Page 12 of Ruin
Great. Here we go. And I thought he was a smart man.
“I want to apologize for not telling you sooner about the celebration for Mr. Carter.” Just hearing his name has me wanting to shoot someone. “If it will be an issue, I will cancel it. You do so much for us, and this town, every year. I’d hate to do something to upset you—or the club.”
He sounds sincere and maybe a little desperate. Also a little scared.
I should tell him to tellMr. Carterto shove the celebration up his ass, but he’d probably like that too much. I refuse to let him think he’s won. I refuse to let him know how much he’s fucked me up, even if he has some idea.
“It’s okay,” I finally say.
“Oh, are you sure?”
“It was a misunderstanding, but it’s handled now.”
He blows out a breath. “Oh good. I’ve been worried all weekend.”
“Was the map finalized?” I ask, not wanting to give Lucian any more of my time.
“It was, yes,” he says excitedly as he pulls out the paper from the folder. “As long as you think it looks okay, we’ll get copies made. I have some students who have volunteered to pass them around.”
I give the map a quick look over. It’s spread out enough we don’t have to worry about clogging areas, but close enough that nothing gets lost. Some of the business will have vendors set uphere, giving a percentage of sales to us. There will be a magic show for the kids, plus some weird kid’s band, and face painting.
“Looks good.” I hand it back.
“And here is the schedule of events. We’re going to put the map on one side and this schedule on the other.”
I look that over, my chest getting tight when my eyes hone in on one name.
Lucian Carter.
It’s listed that he’ll receive an award at two pm.
“What kind of award is he getting?” I ask.
I shouldn’t ask. I shouldn’t want to know.
“Oh, it’s just a small plaque that Janet had made.”
“With what money?”
Lucian doesn’t deserve to take any funds from this school or from this town. He’s the one with all the money, so maybe he should offer to pay for the library alone, and then we wouldn’t have to worry about all this running around bullshit.
“I paid for it out of pocket,” he says quickly. I raise a brow. “I swear.”
I take a deep breath, pinching the bridge of my nose.
“Of course, that’s fine. This is fine.” I hand him the schedule back, and we go over a few more things before I get up and leave.
At least that’s over and done with. Now, all I have to worry about is the actual event.
Because I will have to see him again.
Chapter Five
Kolton
The event started an hour ago, and the entire town is here. Though some of them seemed to not care about this, everyone has done their part. Setting up went off without a hitch. It’s been a perfect day—so far.
“Another job well done, Snapper,” Prez says, patting me on the back before walking away.
