“I can understand that,” he said, impressed with her work ethic and determination to carve out her life on her terms. “You have a goal, you do what you need to do to make it happen. I did the same thing.”
“How do you mean?”
The restaurant was quiet, just the hum of low-pitched conversations and the background music that drifted in and out of notice. The candlelight created an air of intimacy, so Dave could have believed that he and Mia were the only two people in the room. Maybe that was why he’d told her what he’d never discussed with anyone else before.
He took a sip of champagne and thought how different his life was now than it had been just ten years before. Back then, it was cheap beer and big plans. He started talking, his voice hardly more than a hush.
“I worked my way through college, like you.” His fingers, curled around the stem of the wineglass, tightened slightly as memories rushed through his mind. He never looked back, so when he did, it jolted him. “Took whatever job I could. Paid for school, and saved whatever else I could. In my geology class, I met a guy, Tobin Myer.”
“Interesting name,” Mia said.
“Interesting guy,” Dave countered. “He didn’t have many friends. Spent most of his free time exploring, doing tests on vacant land.”
“What kind of tests?”
He chuckled and relaxed into the telling. He wasn’t sure why talking to Mia was so damn easy and didn’t think he should delve too deeply into that. “Y’know, even now, I couldn’t tell you. Tobin could, of course. He could talk for hours about mineral deposits, shale, oil traces…the man was born with dirt in his blood, I swear.”
“You liked him.”
Dave glanced at her. “Yeah. I did. We were both loners. I didn’t have time for friends and parties. Tobin was too far out there for anyone else to give a damn about him so… Different reasons, but we were both still alone. Maybe that’s why we connected. Anyway…” Enough of the psychological B.S. “Tobin found a piece of land that had him excited. Said the signs of mineral deposits were through the roof. But he needed a backer. Someone with enough money to buy the land and be his partner in developing it.”
“You.”
He nodded. “Me.” Hell, even he found it hard to believe that he’d taken the risk, spent the money it had taken so long to put together. “I took my savings and invested it in Tobin and that parcel of land.”
“I’m guessing,” she said, lifting her wineglass, “that since we’re sitting here drinking this lovely champagne and you’re paying me an extraordinary amount of money for a few weeks’ time, Tobin was right.”
“Oh, he was better than right,” Dave told her. “That piece of land was worth a fortune.”
“So you sold it?”
“No, we leased it to a huge oil and gas company outside of Dallas,” he said. “They wanted to buy, of course, but instead we kept the title, and in exchange they paid us a boatload upfront and a hefty royalty every quarter.”
“Your idea?”
“Absolutely.” He grinned, remembering his first big deal. He’d stood his ground with the big company, kept Tobin from having a stroke due to anxiety and he’d pulled it off. “Tobin would have taken their first offer, he was so excited to be right about the land.”
Dave could still feel the rush of satisfaction that had filled him when he and Tobin had made the deal. They’d each received a small fortune on signing and the royalty checks over the years had only gotten bigger. That was what had given him the means to buy his ranch and build his house, and was the seed money for everything that had come to him since.
“Do you still see Tobin?”
He looked at her. “Yeah, I do. He’s based out of Dallas now, but spends most of his time in his jet, checking out land all over the country. Still following that love of dirt.”
“And you’re still partners.”
“Ever hear of MyerStone Development?”
“Actually, yes. They’re in the business section of the paper a lot and—” She stopped and smiled. “You and Tobin.”
“Me and Tobin,” he said, and lifted his glass in a salute to his partner.
“So the past can be nice to look back on.”
He caught her eye and nodded. “Touché.”
They ordered their meal, and throughout dinner, they talked of everyday things. What was new in Royal. The fact that there was no news about Alex, and then, finally, just how they would convince Thomas Buckley that they were a couple.