Page 63 of A Package Deal

The coffee pot gurgled behind me and I got out a mug. Mom had asked Em about her current job as we ate dinner and Em had been evasive as hell while looking extremely stressed. While I’d promised to stay out of her business, I wasn’t going to stand around and let an asshole intimidate my wife. I’d be paying Roger a visit today. You know, just being a friendly neighbor and checking in. I cracked my knuckles, poured a cup of coffee in a to-go mug, and headed outside.

Bessie gave me side eye while munching on some grass. I’d tried out the stall Em built me and it had worked perfectly. If it was even possible, Bessie was giving me even meaner looks these days, like she wasn’t too happy I was the one milking her, but she’d put up with me only to make Mom think she was some kind of prized heifer.

“I’ll be back soon!” I called out to her and unlocked the truck.

I swear to God, that cow rolled her eyes and shifted so her backside was facing me. I shook my head and left. The hobby farm had never been my cup of tea, but for Mom’s happiness, I’d help keep up with the animals.

The downtown area of Blueball had always been Hallmark picture perfect, with its brightly colored establishments, abundance of flower pots, and local people all smiling and waving hello like they were actually happy to see each other. I’d missed that when I moved away.

A tall, dark-haired man caught my eye, in that he was the only person standing outside Crazy Beans I didn’t know. He had his arm around a small, mousy woman with a scared look to her. I slammed on my brakes and swung into an empty parking space, heart thundering. Without taking my eye off the man, I dug into my pocket for my phone and pulled up my emails. I’d had a chat yesterday with the detective I’d hired, and he’d sent me photos of Cayden. I’d meant to discuss this all with Em but last night’s casual dinner hadn’t been the right time. I’d bet the hobby farm that asshole was now standing outside Blueball’s coffee shop. In my fucking town.

I pulled up the pictures and scanned them, even holding up the phone so I could see the picture next to the man on the sidewalk, sipping coffee like he had every right to be here. Yep, that was him.

I grinned in the silence of my truck. Well, would you look at that? My day just got better. I slid out of the truck and shut the door, walking right up to Cayden.

“How’s the coffee here?” I asked jovially.

I had to admit, the man was attractive, in a sleazy, steal-your-money-and-make-you-distrust-people-for-the-rest-of-your-life kind of way. The woman looked to Cayden, as if she didn’t have an opinion.

He shrugged, holding up his cup. “It’s good. Not as good as some others I’ve tasted, but what can you expect from a backwoods little town, eh?” He chuckled, like insulting the town you were currently standing in was something to joke about.

Anger, the type that leads to events that get you arrested, threatened to ruin my plan. I inhaled deeply, remembering the things I was fighting for. The look on Em’s face when she said she trusted me. The sound of Georgia’s giggle when she was riding on my shoulders through the carnival. The house I wanted to build by the pond for the three of us. All of that would go up in smoke if I lost control.

“Yeah, I hear you on that. I hope to be out of here today, but first, I need some caffeine. You just visiting too?”

Cayden eyed me, but bought my story, probably because I was wearing my fancy jeans today. Not many people around town wore designer jeans and snakeskin boots. My horrible fashion sense was coming in handy.

“Oh yeah. Just here to collect my daughter. Her mother is being…difficult.” His face clouded over and I wanted to punch his teeth out for even thinking about Georgia.

“Huh. That’s terrible,” I said, really laying it on thick.

He nodded, looking like a man who thought himself to be far more important than he was. “Jess and I are getting married this summer, but before we can be the perfect family, we need to have my daughter with us. Her mother took her from me, absconded with her, actually.”

Jess, the woman by his side finally spoke, her voice soft and barely audible. “It’s horrible how she’s treated Cayden. We just want his daughter back home with us.”

I nodded, biting my lip. I’d heard enough bullshit for one day and I still had Roger to visit. “That’s pretty interesting, considering Cayden signed his parental rights away after she was born.”

Cayden’s head snapped in my direction and Jess gasped. “What the fuck?” His entire demeanor changed. He let go of Jess and squared up, like he was ready to fight me with a cup of coffee still in his hands.

I shrugged, waving my phone in the air. This was worth getting a black eye. In fact, I’d love it if he took the first swing so I could justify beating the shit out of him. “Got pictures of you with a sweet little redhead from last week at a place called The Dugout? Ring any bells?”

Jess’s mouth dropped open. She was now staring at Cayden, not me.

“Also have some pictures of some jobsites of yours that a city inspector might want to see. Letting your unlicensed workers wire all the electrical?” I shook my head at the man whose face was now turning an angry red. “Cutting corners, Cayden. That’s a good way to get sued and lose your contractor’s license.”

Cayden got right up in my face. He was a couple inches shorter than me, but also younger by almost ten years. His eyes held a kind of hate that made my heart ache for Em. She’d spent too many years with this guy, trusting him when he was the worst of human beings. Not any longer though. I wouldn’t allow him to continue to run through her life, destroying what she so carefully built.

“You got some nerve, asshole,” he growled, bumping his chest into mine like some kind of primate.

I tilted my head, not at all threatened. “So do you, according to these pictures. I suggest you drop the lawsuit with Emmerleigh or I might have to leak them.”

A vein throbbed in his forehead. He huffed and spun away, grabbing Jess’s hand and yanking her away from me. “Let’s go!” he snapped.

The woman looked like she was trying to get her hand back but he wasn’t letting go as he marched off. He threw his coffee into a pot of azaleas. Once an asshole, always an asshole.

“Do you need some help?” I asked Jess, following them. I couldn’t in good conscience let her leave with him if I’d just kicked the hornet’s nest. If he hurt her, that would be on my head.

She turned back, face flushed. “It’s okay.”

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