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she’d see her anyway. Instead, he simply told her that he had work to do. She had been gone about ten minutes when the house phone rang. He answered it on the second ring.
    “Hello Mr. Force. Phil Campbell here. I have spoken to my client, and she has decided to sell you the property. She would like for you to give her until—”
    “What do you mean she’s decided to sell? I thought that…after this morning, I didn’t think she’d…what the hell?”
    Campbell laughed at the other end, and for reasons he couldn’t explain Austin was embarrassed. “Yes, quite. If you would like to meet me in my office sometime on Monday, I’ll have the papers drawn up. Like I said, she will need until this Friday to move the last of her family’s things out. There is the matter of her rig. She is currently trying to decide if she is going to sell it or go back on the road, so if you could see your way to—”
    “She’s not going anywhere.” Austin flushed again. “I mean, she and I have to talk about some things. She…I’d like to have a few minutes of her time before we sign off on the papers, if she’s agreeable.”
    The silence on the other end assured Austin that he wasn’t going to like what the lawyer had to say. That was confirmed when Campbell sighed.
    “I’m sorry Mr. Force, but CJ is leaving today. She won’t be back until after the papers are signed. Now, as I was saying, the matter of her rig—”
    “Then we’ll wait. Where is she anyway? I want to talk to her now.” Austin didn’t want to see her, he kept telling himself. But damn it, he was going to tell her. She was not leaving before he got a chance to tell her he didn’t want to see her.
    “Mr. Force, I’m not sure what happened between you and CJ, but she’s my friend, and if you think I’m going to let you hurt her like that prick did then you and I will have something to talk about. I’ve tried to be nice like she told me to, but frankly, I’d just as soon knock your lights out than to do what she told me to do.” Austin raised a brow at the lawyer’s tone, but before he could comment, Campbell continued. “The house is yours, free and clear. The rig that you won’t let me ask you about? I’ll have it moved tomorrow. Good day, sir.”
    The phone didn’t so much as slam down as it exploded down. Austin was sure he’d still hear the ringing a week from now. He looked down at the receiver and wondered just what the hell was going on…and more importantly, who was the prick that had hurt her? And she was not going to give him the house free and clear…not without an explanation. Austin grabbed his coat and was out the door before he gave any thought to where she might be.
    ~~~
    She walked around the Jewel and decided Phil was right. Not that she was going to tell him anytime soon, but he was. She loved the place, mostly, she knew, because her father had failed at making it work and she wouldn’t; but that was only the icing on the cake.
    The bar was beautiful even under the inch of dust. The liquor had been taken out, but she could see the bottles all lined up across the back. The glasses, now in boxes in the basement, would gleam over the bar, and she loved the bar itself.
    Walnut and cherry, the thing was at least ten feet long. CJ knew that she’d have to replace most of the bar stools, if not all of them, because they looked worn and torn. She also knew that the kitchen was in good working order, but would need to be updated if she wanted to make a go of the food part of the business. CJ knew that she’d have to have the place updated with computers and phone lines as well. Wandering over to the office door, she opened it. 
    Large and airy with bars on the window, she knew that her father had probably spent most of his time there rather than out on the floor. She had to laugh at the thought of him only being open for just over three months before he decided—or the bank had decided—that he couldn’t make a go of it. The