Page 11 of I'll Carry You

He’d warned his grandfather against Bill. By then, he’d been dating Amanda long enough to see Bill’s penchant for “cost-cutting corners,” as he liked to put it. But the old man hadn’t listened. One year after the deal, it had come out that Cavanaugh Metals was no longer producing the same quality materials as before when several cars made with their products were involved in accidents.

The resulting lawsuits and bad press had cost them almost everything. Only Duncan Motors had stayed and that was because Chad was the CEO and the Powells owned large shares there, too. And it only helped the Duncans to have their own metal fabricator at their disposal.

Now Jason had to clean up the mess if he was going to help resuscitate the company his great-grandfather had built. Except the board refused to see it that way. Without his grandfather’s shares, it was a matter of time before they fired Jason, too.

Not wanting to imagine the possibilities for that board meeting, he opened a news app on his laptop and clicked on the business section. In college, reading business news had always energized him, given him ideas. Now it strangely felt like drowning.

The clink of porcelain against the wooden tabletop caused him to lift his head once more. Jen set the sandwich and bowl of soup down, wordlessly. He studied her profile. Hard to believe this was the person who had been around his brother before he died. Kevin had overdosed three and a half years earlier. Had he ever met the kid? “How old is your son?” Jason asked, surprising even himself.

Jen pulled silverware out from her apron. “He’s, uh . . . three. Just turned three in November, actually.”

Kevin had already been dead for over seven months by the time his son was born.

Jen’s gaze dropped to his left hand before asking, “Do you have kids?”

“No.” He frowned. “Not married.”

“Ah.” Her lips drew to a line, and she settled her weight on her back leg. “Can I get you anything else?”

“No, I’m good.” What was it about this girl who made normal speech difficult? He didn’t know what to say to her, and somehow she made his brain go silent. Talking to women was something that came naturally to him.

She hesitated, then added, “I don’t know if you need it, but I can add a note for the housekeeper to get you extra linens.” He gave her a quizzical look and a blush spread to her cheeks. “I mean at the cabins. Foryour girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?” He almost spat out his coffee. She’d been paying attention to his activities from the previous night? Or maybe seen a car come and go. The idea of that woman being a girlfriend was ridiculous. Just a casual hookup, no questions asked. He made that much clear to every woman he’d been with recently.

And last night had mostly been about distraction. Seeing Mildred had rattled him more than he’d cared to admit. So he’d gone to a local dive bar and found the sort of company he’d been looking for.

“Boyfriend?”

This time, he threw back his head and laughed. Her blush got deeper. She pinched the bridge of her nose. “You know, forget it. I shouldn’t have brought it up. Not at my other job now anyway.” She turned to go.

“I’m not gay. And no. Not my girlfriend. Just someone I met yesterday and who won’t be back. Not everyone is worth knowing forever.”

She stumbled at his words and Jason’s hand shot out to steady her. Was she scandalized? She froze and he released her immediately.Nope, shouldn’t have touched her.“Ope, sorry about that.”

Her eyes flew to his. “It’s fine.” Her eyes grew cloudy. “You remind me of someone I used to know, that’s all. Sorry. Not trying to be familiar.”

Being in a position where he knew more about her than she did about him gave him an unexpected feeling of control over the situation. He didn’t want to toy with her, but he couldn’t help but feel amused by their interactions. He crossed his arms. “Someone nice?”

“No, actually.” She gave him a pointed look. “You both have that in common.”

Yup, he scandalized her. “Ah, a devilishly handsome jerk. I get that a lot. Not really interested in a tip, are you?”

She smirked. “How about I promise not to spit in your food and we’ll call it even?”

He chuckled, watching her return to the back. Whatever his brother had seen in this girl, he guessed it had to do something with her quick wit. Or honesty.

Something about the way she said thingswashonest—refreshingly. Maybe she didn’t enjoy pretending or had never learned the art of hiding her emotions, but at least he didn’t have to guess what angle she was playing. Of course, he was certain that would all disappear if she knew who he actually was. The promise of easy money brought out the worst in most people. And this girl didn’t appear to have much money to her name.

Almost concerningly so.

Jason pulled out a set of noise-cancelling headphones and slipped them over his head. Her troubles weren’t his problem. If he’d learned anything from his grandfather, it was that there would always be an open hand the second people found out you had money. Filling that hand wouldn’t do anything. The lack wouldn’t go away and you’d be on the hook for more.

Even Kevin hadn’t known what to do with the money his grandfather had given him. He’d burned through it, drowned his guilt in sex and drugs, and died homeless.

The employees at Cavanaugh Metals deserved the job safety their grandfather had promised them before Powell had destroyed the company’s reputation. His grandfather never would have felt the need to bring on Bill Powell if Jason’s father had lived. But when his grandfather saw his legacy going to Jason, grief and hatred had blinded the old man.

He didn’t want the Powells to destroy what his family had built. But he knew he had to protect his own back first and foremost.

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