Page 198 of Bridesmaid for Hire
Okay, so this might be easier than I thought.
“Well, I appreciate that. But before I get into anything else, I need to tell you, the pocket wedding idea—that was Maggie’s. I don’t know what happened to me, maybe in my drunken oblivion I just started rambling. I honestly had no clue that was why Maggie broke up with me until Deanna emailed me and thanked me for the idea.” Hudson’s face darkens in anger. “And I’m not going to act like I’m not to blame, because I am. I wanted to contact you, figure out a way to tell you the truth and I’m glad I’m getting the chance, because that idea was solely Maggie’s. It’s part of her expansion plan, and I am begging you to not use it. I don’t care that I lost my job, I don’t care that I might not work another day in San Francisco after this conversation, but please, please don’t take this away from Maggie. It was foolish and stupid and I’m so fucking sick to my stomach that I said something.”
Hudson nods. “Takes a big man to admit that.”
“Or a small man who knows he fucked up.”
Hardy shakes his head. “No, a big man.”
“We’ll take care of it,” Hudson says, sending a bolt of relief straight through me.Okay, one down, one to go.
“Thank you,” I say. “And now onto the second thing. I, uh…technically I shouldn’t know this, but since Maggie’s brother is my best friend, I sort of used him to see how she was doing. He called her, put her on speaker phone, and I listened to her conversation. I know, also wrong, but fuck am I desperate to hear her voice.”
“How is she?” Hardy asks, which grates on my nerves slightly, but I just tell myself it’s because he’s being a good friend—not because he’s interested.
“Not great. Your dad said something to her at the wedding.”
Hardy stiffens. “Was it when he was dancing with her? I thought something looked off.”
I nod. “Yeah, he basically blackmailed her.”
“What the fuck,” Hudson mutters under his breath.
“What did he say?” Hardy asks. “It has to be bad, because she left the wedding straight after that, and none of us have heard from her. Not even Haisley.”
“He told her that he knew about the potential of Haisley and Maggie working together. He wants Maggie to tell Haisley that she’ll only partner with her if it’s under Hopper Industries. If Maggie doesn’t comply, he promised he’d put her out of business with Hopper Industries’ new wedding branch.”
Jude’s hand curls into a fist as he turns toward Hardy and Hudson. “I fucking told you he was going to pull a stunt like that.” The veins in his neck pop and his face goes red—it’s frightening. “It’s not going to fucking happen. He acts like a goddamn saint and pretends he wants to improve his relationship with his daughter, but then he goes and pulls stunts like these. Humiliating one of his employees, trying to blackmail a woman who has been nothing but kind to my wife…I’m not going to fucking stand for it.”
Hudson nods as he sits back in his chair. “I know, Jude. You’re right.”
“It’s the final straw. You need to pull the trigger.”
The trigger?As in…are we getting homicidal? I mean, I don’t like the man, but I think that might be a bit extreme.
“Uh…” I place my hand on the table. “You know, this might not be my place, but I don’t think any sort of violence is going to solve the situation.”
“We’re not talking about an actual trigger,” Hardy says and then glances at Hudson. “I think you should tell him. He should be part of it.”
“Part of what?” I ask, feeling confused as fuck.
“He hasn’t signed an NDA,” Hudson says.
“He’s good for it,” Jude says, his fist still clenched on the table. “Right?” he asks me.
On a gulp, I nod. “Yeah. Trust me, I have nothing left to lose.” Yes, I need an income, but losing Maggie is the real devastation. She’s the best thing that ever happened to me—do not tell Gary I said that—and knowing she’s suffering has broken something deep within me. I feel lost without her.
Hudson nods and leans forward. Speaking quietly, he says, “We, as in Hardy, Jude, and I have been in discussion with the Cane brothers for the last few months.”
“Uh, as in Huxley, JP, and Breaker Cane?”
“Yes,” Hudson says. “Hardy and I haven’t been thrilled about the way our dad has been running the business, and he’s made it quite clear that he’s not interested in suggestions. Recently, Hardy was able to acquire the full ownership of the almond branch, which has been worth its weight in gold. Dad never liked the idea of farming—he thought it was beneath us—so when Hardy approached him with the idea of taking it over in exchange for his trust fund, Dad signed off on it.”
“Fool never cared to look at the reports, because the almond business is a lucrative one.” Hardy smiles brightly.
I can imagine, especially since they’re one of the fastest growing providers in California.
“Which leaves me,” Hudson says. “The goal was to take over Hopper Industries when Dad retires, but it doesn’t seem like he wants to do that anytime soon. And with the way he’s been running things, we don’t want to be associated with the business, so we approached the Canes about starting a cooperative. Equal buy-in, equal ideology. The goal is to focus on infrastructure within San Francisco. They’ve been looking for some help with their low-income housing, which is something both Jude and I are very invested in, and they’ve been looking into the agriculture space as well, which works great with us. We want to expand into spaces like your idea, revamp empty storefronts around the city and revitalize some of the rundown parts of town—without forcing out the people who already live there. The Canes understand our passion for our city, and we understand their passion for helping others. It’s a win-win. We’ve just been trying to figure out the details with our lawyers.”
