Payoff Pitch (Philadelphia Patriots) (35 page)

When Gerry Samson raised his hand, Teddy had to repress a little groan. She agreed with Samson on a lot of issues, but she feared the burly, aggressive farmer—and bowling partner of her father—might get wound up and say something that could make Noah regret he’d agreed to come. She readied herself to intervene if Gerry tried to make it personal against the Cades.

“No damn gas company is ever getting its claws into my land,” Samson said. “But that doesn’t mean my family is safe. Not by a long shot. Because it’s all about the water, right?” He stared at Noah. “We’re not like you city people with your water mains and your sewers and your treatment plants. The water we drink, and the water we use to feed our herds, all comes straight from the ground underneath us. Our wells supply our farms and villages and have for a hundred years or more.”

Noah gave him an encouraging nod, his expression friendly and courteous. Teddy was thrilled that he was handling things so well. She just hoped it lasted.

Samson clasped his meaty farmer hands on the table in front of him. “Nobody is going to tell me that when Baron and Pendulum and all the rest shoot millions and millions of gallons of fracking fluid into the ground right underneath us that none of that crap migrates into our groundwater. Or releases methane into our wells. And that’s the worst because it makes the water both undrinkable
and
a damn fire hazard.” He pointed a finger at Noah. “Companies like yours have fought for years to avoid having to identify all the toxic chemicals in your fracking brew. We know that stuff is nothing but poison, but you still fight us every step of the way. Are we supposed to be able to trust a single damn word you drillers say after you pull crap like that?”

Half a dozen people started to applaud Samson’s intervention, and before Teddy knew it a string of five more anti-fracking speeches followed right on its heels. Momentum in the meeting was now on the side of the drilling foes. While Teddy was pleased that her neighbors were speaking with both eloquence and passion, she could tell Noah was growing increasingly disturbed by the heavy punches being thrown at Baron Energy and the industry in general.

Still, he stayed silent, listening respectfully to even the most hard-edged statements.

“That’s all well and good, folks,” Councilor Whissell finally chimed in. “Everyone is concerned about the possible impact of fracking on the environment. But we can’t ignore the
economic
impact, can we? That seems to be getting lost here tonight. Half the towns and villages in the county, including my own, are struggling to survive. More and more young people are giving up on farming and heading for urban areas. It’s drilling that’s giving us a chance to turn that around. To prosper again. Look at the new businesses that are springing up. Look at all the new jobs that have been created because of shale gas.”

Cynthia gave a loud snort. “Aubrey, you know perfectly well that most of those new workers are from Texas and Louisiana. The drilling companies bring them up here to get the wells and the other junk up and running, but as soon as they finish those jobs they’re gone. Yes, business has been good for the restaurants and motels and some suppliers, but don’t try to tell me that a lot of permanent jobs have been created.”

“You’re wrong, Cynthia. I’m expanding my restaurant,” Katie James piped up. “That means construction work for our local tradesmen and
ten
more permanent jobs in town. And there are plenty of other businesses just like mine.”

“Business at my tire shop has been absolutely booming,” Dalton added. “We can barely keep up with the work.”

Joe Henderson raised his hand and Teddy’s dad nodded at him. She’d gone to high school with Joe and had a lot of respect for him.

“I think I’m like a lot of people up here, Noah,” Joe said. “In a perfect world, my mom and I wouldn’t have signed any drilling leases. We hate the idea of rigs and all that other crap on our land. God, my father would die a second time if he could see it.”

Several heads around the table nodded.

“But our farm was getting uneconomical,” he continued. “We didn’t have the money we needed for new equipment and outbuildings and couldn’t afford to borrow it. Now, thanks to the leases, we’ll have enough to modernize.”

Dalton glared at Gerry Samson. “Hear that? You people are the ones threatening our way of life around here, not the companies. You people would just let farms like Joe’s die off.”

“Give me a break, junior,” Samson scoffed. “You don’t give a damn about farming. Everybody knows that.”

“Screw you,” Dalton spat out.

