"Precisely," Lloyd says with a soulless grin. "And we'll all be rich."
Blue Tie looks down abruptly, then pulls out his phone and starts having a conversation. Meanwhile, Lloyd and Goatee start chatting among themselves, so I can't make out anything else.
Ducking down, I creep a few steps closer, heart pounding in my ears. My arm begins to shake from holding out the phone, so I rest it against the brick wall. As I lean in, my foot lands on a loose rock, scraping it on the pavement.
"What was that?"
"Relax, it's nothing. Everyone will have left the office by now. Let's go back up to one of the boardrooms where we can get some coffee and figure this out."
"Sure."
The car starts. They'll be driving out of that nook in seconds. I run as fast as I can back down the alley, then into a deeply set doorway. With my hood flipped up and my back turned, I'm perfectly hidden by the time the car rolls by.
My pulse hammers in my ears long after the car is gone. Retracing my steps, I walk as fast as I can to Dash's house.
My family's reputation is certainly nowhere near that of the Oakleys. If those guys found out about Dad, they would definitely exploit it. They'd spread nasty gossip about Dash dating…well, someone like me, from a family like mine.Ugh.
I'm hugely conflicted. In the red corner, I do the right thing and tell Dash the whole truth. In the blue corner, I break up with him before I ruin everything. Either option is horrible. The thought of him seeing me as the lowly daughter of a felon… He would never smile at me the same way again. Never think of me as a worthy girlfriend.
Yet keeping secrets is no way to start off what I deeply want to be the love of my life.
Maybe it's best to leave the decision up to Dash. Tell him everything and let him decide. Tell him straight out that I don't expect him to stay with me, for the good of his family. My family is already toast. I can't risk his too. It's not right.
The further I walk, the angrier I get. How dare Lloyd turn on his own family? How dare he try to make the Oakleys look likemonsters, when they just want to maintain a forest, and leave a chunk of land as natural as possible? How could he put money over the well-being of his family?
That was precisely what my father did. My hands ball into fists and I can't pull in enough air. In the process of telling Dash why we need to break up, I have to tell him that even though his own family is about to be in trouble, I want to do anything I can to help.
Even though I'm practically hysterical from fear and rage, a laugh bubbles through me as an old country song pops into my mind.
I'm about to stand by my man.
9
DASH
As I pull into the driveway with a truck full of groceries to refill everything Corbin has eaten, I'm surprised to see Bridget sitting on my porch. After getting all the bags inside, I wrap her in a blanket on the couch. "How long were you waiting, baby?"
"Only half an hour. It's fine. This couldn't wait." She quickly tells me everything she heard, pulling out her phone and replaying parts of the conversation between Lloyd and the two other men.
Dammit.We all keep hoping that this crap with Lloyd will end, but the weasel just won't stop looking for more ways to make money without working. Now he's calling in what sounds like sketchy assistance from the local government? Wonderful.
I hate that Bridget had to witness any of this. "Why were you listening in on their conversation, anyway?"
She bites her lip, silent for a moment. "There are some…reasons I need to know what's going on around town."
Whatever it is, talking about it makes her uncomfortable, so I don't press that part. "Where did you hear all this?"
"An alley just east of the business district. It was cold and windy, so I took a shortcut."
Clasping her hands, my shoulders bristle as I attempt to remain calm. "You were in a back alley by yourself with three strange men?"
She seems surprised that I'm upset. "Notwiththem. I was around the corner. They were in a car. I had plenty of time to run." Her face falls. "Well, just enough time to hide when they started to leave."
My eyes close as I slowly take a breath before responding. "Bridget, I won't ever tell you what to do. But if you ever put yourself in danger like that again, I might curse like a sailor."
As I open my eyes, I'm careful to make sure she doesn't see a trace of anger in them. I'm furious with Lloyd, not her. "Please. No more back alleys, or spying on strange men. Call me for a ride, or call a cab and I'll pay you back. Is that a reasonable request?"
"Yeah." Her fingers squeeze mine. "Are you saying that you don't care that your uncle is trying to mess with your family's property?"
