RIVAL: An Enemies to Lovers Why Choose Country Romance

Chapter 14

Shuffling through the papers on my desk, I check the clock on my wall and realize I’ve spent far longer in my office this morning than I have time for. The phone has been going crazy, but Jennice knows to take messages instead of transferring.

I click through the Cooper file, preparing myself to call Mason after promising him I would. But first, I need to call my dad.

Dialing his number, I lean back in my chair while it rings a few times before he picks up.

“‘Ello. Thorton residence.”

“Hey, dad. I got a question for you.”

I hear the volume of the TV going down, then the phone shuffling around as he settles in. “Might have an answer. What do ya need?”

“Do you remember the job you took to fix a roof over at Cooper’s ranch? For Bill Cooper?”

“Vaguely. Difficult guy to work with. Why?”

“Well, we have an unpaid invoice for him—”

He grunts into the phone, and I hear my mom’s muffled voice in the background. “Hold on a minute.” Covering the phone, I hear him tell her he hasn’t grabbed the mail yet, then comes back to me. “I’m not surprised he owes us money. Crotchety man. No respect for the way we used to make a deal. Just a handshake and a man’s word are all it used to take.”

“Dad,” I groan, pressing my thumb between my brows. “This is the thing. Invoicing says he got all the materials but hadn’t paid.”

“Well, there ya go.”

“But inventory says we still got most of it sitting in the warehouse. He paid for what was delivered according to that. Why didn’t the job get finished?” As much as I love my dad and appreciate what he built, I’ve been having to deal with quite a few handshake deals that were never fully wrapped up. This isn’t the first time we’ve had a conversation like this, so I’m thankful the man has the memory of an elephant. I need the facts.

“If I remember right, we kept tryin’ to go out there, but he’d claim I gave him the wrong dates and would ask us to reschedule. After the third time, I told him to find someone else. Wasn’t gonna keep wasting our crew’s time when he was so wishy-washy.”

That lines up with the notes. Nodding to myself, I thank him and promise I’ll stop by over the weekend before hanging up. Quickly, I print out the comment log from our system’s diary, then place a call to Mason Cooper.

“Yeah?” His voice is loud the moment he answers, yelling into my ear with obvious sounds of cattle behind him. Mason must be in his barn if the mooing and fans are any indication.

Clearing my throat, I greet him. “Hi, Mason. This is Jaxon from Thorton Construction and Restoration. I’m calling to follow up on the invoice we spoke about the other day. Do you have a few minutes?”

Another abrupt, “Yeah.”

I roll my eyes at his attitude. “So, I read through the file we had on the job. I’d like to apologize for the mix-up with us sending you an invoice. Not that it justifies it, but we had conflicting information about where the supplies were located. One said they were delivered, but we now know not all of them were and they’re in our warehouse. I’ll go ahead and clear this out for you and you’re welcome to just toss the bill and disregard.”

“Fuckin’ cat! Goddamnit… Get the hell off of there, you lil’ shit.” I yank the phone from my ear when Mason bellows, apparently at a cat. Once he stops, I bring it back to my ear.

“Everything alright?”

“Yeah, just this devil. She’s gotta get rid of it.”

I raise a brow, a bit surprised and clueless about what he’s referring to and who she is. Before I can ask, not that I care much, he continues.

“I’ll toss the bill. Hopefully you handle shit better than your pop ever did. Not too good for business when you fuck over your customers.”

A feeling of indignation comes over me, an urge to defend my dad pushing past my irritation with Mason. Since I know we’ll never work together, I lay into him. “The issue with the contract between our fathers had nothing to do with something my father did. I’ve got notes going back to the beginning of the job detailing scheduled arrival times for the crew where they were turned away by your father because he couldn’t keep his dates straight.”

“That’s a laugh. I was here when all this shit went down. We showed your pop proof through emails and text messages on when he’d say he was showin’ up and he’d either come days early or a week later. Best get your facts straight before you start throwin’ out accusations on who screwed up. I got no problem sendin’ you proof if you’re a guy that can’t handle takin’ accountability without evidence in front of him. Have a great day, Jaxon Thorton. I’m gonna go handle my shit while you scramble to keep yours from goin’ under over there.”

The line goes dead and I stare in disbelief at the audacity of this asshole. I knew Mason’s always had a temper, but fuck. He’s only gotten worse with age. With his contact still up, I sent him a quick text.

I’d like to see those emails

I’ll send them when I got the time

Typing out a quick thank you, my thumb hovers over the send button for a moment, then I decide he doesn’t deserve me to be polite when he just hung up on me.

“Fuckin’ asshole,” I grumble to myself.

