For Keaton and me, that was his room.
We slipped inside, but when I tried to turn on the light, he stayed my hand, pulling me into his chest instead. He held me painfully close, and I held on to him in the hopes I could ease his suffering.
“I thought …” he whispered roughly, “I thought one of you was hurt. When I opened the door and saw them there, I thought … I remembered when she died and I thought …”
He squeezed tighter. I closed my eyes and tightened my arms.
“It’s all right, Keaton,” I promised. “It’s all gonna be all right.”
He released me only so he could look down at me. “When you say it, I almost believe it.” But he shook his head. “I have the money,” he said, though I wondered why he’d said I and not we. “We’ll get this cleared up. But … for the life of me I can’t figure out why Jimmy would accuse me of this.”
“It reeks of a setup. And the only person I can think who’d do it is—”
“Mitchell. Yeah, I know. And if that’s the case, we might be in more trouble than we can get out of.”
My blood simmered painfully, but I held onto the burn with both hands. “I hate him.”
At that, one corner of his lips flicked in a sad smile. “You don’t hate anybody.”
“Well, he’s a worthy exception.”
He chuckled, pressing a kiss to my temple. “That he is. Now come with me to bed, Daisy Mae, and let’s put today out of its misery.”
“With a bang?” I asked with a brow arched.
“Can you think of a better way?” The words brushed my lips as he inched closer.
“Not a single one.”
With a searing kiss, we did just that.
And it almost worked.
24
SNARE
KEATON
The math didn’t work.
I sat at Dad’s old desk that morning in the silent house, the only sound the squeak of his chair when I shifted. Sophie was at school, my brothers at work, and Daisy was at the farm, leaving me alone to wallow around in my mess.
Our equipment was being worked on, the completion—and the bill I’d have for it—looming. I’d met with our accountant to discuss options, and they were slim. We could sell off equipment, scale back, lay off a portion of our crew. We could offer no charity. In fact, we’d have to likely raise our prices. Because we weren’t just combating the massive expense of damages, but our trickling income and red budgets. It wouldn’t be enough, even after all that sacrifice.
I’d walked us too close to the edge, and there we teetered with my family’s legacy and future in the balance. He’d suggested I sell everything. It was the only way to get out of our predicament intact.
Unless I used Mandy’s money to bail us out. Again.
There was no contest. The money was there, no matter how much disdain I had for it. I believed without question that she would have wanted me to use it, especially if it meant saving the company. And for the first time, I didn’t feel guilty about touching it. I was too desperate to be righteous.
The doorbell rang, and I frowned, pushing back from the desk. I considered a number of people who could be on the other side of the door—a delivery guy, a salesperson, a missionary, or even a vagrant looking for work, which was commonplace once word spread.
I did not expect to find Mitchell on my stoop, his leathery face hard and his clothes starched stiff enough to stand on their own. But he filled them up, larger than life as he was, his eyes cold and sharp.
For a heartbeat, we just glared at each other across the threshold.
“Mornin’, son,” he finally said. “Mind if I come in?”
I should have said no. I should have run him off my porch, into his dualie, and away from my home. But deference was hardwired into my DNA. I felt myself nod and stepped out of the way to grant him entrance.
His boot heels clicked on the hardwood as he entered. I closed the door behind him.
“Is there somewhere we can sit and talk for a minute?” he asked.
Again, I said nothing, offering a nod. I made for Dad’s office, hoping a desk between us would stop me from throttling him.
Should have made him leave. I regretted this mistake forever after.
Neither of us spoke again until we were seated, and even then there was a long stretch of silence.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“Just wanted to talk. I know you’re in a bind, what with your equipment down.”
“And what do you know about that?”
“Only what I hear. And what I hear is that you’ve got more debt than you can handle.”
“I don’t know who told you what, but—”
“I see you skimming money off Mandy’s trust, Meyer. I know you’ve done a whole lotta free work, and I have it on good authority that your business is in danger of failing.” I opened my mouth to argue, but he cut me off. “Do you really mean to tell me it’s not true? Don’t lie to me, boy.”
My teeth ground hard enough to hurt. “My affairs are no business of yours.”
“They are when my money’s involved.”
Cold fear shot through me with hot fury in its wake.
“I didn’t want to have to do this. I don’t want your business to fail—it’s a part of this town’s foundation. If you want to use Mandy’s trust to save yourself, you have my blessing.”
“But?”
A cool smile. “You know I can’t put my money behind this homeless shelter business. That’ll have to stop.”
I’d known he was going to say it before he’d opened his mouth. Rage bucked against my ribs like a bull. Did I have a choice? I was too furious to know.
“That all?” I said through my teeth.
His stony eyes flared with emotion. “I remember the day you married my daughter, the day you became my son. You already were to me, you know. The second you two started seeing each other, I knew. I wasn’t blessed with a boy of my own, not until you.” A pause. “Keaton, I have supported you your whole life. Every football game, every endeavor. When Mandy died, we shared our grief, you and me. Nobody else quite understood, not in the way we did.”
The hot coal in my throat stuck fast, singeing. I couldn’t speak.
“I understand that we don’t see eye to eye on some things, and I don’t expect us to always agree. But there are two things in this town that I cannot abide. One is a project that doesn’t align with the town’s views, values, and safety. The other is the Blums.” He pinned me with his gaze, full of hate. “You know how they’ve gotten in my way, opposing me at every turn. They stopped me from bringing Goody’s to Lindenbach, campaigning across town, starting a social war for no good reason. They crashed an oil deal that could have meant money for our community, and now they want to house dangerous people who leech off our good will and kindness. I can’t stand for it, Keaton. I lost Sebastian to that family already. I can’t lose you too.”
“And you’ll gut and cage me to make sure of it?”
He shook his head. “I hoped it wouldn’t come to this. I hoped you’d get her out of your system and that red tape could stop your shelter. But here we are. You have a choice to make. Save your family and business, or lose it all for a girl and a bunch of strangers.”