9. Huck
HUCK
The next morning, I drove toward the fairgrounds feeling more optimistic than I had in years.
Peyton had her emergency meeting late yesterday afternoon, and I’d officially been awarded the contract.
With the festival starting in just a few days, I had my work cut out for me, but I was ready to fix Franklin’s mistakes and prove to Peyton and everyone else that I wasn’t the fuck up the whole town had labeled me.
The scent of smoke drifted in through the window way before I rounded a corner and saw the destruction ahead. A pile of wood and ash sat where the stage had been. The vendor booths were covered in spray paint, several of them decorated with four-letter words.
Anger crackled through my veins. Whoever had done this did it on purpose.
It had to have been Franklin. He was pissed when he lost the contract and must have come out last night to wreak his revenge.
I’d been prepared to spend the next two days shoring up the stage and bringing everything up to code, not building the entire setup from scratch.
I got out of my truck and walked around the grounds.
The damage was even worse than I initially thought.
Peyton was going to be devastated. There was no way she could move forward with the festival, not like this.
Best case, she’d have to delay a couple weeks.
Worst case, she’d have to cancel completely.
And it looked like it was going to be up to me to break the news to her.
A suffocating heaviness settled in my chest as I snapped pictures of the destruction.
I couldn’t just send them over. Hating that I had to be the one to tell her, I pulled up her number.
Just as I was about to dial, her car rounded the curve.
I wasn’t sure whether telling her in person would be easier or harder than calling, but I was about to find out.
I met her where she stopped. Before she even got out of the car, her face had flushed and tears ran down her cheeks.
“What happened?” she asked as I helped her out of the car.
I pulled her into my arms and held her as I told her what I’d found. “Best guess is that Franklin got mad and came out here last night to torch everything.”
“What am I going to do?” Red streaks shot through her eyes as she pulled back and stared up at me.
“I don’t know, baby. You could postpone to give us a chance to rebuild.”
“I’ve already got vendors on their way. There’s a food truck coming from Texas and a crafter who makes stained glass coming all the way from Portland.” She wiped her cheeks and stepped back to look out over the ruins of the festival.
“You expecting anyone out here?” I asked as a truck approached.
Peyton shook her head, then ducked back into the car to grab a tissue from her purse.
Ruby got out of the truck, her mouth wide open. “What in tarnation happened here?”
“It’s ruined. All of it,” Peyton said.
“I thought I’d bring coffee and donuts out for your first day on the job.” Ruby looked at me, then back at Peyton. “We need to get the sheriff out here. Orville too.”
Peyton’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “Do whatever you think is best.”
I rummaged around in the back of Ruby’s truck to find some cups so I could fix a couple of coffees. Handing one to Peyton, I tugged her over to sit down on a bench that was somehow still intact. “Drink this.”
“Thanks.”
She was numb, probably in shock. Usually she got fired up when things didn’t go her way, but this time she looked utterly defeated. I stood by while Ruby made some calls. Didn’t take long for Orville to show up with Sheriff Lawson right behind him.
As the two of them walked around the site, a big black SUV pulled up.
Peyton bristled as she stood, then walked over to meet her dad, who got out from behind the wheel.
I wasn’t eager to have a run-in with Mr. Winslow.
There would be a time for that, but not now, while the woman I loved was in so much pain.
I kept my distance, but stayed close enough that I could be by her side in seconds if she needed me.
“Sweetheart.” He held his arms open, but Peyton stopped short. “I came as soon as I heard.”
“What did you do, Dad?” Her voice was strong as steel.
“I don’t know what you mean.” Mr. Winslow looked around, his gaze catching on me. “What’s he doing here?”
Peyton followed his line of vision. “He’s here to help. Not like the contractor you recommended. Where’s Mr. Franklin right now? Any idea where he was last night when someone set fire to this place?”
Mr. Winslow shifted his gaze to his daughter. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out with Franklin. He’s always done good work for me in the past. Don’t you think it’s time to cut your losses on this project?”
I stood by in silence, trying to figure out what Peyton’s dad would have to gain from the festival being ruined. It didn’t make sense. He was a rancher. The festival grounds were miles away from the land he owned on the other side of town.
While I waited for their conversation to end, Ruby and Orville came over.
“The sheriff’s looking around, but he’s going to have a hard time pinning this on someone since there have been dozens of workers traipsing all over this site for the past couple of weeks.” Ruby folded her hands together. “It might be time to let this land go.”
“Let it go?” I hadn’t heard anyone talking about making changes to the fairgrounds.
