Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
“ T his is good,” Cat said. We were speed-walking along the boardwalk. The light was fading, swallowing us into ever-growing twilight. She had her camera in her hand as she pumped her arms along her side.
“How is this good?” I asked. “I’m supposed to be taking him down, and I haven’t done anything aside from snoop on his computer.”
“That is good too.”
“You weren’t the one caught sneaking around on your knees, staring up at him, face at crotch level,” I said.
She waved that idea away, trying to breathe and talk, which was getting harder as we hoofed it toward the lighthouse. She had wanted to get there in time for the “golden hour”, but of course, we were running late.
“Did you see that?” Cat asked. I craned my neck to look behind me. October had been walking through the marshy overgrowth of protected land on this side of the peninsula where few tourists went aside from visiting the lighthouse or trying to climb through the old, rusted military base that had eroded in the sand.
“Sometimes I wonder if she really does know magic,” I said.
She laughed., “Probably. You know some of the old biddies swear by her ‘love potions.’ Maybe you should try one.”
I rolled my eyes. “The last thing I need is a love potion. Make your enemies leave town potion? I would consider it.”
“Anyway, listen. First, you need to take him up on his offer. He is right. You aren’t doing any legal sabotaging from outside the walls of that bakery. Once inside, you can reassess, or maybe you will find that it isn’t so bad. Maybe you can learn something from him.”
“You sound like my mom,” I said.
“I’m not insulted. Better than sounding like my mom.”
“Depends on your perspective, I guess. “Do I do anything with the email I saw on his computer?” I hated that I needed Cat to give me permission to break the rules and step out of my comfort zone. But baby steps were better than no steps at all. I liked to think that I wasn’t totally helpless in advocating for myself, but I still needed just a little borrowed backbone.
“You email the guy who emailed Jared,” she said.
“That is crazy, even for you,” I said. “What the hell would I say? Come collect Jared? ”
“Sure, why not?” Cat said.
I shook my head. “Because that is crazy.”
Cat shrugged, slowing down to a more manageable pace as we came to the base of the lighthouse. The sun still lit the top in soft golden hews while the bottom sat in shifting shadows. “Sometimes you gotta be a little crazy,” she said.
I opened my mouth to say something when one of the shadows broke off from the others to form into a man. I gasped and nearly jumped out of my skin as my mind raced with thoughts of serial killers and demons made of dark.
“Didn’t mean to scare you,” came the now familiar voice.
“Jesus Christ,” I hissed. “You following me?”
“I could ask the same of you. Looks like I got here first,” he said, stepping into the light. “Maybe you are watching too many scary movies.”
“Maybe you are scarier than anything my imagination could cook up.”
“Ouch,” he said. “Hi, Cat.”
“Hey, Jared,” she said.
I was glad for the dusky light hiding my expression as I looked between them with a mix of shock and disgust.
“Seriously?”
“Well, you did it to me,” Cat said sheepishly. She was referring to the time I maintained a polite familiarity with her high school bully turned boyfriend who had spent a lot of time in town for years while she was away. I had maintained a friendship, if you could even call it that, simply because of proximity. I didn’t think it was exactly the same, but I didn’t plan on having tha t dialogue around Jared. “He came in for some prints for the bakery.”
I shouldn’t have been upset, but it definitely felt like a betrayal. Here we were, planning this man’s downfall, and she didn’t let me know that she had spoken with him and done business for the bakery. My bakery. This would have been valuable information in my pursuit of justice. I’m sure she didn’t want to jeopardize her own business, but still. She could have at least told me.
“I gotta get some pictures, now or never,” Cat announced, pulling her camera out of its protective case.
I nodded and stepped toward the beach and away from the lighthouse. As I stood on the sand looking out over the darkened ocean, feeling small in the way only a force of nature can make you feel, I took in a deep breath.
“So are you following me?” Jared asked, interrupting my moment of peace.
“Of course not,” I said.
“I thought maybe you were spying on me to find a weak spot.”
I looked at him from the corner of my eye. “Do you have a weakness aside from arrogance?”
