Page 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Emory

I swept the black Sharpie over my sketch pad, angling my hand to create a wide, dark line that reminded me of the ink decorating Gray’s body. A crooked line slowly took shape, then another and another. With each flick of my wrist, a sprawling tree emerged, branches bare of leaves, like a set of bones reaching for the sky.

On instinct, I added raindrops falling above it. Around it.

It was a striking image but one full of dread and grief . It wasn’t the first time I’d drawn it—or even the tenth. My eyes burned as I added a small figure in the branches of the tree.

My brother.

Right before he died.

This scene had haunted me for almost twenty years. But it was the first time I’d designed it like a tattoo rather than a painting. I’d been drawing tattoos—some complete pictures, others just abstract designs—ever since hooking up with Gray. Admiring his ink had unlocked something inside me, given me a spark of inspiration for the first time in years.

This image surfaced without thought, a pattern so familiar it snuck in while I was distracted. A symbol of my regret and my guilt. If I wore it on my skin instead of drawing it again and again, would it be a memorial—or merely penance for my part in what happened that day?

“Emory, you can go in now.”

I startled, slapping the sketchbook closed. Esther, the executive assistant at the Gold Community Foundation, smiled at me politely. Right. I’d been waiting for a meeting with Allison.

I shoved my sketchbook into my laptop bag and rose from the gray waiting room couch. “Thanks. Have a good morning.”

“You too, hon.”

Allison’s door was the first left halfway down the hall. I let myself in and took a seat at the small conference table tucked into the corner of her roomy office.

I might be the VP at a bank, but Allison had much nicer digs at the foundation. The building was newer, the decor and furniture designed to evoke comfort over business.

The only drawback was the atrocious art on the walls, store-bought reproductions of soulless prints of flowers and plants. I grimaced and focused on Allison instead.

There was a small crease in her forehead as she joined me at the table. “Sorry I kept you waiting.”

“It’s fine. I got here early.”

Anything to get out of the bank, where Dad kept checking over my shoulder as I completed the paperwork on the Forrester deal. He’d seemed almost disappointed when the formal appraiser had agreed with my assessment that the property would sufficiently cover the loan amount. Which had made me wonder if he’d actually trusted me to make the call or just assumed the plan wouldn’t work.

When I thought about it, that pit in my stomach started growing again. The one full of doubt and recriminations.

You’re bad at your job. All you do is fuck things up. You’re not the son Dad deserves. Not the one he should have.

“So, what was the holdup?” I asked Allison to distract myself from my anxiety spiral.

“I was texting with Matteo. His dad is suffocating him.”

I chuckled. “It’s not always easy working with family.”

Allison nodded. “You can relate, I’m sure. But Matteo isn’t even getting a paycheck. It’s like his dad is punishing him, you know? He rides him all day, grinds him under his boot, and Matt doesn’t even have the money to put gas in his car, so he’s walking everywhere. That father of his is a real piece of work!”

“Sounds rough.”

She shook her head. “That’s not why you’re here, though.” She sighed. “We should get our ducks in a row before Brenda gets here.”

“Yep. You reviewed their grant application?”

“I did. Thanks for helping them write that, by the way. It gave me a much stronger argument to make with my supervisor.”

“Of course. I’d hate to see us lose Jerkers. It’s such an iconic Riverton business. I know it was closed for years, but the revival has finally started to take off.”

“You just don’t want to lose those MoonShakes,” Allison teased.

I laughed. “Busted.”

“No, I agree. It’s a shame they got behind, but I guess the restaurant business has very thin margins. I had some concern they might find themselves in this position again, but the debt is primarily related to the building, and that , we can agree is a historic landmark worth saving.”

Allison pushed some paperwork across to me. “This is the most the community foundation can offer right now. Can you work with that?”

I skimmed over the paperwork. It wouldn’t cover all the Morrisons’ debt. Not by a long shot. But it would catch them up enough to avoid foreclosure.

“It’s a start,” I said. “We’re going to need more than this long-term. So they don’t end up back in this position, like you said.”

Allison nodded. “I’ve got some ideas. Let’s wait for Brenda?—”

A knock at the door interrupted. We looked over to see Esther opening the door. “Mrs. Morrison is here.”

“Come on in,” Allison said. “We were just getting on the same page before you arrived.”

