going to hang up?" "Sasha, Skye Painter--" "Is an important woman, and you want me to impress her. GoRyan, Jenna is the author of 'Cold Case Cowboy ', published 2007 under ISBN 9780373692392 and ISBN 0373692390.