“Probably,” he said. “But I have yet to find it.”
“Wow,” I said.
“You don’t get as far in this business as I have without being able to ignore your weaknesses and limiting factors. We all have weaknesses, Jenna, but they don’t serve you,” he said.
I hated the lecturing feel of his tone. “How very wise of you,” I said .
“You need to stop trying to make everyone else happy,” he said.
It was a gut punch that this man of all damn people had been able to read me at all, let alone better than most people who had known me my whole life. “Was it you that got you this far or your family?” I asked.
“I like to think it was a joint effort. I loved cooking growing up,” he said. “But it would be disingenuous to suggest that my last name didn’t give me a leg up. It remains to be seen whether I’ll be successful on my own.”
“Is that what the bakery is to you? A way to make a name for yourself?” I asked.
“Not exactly.”
“Then what is it, exactly?”
He shrugged, turning his gaze toward the ocean. “Why do you want the bakery so badly?”
“Why do you answer a question with a question?”
“Maybe I don’t feel comfortable sharing my inner most thoughts with the woman who is out to bring me down. Wouldn’t want you exploiting my vulnerability.”
“Smart,” I said with a reluctant smirk.
“I’ve been thinking about our conversation earlier. I have this bakery…” he started.
“Wow, does that come effortlessly to you, or does it take conscious effort?” I asked.
“What?”
“Being such a heartless asshole?”
“Oh … I guess it comes easily?” His voice lifted at the end like it was a question .
I rolled my eyes and shook my head to hide a smirk.
“Anyway,” he continued, “The bakery. I think we should each design a menu. We can offer both to our customers and see which is more popular,” he gave an overly confident smile that betrayed just how pleased he was with himself.
“There is more to the success of a bakery than menus,” I suggested.
“I get that,” he said. “But you seem to think you’d be better than me at operating this bakery. This way we’ll be able to see whose right. We design our menus and see what sells more.”
I considered a moment, “Can we redesign as needed?”
“Sure,” he said. “You will have full autonomy on your menu. The ingredients, the vendors, the advertising.”
“There should be a budget,” I said. “I don’t have unlimited money to throw at this venture like you do.”
“We will use the budget I created for the bakery. We can split it down the middle once renovations are paid for.”
I thought about it for a moment. It wasn’t the perfect plan, but it wasn’t bad either. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to have the opportunity to get my feet wet a little bit. I could also, of course, bring Jared down—somehow. I’m sure some grand plan would come to me.
“Why?” I asked.
He remained quiet for so long, I thought he might not answer. Maybe he was trying to come up with a plausible lie. Finally he said, “I don’t want you to spend your life trying to bring me down. ”
“You worried I’ll succeed?” I asked.
He laughed. “Maybe. So? You in? It’s the best compromise we are going to find right now.”
I felt his eyes on me like a physical presence running along my bare skin. When I turned to meet his gaze, I couldn’t tell if it was a trick of the shadows or if he genuinely was hanging on the edge, waiting for my answer.
“Deal,” I said, holding out my hand before pulling it back. “Wait. What do I get if I win?”
“Bragging rights?” he asked.
“Doesn’t really seem worth it. I could be single-handedly causing the success of your bakery. The one thing that I am trying to avoid.”
“Good point. How about this. You win, you get half partnership in this bakery.” He said it easily, as if he had already planned the response.
I didn’t think my eyebrows could climb further up my forehead. I struggled to regain composure around the frantic beating of my heart. “What about you?” I asked. “What do you get if you win.”
“I, of course, keep ownership of my bakery, but you stay on as my employee,” he said.
My excitement died a quick, cold death. If I lost AND had to be his lowly employee, it might be the death of my spirit. Still, could I give up the opportunity to be half-owner with the unlimited financial backing of Jared and his family? It may not have been my dream, but it was so damn close, I didn’t think it much mattered .
“For how long?” I asked, swallowing past the panic.
“A year.”
“Deal,” I said holding out my hand before I could change my mind.
His large, warm hand enveloped mine in a strong squeeze that sent shivers through my body, entirely against my will.