Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Madison
In Curly’s, the group of us were garnering everything from curious glances to open gawking. I didn’t make eye contact with anyone, and for the first time, I’d been seated at the front of the restaurant. Curly liked to show off the founding family of Bourbon Canyon.
The server had taken our orders right away. The lunch crowd was pushed through quicker than in the evening. Good. Less time for me to be on display.
I pushed out everyone else until my world consisted of me, Tenor, Teller, and Ruby. Good thing I’d worn more than a plain T-shirt. I might feel dressed up in my simple sunflower shirt, but compared to Ruby, I was a dull stone. Her dark curls were a halo around her head, and she was too damn cute in her pleated black skirt and sunny yellow top. Even her shoes were happy, with their little buckle around the ankle.
Tenor hadn’t been able to keep his hands off his fiancée, always touching her with little strokes against the back of her hand, a drifting of his fingers over her shoulders when she’d sat in the chair he’d pulled out, and I’d caught the move of his arm as he rubbed her thigh under the table.
Envy bloomed in my chest. I hated the emotion. There was too much others had that I didn’t.
I had a job, a business, a roof over my head. The roof wasn’t mine, but only because Teller had been insistent that Flatlanders was not safe. My mom was getting the care she needed, and it wasn’t me that had to do it. I had plenty, though I tired of wanting more.
And for however long, I had Teller.
“I love the posts you’ve been doing,” Ruby said. “The character of the bar has really come out, and then combined with yours, I think it’s a good fit.”
“I learned from the best,” I said and I meant it. I’d paid for a consult, but she’d given me much more time and expertise than I was owed.
“If you got some shots of this guy”—Ruby tipped her head toward Teller—“you’d definitely attract a bigger female crowd. That is, if he wants to.”
“I’d hate to show Tenor that I can draw more likes than him,” Teller joked.
I followed Copper Summit’s social media pages, and the posts with the guys were quite popular. That wasn’t why I studied their posts. I was evaluating Ruby’s tactics. But he was why I caught myself mindlessly stalled on an image with a stalwart Teller pouring corn into a mash tank.
Tenor shook his head. “I’d hate for you to realize that the girls are liking the posts for the bourbon and not you.”
Teller laughed and I joined in. Light. Easy. The way it should be with family and friends. The way it had been with my aunt Tilly when she’d taken me shopping for new shoes or when she’d let me pick three different treats at a bakery in Billings. I had lost that when she passed.
“What are you doing after this?” Ruby asked. “I saw you were almost done with the bathrooms.”
“Not me,” I answered. “Teller gets the credit for it.”
I almost put my hand on Teller’s leg, but I squeezed my fingers into a fist. This was casual. Not official. We weren’t a couple.
Then what were we? I still didn’t have an answer.
Our food arrived, and I got lost in the good conversation and excellent food. Once our plates were cleared, Teller got the tab.
“We’d better get going,” he said. “She has to meet with her real estate agent.”
“I hope it’s to fire him.” Teller shot him a glare, but Tenor just shrugged. “Sal would run over his mom to make an extra buck.”
I smothered a laugh. He was right. I should’ve questioned Sal weeks ago.
Teller thought for a moment. “He sort of did, remember? His dad made him life insurance beneficiary so he could take care of his mom, only Sal got a new boat, a truck to haul it with, and a cabin outside of Jackson Hole.”
“I must’ve been gone for that,” I muttered. Would it have mattered? I’d have probably hired him anyway, telling myself he was my only option without trying. “Anyone have a recommendation?” I asked, not really kidding. Who else would sell the house for me that didn’t hold a grudge against my parents?
Tenor’s brow creased and he exchanged a look with Teller. “There’s Jeff Armstrong.”
Not for me. “He said the Townsends could eat shit. He’d bulldoze our property before he passed along ‘bad juju.’” I threw up air quotes for the last part.
“He’d sell it and buy another boat,” Teller said. “What about Kathy Wilson?”
“She called Mom a whore.” I wasn’t going to say the next part, but their doubtful expressions drove me to it. “She called me Baby Ho when I was a kid.”
“Jesus.” Teller leaned back, storm clouds raging in his expression.
