Chapter 24 #2
“Business is fine.” He started to frown and pouted like a toddler. “If people stopped treating the world like it didn’t matter.”
When he crossed his arms over his chest and stamped his expensive leather shoe on my chipboard floor, the burst of laughter came from deep in my chest.
“Who pissed on your oatmeal this time?”
“Who do you think?” he snarled. “Dexter fucking Whitfield.”
Anger instantly bubbled up inside of me at the mention of his name. “Really?”
“Yeah, really. The fucking douche bag. He’s just put a planning application into Clementine Hills planning for a development of offices with absolutely no environmental contingency at all.”
“You going to do something about it?”
I didn’t know why I was even questioning him.
Aside from the douche bag in question being a vile piece of shit, he didn’t care about anything except money.
Nate was a strong environmentalist, even if it meant him losing money on developments.
His one over at Silver Peaks was an example of that.
He changed his plans and sunk a whole load of cash into adding extra environmental options because of the problems it would create for the land.
Tally had been worried for a while because she worked at The Last Creek Ranch, which his development sat next to.
She’d hidden her friendship with Nate from her bosses, the Miller brothers, which was made even more complicated by the fact that she was dating Wilder, the youngest of the brothers.
“I’m going to see the head of planning later today to tell him what I think.
” He crushed the can in his hand, grimacing like he was imagining it was something else between his fingers.
He looked up at me with fire in his gaze.
“And if that doesn’t work then I’ll throw a whole load of cash at him.
I believe their library needs new books. ”
“And what if he offers more?” I asked with a laugh,
Nate scoffed and threw the can in the trash can next to the door, landing it perfectly. “It’s highly unlikely that he has enough money to outbid me.”
And wasn’t that the truth. My best friend had more money than there were fish in the damn ocean.
“Anyway,” he said, pushing up from his chair. “I have work to do before my trip to Europe.”
“Yeah, don’t think I’ve forgotten you won’t be at that damn cooperative dinner, but enjoying yourself overseas instead.” The cooperative dinner was still a pain in my ass, even if it had given me time with Charity.
“I’ll be living out of a suitcase for three weeks, where’s the enjoyment in that?
” He then pointed at me. “So, play nice about organizing, and show Charity what a good man you are. She’s a beautiful, intelligent woman.
And a great person from what I hear and recall from high school, so do not fuck up the dinner or your relationship with her. ”
When I heard his obnoxiously loud car speed off, I let out a low chuckle, knowing that yet again he was right. He was a good man who always had my back, the least he deserved was for me to listen to his advice.
Trusting my instincts and my best friend, I picked my phone up and scrolled through to Charity’s number. When she answered on the second ring, it surprised me. I’d expected her to be busy catching up with work after the last few days in Dallas.
“Hey, Liam.”
Her voice was like a balm, and every inch of my body relaxed. The air in my lungs felt clearer as I envisaged her pretty, red lips breaking into a smile.
“Hi, how are you doing?”
“Good. You?”
“Uh, yeah, I’m great.” Suddenly I felt awkward.
Like a teenage boy about to ask a girl out on a date.
I mean I kind of was, but I was no teenager.
I was thirty-one but had only ever asked one girl to go on a date before.
Anyone since had been a quick hook-up, just a one night thing to satisfy an itch.
Too many to be proud of. “Have you heard from Faith?”
“No, but my parents have.” She sighed heavily, her breath shaky. “She told them where she’s living and that she has a job. She also said that your friend who gave her the job seems like a good guy.”
“Yeah, he is.” My gaze moved to my crew working outside.
A digger went past, mud splattering from its wheels, landing on the window, and it filled me with contentment.
All that out there was what kept me sane, helping me to put one foot in front of the other, yet listening to Charity’s sweet voice so full of hope made me want some of that promise, too.
“I can’t tell you how much we appreciate everything you did for her, Liam.” She paused and I wondered if she was twisting her fingers together or maybe wetting her bottom lip. “How much I appreciate it all.”
“Honestly, Charity, it was my pleasure.” And it absolutely was. It was getting that I wanted to do whatever I could for her, to make her feel safe. “Oh, and just so you know, the issue with the money she owes is sorted.”
“W-what?” I heard the sharp intake of breath. “What do you mean, Liam?”