Teddy was about to jab her brother in the ribs again, but Noah intervened. “Hey! I came here to listen to facts and opinions, not character assassination. Let’s keep things civil, or I’m out of here.” He shot hard looks at both Samson and Dalton. “Got it?”

Both men gave reluctant nods.

Teddy was so impressed with Noah’s handling of the situation that she felt like running around the table to kiss him. He was a natural born leader—both on and off the ball field, apparently.

And, boy, was that ever sexy. She was getting a hot flash just watching him.

“Okay,” Noah said. “So, what I hear you saying, Joe, is that the only way to save at least some of the family farms around here is to take advantage of what’s buried under the surface.”

Joe shrugged. “Yeah, I think so. We all have to make up our own minds based on our particular situations. But the bottom line for me is that the decision on what we can and can’t do with our land has to stay in
our
hands. I don’t want the state legislature or anybody else making it hard—or even impossible—for me to lease my oil and gas rights. If well-meaning people like Cynthia are able to convince the government to pile a ton of new regulations on the industry, I don’t think any company in the world would be able to make a profit drilling in this region. And that would mean everything here would just dry up. At least that’s the way I see it.”

Kerwin Fell had been silent so far but obviously had reached his limit with Joe’s speech. “Joe, you’re my friend, but don’t you get it? We need
stiffer
regulations for that exact reason. We need them to protect our land from folks who can’t see past the ends of their selfish, self-absorbed noses.” He stared at Dalton.

Dalton sprang to his feet, jostling Teddy. “You want me to come across this table at you, Fell? You don’t say shit like that to Joe and me. Not in my house!”

“Sit down, Dalton!” Teddy yanked at his belt, trying to force him back into his chair. “You’re embarrassing everyone.”

Fell started to rise but Noah clamped a hand onto his arm and said something to him in an inaudible voice.

Teddy’s father directed a glower down the table. “Yes, take it easy, Dalton. And, Kerwin, you need to put a lid on that attitude, too. We’re all neighbors, aren’t we? And neighbors stick together, no matter what.”

“You people want to keep living like it’s the damn 1950’s,” Dalton complained as he sat back down. “We’re talking about jobs. Good-paying jobs. And finally getting some decent stores up here. There’s a rumor that we might even be getting a Walmart soon,” he said, as if that were tantamount to reaching the Promised Land.

Teddy sighed. She loved her brother, but it saddened her that he had so little commitment to the land he grew up on.

“Maybe this would be a good time to take a break?” Noah said, raising his brows at Teddy.

“Good idea.” She pushed up to her feet. Maybe coffee, lemonade, and some of Chrissie’s apple strudel would help lower the heat in the room. In any case,
she
needed a break. Her nerves were strung as tight as violin strings. Noah, on the other hand, appeared to be taking the noisy debate in stride.

Then again, he was a professional, used to performing on a public stage. What he truly thought under that apparently calm demeanor was something Teddy was impatient to find out.

“Let’s get out of here for a few minutes,” Noah said, grabbing Teddy’s arm after he excused himself from the group that had surrounded him.

She led him out of the kitchen and onto the spacious, enclosed porch where Toby and Sadie were snoozing. As soon as Toby heard door swing open, he bounced up and scrambled over, quickly followed by his littermate.

“No, you’re staying right here, you big goofs,” Teddy said, bending down to snuggle them both. “I’ll take you for a nice walk before bedtime.”

Noah slid his hand to the small of her back and guided her out the porch door into the dusk-softened backyard. The sun was dipping below the horizon, leaving behind streaks of orange and purple that fought a losing battle against the advancing darkness.

“Let’s go down to our little creek,” Teddy said, leading him across the lawn between the metal-roofed barn and the old, Victorian-style farmhouse. “The path’s right over there.”

She pointed the way, but Noah couldn’t see much except for a line of tall oaks and some bushes. At least it was cooler out here than in the kitchen. Her dad’s house obviously had no air conditioning, and the small crowd of neighbors had made the meeting as hot as Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on a sultry Texas summer night. And in more ways than one.

“I’ve been watching you,” he said as they walked side by side. “You looked like you’d rather be just about anywhere else than in this meeting.”

She gave a soft laugh. “That obvious, huh?”

