Page 36 of Rival
“Are you sure?” I’m sure it’s obvious how much I want to go to him, but my manners urge me to not leave someone burdened because of me.
Her hand on my arm pats me gently before she grabs the basket and yanks it out of my hand. “I’m perfectly capable of handling granola bars.” She joins me as we watch Jaxon drop another box on the ground, not being gentle at all. “Oh boy, looks like he’s got a bug up his rear end. Go help the man, would ya?”
A giggle flies out of me at her refusal to say butt. Collecting myself as quickly as possible, I hurry over once I have myself under control. When I get to the side of his truck, I realize I’m not sure what to say as he continues dropping supplies on the ground, never once looking up at me.
He’s really upset about something, and as his friend, I’m not sure what my role is here. Clearing my throat, I keep my voice soft so not to annoy him. I’ve learned that with my father when he’s in a fouler mood than usual.
“I’d like to help if you need a hand, Jaxon. Is there something I can do?”
He flicks his eyes to me, and I catch a slight softening of the hard lines framing his mouth. My shoulders relax, knowing I haven’t added to his irritation.
“Sure. Why don’t you take some of these lighter bags into the barn for me?”
Nodding, I immediately start picking them up, gathering as many as I can until the weight becomes too much and hurry away. We spend the next ten minutes passing each other as we unload the fully packed truck. Finished with my last trip, Jaxon is shutting the gate, still seeming to have something on his mind.
“Jaxon, is everyth—”
“Shit!I forgot to grab my tool bag from my office.” He’s snarling his words, not specifically at me, but he’s definitely in a sour mood. I drop my chin and take a step back, ready to hurry back to Mrs. Danielson, but he stops me. “Sorry, Edith. It’s been a day. I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”
“Oh, that’s alright.” I wave him off, then hook my thumb over my shoulder. “I’ll just get back to it. I hope your day ends better than it started.”
The corners of his lips tilt up slightly. “You wanna ride back to my office with me? It’ll be quick.”
“Umm…” Chewing on my lip, I look back where everyone is working. “Am I allowed to just leave?”
Laughing, he presses a hand on my back to lead me to his vehicle. “It’s volunteer work. You can come and go as you please. Besides, I’m sure our dear Mrs. Danielson won’t give two shits. Come on, I could use some decent company after my morning.”
Pride swells in my chest that he’s seeking comfort by having me around, so I scramble into his truck with less assistance from him than the last time I found myself here. Buckling my belt, I roam my eyes around the area to ensure Corbin isn’t watching from a distance. Not seeing him, I decide I should still slouch a bit in the seat just in case as Jaxon climbs in and takes off.
“Do you want to talk about why your day isn’t going well?”That sounds like something a friend would ask, I think. There’s been a lot of times in my life where I wish I could have vented about a bad day, or shared something that made me happy. Anything, really. Talking can do wonders to distribute those burdens to everyone, easing the weight on a single person so they don’t have to shoulder it alone.
He’s drumming his thumb on the steering wheel before a stream of words come pouring out of him, unloading everything all at once. It shocks me, but I feel honored that maybe I can help, so I listen as intently as I can.
“It’s this bullshit with a former client. My dad ran our company for decades and practically built it from the ground up. We’ve always had a stellar reputation, but since I bought him out and took over last year, I’m finding a ton of discrepancies. Do you remember when Mason dropped you off last week and he got on me about an invoice they received?”
I nod, then panic. “I only know because he was pretty loud. I wasn’t eavesdropping or anything.”
Jaxon barks out a laugh and grins. “I don’t care if you were, and the thought never crossed my mind. I only ask so I don’thave to explain more. Anyway, turns out, my dad set up this job with his dad a few years back. Both of them saying the other one wasn’t holding up to their end of the deal. We keep pretty extensive notes in all our files, so if there everareissues, we can back up our claims. Well, Mason sent me all the correspondence proving my dad fucked up. He lost a big job and I’m really bothered by all of it.”
I consider everything for a moment, then ask, “What bothers you? That you might have lost money? Or that your dad made a mistake?”
Jaxon’s brows furrow. “That dad made the mistake.” With a sigh, he relaxes into his seat. “And it was embarrassing. I knew dad wanted to retire a year or so before this, but I pushed him to stick it out longer. Maybe it’s just his memory and age getting to him.”
“Okay, so what’s the issue now? I might not totally understand.”
We’re just pulling in front of his office, and he leaves the truck running, just puts it into park and stares ahead. Drawing his words out slowly, he explains. “Not really anything, I suppose. I corrected the file and apologized to the Coopers in a letter. Nothing to say to dad. He’s retired.” Jaxon looks at me, still frowning deeply. “I just don’t like being in the wrong.”
Snickering at him, I quickly cover my mouth, then drop my hand into my lap and grin widely when he glares at me playfully. “That’s just ridiculous. Everyone is wrong from time to time. You corrected it and apologized. Now, just let it go.” I wiggle my fingers in the air, indicating something flying away.
“Let it go, huh?”
“Yup.” I’m still smiling when he drops his hand on my thigh and pats it twice.
Jerking his chin toward the office, he asks, “You want to come in and see the place?”
“Yes, please.”
He doesn’t say anything else, just turns off the truck and we both jump out. I stick close behind him, looking around as we walk inside. The room feels so much darker after being outside in the sun. There’s a young woman chatting on the phone, and she gives both of us a massive smile as we pass by.
