His nostrils flared in anger, and I was sure he was going to fire me right then and there.
Since I’d gone this far, I thought I’d finish my thought. “All I’m asking for is the respect to be told when you give a job I have dutifully and skillfully done for you over the last several years.” It hurt me that I had to ask him to recognize the work I’d done or to at least have the respect to give me a heads up. “If you want to give your girlfriend my job, just do it, because this…how you’re secretly handing it over to her, is insulting.” I wondered how long it would be before I found a new job. Surely there was something out there besides working for Stark. Then again, maybe no one would want me. I doubted the mayor was going to give me a rave recommendation.
He straightened and for a moment seemed to think about what I’d said. “I apologize for not being more transparent in the reassigning of tasks. That isn’t a reflection on the quality of your work. But your attitude needs a great deal of work, Ms. Lados. If you have a problem, come to me.”
I bit my tongue to say I had tried to talk to him and Sinclair, both of whom discounted or dismissed my efforts.
“Next time I hear about your mistreatment of anyone here, I’ll take corrective action.”
“Yes, sir.”
He stared at me one last moment and then stormed back to his office.
I blew out a breath and sagged into my chair. The mayor hated me. Sinclair was mad at me. Ryder didn’t care about me. God, even I wasn’t sure I liked me. My life right now was one big pity party. The problem was, I seemed to have dug myself into a hole that I couldn’t get out of on my own, and I didn’t have anyone to help me out.
23
Ryder
I had a reputation of being a person who took the easy road. It was a valid descriptor of me. Not that I was lazy or avoided hard work. I didn’t mind work if it was something I enjoyed. I liked music and running the restaurant. And then there was Trina, who wasn’t an easy woman to get along with, but I definitely liked the challenge of her. But overall, if I wasn’t into something, I tended to avoid it, like house maintenance.
As I got to work on fixing up the house, my interest in creating a nice home grew. I wanted a safe place for my child and a comfortable home for Trina, if she’d ever give me another chance. One thing that became clear as Wyatt helped me with the porch was that I needed to hire help to make sure the structure was sound. That required money. So did securing a more stable financial future, once Mr. Coffey confirmed that Stark had made inquiries about buying Salvation Station.
When I went through my financial statements, I discovered that I was fine for a bachelor, but if I wanted a family, I needed to do more. I considered my options, such as asking my parents for help in investing in the restaurant, but they were nearing retirement.
My only option was to swallow my pride and accept Stark’s offer to play for him. I even twisted my reason up into a pretzel arguing that I’d be taking his money to thwart his effort to buy the Salvation Station. I also figured since most townsfolk didn’t like him, no one I knew or cared about would be there anyway, so no one would know.
Before I agreed to the gig, I started putting my ducks in order. I upped the price to thirty grand, asking for half up front, which he agreed to. I wasn’t sure how Stark stayed rich, as he accepted my demand without any negotiating. Then I went to a lawyer and asked her to draw up a contract regarding the Salvation Station. As soon as I had my money, I was going to make that place mine.
A few days later I showed up at Stark’s compound to play for a bunch of high society people. I liked music, but this gig would be my hardest, I was sure of it. I couldn’t get over the guilt that I was betraying not just Salvation but my own good sense as well.
The house used to belong to Carson Marchand, who’d built one of the first breweries in the state. That had since been relocated, but the large home remained. In fact, it had been vacant until Stark blew into town trying to take it over.
The home sat on some prime Nebraska farmland next to the river, but apparently Stark didn’t see any need to till the soil. Instead, a large tent was erected, with fancy lights hanging around it and caterers in white suits buzzed around.
“Mr. Simms, glad you could make it,” a woman with a clipboard said to me. “You’ll be playing on the stage erected at the back of the tent,” she said pointing toward the raised platform.
“I need to prepare,” I said, feeling sicker by the moment.
“There’s a room off the kitchen if you like. You’re scheduled to play in half an hour or so.”
She directed me to a small room that had probably been a mudroom. It had a bench where I sat and pulled out my guitar to tune it. As I plucked at each string and adjusted its tone, I had a flash of memory of Trina busting into my room while I was playing my guitar naked. She’d been pissed when she walked in, but when she saw me in the nude was the first time I’d ever seen her speechless. That had led to the first time we’d made love. I inhaled a breath as I thought about
