Chapter 21
Humid Nights and Weekends
FIONA
I don’t know what I’m doing. When Tre told me that two Henley and Montank executives had come to town to personally oversee the development projects, I should’ve shrugged and said, ‘Oh well, not my problem,’ and gone home. Instead, I suggested we go back to his place. Which is stupid.
I don’t know what I’m doing, except that last night Ewan accused me of sulking and Kelly and Tess agreed with him.
According to Ewan, being around me lately has been practically unbearable.
I kicked his stool out from under him and told him he could pay for his own drinks for the rest of the night.
And this morning, when Tre handed my mug back with a receipt wrapped around it, I was interested in something beyond replaying the events of that morning at the campsite on an endless loop for the first time in days.
‘Remember, remember the fifth of July’ isn’t nearly as catchy as the original, but I can’t stop doing it.
I don’t know what I’m doing, beyond seriously considering hooking up with Tre, which is stupid for every conceivable reason.
First, there’s the fact that it’s Tre. I’ve spent most of my life hating him.
I’m not sure we have anything in common besides wanting to run Henley and Montank out of Kalomish.
And wanting to jump each other’s bones. Because yeah, I want Tre, but it’s obvious he wants me too.
You don’t wake up an entire campsite because you’re jealous someone else might’ve gotten laid for any other reason.
I wish he were anyone else. It would make this so simple.
But after inviting Kyle to my tent and then backing out because I couldn’t stop thinking about Tre, there’s no more pretending I just want to get laid and any willing participant will do.
I want Tre, and I want him for all the reasons I shouldn’t.
I want him because he’s willing to cause a scene at every town hall, and then still go out to Henley and Montank’s construction site in the middle of the night even though he’d be the obvious suspect.
I want him because when he caught me with a bomb, he didn’t run away or rat me out.
He decided to insert himself into my life and demanded we work together.
I want him because despite seeming like a happy-go-lucky asshole who walks around the world expecting everyone to be his new best friend, he’s surprisingly intelligent and thoughtful underneath all that.
I want him because he could’ve turned into a carbon copy of his father and grown up to be the same prick he was in high school, and somehow he didn’t.
I want him because whenever I kiss him, my brain shuts off and I stop thinking about all the other things I should be doing instead.
And I can’t have him. At least not until I figure out how to get over my own shit. Otherwise, I’ll just screw things up.
I sigh as I get out of my truck and walk up the street, through the humid night air, to the door that leads to Tre’s apartment, looking around for anyone who might be watching it.
I don’t see anyone, but that does nothing to put me at ease because I know Tre is still their prime suspect, even if it seems like the ATF has been talking to everyone but him.
Sheriff Morris thought he was responsible for Bridal Mountain.
There’s no way the sheriff didn’t point Special Agent Connor Smith straight at Tre the second he rolled into town.
There’s no way the sheriff doesn’t believe he also had something to do with Hay Creek.
I press the buzzer for number three, and the door immediately unlocks.
Walking up the polished wooden stairs to Tre’s apartment has me feeling jittery for reasons totally unconnected to the investigation.
Last time I was here, I didn’t care what he thought of me, and I didn’t want anything to do with him.
Now, I do care, and I want a lot to do with him, but—
His door is already open, and he’s standing in it waiting for me by the time I reach his landing. In the movie theater, he was just a shadowy figure. Here, though, it’s hard to ignore how attractive he is.
“Hey,” I say as he steps out of the entry so I can walk through.
The door shuts softly behind me as I look around his apartment.
It looks a little more lived-in than it did when I was here before.
Apparently, he doesn’t keep it looking like it’s ready for a magazine shoot all the time.
He cleaned last time because he knew I was coming over, and he wanted to impress me.
Or stop me from making snide comments about his housekeeping skills—probably both.
I wouldn’t have if he were anyone else, but he’s not, and I most likely would have.
Maybe I’m more of an asshole than he is.
“I should apologize,” I begin as I turn to look at him. His eyes seem like they’re a darker grey than normal, and he looks uneasy too.
“No, you were right,” Tre says, but I continue talking.
“I’m sorry for everything that happened at the campsite. For kissing you, and then inviting Kyle back to my tent. I didn’t expect you to be there, and I was mad at Ewan, and I was trying to figure out my feelings, and… I didn’t mean for you to get caught in the crossfire.”
“No. You were right, Fiona. It’s none of my business who you hook up with. I’d like it to be, but it’s not. And Cade was an asshole. I was too, for that matter.”
I nod. “Thanks.”
“So did you?”
“Did I what?”
“Figure out your feelings?”
“Not really. Sorry.”
“Let me know when you do?” Tre suggests.
“Yeah, sure,” I agree. “So anyway, about the new guys being here. I have an idea. Can I sit down?” I incline my head toward the caramel-colored leather couch.
“Oh yeah. Sure. Sorry. Make yourself at home. Do you want something to drink?”
“Sure,” I say, mostly because it seems like Tre wants me to. He’s already heading for the kitchen.
“I’ve got—”
“Whatever you’re having is fine,” I tell him. I really don’t need to listen to him list off every beverage in his fridge.
He returns carrying two bottles of cider, handing me one.
I try to ignore the way it feels when his tanned fingers brush against mine.
