“He would oversee the business side of things, leaving you and Adria to focus on what you really love—cooking amazing meals for your customers. You’d of course have a say in all business decisions, but he’d take the lead on the expansion.”
“That kind of sounds amazing. Adria and I have loved opening the new stores, but we spend more time focused on finding a building, renovations, hiring new people, and getting the operation up and running than we do being in the kitchens.”
“You’d still be involved, but he’d take a lot of that off your shoulders because that’s what he’s good at. He also proposes having one of his business managers take point, and he’d direct that person and you’d all oversee him.”
“Adria and I have talked about possibly hiring a business manager of some sort. Someone to help us with the logistics and things.”
“I don’t think you could do better than Jon and his people based on this very detailed and well-thought-out plan he has for working with you two.”
“Wow. I had no idea. Why would he keep this from me?”
“It’s like you said. You never got a chance to discuss it. I think while he was making his plans, he wanted to have it all perfect to present to you because if you said yes, that meant you’d be working together for a very long time to come.”
“Is it strange that I can already see it? I know Adria dreamed of Almost Homemade, but it’s become my life’s work, too, and I love it and I want Jon to be a part of it.”
“Then I think you should see this.” Tate turned the folder on the desk and flipped open the top so she could see the papers inside.
“A prenuptial agreement?” They’d talked about sharing their life. He’d basically asked her to move in. “I guess that makes sense. He’d want to protect his wealth.” He’d probably learned to protect himself dating Steph.
“This document isn’t to protect him per se. It’s to protect you.”
“I don’t understand. He’s got way more assets and money than I do.”
“But you were suspicious of his intentions. Nathan accused you of wanting to sell AH to him. Steph made you think he only started dating you because he wanted AH.”
“All of that was wrong. Jon’s not like that. I never thought he’d do something like that because of a business deal.”
“He wanted you to be sure, so he put it in this document. He’s not asking you to take one deal, he wanted to ask you to take him and the deal. If you agreed, and later down the road you two split for any reason, AH remains yours, any debt owed to him on the loan is forgiven, and you walk away clear. He keeps the grocery stores he owns.” Tate tossed the last part out like that didn’t really matter, because what mattered was that Jon wanted her to know the only thing he wanted was her.
It wasn’t about the companies and money. It was about them working together and building on what they already had, but more than anything he wanted them to be husband and wife, equal partners in business and life.
“You should also know that I asked him about running cattle here.”
It made sense. “He wants Emmy to grow up on the ranch.”
“Declan and I want to expand the herd, but we’ll need more land. Jon’s got the land to run a herd as large as the one we’ve got at Cedar Top. You guys will expand the business, and you’ll need more beef. Jon can supply it.”
“He loves business, but his dream to run the ranch got trampled under all the Steph chaos.” She thought more about it and realized why he’d put everything on hold. “He thought she might want to move back to California, which meant he’d have to go back, too, so he could be with Emmy. He’d have given all this up for Emmy.”
“After what Steph did, Jon will more than likely get full custody. He can stay right here with you.”
They could make a life together right here.
She touched her fingers to the papers. “I can’t believe he threw this away.”
“Your happiness is more important to him than money or any business deal. You had reservations about his offer, so he took it off the table and trashed it. He knows you love him, so he chose you over everything else just like he’d have chosen Emmy and gone back to California if that’s what it took to keep his daughter.”
“I can’t believe it.”
“You are his true love, Trinity. Is he yours?”
Her heart overflowed with love for him. “Yes.”
“Then tell him you’ll take the deal.”
Everything became clear in her mind and heart. She knew exactly what she wanted and needed to do. But she needed a little time.
“How long until Declan and Skye’s wedding?”
“It’s next Saturday.”
“And the rehearsal dinner is on Thursday?” She tried to remember the details stashed in her cloudy mind.
“Yeah. The whole family should be there, including Adria’s sisters and Mom and Dad.”
“Perfect.”
“For what?”
“You’ll see.” She took the business proposal and the prenup and held them to her chest. “Whatever you do, don’t tell Jon you told me about this.”
Tate held out his hand, a black velvet box in his palm. “Then I guess I shouldn’t tell him or you that I also found this in his desk drawer.”
“Is that a . . .”
Tate grinned. “Want to see it?”
She shook her head. And regretted it again.
“How many times are you going to do that before you remember it hurts?” Tate scolded.
“I don’t know, a dozen more maybe.” She closed her eyes, waited a few seconds, then opened them again. “Are you sure that’s for me?”
“I can’t imagine he got it for Steph.”
She cringed at the thought. “Okay. I’ll need that for Thursday, but I’ll leave it there for now.”
“What exactly are you planning for Thursday?”
“If I can get Declan and Skye on board and Adria to agree, I’m going to accept Jon’s proposals.”
“Not sure what that all means, but if you need any help, count me in.”
She’d need her whole family’s help to pull this off, but they loved her, she loved Jon, and they’d help her make her dream a reality.
Chapter Thirty
Jon thought this day would never end. His head pounded. His eyes blurred. And he didn’t even have a head injury to blame. Just overwhelming fatigue. All he could think about was Trinity and Emmy and all they’d been through the other night.
And that fuck Nathan piled on with his deceit and sabotage.
People were sick and in the hospital because Nathan wanted to force Trinity and Adria into a situation where they had to sell because they couldn’t take the financial hit after spreading themselves thin with the new stores. Or maybe it was straight-up revenge for Trinity not taking the deal. Either way, Jon was taking him down.
Drake searched through the video footage.
Jon called the FDA and sent them to the hydroponics farm to test their greens. They’d confirm the contamination didn’t come from there.
He sorted through Trinity’s meticulous order forms and inventory lists and found all the evidence that showed when she’d used the last of their Lettuce Harvest greens and replaced them with the hydroponically grown greens. Then he contacted the farm that supplied Tree Top Grocery that was owned by Bountiful Foods and spoke to them about their recall, only to discover Bountiful Foods handled the collection and disposal of all the contaminated lettuce, which gave Nathan access through his father’s company.