“Totally.”

Teddy kept her gaze locked on the path ahead of them. “I keep thinking that I shouldn’t have asked you to come here, given how scattered and angry the discussion has been so far. I’m sorry I put you on the spot, Noah.”

He gave her shoulder, smooth and bare in her sleeveless polo shirt, a little squeeze. “I think these people needed a chance to vent, if nothing else. Don’t feel bad about it. I don’t.”

She flashed him a brief, grateful smile. “You understand now, don’t you? That’s why I reacted the way I did when you first told me about the publicity campaign. This is all so close to home for me.”

“I understand that better after tonight. But I hope you’ll keep trying to understand what I have to deal with, too.”

Teddy gave a jerky nod then lengthened her stride. Noah let her be alone with her thoughts for a few moments before catching up to her.

Together, they walked in silence until she stopped at the banks of what truly was a
little
creek—maybe ten feet wide at that point. Not much water flowed through the nearly dry bed. Still, he could see the appeal. The grass was soft and thick under their feet, and the banks were lined with what looked like wild rose bushes. He couldn’t help thinking of the ranch where he’d grown up. It had a creek too, and a water hole where he and Levi had gone swimming in the summer. Even though he rarely visited the place these days, he understood the importance of home and why Teddy fought so hard to protect what she loved.

When she breathed a tiny sigh as she gazed out over the creek into the darkness, Noah had to clamp his hands at his sides. It was all he could do not to slide his arm around her, reaching up under the long hair that fell in gentle waves down her back. His hands practically shook with the need to caress the soft skin exposed by the sleeveless shirt and navy shorts that barely reached past the very tops of her sleek thighs.

It didn’t matter how rocky things were between them, he always wanted Teddy. Always, and that was something new. The pull she exerted on him wasn’t something he could explain. It was mysterious and crazy. It just
was
.

But he resisted. She probably wouldn’t welcome a move on his part, not with the brittle tension of the evening hanging heavily between them.

Teddy stared straight ahead toward a rolling pasture barely visible in the fading light of the summer evening. “Honestly, Noah, I can’t wait for this to be over. I’m worried Dad won’t be able to keep everyone under control.” She glanced at him. “I don’t want to make things worse for you.”

“You won’t, but those people sure are passionate,” he said in a light voice.

“On both sides, obviously,” she added, “as you can tell from my brother’s reaction.”

“I can see how the debate is generating a lot of heat between neighbors. Probably even turning the whole countryside upside down, right?”

“It’s been crappy, for sure. It’s even splitting families down the middle—like mine.” She turned to him with a tentative smile that held a lot of melancholy. “I’m glad you get that. At least the meeting accomplished that much.”

“I do. It’s crystal clear. So, can we leave now?” he said, only half-joking. He hated to see her so upset.

She managed a little laugh. “I hear you. These crazy people would go at it all night, but I’ll tell Dad to wrap it up in another half-hour or so.”

“Thank you, Lord.” Noah smiled to make it clear he wasn’t really bothered. He got how important the issues were and how passionately people believed in their own point of view. He had no doubt that the influx of fracking rigs was dramatically and permanently changing the area. But as far as he was concerned, everybody was coming at it from different and valid perspectives. There were no blacks and whites, not in his field of view, anyway. Just a whole lot of grays and unanswered questions that would take time to play out.

His only true regret was that Teddy seemed to insist on seeing the issue as a virtually insurmountable obstacle between them. To his mind, that was simply nuts.

“We’re still heading up to Janie Dillon’s place tomorrow morning, right?” Teddy asked. “Before we head out? I really think you need to see for yourself what’s happened to their water.”

And there’s my sweet little hell raiser, never letting up for long.

He gave her a wry smile. “I keep my promises, Teddy. We’ll go first thing in the morning. Then we’re heading straight to Cooperstown. That was the deal.”

She bristled a bit. “I keep my promises too, Noah Cade.” Then she glanced back up at the lights in the kitchen. “I think we’d better get back now.”

“Or people will talk?”

“Well, I think we’d both like to preserve our credibility, wouldn’t we?”