Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 102523 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 513(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102523 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 513(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
“Excuse me, young lady?” Jed sneers. Looking me up and down, he mutters, “I should have expected.”
My bitch face is no longer resting, but active as hell. I’m glaring, snarling, and my head is on a swivel as I tell him, “One, you are not excused. Two, I am neither young, nor a lady. So cupcake, cookie, or the door?”
He lifts his chin, a small smirk teasing at the corner of his lips as though he’s enjoying this. “Then I reckon I’d best take a dozen cupcakes. The girls in the office will sure appreciate them.”
I should bite my tongue, but I can’t stop myself, even though I know I’m only going to make this situation worse—for myself and, ultimately, for Mom. “Girls? I didn’t realize you were hiring children now. I thought Maggie was your assistant? She’s gotta be pushing fifty nowadays. Hell, even her daughter is a full-grown woman, with a baby girl of her own.”
He chuckles as though I’m joking. I’m not. Everything about Jed Ford sets me on edge—he’s entitled, misogynistic, narcissistic, and sneaky, and he lies to suit himself. An all-around oxygen thief of a human being with charming wrapping, like a rotten apple in a Tiffany-blue box.
“Oh, I didn’t mean nothing by that. I take care of all my girls.”
He’s baiting his hook with the best worm he can think of, reminding me about how he “took care” of Aunt Etta.
“Mm-hmm,” I hum snidely. I won’t give him the benefit of more.
“Speaking of my girls, make sure to tell your mom about the rental agreement. It needs to be signed soon, or else . . .” He looks around the bakery nonchalantly, but there’s nothing casual about the way his eyes measure the space, as though he’s got plans of his own for it.
“Or else?” I echo.
“Well, I reckon I’d have to get a new tenant.” His grin is pure evil, showcasing how much delight he takes in playing the Big Man to both small business owners and a “girl” like me.
I want to cat-scratch that smile right off his face, leave him with scars as deep as the ones he left on Aunt Etta’s heart and he’s trying to mark Cold Springs with. But attacking him physically will only get me another visit from Officer Milson, and I have no doubt that Jed would press charges. So, I go at him with my best asset—my mouth.
“You keep raising rent, and you’re going to hit the tipping point where everyone’s forced to close. You’ll be left with empty buildings and zero rent, holding your ass and wondering where you went wrong.”
Surprised that some “working girl” like me might have even the smallest amount of economic sense, he blinks once, twice, before his entire face begins turning red. His shoulders climb up near his ears as he waves a hand at the space around us. “Won’t be no problem getting tenants when business is booming from the new residents. Gonna be a whole new Cold Springs soon.”
“If the rezoning passes, you mean,” I correct him.
“I mean when the rezoning passes.”
The air conditioner in the bakery doesn’t kick on, but it’s suddenly ice cold in the space between Jed and me. He scowls at me, his eyes promising all sorts of consequences to this chat between us.
And though I’ll have to apologize to Mom for setting proverbial fire to her lease agreement, I don’t back down, answering Jed’s stare with threats of my own as I cross my arms over my chest and defiantly glare right back.
Finally, Jed speaks. “That spectacle yesterday sure was something. Guess Wyatt being there got everybody fired up.”
I don’t respond, don’t so much as move a muscle.
“It sure would be a shame for the town, or a sweet girl like you, to hitch your wagon to someone who’s gonna leave.”
“He’s not leaving.” I say it as though it’s a fact, even though I don’t know if it’s true. Wyatt promised only that he’d tell me before he left. But he has a life in Newport, one he’ll eventually go back to, but not right now. Not when he was protesting downtown yesterday, and actively involved in figuring out ways to stop Jed last night. I’m sure of that much at least.
And what about staying for you? a quiet voice in my head asks.
I can’t focus on that right now. I won’t be that selfish when Cold Springs needs him. Once we figure out the zoning and have the town hearing, then I can concentrate on Wyatt and me.
If there’s such a thing as “Wyatt and me” then.
Jed chuckles as though he can read my mind. “Sweetie, that’s what boys like him do. Leave when they don’t get their way.”
I have to smile at that because that doesn’t sound like Wyatt at all. He might’ve left Cold Springs, but it wasn’t a toddler temper tantrum–stomping away like Jed makes it sound. Not at all. Wyatt left because he wanted to be in control of his own destiny.