Then they’re gone, and he’s sitting down in the chair across from me.
“What’s your idea? Because I’ve been thinking about it, and the cement will still be a problem for them at Bridal Mountain, but they haven’t started the new resort site at Talulish Falls yet, and they haven’t finished cleaning up the mess we made at Hay Creek. ”
“I know. You and your dad don’t get along, right?”
Tre snorts. “No. I have as little to do with him as I possibly can. He doesn’t like me any more than I like him.”
“Why?” I ask, finally curious enough to want to know what’s behind their mutual animosity.
I couldn’t imagine cutting my dad out of my life.
He’s still pissed that Tre is involved—and has told me as much again and again.
Letting that information slip was definitely a mistake.
Just one more to add to the list. Not that he wouldn’t have figured it out on his own and demanded answers eventually.
But still. It makes me wonder if I didn’t subconsciously repeat what Ewan said because I wanted to talk about Tre with someone who’s…
neutral. And the second my dad said Tre couldn’t be trusted, the first thing I did was defend him and say he’s nothing like his father.
“You’ve met him,” Tre states, as if that explains everything.
“Yeah, but he’s always been an asshole, and you didn’t always hate him, so something must’ve happened.”
Tre sighs. “Do you really want to know?”
“Have you ever heard me ask a question simply to be polite, Tre?” I take a sip of the cider in front of me. It’s not bad. There’s no label on it, and if I ask about it, he’ll most likely tell me something about the orchard where the apples were harvested, but I don’t care, so I don’t ask.
He laughs. “No, I guess not. I told you I went to Northwestern and majored in materials science. I actually double majored in that and construction management because it was what my dad wanted. There was an expectation that I would come back and take over the family business. Not because I had any real desire to run White Construction Incorporated, but because it was what my dad wanted. I had no idea what the hell I wanted to do, but I had the grades to get into both programs, so I went along with it. I usually did back then. Trying to argue wasn’t worth it.
He always ended up getting what he wanted. ”
“You know you take the most roundabout way possible to get to the point?” I question mildly, and Tre grins.
“Believe it or not, most people understand things better with context, Fiona. Just because you can make the jump between disparate pieces of information, it doesn’t mean everyone can.
Anyway, when I graduated from college and came back here, I did what I was supposed to and started taking a more active role in the business.
That lasted until I started dating Dominique—Nikki—Johnson. ”
“Okay. Should I know who that is?”
“Probably not. She worked in the billing department at White Construction for a while. She moved to Kalomish for the job. She doesn’t live here anymore.”
“He didn’t like you dating someone who worked for the company?”
“No. That wasn’t the problem. He didn’t like me dating someone who was Black.
He fired her. Not for that reason, since that would’ve been grounds for a lawsuit.
But that was definitely the real reason behind it all.
She broke up with me and left town after that, and I haven’t had anything to do with my dad since then.
“Before college, I never realized what he was like, but then being away and coming back… It was hard not to see it. And once I did, I couldn’t stay there and be another yes-man.
My grandma never liked my dad, so when I cut ties with him, she offered me a job at the diner.
Then when she died, she left it, and the rest of the building, to me, so here I am. ”
“Okay. Good.”
“Good?”
“Well, your dad owns the houses the Henley and Montank construction executives are staying in, right?”
“I’m not sure. He owns the country club, and I’m pretty sure the houses have been unoccupied since it was built, so I think so. Why?”
“How would you feel about blowing them up?”
“The houses?” Tre asks, seeming skeptical.
“Yeah. Why not? We’ll make sure no one is in them when we do it, but it might have a psychological impact that vandalizing the construction sites directly hasn’t had.
Maybe we could even rig it so that the bombs will go off during the next town hall.
Then we’ll both be there, which will give you a bit of cover.
Assuming we can confirm the houses will be empty. ”
“I don’t care about cover.”
“Your dad’s lawyers won’t keep the cops away from you forever, Tre. And do you think he’ll continue paying for them if he believes you blew up his houses?”
Tre exhales and leans back in his chair, seeming to consider it. “Yeah. Maybe. How would we do it?”
“Can you figure out some details about the houses? We’ll need to know how far away they are from the neighbors’.
We don’t want to damage anyone else’s property.
We’ll also want to know how big they are so we know where to place the explosives.
What kind of locks are on the doors and whether the houses have security systems…
It would be good to know what the security at the country club itself is like too, so we can figure out how much time we’ll have and how to get away. ”
“It’s a bit less than a month until the next town hall,” Tre murmurs.
“There’ll be plenty of time to figure all that out.
I can probably get most of the info from people who work at the country club over the next couple of weeks.
If I need to, I can go out there under the excuse of visiting my mom.
I don’t do it often, but it won’t look suspicious either. ”
“Okay. That works. And once we know that information, we can use the remaining time to figure out exactly what to do. But generally, I think we destroy the houses, making sure the damage stays confined to the ones Henley and Montank are renting. It’ll be a nice ‘fuck you’ to them and your dad.”
“Yeah. I like that. Are you going to keep coming into the diner for coffee in the mornings?” Tre asks, sounding hopeful.
I nod. “It’ll be the easiest way for us to exchange info without drawing attention to ourselves. But we have to be careful with that ATF agent hanging around.”
Tre nods. “Okay. Good.”