“Faith no longer owes any money. Her debt is cleared.” At least it would be after a couple more phone calls.
“How did you? I mean, why?”
I could hear the crack in her voice.
“Sunshine, it’s fine. It’s all done.”
“I’ll pay you back, I swear.”
That wasn’t happening. Not while I drew breath. “Not happening.”
“But how did you—?”
“You don’t need to know. The only thing that matters is that Faith is free and clear.”
There was a beat of silence, followed by an emotional sniff. “But Liam I can’t just let you—”
“I did and I don’t want to discuss it further. Now,” I said, taking a breath, “I was thinking that maybe we could meet up tonight.” I took a breath and closed my eyes. “I’d like to cook dinner for you.”
She inhaled sharply, and instantly I second-guessed myself. A thumping started in my temple, as my teeth clenched so tight I thought they might crack.
About to tell her I had an emergency to end the misery of the call, my heart stumbled when she said, “I’d love that.” Her voice was soft and gentle, almost reverent.
“You would?”
“Absolutely, but why don’t we both cook? I love to feed people, and I never get the opportunity. It would be fun.”
Smiling, I sank back into the chair, my whole body relaxing into the peace of the moment. “Okay, let’s do that. I’ll get what we need for lasagna. How does that sound?”
“Perfect, oh and I’ll bring dessert. Any preferences?” She sounded happy and I felt ten feet tall being responsible for that and her not having to worry about her sister so much.
“Whatever you want to bring is great with me, Sunshine.”
My heart felt heavy with expectancy and optimism, and I hoped that Charity felt it too as the wooden walls of the temporary office creaked and sighed as they swelled in the beat of silence.
“Oh, I have great news about the dinner,” she finally said. “We have a really big business that wants to attend. They're thinking of investing in the town.”
“Really?” I sat up straighter, excited for her and the town.
We were a small town in a small county and there was always the concern that one day we might not be able to self-fund because we hadn't moved forward as a community.
Nate helped as much as possible, but it wasn't fair to expect him to be a never ending pot of gold and nor should he be. “That's great news. Who is it?”
“Have you heard of the developer, Dexter Whitfield. It's him. I spoke to him earlier and he wants to donate a huge amount to the business cooperative’s chosen charity as well as invest in the town. Isn't that amazing.”
My heart thundered down to my boots as the name hit me like a sledgehammer.
“No, no way,” I snapped. “It's not happening.”
Dexter Whitfield was my best friend's biggest nemesis; the man we’d only just been discussing.
The man that Nate despised for his cutthroat business practices and the way he'd screwed over smaller companies to build his empire. His biggest reason for hating him, though, was Nate’s half-sister, Nellie.
She’d been in a relationship with Whitfield for two years, and the manipulative bastard had controlled her.
He’d isolated her from her family, taken over her finances and left her a shell of the fun, happy, girl we’d grown up with.
Even now, three years on, she was still struggling to find herself.
“What do you mean it's not happening?” Her voice sharpened. “Liam, this could be exactly what Sweet Maple Falls needs.”
“You need to uninvite him, Charity. I'm serious.”
“I can't just uninvite a major investor because you don't like him.”
“This isn't about me not liking him. This is about protecting people I care about. Whitfield will do anything to try and destroy Nate's business if he gets a foothold here.”
“That's not my problem, Liam. I have a responsibility to this town and this event.”
“And I have a responsibility to my best friend!” My voice was rising now. “You don't know what this guy is capable of.”
“Then tell me! Give me something concrete instead of vague warnings.”
I couldn't. Not without betraying Nate's and Nellie’s confidence about how vile the man was.
“Just trust me on this,” I said through gritted teeth.
“I'm sorry, but I can't make business decisions based on trust alone. Dexter Whitfield stays on the guest list.”
The silence that followed was deafening.
“Are we still on for dinner tonight?” she asked finally, her voice cautious. “Because maybe we should talk about this face to face.”
I wanted to say no, wanted to tell her to forget it, but the thought of her walking away entirely made my chest tighten. “Seven o'clock. But this conversation isn't over, Charity.”
“I know.”
After she hung up, I stared at my phone, anger and frustration warring with anticipation. Tonight, I'd try to make her understand, but if she wouldn't listen...I didn't know what the hell I was going to do.