Page 76 of A Tempting Seduction
“I have to leave. Now.”
Ivan nodded without question, already reaching for the shop keys I was holding out. “Go. I lock up when we finish.”
Walker stepped forward, blocking my path to the door. “What the heck, Ford? We just got the cherry wood delivery, and we've got to figure out how to get everything done in time for the Pigeon Forge deadline along with the Hendersons.”
“You and Ivan will figure it out.” I grabbed my jacket from the hook by the office door. “I have every confidence the two of you can handle it.”
“That's not the point.” Walker's voice rose, echoing off the shop walls. “This is a huge custom project that will be worth a trash-ton of referrals, and you're just walking out because some girl calls?”
Ivan shot Walker a warning look. “Walker.”
“No, Ivan. This is trash.” Walker gestured toward the stacks of premium cherry lumber that had arrived this morning. “We've been waiting three and a half weeks for this wood. Three weeks of Archie jerking us around, and now that it's here, Ford wants to play knight in shining armor.”
Heat flared in my chest. “This isn't about playing anything.”
“Then what is it about? Because from where I'm standing, it looks like you're abandoning your business responsibilities for a woman you've known for a little less than two months."
I stepped closer to my brother, close enough to see the frustration and maybe hurt in his eyes. “Ruby called me because she needs help. When someone I care about needs help, I show up. End of story.”
“And when your business partner needs help? When your employees depend on you to make the right decisions?”
Ivan cleared his throat. “Boys. Is enough.”
But Walker wasn't done. “You're the detail guy, Ford. You're the one who catches problems before they become disasters. What happens if we start cutting this cherry and discover moisture issues? What happens if the grain doesn't match the samples?”
“Then you call me.” I pulled the keys to my truck from my pocket. “You're not helpless, Walker. You built half this business.”
Walker's jaw worked like he was chewing on words he wanted to spit out. Finally, he shook his head. “Fine. Go. But don't blame me if this project goes to perdition while you're off rescuing your waitress.”
The comment hit me wrong, and I took another step toward my brother. “Don't.”
“Don't what? Point out that you're thinking with something other than your brain?”
Ivan stepped between us before I could respond. “Walker, you shut mouth now. Ford, you go. We handle cherry wood. Is not rocket science.”
I looked at Ivan, grateful for the older man's steady presence. “Are you sure?”
“Am sure. Wood is wood. I work with wood forty years before you were born.” Ivan's weathered hand patted my shoulder. “You go help your Ruby. We make beautiful things here.”
Walker muttered something under his breath that I chose to ignore. I headed for the door, then paused with my hand on the handle.
“Call me if you run into problems.”
“We won't,” Ivan said firmly.
“But if you do.”
“We call.” Ivan nodded. “Now go. Girl who calls man crying needs help, not discussion.”
I left them standing in the shop, surrounded by the tools and materials of our trade, and walked out into the late afternoon sunshine. My truck started on the first try, and I pulled out of the parking lot with gravel crunching under my tires.
The drive to Java Jolt twenty minutes, but it felt like hours. Ruby's voice kept playing in my head. The way it had shaken. The way she'd struggled to get the words out. I'd never heard her sound like that before. Scared. Broken.
When I pulled up to the coffee shop, I could see through the large front windows that Sam Kendrick was working behind the counter. The sixty-something owner of Java Jolt moved with the practiced efficiency of someone who'd been making coffee since before Ruby was born. He glanced up when I walked through the door, and his expression told me everything I needed to know.
“She's in the back office,” Sam said before I could ask. “Been in there since I arrived.”
“How bad?”