Gathering my things, I shove some project proposals into my bag and lock up my office. I pass through the front without slowing down, but Jennice chases after me. “Wait! I have some changes I need you to sign off on!”

Swallowing my groan, I turn around and take the papers from her and look them over. We’ve got a pretty massive kitchen remodel going and the changes Jennice gave me are pretty self-explanatory. Different light fixtures and a higher-end tile for the backsplash. “They know about the price differences?” I ask as I initial the addendum sitting on top.

“Yeah. The wife definitely said if they were gonna do this. They wanted to do it right and a few extra thousand wasn’t a big deal. They must got lots of money, huh? Didn’t know we had anyone rich like them around here.”

I pause and my eyes flick up to her face. “Plenty of people around here have all different financial backgrounds. Most just don’t advertise it. Don’t get it into your head that you can go let your friends and family know what you think you’ve learned here about our clients.”

Jennice’s easy smile falls away, and she stands up straighter. “I wouldn’t do that, Jax. I was just talkin’.”

“Good. I’m heading out to the barn build. I have my cell if you need me.” I gentle my tone and give her a quick smile to let her know she’s not in trouble. My call with Mason irritated me, but Jennice shouldn’t bear the burden of my poor mood.

I’ve been trying to get to the site in the mornings, but today was just one of those days where I had to put some extra time in the office. As soon as the framework of the new barn comes into view, my eyes almost immediately catch sight of the lone figure walking at a fast pace along the road from the opposite direction.

My chin drops, and I let a grin explode out of me. Edith is here. I park and hop from my truck, jogging over to meet her just as she reaches the drive.

Maybe for the first time, I notice she doesn’t dress much like other women her age. Most of them tend to go for tight jeans and stylish tops, but not Edith. Her pants seem a bit worn and a touch large on her body. The dark green shirt she’s paired the stonewash pants with is straight cut and hides any ounce of curve she has hidden underneath.

I know they’re there. When she’s working and moving around, I’ve caught hints of her frame on occasion. A small ache of lust builds and I try to convince myself to let it go as I slow my steps.

The moment she lifts her head, I notice two things. The first is the way her face lights up when she sees me not far from her. The second is a bruise across her cheekbone and stretching down her cheek.

My grin falls away and turns into a deep frown. I know she can tell I’ve noticed since her smile for me also falls away. Edith lets her head fall as she tries to look anywhere but at me.

“Afternoon, Jaxon.” The quiet greeting comes just before she attempts to walk around me, but I hold an arm out to stop her.

I don’t fake pleasantries, and I don’t ask her to look at me. Instead, I lightly grip her chin and turn her face up so I can see the damage hovering just under her perfect complexion. Bending forward, I look closer and notice a bit of scraped skin barely visible over the light purple of her injury.

Dragging my eyes from the bruise, I focus on hers. She seems wary of my inspection, and I don’t blame her. My jaw is already aching from how hard I’ve got it clenched. Our gazes are locked, both of us silently waiting in a standoff to see who will speak first.

When she starts to shut down on me, I let her win and speak, giving in first.

“You wanna tell me what happened? Because it looks like you got cracked across the face.”

Edith’s pupils dilate almost imperceptibly, and I know she’s getting ready to lie. I’m not having it. I may not know this woman well, but she’s not a liar, so if she feels like she needs to, then I know there’s got to be a good reason.

“Hold that thought,” I tell her, then look over my shoulder for Ruth. As soon as I find her, I turn back to Edith. “Stay here for just a minute, please.” She must hear how sincere I am, so she nods once and hugs her arms around her body.

I jog halfway to Ruth and call out, “Hey, Ruth? I forgot some equipment back at my shop. I’m going to steal Edith to help me load up and haul it back here.”

“Take your time.” Her bony hand waves me off and as soon as I’m back to Edith, I simply grab her hand and tug her to my truck without a word. Jerking the passenger door open, I lift her into the seat and wait as she gets settled before shutting the door and hurrying to my side.

As soon as I back up my truck to turn around, I flip the music off and let the rumble of the engine fill the silence that’s becoming increasingly obvious between us. I swallow hard, my throat dry as fuck, while I debate how to handle the situation.

I’ve been around long enough to know she was hit. Bruising like that would be unlikely from a fall or banging her face on something. Which means she’s in an unsafe situation or around someone dangerous.

“I’m just gonna go ahead and not sugarcoat anything. Who hurt you, Edith?” Even I can hear the gravely anger as my voice scrapes past my vocal cords.

From the corner of my eye, I see her shoulders come up to her ears as she looks out the window. Those pearly white teeth poke out just enough to dig hard into her bottom lip as she anxiously chews on it.

