“I told him I’m not authorized. He said he’s not paying if I don’t do it.” His voice lowered. “He’s standing here watching me.”
Wyatt, who had been leaning in listening, held out his hand silently. I put the phone on speaker.
“So Brody’s not there?” Wyatt asked.
“No.”
“Did you call him?”
“I don’t want him to think I can’t handle this.”
“Don’t do anything you aren’t allowed to do,” Wyatt said firmly.
“I know, I just… I don’t want to lose this job.”
Benji sounded so unsure. I hated this. I knew he took that job to help pay for college, but that was my responsibility—mine, and his dad’s. It wasn’t worth his potentially getting hurt.
I looked at my carefully laid-out table. The stack of order forms. I’d printed a ton of them, hoping this whole thing would work out.
Months of planning sat neatly arranged in front of me, waiting for customers who hadn’t even walked through the door yet.
“The homeowner is trying to bully you into doing more work for him while the boss isn’t there to see it. Brody would never discipline you for saying no to unsafe work,” Wyatt said.
Wyatt was right, but my mom-brain needed action. Someone threatening my kid? Hell no. “Call Brody,” I said. “In the meantime, text me the address. I’ll come down there. I don’t want you doing anything unsafe. Do you understand?”
“Yeah,” his voice sounded resigned.
In the background, a muffled male voice barked, “You done gossiping yet?”
Wyatt’s jaw ticked.
The easygoing man who had been joking with me seconds earlier was gone. In his place stood someone much harder.
“Perfect,” I said tightly. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
The call ended, and the noise of the trade show rushed back in around me.
I grabbed the box I’d brought my paperwork in and started stacking the order forms inside. My hands were shaking, and I wasn’t sure if it was rage or disappointment, or something else.
Before I could get far, Wyatt caught my wrist gently.
“I have to go,” I said. “I can’t have him dealing with some angry homeowner alone. I’ll stay with him until Brody gets back. I’ll still get in a good amount of the event.”
Wyatt shook his head.
I gestured helplessly. “I can’t be in two places at once.”
His expression softened. “You don’t have to be. Give me the address.”
“You’re working.”
“My guys can handle the booth for an hour. And even if they couldn’t?” He shrugged. “It’s lumber and brochures. Your son is doing a dangerous job with some bully breathing down his neck.”
“I can handle my own responsibilities. You don’t have to fix this.”
“I’m not fixing it.” His eyes held mine. “I’m backing him up. No eighteen-year-old should have to stare down a grown man alone, and you need to be here.”
Something inside me shifted.