“People have bought and sold property around my parents all my life,” I explained. “It’s enough time to insult and piss off every agent in the county, or sleep with them, in the case of my dad and Kathy.”
“Ah, hell,” Teller said. “That does complicate it.”
“I might have an option,” Ruby said hesitantly. “Don’t get me wrong, she’s not my favorite person. But she has a healthy ego, so she’ll fight for her clients and insult anyone she doesn’t like subtly, but so thoroughly they won’t know what hit them.”
Tenor’s eyes widened. “Cara?”
Ruby nodded but didn’t take her attention off me. “She moved back to Bozeman with her husband, but I’ve seen her signs posted in the area.”
“Was she mean to you growing up?” I asked. I wouldn’t trade one ass for another, and Ruby was the sweetest girl. Who the hell would insult her?
Ruby leaned forward, her expression earnest. “Yes, but she seemed to be trying to change. There was just too much history there, you know? I’m not Tenor. I can’t go play tennis with her like he does with my dad.”
Right. I’d been there when Tenor and his school bully, Ruby’s dad, had sort of reconciled or had at least agreed to be amicable for his daughter.
“I only play tennis with Robert because he’s your dad.” A muscle jumped in Tenor’s jaw. “And so I can kick his ass.”
“You also enjoy leading him on and letting him think he has a chance.” Ruby had proud hearts in her eyes.
Okay. If Ruby could semivouch for Cara, then I could give her a shot.
It sounded like I was firing my real estate agent.
Teller
I was waiting in the pickup for Madison with my window open. She had marched inside Sal’s tiny office in the corner of his wife’s insurance business like she was on a mission that she would not abandon until she was the only one standing.
It had to take courage. Who the ever-loving fuck called a kid names just because their parent was mean? I pulled out my phone and called Mama.
“Teller.” Mama’s warm greeting flowed through the line.
“Hey, Mama. You still sell eggs to Kathy Wilson?”
“Yes. Now that Cruz and Lane are back in town, I told her my supply is going to dwindle.” She chuckled. “Those boys like their eggs.”
They liked Mama’s food. We all did. “You mind cutting her off? She called Madison a baby ho when she was younger. And Jeff Armstrong doesn’t get any of our beef.”
The silence was loud. “Consider it done.”
“Thank you, Mama.”
“How is Madison doing?”
“She’s firing Sal as we speak.”
“Oh, good.” Her relief flowed through the line, and I knew exactly how she felt. “That man is bad business.”
“Agreed.”
“Do you two want to come for dinner soon? Or does she work all week?”
“No, she doesn’t.” I knew her hours for the next month. “I’ll ask her.” A shout came from inside. “I gotta go.”
She must’ve heard the alarm in my voice. “Give him hell. He deserves it.” The line went dead.
I got out of my pickup. A man’s raised voice emanated from the building. Through the window, a woman sat at her desk, staring slack-jawed straight ahead of her. I was two steps down the sidewalk when the door banged open. Madison’s mouth was set in a mutinous line, but triumph lit her eyes and, fuck, that was good to see.
Sal rushed out after her, stabbing his finger toward her. The first two buttons of his shirt were undone and there was a stain around the third button. “You use another agent and I will sue—” His gaze landed on me and he reared back. “Teller?”
I kept him stuck in my gaze like a bug pinned to a science project. “I’ve got a good lawyer, Madison. She’ll be happy to talk to Sal’s legal team.”
The flush from the cocksucker’s face drained until he was gray.
Madison stopped next to me. “I’m sure she’ll also like to hear about how Sal and his friend were planning to flip the property for seven figures more than he recommended I sell it for.” She snapped her fingers. “There’s also that... what was it? Conflict of interest that wasn’t disclosed?”
“The contract between you two sounds nice and severed.” I kept my tone hard. I didn’t bother to wait for a response. I walked around the hood of the pickup to open Madison’s door.
Her lips twitched, but when I winked at her, she grinned.
“You liked doing that,” she whispered.
Sal gave up and slunk inside.
“Yeah, I did.” Before I closed the door, I leaned in. “Want to go to Mama’s for dinner tomorrow night?”