Page 24 of Rival
Jennice keeps reading the file. “There’s a note that your dad had ordered all the materials, some of it was delivered on site, but the rest is sittin’ in your warehouse. Cooper ended up complainin’ that your dad wasn’t communicatin’ clearly with him and pulled the contract.”
“Did they ever pay for the materials they received?” I ask, curious if Mason’s dad is just being stubborn.
“Oh… Uh, yeah. He paid for some of it. This is kinda confusin’ ‘cuz on another screen where the invoice stuff is, it says everythin’ was delivered to him. But the first part says that we still got some of it.”
I furrow my brows just as I notice Edith dragging a large trash bag out of the doorway to the barn. I watch as she struggles to get it to the dumpster, so I pin my phone between my shoulder and ear, hurrying over to her.
“So, the invoice was sent based on the assumption they took ownership of all the materials before the job was cancelled?” I flash a smile at Edith just as I pull the bag from her hands and heft it into the dumpster. She smiles at me, mouthing, “Thank you,” as Jennice’s voice blasts into my ear.
“Looks like it. You told me to go through all the past due notices and send out letters… Did I mess up? ‘Cuz the screen here says they owe, but maybe they don’t?”
I follow Edith back to the barn, enjoying how close she walks next to me. “Don’t worry about it, Jennice. I’ll go check out the warehouse when I’m done here and get it sorted. Thanks for looking into it. I’ll see you in the morning.”
After a quick goodbye, I shove my phone in my pocket before holding a hand out for Edith to walk in front of me. “Sorry about that. Nice to see you again, Edith. Ready to get to it?”
“Yes, sir.” Her soft voice isn’t what has me jerking my head to look over at her. It’s the words.Holy fuck, she can NOT say that to me right now.
Clearing my throat, I scramble for what to say, coming up with the ridiculous response of, “You know you can call me Jaxon, right? I’m just helping out, like you.”
Heat infuses her cheeks, and she looks away from me. “Sorry.” Before I can say she has nothing to apologize for, she asks, “What would you like me to work on today?”
“You want to work with me again? I’m just back to cutting. Monotonous. We could pick back up our question game.” I grin widely when she nods happily and folds her hands together in front of her waist.
“I’d love to! Want me to mark your cut lines again? Were they okay last time? Because if I’m not accurate enough, just let me know and I can do it however you’d like. I don’t want to get it wrong.”Her rambling is adorable.
Handing over my pencil, I drop my hands on her shoulders and turn her to face the table where she’s going to work. “You were perfect. I’ve got the measurements written at the end of the boards for you.” Pointing to show her where, she takes a deep breath, clearly pleased with my compliment, then picks up the tape measure and gets to work.
I notice some of the other church members watching us from the corner of their eyes, but I take no mind. Most of the residents in town are nosy as fuck. If they find us having a conversation worthy of discussion, then they can have at it.
“So, where’d we leave off last time?” I ask, then watch as she arches her back to stretch it out before shaking out her hands. “You good over there?”
Glancing over her shoulder, she gives me a quick smile. “I’m doing great. Just sore shoulders from the day. I think we left off with you asking how old I am. Although we were playing ‘this or that’ so you kind of broke the rules with that one.”
I ignore the reminder of her age and tease, “Well, you want to stick with that game, or do something different?”
“Like what?”
“Two truths and a lie?”
She blinks up at me before dropping her gaze to her hands resting on the two by four. “I’m not sure how to play that. I don’t like to lie.”
Chuckling softly, I fall a little further at her sweetness. “It’s not really lying. You just tell me three things about yourself, but one of them is made up. Then I have to guess what the fake one is.”
Edith’s mouth parts, a soft “Oh” escaping. “Alright. You go first.”
I should probably cut the boards she’s marking for me, but to keep noise levels down, I start installing brackets to form the corners we need instead. “Okay, two truths and a lie. First, I was editor for our school newspaper for three out of four years of high school. I have three tattoos. And… I own a construction company I inherited from my father.”
Her laughter fills the space, drawing a few more eyes in our direction. “Well, obviously, the last one is a truth. Even though I can’t see any of your tattoos, I’m going to assume that’s the truth as well, since it’s specific. It’s hard to seeyoubeing an editor for a newspaper.”
“Wrong! I absolutely was the editor. The only year I didn’t do it was my freshman year.” The way her jaw drops open has me laughing loudly, the sound bursting deep from my chest.
She narrows her eyes, fighting off a grin. “So, you don’t have any tattoos then? That’s the lie?”
My smile turns playful. “Idohave tattoos. I’ve got four of them, not three.”
“That was a trick!” Her complaint delights me. Seems like my little Edith is competitive. “What are they?Whereare they?”
Shaking my head, I send her a wink before saying, “Nope. That’s not how this works. Maybe I’ll show you some day. Your turn.”