Orville grimaced. “Folks have been talking about moving the fairgrounds closer to Silver Creek, so it’s in the middle of both communities, but you know how much we love tradition.
The fair’s been happening here since the county seat was established.
We’ve had a few offers on the land, but never considered selling. ”
“Until now,” Ruby added.
“Any idea who’s behind those offers?” I asked.
“It’s a company out of Idaho. I’m not sure what they have in mind. The land’s not good for much.” Orville stepped closer to Ruby and put his arm around her waist. “We probably ought to get back to the Mercantile. I’ll look into things and see what I can find out.”
I shook hands with Orville and tolerated a hug from Ruby before they took off.
Our conversation had left my brain spinning.
Something wasn’t adding up, and I was willing to be Peyton’s dad had a hand in what was going on.
The two of them still stood by his giant SUV.
Peyton’s arms were crossed over her chest while her dad gestured to the space around them.
Stepping closer so I could hear them, I pretended to look at what was left of the shed where Peyton and I had spent the night. There wasn’t anything salvageable except for a piece of the tarp we’d used as a blanket. I picked it up and ran my finger over the stiff canvas.
“He’s bad luck, sweetheart. Always has been and always will be.” Mr. Winslow reached out for his daughter, but she pulled back.
“He’s not the one who did this, Dad. He’s the one who’s trying to save it. You need to stop accusing innocent people of crimes they didn’t commit. I know what happened when Huck left town. It was your fault, wasn’t it? You blackmailed him into leaving.”
“Things aren’t always what they seem. When you’re ready to have a real conversation about this, you know where to find me.” He shot me a look that could have made another man wither, but I was done being intimidated by Harrison Winslow.
“Why don’t you go ahead and tell her?” I asked, taking a few steps forward.
His eyes narrowed but his lips curled into a patronizing smile. “Tell her what, exactly?”
The prick wasn’t going to be man enough to do it. Looked like it was up to me. “Tell her how you’ve had it out for my family since you and my dad fell for the same woman.”
Peyton’s gaze shifted back and forth between us while Mr. Winslow’s grin disappeared.
“What are you talking about?” Peyton wrapped her fingers around my arm and squeezed.
“Seems your dad and my mom dated way back when,” I told her. “But she broke up with him when she met my dad. They fell in love and got married, but your dad couldn’t handle losing. He’s been taking it out on my family ever since.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Mr. Winslow looked at me like I was a piece of shit. “It’s time to go, Peyton.”
Her grip on my arm loosened. My heart sank. She took a step forward.
“I’m not going anywhere. My place is with Huck. It always has been.” With her head held high, she stared down her dad until he broke eye contact and turned back toward his SUV.
He paused before getting back behind the wheel. “This conversation isn’t over. You’ll regret this and come to your senses?—”
“The only regret I have is not standing up for him fifteen years ago,” she said.
I stepped over to wrap my arm around her shoulder as her dad pulled away. “You okay?”
“No, but I will be.” She offered a smile that summed up the hopelessness I could tell she was feeling inside. “Any chance you’ve got a miracle up your sleeve? I could use one right now.”
“I wish I did, Pey.” I’d have given anything to be the man she needed in that moment, to be able to put a smile back on her face and come through for her.
“I need to call another emergency meeting of the festival committee. I’ll let you know what they decide. Best case, we’ll postpone. Worst case…” Her words trailed off, and she drew in a shaky breath.
“It won’t come to that.” I pulled her against me, trying to infuse her with strength for what she was about to face. “Want me to come with you?”
“I wish.” Her cheek nuzzled into my chest. “Just be there for me later? I don’t think there’s enough cookie dough ice cream in the world to get me through the next twenty-four hours.”
“I’m sure I can come up with something better than ice cream to distract you.”
“Careful what you offer. I’m going to be ready to take you up on that.”
“It’s not an offer, it’s a promise.” I may not have spent much time around Peyton since I’d been back in town, but I knew her deep down at her core.
Failure had never been an option for her.
It’s how she’d always been, and it was one of the things I admired most about her.
Not coming through on the festival was killing her.
“I’ll see you later.”
Reluctantly, I let her go. I would have stuck by her side all day if she’d asked me to, but since she hadn’t, there were a few things I planned on looking into. Like who was behind the offer on the fairgrounds’ land. And what ties that company might have to Harrison Winslow.
But first, I needed to make a miracle happen.
The best place to start with that virtually impossible task was out at Shane’s ranch, where Levi said he’d be spending the day.
Crossing my fingers that I’d find the right words to convince a bunch of guys I barely knew to come through for a relative stranger, I headed that way.