Chapter 20 #2
“But I do! He doesn’t need the money. He’ll use it, but he doesn’t need it. He wants to see me panic. He wants me to scramble to pay him. And when I fail, he’s going to have just as much fun telling everyone about me and watching my business disintegrate.”
“No one’s going to believe a cocksucker like him. Huckleberry Springs loves you, your family, and the bakery.”
Misery sets in. Love isn’t enough. “They didn’t scam thousands of dollars because they sucked.
The only reason they didn’t do millions was because they wanted to stay under the radar.
If Dwayne hadn’t gotten into drugs, he would still be doing it.
I would’ve wised up and left, but I’d be broke as hell.
” Anguish twists in my chest. So many problems; all my fault. “I can’t lose this bakery.”
“You won’t.”
“I know. Because I’m going to figure a way out of it.” I poke myself in the chest. “Me. I know how to deal with them. I know how their brains work. I’ll take care of it myself.”
“You don’t have to.” Worry lines his face and he crosses to me. I want to lean into him as much as I want to push him away. “It’ll be two against one.”
“It’s my mess. You made it worse.”
He rocks back on his heels, and I regret what I said and the tone of it, but I can’t deny the truth.
Maybe I would’ve had one or two payments to make before I figured out what to do.
It could’ve been three or four more months.
Hell, a year. But I’d have my bakery in the end.
My parents wouldn’t make themselves sick with sorrow.
My sister wouldn’t be ashamed of me. Now? I don’t know.
“You need to leave.” The words hurt to say, but it’s for the best. For him and for me, even if it feels like the worst thing I could do to myself. “You need to leave me alone.”
He stares at me for a moment, working his jaw back and forth. Then he pivots on a heel and storms out.
Cruz
My house is dark. I sat outside with Rufus until the sun sank below the horizon. The wind picked up and rain spat in my face, driving me inside with my conflicted feelings.
I prop my feet on the coffee table in front of my couch.
My gaze bounces off the bare walls. Elodie said the space doesn’t need added decoration, but as I sit here, wondering if she’ll speak to me again, the emptiness isn’t helping me.
It doesn’t matter how clean my place is or how much I shower; I ended up alone because I stepped in with my fists.
I don’t regret it. That fucker. How long had Dean—Damon been stalking her?
Was she scared to tell me, afraid I’d make it worse? Or worried that I’d revert to a part of myself I’m ashamed of?
I proved her right.
I push a hand through my hair. Basil jumps onto the couch with a little mew. He stomps onto my lap and curls up. Sage does the same. The center of my cold chest warms. I never had pets of my own before my kittens and dog. They help a lot when I’m sitting and berating myself.
I rest my head on the back of the couch. After several moments, headlights swing across the window, and hope sparks hot in my chest. Disturbing the kittens, I sit up straighter and they readjust themselves. A sigh leaves me. It’s a pickup, not Elodie’s car.
Since my door’s unlocked, I stay where I am. Another set of headlights swings in.
There’s a knock and then nothing. The door cracks open. “Yo, Cruz?”
“I’m here.”
More footsteps than just Lane’s pile in and the light flips on. I blink against the onslaught.
The scrape of their boots on the rug fills the air, and then some muttering. Clothing rustles and there’re a couple of grunts as they take their boots off.
I tuck my finger into Basil’s soft fur. “How many of you are there?”
“All of us.” Lane comes out of the entry, shoving his hair off his face. His black T-shirt is sprinkled with wet spots.
“Why?”
Iverson pushes past him. “We wouldn’t leave Lane alone about you. He swore you’d want some time to yourself, or we’d have brought dinner.”
I haven’t eaten, but my appetite is gone. “I’m not hungry.”
“I brought some leftover pasta.” Durban shoves a container into my hands and sets a plastic fork on top of it. “Campbell made extra, so I brought you some. Haven’s got your win from the silent auction.”
Haven holds up a decorative box with a cake inside and baking supplies. Elodie’s donation, which I made sure I won.
“You can put that on the table. Or take it to work tomorrow and eat it.” When he puts the reminder of Elodie on my kitchen table, I frown at the food in my hand. “You didn’t have to ditch your home for me.” He didn’t fuck up his relationship.
“Campbell wanted to know why the hell I came home in the first place.” He sits across from me on the love seat and Haven drops next to him. “We’re not the ones Lane needs to warn about giving you space.”
“Jamison heard the story and about booted me out too,” Iverson grumbles, but his shrewd gaze is taking in my bruised knuckles, my disheveled, fur-covered shirt, and the kitten giving me moral support.
“I’m just nosy,” Haven says, and my chuckle sputters out of me.
“At least one of you’s honest.” I rest my hand on Sage, letting her slow breathing soothe me.
I meet Lane’s gaze. He’s guarded, like he didn’t have a choice but to lead the Hennessys to my doorstep.
I give a shake of my head to let him know I don’t mind, but I try to convey that I’m not talking about Elodie’s business.
