Page 83 of One More Betrayal

The sadness in Jess’s eyes swiftly shifts to excitement. “Kim’s giving me pointers for shooting the wedding.”

“Nice camera.” Not that I know anything about cameras. But from the way Jess is practically cradling it like a newborn, I’m guessing it is a nice camera.

“Thanks,” Kim says.

“Are you still coming over to my place after your meeting?” Jess asks me.

“I’ll be there as soon as I’m finished here.” I give her another quick kiss and walk over to the corner of the café where members of the equipment and finance committees have claimed a table.

“How much are we looking at for the equipment and setup?” I ask Emily a few minutes later once the six members of the two committees have arrived. All are regulars at the Veterans Center and have volunteered to help out with the festival. Emily is sitting next to me, studying the numbers on her tablet.

She tells us the amount for the equipment we need to rent—the stage, the tables and canopies for the vendors, the sound system—as well as the cost for the rental company to set up the stage. We’re looking at mid five figures.

A low whistle comes from Sheldon. “Damn.”

I already knew this last week when I spoke with Anthony Bell about the sponsorship, but hearing the amount doesn’t get any easier with time.

“But the good news is, each vendor is paying a fee to have a table,” Em points out. “That will help offset some of the costs. And then we’ve got a number of sponsors. That will pay for the rest of the expenses. It looks like we won’t be in the red before we start the event. I just need to confirm that things are a go, put the deposits on the equipment, and we’ll be all set for that part of the big day.”

I turn to Taylor, the head of our finance committee and our treasurer. She and her girlfriend, Kim’s sister, are the owners of Barside Brewery. She’s the one who manages their books. “Is that okay on your end of things?” I ask her.

“Yes. You’ll need to cosign the checks, and then we can get them to the suppliers.”

Thank God most of the other things we need to deal with—other than some paid promotion and the licenses—are free. The entertainers are all volunteering their time. Even the roadies who work with the rock band Pushing Limits are volunteering to help out.

By the time the group has finalized details for the event, Jess and Kim have already left Picnic & Treats. I thank everyone for coming.

As I walk to my truck, my phone rings. I check who’s calling. Anthony Bell. The festival’s biggest sponsor. If he hadn’t agreed to help out, I’d probably still be scrambling for sponsors to make up the amount we need. “Hi, Troy speaking.”

“Hi, Troy. This is Anthony Bell.” His voice comes through the line grumbly rough.

I don’t know why, but something about his voice sends dread wrapping around my gut and squeezing tight. “Hi, Anthony. What can I do for you?”

He makes some sort of noise that is indecipherable on the phone. “I heard you assaulted the chief of police on the weekend. And well, Bell Automotive is a family establishment, and we can’t have our good name linked with something like that. I admire what you’re doing with the festival, Troy. But I’m afraid I’ll have to withdraw my sponsorship for the event.”

Fuuuuck.

“I promise you, Anthony, it was just a misunderstanding. And it definitely wasn’t assault.”

“Right. I get that you didn’t lay your fists on Chief Wilson, but I can’t take the risk of bad press from this. I’m sorry, Troy. I wish I had better news, but my decision is final. I have to go now. I have an appointment with a client.” The line goes dead.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

The dread in my stomach sets off a cascade of explosions through my nerves, tensing my muscles, giving me heartburn. Now what am I supposed to do?

The moment I walk through Jess’s front door an hour later, my mouth is on hers. I push her against the front door and kiss her long and hard, letting myself forget for a second everything outside the walls of her house. “I think we need to change the no-kissing-at-work policy,” I say once we stop kissing, my lips already missing hers.

“You do, do you?” She laughs softly and her eyes sparkle with amusement.

My mouth tugs to one side. “Yep. I think that would be better for our mental health.”

She laughs again, a little louder this time. “It might be a distraction my boss won’t appreciate.”

“Oh, your boss is completely fine with a little distraction now and then. It’s good for morale.”

She kisses me on the cheek. “I’ll think about it…but you’ve given me some strong points to consider.”

Jess threads her fingers with mine and takes me into the kitchen. I don’t bother mentioning my phone call with Anthony Bell. I need to figure out how to solve the problem of the lost sponsor without dragging her into the mess I created. She’s got enough she’s dealing with. I haven’t told anyone else about what happened. I want to do some damage control first.

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