Page 75 of Then You Happened
The bell rings, signaling a customer coming through the door, and we both turn to see two guys standing there. Jed’s face turns red as he stutters. “We’re closed temporarily. We—I—business meeting.”
“Is everything okay, Jed?” the man asks, his shoulders squaring as he reads the situation.
“Should I ask him about his grain?” I murmur under my breath so Jed hears it, and the sudden jostle of his head tells me I just scared the shit out of him
“Yeah. It’s fine, Kenny. Just sorting some stuff out,” Jed says. “We’ll be open in a few.”
Kenny nods, eyes wary as he ushers his friend back out of the store but not before staring at Tate for a second.
“What’s wrong, Jed? You didn’t want me to ask Kenny about his deliveries? He owns the place up off the south end of Jergens, right? I’m sure he orders a significant amount.” I take a step toward the counter where a log of deliveries is sitting on a clipboard. “In fact, why don’t I contact all of these customers and tell them they should check their feed because it might not be up to par.” When I reach out to grab the clipboard, he yanks it out of the way.
Wouldn’t have thought he could move that fast.
“Look—”
“Or maybe I should head over to Ginger’s and ask—”
“That isn’t necessary—”
“I hear Raelynn’s looking for new customers. Hell, she might be two towns over, but she’s willing to deliver. I think I’ll let her know she should expect some new customers. All it takes is one phone call for the word to get out.”
“Leave my customers alone!” he shouts, losing his cool once again.
“Why? I think all of Lone Star should know you’re shorting your customers. How many more ‘innocent’ mistakes have you made?”
“That isn’t—”
“But it is—”
“It was only Knox!” he finally shouts, done with the back and forth.
And the minute the confession is out, the minute he realizes I got what I wanted, which was him so worked up that he forgot to keep his lies straight, his eyes widen and his lips fall lax.
“Yep. You did just say that, Jed. Loud and fucking clear.” My chuckle reverberates through the room, and a part of me wants to glance toward Tate, but I don’t. Instead, I take a step toward him as he takes one in retreat.
“I didn’t—I mean . . .”
“Save it. Come clean and admit that you’ve been cheating her, switching out some of the expensive grain she’s been paying for with the cheap grain made from who the fuck knows what because you thought you could get away with it? And you’ve been doing it for a hell of a lot longer than one month.” I cross my arms over my chest, lean my hips against the counter behind me, and just stare at him.
“It won’t happen again.” His voice is barely audible, and his words do nothing to fix the problem.
My chuckle says as much. I lean in and keep my voice low and even when I speak. “And if you don’t believe the rumors about me, then you should believe the ones about Tate. They’re all true. She’s a ruthless businesswoman who was burned by her asshole of a husband. Her reputation is already shot to hell in this town, so she doesn’t give a flying fuck about damaging it further by taking a cheating son of a bitch like you down. She has the records, invoices, pictures of the grain, and witnesses to back her up.” When I take a step back, I wink and flash him a grin. “This town might like you, but they don’t like being screwed out of their hard-earned money more.”
His Adam’s apple bobs before he clears his throat, eyes flicking between Tate and me.
“The question is . . . what are you going to do about it to make it right, Jed?”
24
TATE
My cheeks hurt from smiling, my mind reeling from what Jed Bateman just agreed to.
“Did he really say that?” I ask, so stunned and so relieved that I can’t really process it.
“Top-of-the-line grain for a year”—Jack glances my way as he flicks his blinker on and flashes me a grin—“free of charge.”
I close my eyes and lean my head back against the seat as relief washes over me. This is huge. Bigger than huge. Not having to pay this will allow me a sliver of breathing room when it comes to my bills. I might be able to get current on one or two of the ones I’m behind on.
