“No, no . . . I should be. Sometimes the guys in the office can be . . . intimidating. Unless you’re used to this process, you may not know the kinds of questions to ask. And honestly, they may not be able to answer all of them.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“Okay. Thank you.” Parker knew her voice shook.

“Parker?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s going to be okay.”

That wasn’t what her gut was saying.

“I’ll see you at the end of the week,” she said as a goodbye.

“Have a nice evening.”

Parker held her cell phone in her hand and stared out the window once she disconnected the call.

“Who was that?” Mallory asked.

“The guy from the city . . . ah, county,” she corrected herself. “They want to have a meeting and talk with me.”

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?” Austin asked.

“I guess we’re going to find out.”

CHAPTER SIX

“I’m telling you, the less people in the room the better.” Colin stared at Ed, the principal engineer, and glanced at the dozen people in the meeting room behind them.

“We need to impress upon Miss Sinclair the need to move on this.”

“So you have a lawyer at the table?”

Ed stood an inch taller than Colin, and looked down on him. “If we meet with resistance, there might be a need to emphasize the weight the city can bring.”

Colin felt his chest tighten. “That won’t be necessary.”

“I know you think you know these things, Colin, but you’re never on this end. Half the people we deal with are utterly opposed to disrupting their life to help others. It’s a fuck them, screw you world out there. If we need to drop words like eminent domain, we will.”

“That’s not who we’re dealing with.”

“This information is based on what?”

“I’ve been on the properties talking with the neighbors with every project long before Paul retired. I know people. Parker Sinclair isn’t the kind of person to turn her back on others.”

“Then a room full of brass isn’t going to hurt.” Ed appeared done with the conversation with a turn of his shoulder.

Colin stepped in front of him.

“She will cooperate, but this”—he indicated the room behind them—“this will scare her. Did you look at the property profile? Parker is the executor of the estate her parents left after they died.”

“So?”

“This is all new to her. You have enough people in that room to go after the property rights of the Vargas family.” The Vargas family had a steep investment in the Santa Clarita Valley and would never come to a city meeting without a team of their own at their side.

Ed looked like he was swaying in Colin’s direction.

“Clear out the room. You, me, one of your civil engineers, and Grace.”

The last name put a roll in Ed’s eyes. “Your sister has nothing to do with this department.”

“You’re right. But Grace is a woman. As much as I’d like to say that isn’t a factor, we both know it is. Women speak a different language . . . sometimes.” And his sister had a way with her soft strength when needed.

Colin knew he was winning when Ed’s shoulders slumped. “I’ll send the lawyers into the other room.”

That was only two people. “And the geologists and design staff.”

“You’re pushing me, Colin.”

“Tell them to go grab a coffee. You can bring them back in if things get hairy.”

That’s what Ed needed to hear. At the same time the receptionist told him Parker was there, Ed ducked into the conference room, said something, and over half the room filed out and moved back to their respective offices.

Colin doubled his steps leading to his sister’s office and knocked on the open door.

Her face lit up. “Hey. What are you doing here?”

“Answering later. I need you to come with me.”

“I’m kinda in the middle of something.”

She was alone in her office and not on the phone. “It can wait. C’mon.”

Grace pushed away from her desk and unfolded from her chair to follow him down the hall.

“I need your estrogen factor,” he said under his breath.

“I try to downplay that around here.”

“Then you might try wearing flats.” The sound of her heels accompanied her wherever she walked.

“I’m vertically challenged. I need all the help I can get.”

Colin opened the conference room door for his sister and waited for her to pass. “Have my back,” he whispered in her ear.

Her response was a smile.

Colin took a chair on the opposite side of the table as his boss. He didn’t want Parker coming into the room and having a panel of people staring at her from the opposite side of the table.

His butt barely hit the chair before the door opened and Parker stepped into the room. Unlike his sister, Parker didn’t seem to have any problem playing up her femininity. If not for the similar deer-in-the-headlights look she sported on her face when she’d been walking her property, he may not have recognized her. Her hair was down, brushing just past her shoulders, sun-kissed highlights framed her face. Her eyes were highlighted with makeup that accentuated the piercing blue of them. She wore a white billowy blouse and a knee length pencil skirt and shoes that should have been impossible to stand in. Colin found a strange knot in his throat that squeezed tighter when he realized she walked in the room and stared directly at him.

He extended his hand and walked toward her. “Parker, it’s good to see you again.”

While her shoulders were pulled back and her chin was up, her hand was cool and clammy. He squeezed it in hopes that it would relay to her that she was going to be okay.

“Thank you,” she said before her eyes took in the rest of the room.

He stood beside her during introductions. “This is Ed. He’s the head of engineering for this project.”

“Thank you for coming in so quickly, Miss Sinclair.”

“Of course.”

“I believe you spoke with Raul Mendez.”

Parker moved to the next man. “City planning and contracts?” she confirmed.

“That’s right.” Raul shook her hand and moved to his seat on the other side of the table. “This is my assistant . . .” Raul introduced the other three people on his team.

“This is Grace, also part of our city development.”

He noticed Parker try to smile for the first time when Grace shook her hand.

“Shall we get started?” Ed asked, indicating a chair for Parker to sit in.

“Can we get you anything to drink first?” Colin asked.

“I’m fine, thank you.”

She set her purse on the floor and sat rod-straight in her chair. Colin took a seat beside her.

“Colin explained to us that he’s already been on your property and you’re aware of the problem your neighborhood is facing this winter.” Ed sat forward as he spoke.

“I am.”

Ed tilted his head. “The magnitude of the problem?”