Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 99748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 499(@200wpm)___ 399(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 499(@200wpm)___ 399(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
He barely raises his voice, but is doing that authoritative thing where he’s standing with his feet wide and his hands on his belt, expecting respect.
Is he for real?
Chrissy is red-faced, sweaty, and wild-eyed. Civility and logic have left the building as far as her brain’s concerned. She’s not gonna blink and suddenly realize that she should listen to someone, least of all a man, regardless of whether he’s wearing a uniform or not.
But maybe she’ll listen to me.
Before I take a handful of steps, Jesse tries to stop me, but I push him off with a vow that I’ll be safe. I might not have authority like Robbie, but I do have a big mouth and enough attitude to get loud and brash. “Aunt Chrissy, what the hell are you doing?” I screech.
She glares at me long enough to say, “She’s living here.”
I already knew that, but shocked, I ask Jesse, “Is she in the house right now?”
That alone takes this from destruction of property to potential attempted murder.
“No,” he sighs, “not this second. But there’s a hundred thousand dollars’ worth of materials she’s blowing through, not to mention the skid steer she’s driving like she stole it.”
Robbie seems to think that’s a valid argument until Oliver finally looks up from his phone. “Technically, she’s destroying her own property. The company, and therefore its assets, are in both Mr. and Mrs. Ford’s names, so she’s welcome to do with it as she pleases.”
Robbie tilts his head, mulling that over. “I reckon that makes sense.” To Jesse, he holds up his hands and says, “Please don’t come at me, man. The law’s the law.”
Jesse looks like he’s still contemplating going after Robbie. At a minimum, they’re going to meet at the pool table to settle this. But for now, Jesse surrenders.
“That’s some bullshit and you know it,” he tells Oliver, pointing a dirty finger at him. “Stay away from our construction zone and keep Chrissy out of it too.” He gives one last look at Chrissy and walks away, muttering, “No helmet, no leg protection, no eyewear, and when she gets fucking hurt, who do you think they’re gonna come after? Me! Well, fuck that!”
To the crowd of guys, he hollers, “Show’s over. She’s allowed to do a full demo if she wants, I guess.”
There’s a displeased rumble through the crowd, and Jesse adds, “We’ve got work to do if you want to hit your hours this week. We’ll work around her if we have to.”
That’s another straw on the camel’s back for Chrissy, and she wails, crying loudly and sloppily, as she tries in vain to get the machine to go through the front door of the town house again. “Yeehiiiii,” she shouts as she makes contact.
I think this time she might actually get through.
Chapter 16
JESSE
News of Chrissy’s breakdown and deconstruction beats me to town, and Puss N Boots is already packed to the gills with people gossiping away about it. That all stops when I come in.
“Shhh, Jesse’s here.”
“Did Chrissy really kill Jed’s new woman and bury her in the concrete of one of the town houses?”
“I heard Robbie arrested her and she’s at the jail tonight, waiting for a transfer to Newport Hospital for a psych eval.”
What? I shake my head at the crazy paths the gossip vines can take. Holding up my hands, I try to calm the chaos so I can set the record straight. The last thing we need is people thinking Township is haunted by Lucy’s ghost. There would be tents outside the front gates with T-shirts for sale faster than you can say “Area 51.”
“Nobody died, nobody was buried in concrete, and nobody got arrested.” Instead of being good news, a groan of disappointment goes through the room.
“Well, what happened, then?” a voice calls out.
I climb up on the bar and shout, “Hey!” Still not getting silence, I whistle loudly. Once I have all eyes on me, I explain, “Jed was letting Lucy stay at Township as ‘security.’” I don’t do the air quotes, but with my intentional drawl and raised brows, everyone knows what I think of Jed’s plan. “Chrissy found out. I guess you could say she came out to evict her—”
“Preeetty sure you mean kill her,” someone hollers.
I clear my throat, impatiently waiting for silence again. “Evicting someone was apparently her right, since she’s part owner of the whole development. Or so her lawyer and Officer Milson say. What matters is that all the damage is fixable and you’ve got my word, it’ll be perfect before it’s sold.”
That development might be Ford Construction’s, but everyone knows I’m the man building it, and my reputation for solid, quality work is unquestioned. I won’t let Jed and Chrissy’s divorce battle royale jeopardize that.
Aunt Etta comes out from the back, frowning deeply. Every single one of those lines on her forehead represents a whack she’s given my ass when I was a kid. All completely warranted. “Jesse, what the hell are you doing on my bar? You’d best getchur ass and those dirty boots down from there right this minute if you know what’s good for you.”