Brenda stepped in, a big-boned lady with the scent of grease clinging to her. Or maybe that was the large paper bags she held in her arms. The Jerkers logo on the side made me perk up.

“What have you got there?” I hopped up to relieve her of the burden.

Allison snorted. “Such a gentleman when fried food is on the line.”

Brenda smiled. “You’ve both been so kind to help us out of this mess. I figured I might as well feed you.”

It was only ten thirty, but Brenda would have to be back at the diner for the lunch rush.

I placed the bags on the table, and Brenda started unloading them. Burgers wrapped in foil, salt-and-vinegar fries—a specialty of Jerkers that people either loved or hated; I was definitely in the love camp—and an entire banana cream pie.

There were also two pint-size cartons with lids. “What are these?”

“MoonShakes,” she said. “Couldn’t bring them in drink cups and carry everything. But there are spoons.”

I pried the lid off instantly and dug in.

Allison chuckled. “Well, you just made Emory’s day. He loves those things. Thank you for all this. You really didn’t need to feed us. Jerkers is an amazing part of our community, and we want to see it stay that way.”

Brenda sat down in a spare chair at the table, blinking glassy eyes. “I appreciate that so much. It’s really such a labor of love for Ernie and me.”

“We know it is,” Allison said.

“We both grew up going to the original Jerkers, you know.” She chuckled. “Every Friday during football season, practically the whole high school would pack in. It was named for the mascot, you know.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Riverton High School had the cornjerker as its mascot, named for the laborers who used to pull the corn out in the fields back in the 1920s. Anyone who lived here knew that, but we let Brenda talk.

“We missed those old days. Maybe we were nostalgic fools.” She sighed. “Most everyone goes to Sauced after games now.”

“Jerkers is a hot lunch spot, though,” Allison said. “Emory is probably there every week.”

Brenda laughed. “Just about. I appreciate the local business community showing up for us.”

I lifted the carton. “And your MoonShakes. We don’t eat at Jerkers out of charity, Brenda.”

“Emory’s right. People love the diner,” Allison said. “Don’t sell yourself short.”

Brenda patted our hands. “You’re both so sweet. No wonder everyone thinks you make such a great couple.”

“Oh, we’re not together,” Allison said.

“Just work partners,” I added.

“Oh.” She glanced between us, a wrinkle of confusion in her brow. “I’m sorry. I just thought…”

Allison waved it away. “A common mistake because we’re friends.”

It still bothered me that people saw wedding bells whenever they looked at us—small-town gossip was tough to combat—but it didn’t make my insides squirm with discomfort as it once had.

Maybe because I had someone else now. No amount of rumors would get me down the aisle with Allison. Not when Gray was waiting for me, all sexy and inviting with dirty words and deeds.

It wouldn’t have before either, not when Allison was in love with Matteo. But the fact I hadn’t been with anyone else—hadn’t even explored my attraction to men—had made it feel as if people’s predictions were going to crush my resistance.

As if, by will alone, they’d put me on that altar, a sacrifice to expectation.

Gray would never cave to others’ expectations, though, and maybe being with him gave me more courage as well. I had something to fight for, even if no one else knew it.

Allison gave Brenda an overview of the grant the foundation was offering, and then I went over the impact on their loan and future payment plan.

“This digs us out of a big hole,” Brenda said. “It gives us a chance. Thank you.”

“It’s not enough, though,” Allison said.

Brenda hesitated, glancing at me. “Well…”

“Don’t worry about admitting it in front of me,” I said. “We’re trying to find solutions here, not cast blame.”

She nodded. “Things are tight, but it’s improving. We had some unexpected repairs in our first few weeks. A mix-up with supplies too. We took some losses that were tough to recover from. But right now, we’re running at a profit. It’s just…there’s not a lot of room for error.”

“That’s why I’m working on some state and federal grant applications for you too,” Allison said. “If there’s a way we can preserve your historic building—and alleviate some of your debt at the same time—we’ll find it.”

“Oh, gosh, thank you so much,” Brenda said.

I unwrapped my burger and took a big bite, listening as Allison went over her research with Brenda. I was so relieved I’d asked for her input after discovering Jerkers’ financial problems. The bank alone couldn’t help people through these hardships. We could give out loans, but eventually, we had to pay the piper, and that meant taking away resources when people needed them the most.