I’d shone a spotlight on it once already.
“I can’t tell you guys everything that happened. Elodie’s a private person.”
“Some jackass harassed her, and you took care of him.” Durban shrugs. “That’s all anyone has to know.”
Appreciation wells for their understanding when it comes to her.
Haven rests his elbows on his knees and presses his fingertips together. “Is he going to be a concern again?”
Lane nods before I can decide how to answer. “Between the five of us, we can keep an eye out for him. I’m sure her cousin will keep an eye out too.”
I nod and scrub my face. Good. If she doesn’t want me around her, there are still others looking out for her. “Thanks.”
“We’re worried about you,” Lane says. A smile teases his lips. “All of us, apparently.”
Haven taps his fingertips. “You left the bakery looking like we all took turns kicking Rufus, and just thinking about that breaks my damn heart.”
“I’d kill any guy who hit him. Just like I’d gut a bastard for threatening Elodie.” I swallow hard. “But she asked me not to and I did it anyway.”
“Give her time,” Lane says quietly. “It’s a shock to see someone get hit when it hasn’t been a part of your life.”
Everyone nods. Well, aren’t we a group? “What if she’s done with me?”
“You won her over once,” Iverson says. “You can do it again. She lights up around you.”
Fuck, that makes me feel worse. “She asked me not to interfere. I’ve worked hard to build her trust and then I broke it at the first opportunity.”
“But you’d do it all over again,” Durban says softly, “because it’d make her life better.”
“Feels selfish.” I’m only putting part of Elodie first. I’m using information she didn’t want me to know. I could make her situation worse too.
“In some cases, it’s not.” Durban flicks some of Rufus’s fur off his jeans.
It’s not a long walk between his truck and the house, but enough to get corgi glitter on him.
“Sometimes they can’t do it themselves. Elodie probably would’ve kept tolerating that guy’s shit out of fear.
She only sees how he can hurt her or the bakery.
It’s not selfish to step in. I did it for Campbell.
I didn’t know if it’d work, but I had her family’s support. ”
But Elodie’s family doesn’t know and she wants to keep it that way. Durban might have a point, but I could open a big can of worms and dump them right in her bakery. “I’d do it again, but I think it cost me her.”
I trail my fingers over the darker tabby lines on Basil. Tonight’s ending differently than I thought it would. I’d be inside Elodie by now. We’d at least be in the dark, talking about the fair and who we saw and our plans for next year.
Instead, I’m here, surrounded by a bunch of well-meaning nosy fuckers. “Thanks for stopping by, guys. I’m fine. Really. I just need to think things through and decide how to talk to her.”
I pretend not to notice them all exchanging looks.
“I’ll stay behind for a few minutes,” Lane says, and that seems to appease the Hennessys.
They all get up, and when I wrap my hands around the cats to rise, Iverson waves me off. “I’m not one to interrupt a guy covered in pussy.”
Haven groans. “That’s as good as a dad joke.”
“He’s going to be too far gone before we know it,” Durban says. The interaction lifts my mood for two whole seconds.
Lane walks them out, leaving me alone for a few moments. I return to where I was before they arrived.
How do I make Elodie’s problems go away? Blackmailing is fucking illegal, so why is Elodie suffering? How much has she paid that asshole ex of hers? I start to ball my hands into fists, but flatten them on the kittens instead. If the guys see my reaction, they might think I’ll do something brash.
I’m tempted to drive around town and make sure Damon’s gone. If I found him . . .
I’d be back to betraying Elodie.
Lane comes inside. “I tried to tell them.”
“Don’t worry about it.” I slump on the couch. “If we were in Bourbon Canyon, I wouldn’t have gotten left alone. I don’t intend to complain about people caring about me.”
He chuckles and returns to his seat. “True. Still hits odd though, doesn’t it?”
“Always.” The second I mentally returned to the old, dirty house I grew up in, a Bailey would magically show up to chat, and it didn’t matter where I was on the ranch. “I just want to help her. Even if I lose her, I have to know she’s safe.”
“You don’t think that guy will leave her alone?”
“Not him and not her ex.”
“Her ex in jail?”
I lift my head. He’s frowning, and my gaze strays to the office I barely use. I pay any bills that aren’t automatic and keep important documents in it. Junk mail gets tossed there. Along with the letters I don’t read from our dad.
I stare a little longer. Her ex needs to be stopped.
“You should talk to Mae,” Lane says carefully, “before you do anything impulsive. Maybe even Myles.”
“I’m not going to do anything impulsive.”
He gives me a hard look.
I did deck a guy today. I would’ve stomped on him, hooked him to my hitch, and dragged him out of town.
Talking to Myles or Mae is a good idea. They set me on the right path a long time ago and kept me there. “I’d like to go over this in person, but I don’t know when I can get to Bourbon Canyon.”
“Tomorrow. I can cover the distillery with Haven. The guys won’t mind. You know that. Go do what you gotta do.” His attention touches on the office. “Take as long as you need.”