Chapter 6 #2
And there’s no way this will work in the winter. She’ll freeze to death.
Not my problem, I remind myself as I start thumbing through the invoices in the folder.
“It doesn’t take four hours to change out brakes,” I mutter, shaking my head. “And he totally upcharged you for the pads. Asshole.”
The more I see, the angrier I get.
Because it’s clear without a shadow of a doubt that Barry fucked Juliet over, time and again. She should have paid a fifth of what he charged her.
“Can I keep these?” I ask her.
“Oh, sure. No problem.” She pushes her hair behind her ear. “Uh, just let me know how much the tow costs, and I’ll pay for it. Unless you want me to call right now, and I can just give them my card number?”
“I’ve got it.” I shake my head and walk away from her. If I keep standing two feet from her gorgeous body, I’ll do something stupid like kiss her.
Jesus, I want to kiss her.
“The tow won’t cost you anything. I’ll take a look at it this evening.”
“Oh, there’s no rush—”
I spin and pin her in my glare. “Why didn’t you bring it to me?”
She swallows hard, then frowns down at the floor.
“Look at me, Wildfire.”
She raises her gaze, and heat fills her eyes. Frustration. Embarrassment.
And I feel like an asshole.
“Because you made it very clear to me that I’m not welcome at your shop.
More than once. At the engagement party, I believe the words were I don’t exist for you.
You don’t want me in your way, and I understand that.
I respect it. So do you think that I’d bring my piece-of-shit car to you? Of course not.”
“Jesus.” I rub my hand down my face in frustration. “I’ll figure your car out.”
“I appreciate that.” Her voice is quiet again, and we’re both standing here, unsure, awkward. It’s the fucking worst because Jules and I never used to be uncomfortable around each other. She was my person. And now she’s a stranger.
“Why do you live up here, Juliet?”
“So you’re just going to completely humiliate me today.
” She fists her hands and shakes her head.
“Fine. I live up here because I invested every dime I had into this building and my restaurant. Because I needed something just for me. It’s mine, and I own it outright.
Mine, Brooks, and I refuse to be embarrassed by it.
No one can take it away from me. So if I have to live up here and deal with crazy temperature swings, and join the gym to take showers, and do my laundry at the laundromat two miles away that I have to walk to when my car is out of commission, and sleep in the restaurant when it’s so fucking hot outside that it’s two hundred degrees up here, I don’t care.
I’ll gladly do all of that and more without a complaint because it’s a million times better than anything I’ve had before this. ”
She swallows hard, like she didn’t mean to say that much, and my heart is lodged in my throat.
What the fuck does she mean?
“Jules—”
She shakes her head, and I work to gentle my tone.
“Jules,” I try again. “There are other places for you to live. Hell, I have—”
“No,” she says, interrupting me. “I don’t need you to fix this for me.”
“Don’t be so fucking stubborn. You shouldn’t be living up here. Baby, it’s—”
“I’m not your baby. Not anymore. And I know exactly what this is, and I won’t be ashamed. I’ll fix it up. I can learn to finish walls and put in a decent sink. This isn’t for you to deal with, Brooks.”
My hands are in fists, and my breath is coming fast. I don’t want her here. But she’s right, she’s not mine. I can’t make her go with me.
“I have to get back to work. Dinner’s about to start, and we get busy at this time. My crew needs me. Thanks for the ride home.”
She won’t look me in the face again, and I want to crush her to me, demand she tell me everything that happened, and take her home with me where she’ll have everything she needs.
She’s not my problem.
It’s getting harder to believe that. Harder to walk away. To stay away.
Blinking quickly, as if she’s about to cry, she whispers, “Please, Brooks. Just go, okay?”
“I need your number so I can call you about the car.”
I tug my phone out of my jeans and pass it to her, and she texts herself, then passes it back to me.
“I’ll be in touch.”
She bites her lip and nods, and I leave her alone in that attic that isn’t good enough for her.
As soon as I arrive at my house, I call the tow truck to retrieve the car and deliver it to my garage, then I text Beck and Bridger. I’d call Blake, too, but he’s at the hospital today.
Me: I need some help with something. Are you free?
I pace my kitchen and tip my head to the side to crack my neck. Agitation builds in me as my phone pings with a response.
Bridger: I’m off today, just doing some yard work. What do you need?
Then a message from Beck comes in.
Beckett: Just finished at the barn. What’s up, B?
I grin and text them back.
Me: It seems Barry’s been ripping off Jules. Took her for thousands. We’re going to teach him a lesson.
Bridger: Uh, Brooks, I don’t want you to go to jail.
Me: No jail.