I hated that part of the job. I knew Allison also had to reject some applicants. It wasn’t easy deciding who got help and who didn’t. If I never had to give anyone that kind of bad news again, it would be too damn soon.

At least with Allison’s help, I’d managed to avoid it with the Morrisons.

And thanks to this new home equity loan, Gray and his brothers had a chance too.

My dad might not like it—and that bothered me more than I’d ever tell anyone—but I couldn’t regret it. Especially now that I saw how damn hard they were working to make it happen.

I hadn’t hooked up with Gray all week—aside from that one steamy phone sex session. The man had been elbow-deep in bike repairs, working his tail off to build up a new side of the business.

By the time we wrapped up the meeting and Brenda left, I’d devoured a burger, fries, and MoonShake. My gut was protesting the abuse, but my mouth was too happy to stop me from eating one last fry.

Brenda hadn’t actually eaten, so we had leftovers.

Allison tried to pawn them on Esther, but she refused, pulling out a healthy-looking salad she’d brought from home.

“You take it,” Allison said, pushing the bag into my arms.

“What? I ate more than you!”

“So give it to your dad or your grandpa,” she said. “Someone over there will eat it.”

“Well, Grandpa is a sucker for Jerkers,” I said.

She smiled. “There you go, then. I don’t want it to go to waste.”

“Fine.” I took the bag and shouldered my laptop bag. “If you’re sure Matteo won’t want it?”

She scoffed. “As if I’d get the chance to see him before it was old and moldy.”

I raised my eyebrows. “No?”

“It’s not easy to get together when I have to keep it a secret, and his dad is discouraging anything but work and discipline.”

“That sucks.”

“It’s why he wants a job so badly. He wants his own place, wants some independence. But that’s hard to do when his dad keeps him so busy.”

I nodded in sympathy. “I wish I could do something.”

“The bank would never hire an ex-con, not to work around all that money,” Allison said. “I get it. Besides, that kind of job wouldn’t suit him. He prefers to work with his hands. Always has. He loved shop class in high school. He did a stint on a construction crew, and he could probably do that again, but he doesn’t want to get sucked back into hanging with the people who landed him in prison.”

“Right, yeah. I can see that. Well, I can’t offer him a job, but I can offer you guys a place to meet up. If you ever want some time together, you can use my apartment. I’ll go out for a while or whatever.”

“Really? That won’t weird you out?”

“No. Just…wash my sheets before I come home,” I said with a laugh.

Allison threw her arms around me, hugging me tight. “You have no idea what this means to me. Thank you. Even a couple hours away from his dad would be so good for him.”

I drew back. “As long as it’s good for you too. Don’t take all his stress on yourself, okay? You deserve to be happy.”

“He makes me happy. Really. It’s just a rough time for him.”

I nodded. “Good, then. Just let me know when you want to come by, and I’ll make myself scarce.”

Her smile turned devious. “Maybe you’ll have something better to do? Or should I say someone ?”

“Maybe.” I bit my lip, thinking about the phone sex and how much I wanted the real thing with Gray again. “Unfortunately, Gray has been busy with work too. I haven’t seen him this week. He’s pretty much working around the clock to get these bike jobs done.”

“Well, it sounds like he could use a little TLC, then.”

“I don’t want to bother him. The work is important…”

“Don’t think of it that way. You’d be supporting him. Take him dinner and give him a little stress relief.” She wiggled her eyebrows enough that I got the picture. “Then send him back to work feeling like a million bucks.”

“You think? He’s on a deadline.”

She shrugged. “The man has to eat. I’m sure he could use a break. If you want to be there for him, you have to be there , you know?”

“Yeah,” I murmured. “Maybe.”

But were Gray and I really at the supportive stage? We’d agreed to a series of hookups, nothing more. But this week, I’d been craving him more than a MoonShake. Each text we exchanged only made me want to get closer, to see his dark eyes intent on mine and feel the rush of heat when he kissed me.

Maybe I could drop by. It wasn’t healthy for him to work nonstop. If he was really too busy to see me, I’d drop off dinner and leave him to his work, but if he wanted me as much as I wanted him…

Well, I’d be doing both of us a favor, right?