Reaching over, I lightly tug it free from the abuse, then brush my thumb over her jaw before pulling it away.

“Alright. Do you have a boyfriend or something hurting you? There are people who can help you get out of unsafe relationships and into a protected place if you need it. Lots of women have been in—”

She snorts half brokenly and finally turns to face me. The sun shines directly on her cheek, giving a softness to the bruise as if it’s barely there, hidden under warm rays, but I know she can feel the pain.

“I do not have a boyfriend.”

“Then explain to me why you look like you got smacked around?”

She closes her eyes and inhales slowly. “I won’t deny what you think happened, but Jaxon,” she implores, her lids opening again and focusing on me. “I’m not comfortable saying more. Will you believe me when I say I’m working on a solution to remove myself from the situation?”

A thousand questions crash into my mind, but almost every single one of them requires her to give me an answer she’s just explained she’s not comfortable giving. The main one being “Who the hell did this to you?”

“Do you really need to pick up stuff from your shop?” Her question comes as I’m battling what to say next and we pass the turn I needed to take.

“Shit,” I grumble, then slow down to flip a bitch and head in the right direction. “So, you’re working on a solution. What does that mean?”

Watching the road, she tugs at her fingers to give herself something to do. “Money. That’s the answer to everything, right? If you’ve got enough money, you can buy yourself out a lot of situations you find yourself stuck in. That’s what I’m doing. I got a job and I’m saving up money. Then I’ll figure out what to do next.”

“Money for what? A lawyer? You need to buy something? Move?”

Edith’s tone is sad when she simply pleads, “Jaxon… I’m figuring it out. Truly. Besides, it’s not so bad.” Her hand reaches up to touch her face, and it pisses me off enough that I slam on my brakes.

She shoots her arms out to brace herself against the seatbelt stretched between her breasts and gasps. The moment we’re stopped, I turn toward her. “Don’t give me that shit. The moment anyone lays a finger on a person in anger, it’s bad. I won’t push you to tell me more than you want right now, but I can be your friend, Edith.”

Tears well along the brim of her lids and I swear to God, this woman has hope emanating from her like a beacon. “I’d love for you to be my friend. That… that would be really special to me.”

Her response is a bit odd, like an offer of friendship is something new to her. I’m sure asking if she has many friends would come off as insulting, so I bite my tongue. “Good. Do you know what the best part of being friends is?”

She shakes her head quickly, a few lengths of her dark chestnut hair falling free to frame her face. “No, what’s the best part?”

“We get to exchange phone numbers. That way, if either of us ever needs anything, or just want to talk, we can.” My lips curl up on one side when she blushes at the idea of swapping numbers. “Sound good to you?”

“Yeah,” she breathes out. “I don’t have my phone with me, though. It’s back in my room. The battery doesn’t last long when it’s unplugged.”

When I reach over her body, she leans back to keep our bodies from touching as I rifle through my glove box. Finding an old receipt and pen, I slam the compartment shut and scribble down my number. Taking her hand, I turn it over to place the paper in her palm and curl her fingers over the top of it.

“There. When you get home tonight, send me a text or give me a call so I’ll have yours. This way, if you don’t really want me to have your number, you don’t have to be embarrassed by telling me now and you can just ghost me. Sound like a plan?”

She giggles and nods, then stops when she chews on the inside of her cheek to stop from laughing. Hugging the paper to her chest when I release my hold on her, I settle back and get us back on track to head to my shop. “It’s good you’re coming with me. I don’t have anything important I actually need today, but I’ll grab a few things. Plus, you’ll get to see where my parents live since our business is on the same property as their house. It’s where the horses are.”

“Oh!” she exclaims excitedly. “I rode a horse this morning! Well, kind of. I rode doubles with my boss, and honestly, I was pretty terrible at it. But I did, and it’s really incredible.”

Am I disappointed that I didn’t get to be a part of her first experience riding? Maybe a bit, but I’m happy for her. Winking, I tease, “Maybe the next time won’t be so hard, and you can ride solo. I’m still planning on getting you out to the farm in the near future for some riding lessons.”

Her smile is radiant as she settles back, relaxing into the seat as we travel the last mile to my parents’ place. I hate I didn’t get all the answers I want from her, but I hope my offer of friendship will get her to open up.

It also doesn’t hurt I’ve got more of an excuse to get to know her better as well.

Later that night, just as I’m sitting down to relax on my couch with a beer, my phone vibrates in my pocket. When I unlock the screen, I blow out a relieved gust of air, all my anxiety disappearing as soon as I see a message from an unknown number. She took a risk and decided not to blow me off.

Hi Jaxon. It’s Edith. This is my number. I’ll see you next week!