Page 33
“You shouldn’t have any contact with your daughter, and seeing as I’m with her, by extension, that means me.”
“That is correct. I do appreciate everything you’ve done, Mr. Moore, but I think it is best that you leave. This is between Kate and me.”
Felicity was afraid of him, and she should be. There was a moment, before he finally fucking fired her, when she attempted to seduce him, and that was the final straw. Not just the fact she fucked with his electricity, which meant he had to deal with Jaxson fucking Riggs. She then attempted to seduce him, even tried to threaten him, to make it appear he was the one who’d been making her uncomfortable while she’d been working for him.
He saw right through her act. That was why they never got along. He knew what she was really like, and it didn’t take talking to Kate to figure that shit out. He worked that one out all on his own. It probably helped that he didn’t like people, and what he hated more were liars and bullshitters. They were the worst as far as he was concerned.
Cruz got to his feet. “You know the damage you caused to your shop. The debt you ran up, and you also used your daughter, getting her into financial trouble without her permission?”
“I did no such thing. Kate did all of that—”
“Cut the shit!” He stopped her immediately. “This may work on the men you use, but I promise you, it doesn’t work on me. I was there, Felicity. I was there when that loan was close to taking everything, and I saw the paperwork. Did you know, all it took was a few little searches to figure out that Kate was nowhere near the location needed to sign for that loan?”
Felicity looked at him, her eyes wide.
“You think you’re taking Kate to court to win that money, to own half the business, I’m the one who owns it,” Cruz said.
“No, that’s not possible.”
“I took the loan, I paid the debt, and made sure everything was in place for Kate,” he said. “You’re taking me on, not your daughter, and trust me, Felicity, I don’t play nice. I make sure the truth comes out. So, here is what is going to happen. You’re either going to continue playing this game, and trust me, if Kate doesn’t hear in twenty-four hours that everything has been dropped and you’re out of town, I will consider you going to war with me. I’m game, but anything you have, or think you lay claim to, I will make sure the truth comes out. I have everything I need, because I figured there would come a point when your greed would ruin you, and trust me, honey, it is. It’s not a good look on you.”
“You’re blackmailing me,” Felicity said.
“I’m not. I’m telling you that in Higher Ridge, if they don’t know it already, and how far you want to take this, I’m game. I’ve got the means to take you there, Felicity. You want to hurt Kate, you hurt me, and I come out fighting. I don’t consider you my mother. I consider you my enemy, and I will treat you as such. You have twenty-four hours to think about it.”
“I have no money!” Felicity said.
“Pawn your jewelry, and stop looking to your daughter to fund your way of life.”
And with that, he left the hotel.
Chapter Eleven
It did feel good to get back into the shop. Kate opened the door as it was going to be a warm one today, and also because she felt her shop needed to have a nice breeze flowing through.
Now that it was nearly March, spring was starting to fight back. For the last few days, it had been way too cold, but now it was getting nice and warm. She was more of a fall and winter person, but with how long it felt those seasons lasted, she was ready for a little spring. Summer, not so much. She wasn’t interested in summer, that was just way too hot.
She fired up the till and went into her office to put the coffeepot on.
All morning she’d been cooking breakfast for Cruz and his ranch hands. Kate thought she would be bored, or a little fed up with waking early, but she wasn’t. She enjoyed the task and of course, it was a real joy to wake up to Cruz’s kisses in the morning.
They still hadn’t talked about the fact they were having unprotected sex, were still having it, and she also didn’t want to mention that she’d skipped her last two periods, and the jeans she used to wear no longer fit. That seemed wrong to do. They were in a good place, and pregnancy was going to ruin that. But, and this was a big but, she also knew something wasn’t right, as her stomach had started to turn in the mornings.
She feared she might be starting to have the dreaded morning sickness, which wasn’t going to be fun. Even the scent of coffee made her feel sick, and she had no choice but to rush back to her office, turn the coffeepot off, and dump the contents down the sink. This was not good.
She had an hour before she needed to open, but with the doors open, she sometimes had early morning customers, who she wouldn’t send away.
Kate opted for some water, and instead, made her way onto the shop floor and started to work on the abundance of online orders. She started at the top, gathering the few pieces of fabric, along with the necessary thread, and she got to work making the order, which she stacked on her main cutting table with the order form. She did this with the first five orders, and then got to work packaging them and placing the label on each one, complete with the delivery sticker. It was all done, and she placed them in the necessary mailing bags.
During this time, she had a customer looking for some summer fabrics, and Kate took her to where she needed. Back to her orders, she worked through them, even as Tillie arrived with Belle. The little Jack Russell went to her bed and literally collapsed in it. Tillie rolled her eyes. “Would you believe me if I told you that all I did was make her walk?” Tillie asked.
This made Kate laugh, and she bent down to give the poor dog a stroke. “You’re a good girl, aren’t you? Your evil mommy is not very nice making you walk.”
“You’re encouraging bad behavior.”
Kate laughed and got to her feet, just as Mr. Moseley walked into her shop. He had a smile on his lips, and Kate didn’t know if that was a good or bad sign. He sometimes delivered bad news with a smile.
“Hello, Mr. Moseley,” she said.
