18. Chapter 18
A majority of the night was spent pacing a hole in my floor. I haven’t talked to Violet and I’m trying not to barge into the inn and demand she believe me, demand that she trust me unequivocally like I did with her when it came to her asking me to trust her with Alexander. I deserve the same.
The sense of self-justice is the only thing keeping me here on my porch with my coffee and the sunrise, seeking just a moment of peace for my day.
I need to call Emma. She needs to be looped in on what I know. That someone is trying to take our business from us. She hasn’t said it yet, but I have a feeling she is planning to come back to the inn to work when she graduates. She hasn’t mentioned looking for a job, and she’s basically already running all the financials and business side of the inn. So she deserves to know.
Before I can text her I notice that I have a message waiting from her.
Emma: Need to talk. I’m already up. Text me and I’ll come to you or the barn, just not the inn.
Me: Anyone else need to be looped in?
Emma: No.
Me: Okay, meet me in the barn. I’m showering first so give me thirty.
I hop in the shower, rehearsing my speech for Emma while being very curious what she needs to talk about.
After how poorly it was received by Violet, I don’t want Emma to write me off the same. I need her on my side not only professionally but as my sister. If she thinks the same as Violet it’ll really hurt.
We’ve always been close but since she started working side by side with me at the inn we’ve gotten much closer to each other than we are to any of our other siblings.
I get to the barn earlier than expected and have a minute before Emma will be here. I head to the back of the barn to work on some of the carvings for the table I’m building for the bakery.
The door opens but I don’t stop working because I’m expecting Emma, and she already knows my secret .
“Liam, I come bringing coffee. Emma told me to come here to find you. She’s running late.” I hear Cooper’s voice coming from the front of the barn.
“Back here,” I yell.
He walks in holding a bag and a cup from Emerald Roasters.
“Is that one of Esther’s breakfast sandwiches?” I ask, my mouth already watering.
“Of course, made on one of Vi’s croissant rolls.” He grins, knowing my favorite.
“I could kiss you right now. I’m starving.” I snatch the bag out of his hand and dig into it to find my breakfast.
“Whoa now, let’s not get crazy there resident grump.” He laughs.
My brothers find my town reputation hilarious. I however do not.
I scowl at him. “What kind of coffee did you bring me?”
“Black. Like your heart.” He hands over the steaming hot to go cup.
“Just how I like it, asshole.”
“So. Tell me how things are going with the douchebag Vi has been hanging with.”
“Ugh. Things went to shit. I overheard him on a phone call and I need to tell Emma everything this morning. So I guess you’ll have to wait. But basically she called me a liar and kicked me out of my own inn.” I take a large bite of the sandwich, trying to hide my feelings from my brother.
“Ouch man. That hurts. Do I really have to wait for—”
“Yes, you do really have to wait for me. Don’t try to get him to tell you shit before me. We’re best friends, not you.” Emma glares at Cooper, “Where is my food? ”
He hands her a bag and a coffee. No matter how cold it is outside, I don’t think I’ve ever seen my sister drink a hot coffee, it’s always iced.
“Mmm, love you Coop. This redeems you.” She takes a sip of the coffee and sighs in happiness.
“Okay, what were you about to tell Coop without me here? Were you going to tell him that Alexander is here to steal the inn and he’s shady as shit and Violet doesn’t believe you, or him.”
I stare at her. “I mean, yeah. Basically. How do you know?”
“Please. You think girls don’t talk? She came to me first thing yesterday and we ran recon all day. She asked him about it. He said he was here buying a farm, but I reached out to Mr. Peterson who asked around and found out that not one of the farmers in our area have been contacted. I also found his LinkedIn account and, get this, the company he works for has a reputation of being shady as hell and in dealings with local politicians. Which Violet’s stepfather is.”
Cooper’s head is bouncing between Emma and my shocked face. I’m fucking right. I can’t believe that Emma is about to vindicate me with Violet.
“Did you tell Violet all this?” Cooper chimes in.
“Of course not, I came to Liam first. I mean this jackass is trying to steal the inn out from under us. Can he do that if the mortgage balance has been handled? Should we call Gunnar and make sure?” she asks.
“That wouldn’t hurt. And call the bank to make sure we’re settled.” Fuck, I’ll be pissed if they’re able to come in and steal the inn from us without any warning.
A phone ringing comes from Cooper’s phone .
“Are you calling G? Do you know how early it is for him?” I remind him.
“G was military.” He shrugs like that means everyone who once was military is up before the sun. Except G owns a bar that operates until two in the morning.
“What the fuck could you possibly want before ten in the morning?” Gunnar answers, clearly still sleeping.
“I told you,” I whisper to Cooper.
“Listen, some city douchebag is here trying to steal the inn. Were you able to call the bank and make the payment?”
“What the hell? Who is trying to take the inn? Can they do that?” Gunnar asks, just as shocked by the statement.
“I mean if you made the payment, I don’t think so,” Emma answers.
“I paid all of it the other day through a wire transfer. I have the confirmation number too. Let me know.”
“Yeah, I’ll call them now.” Emma says, pulling out her phone.
“Great, I’m going back to sleep. Let me know this afternoon . Love you.” Before any of us can respond Gunnar has hung up on us.
I shoot a glare at Cooper, “I told you he’d be sleeping. Now, he’s pissed.”
“He’s fine. It’s almost nine in the morning. Wouldn’t kill him to wake up,” Cooper tries to reason with me.
“I’m going to call the bank.” Emma steps away to go out front where she won’t be bothered by Cooper and I.
“Okay, so Vi can’t be mad at you anymore. This is good right?” He smiles like all life’s problems are gone .
“I guess. But she still didn’t trust me. And there’s the small fact that some shady company is trying to take the inn and her stepfather is behind it.” But other than that, yeah, totally good.
“Well when you put it that way.” He sips his coffee and lets his sentence trail off.
Emma comes back, “Okay the bank got G’s money, the note has been paid in full. There was a lot more legal jargon but that’s the gist of it.”
I let out a sigh and drop my shoulders. I hadn’t realized how tense I was, waiting for answers.
“We need to talk to Violet. She needs to know that she’s being played by that scumbag, Alexander,” I tell Emma.
“She’s leaving for New York soon, so let’s go fast.” Emma grabs hold of Cooper’s arm and pulls him off his stool.
She practically runs to the inn to catch Violet before she leaves.
The three of us are stopped in our tracks when we see Alexander loading his car. His shit eating grin is what stops us all together. Cooper clearly can figure out who this is, judging by his crossed arms, and scowl on his face.
“Hi Liam, so nice of you to come say goodbye, but Violet just left. Not sure if you heard but we’re going to her parent’s gala together this weekend. She invited me last night.” He throws his bag in the trunk and slams it shut, not breaking eye contact at all.
“What? She invited you to go with her?” She didn’t even tell me that she was going, let alone invited me to go with her.
“Of course, as you know Larry and I are quite close. I’m sure you understand. She wants to please her family. Anyways, I won’t be back next week so thank you for the hospitality.” Alexander gets in his car and backs out of the parking spot.
“It’s not true Liam. It’s not.” Emma pulls me with her to the inn, reassuring me that Violet would never do that.
While I know he’s a liar, it still stings to hear that she chose him over me, true or not. She didn’t even tell me she was leaving.