Beckett: I’ll pick you both up in twenty.
That gives me time to study the rest of the invoices and make notes.
Barry owes her a fuckton of money. And he’s going to pay her every dime.
When Beck pulls into the driveway, Bridger’s already with him, and I climb into the back seat.
“You don’t get to kill him,” Bridger says. He’s not joking. There’s nothing funny about this. “You’d break your niece’s heart if you got sent to prison.”
“As much as I’d like to, I’m just going to remind him that his piece-of-shit actions have consequences,” I reply.
“Skyla mentioned that Jules made a comment about her car at book club,” Beckett says.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Both of my brothers send me a look.
“Because none of us is allowed to speak about her to you,” Bridger reminds me. “So we just keep everything we know to ourselves.”
“What else do you fucking know?” Yeah, I sound like a broody asshole, but I don’t care. They know things about my wildfire and haven’t told me?
What the fuck?
“Not much,” Beck admits with a shrug. “Skyla doesn’t tell other people’s secrets. She just mentioned the car thing to me.”
“Dani doesn’t say much either.” Bridger shakes his head. “The girls lock it down. They’re loyal to each other.”
I actually love that. I love that the girls trust each other and are not only best friends but also family.
And I can admit that I like the fact that Jules is being welcomed into that friend group.
Something tells me that she needs it, and I’ve been an asshole to resent it.
But dammit, seeing her all the time is torture.
And an addiction.
Fuck.
We’re quiet until Beckett pulls into the parking lot and cuts the engine.
“What’s the plan?” Beck asks before we get out of the vehicle.
“I came with receipts.” I hold up the folder. “I think I’ll be extra nice.”
“Shit. Someone’s gonna call the cops,” Bridge mutters, making me grin. “We don’t have Chase Wild at our back in Silver Springs, Brooks. We don’t know the cops here.”
“I know Tucker’s brother, Easton,” I counter. “But trust me. We won’t need the cops.”
Probably.
The three of us walk into the garage. Barry works alone. He says it’s because he does better by himself, but it’s really because no one will work for him. He’s an asshole, he underpays, and he’s a complete piece-of-shit human.
The fact that my wildfire was anywhere near him makes my blood boil.
Barry looks our way and scowls. “What the fuck do you want?”
“I just need to ask some questions.” I slap the folder on the counter, and Barry opens it, scans the top page, and then his face goes red.
“That little bitch.”
“Uh-oh,” Beck breathes behind me.
“What did you just call her?”
“Listen, I don’t know what she told you—”
“She didn’t have to tell me anything. I found her stranded at the side of the road this afternoon after she left here with a car that should have been fixed. Instead, that engine looks like you’ve done nothing but make sure she’ll be back in here so you can suck more money out of her.”
“So what?”
“Fucking hell,” Bridger scoffs. “You’re a stupid piece of shit. You know that, right?”
“If she doesn’t like how I do business, she doesn’t have to come to me. Maybe she just likes me. She flirts with me constantly.”
And that’s all it takes to have my fist connecting with his face and dropping him to the floor.
“I’ll have you charged with assault,” he yells out at me, but I shake my head.
“No, you won’t. Because I’m quite sure that Juliet isn’t the only customer you’ve fucked over. I’d bet the IRS would love a phone call. I bet the Better Business Bureau would enjoy a conversation. Maybe I’ll call Alex at the newspaper. I can ruin your business, you piece of shit.”
“No one would believe you.”
That makes Beckett laugh, and Beck rarely laughs.
“Are you that clueless?” Beck asks him. “Everyone would believe us. You have the shittiest reputation in the area. People won’t even work for you.”
“So if you don’t want to lose what little business you have left, you’ll refund all of her money.”
His face goes white.
“I can’t do that.”
“I don’t give a flying fuck what you can do. You’re going to refund every cent to her. I added it up. Looks like that’s six thousand, four hundred dollars and twenty-three cents. All of it goes back to her today.”
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll burn this whole place to the motherfucking ground.” I push my nose in his face. I’m taller by three inches and outweigh him by fifty pounds of muscle. “Fuck around and find out, you piece of shit.”
He doesn’t reply.
“And if you try to retaliate, you’ll lose everything. You could have just been a decent human being and fixed her car. You could have even upcharged her by fifty bucks here or there. But thousands, Barry? Jesus, you’re an idiot.”
“Fuck you.”
“Not my type.” I shrug, and we head to the door. “Every penny refunded to her card today. I mean it.”
We leave the building, get in Beck’s truck, and he pulls away.
“Do you think he’ll do it?” Bridger asks.
“Yeah, he’ll do it. He knows I’ll ruin him if he doesn’t.”