The elder Cole sat behind his immense mahogany desk. Everything about the office screamed power and wealth. His chair was more like a brown leather throne on wheels, which sat much higher than the stationary ones on the other side of the desk. Pictures of Walter with important people hung on the walls alongside the awards and achievements he had earned over the years. Aaron realized there wasn’t one photo of the family.
“How’s it going, Dad?” Aaron took a seat across from his dad. “Did you need my help hiring my replacement? You do know I don’t work here anymore, right?”
“I don’t have time for your smart mouth. You need to call off whatever deal you made with David Windsor. You are not going to work with him. It upsets your sister, who in turn upsets your mother. I don’t want to deal with your mother being upset. I have enough on my plate since you decided to abandon the family business.”
Aaron tried not to laugh. It was hilarious to hear his dad speak about him as if he was so essential to the company’s success. “Well, maybe it’s time Mom stopped letting Lauren dictate how she should feel. Just because Lauren is deflecting her anger onto Bonnie instead of onto Mitch, doesn’t mean we all have to follow in her foolish footsteps.”
His father slammed his fist down on the desk. “I don’t care who you think or don’t think is to blame. Your sister was humiliated in front of everyone she knows in the most egregious way possible. You act like it’s no big deal and she should just get over it.”
“I’m not trying to downplay what happened.” He hadn’t meant to come off as dismissive of Lauren’s feelings. It was everyone’s lack of care for Bonnie’s. “I understand that what Mitch did was terrible. But do you get that it was Mitch who did this to Lauren, not Bonnie? Have you blackballed the Bennetts as well? When Mitch comes back from France, will he not be able to buy bread at the market?”
His father leaned back in his chair. “You will not do business with either of the Windsors. I have a call with New York. You can go now that we’re clear.”
Aaron could feel his heart thumping in his chest. He had to remind himself he didn’t work for his father anymore. “Or what?”
His dad set his phone down. “Excuse me?”
“I won’t do business with them or what?” Aaron couldn’t imagine what threat his dad could actually pose.
His father simply answered, “Or you’ll force me to choose between your happiness and your sister’s.”
Aaron would have asked what that meant, but his father was clearly finished with him. He picked up his phone and dialed someone in New York.
Reasoning with his father was pointless. This wasn’t only about the Windsors and Lauren’s hurt feelings. This was about getting what he wanted. His father wanted him to come back and work for Cole Industries. Instead of supporting him in what he wanted to do with his life, Aaron’s father was willing to go out of his way to see to it that his son failed. The reality of that was worse than anything he could actually do to him.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“NO, I UNDERSTAND, BUD. You have to do what’s right for you. I’ll see you around.” Bonnie’s dad ended his call.
Aaron had closed on the house exactly one week ago. He and her dad had spent the first week planning, cleaning up all the garbage in the yard and securing the permits they needed to get started. Bonnie had a bad feeling that these first few things would be the last ones to go smoothly during this flip.
Her dad had been trying to put together a team of subcontractors to help. He’d reached out to everyone he knew, hoping some of them would be interested in some side work. Thus far, no one had taken him up on his offer. It didn’t even help to throw around Aaron’s name. Bonnie was certain he was now just as blacklisted as she was.
“Another no?” she asked.
Her dad nodded. “It’s clear they’ve all been told not to associate with me or Aaron. That boy doesn’t realize how much work he’s going to have to do if we can’t find a few extra hands.”
“I have hands.” Bonnie held hers up.
“Yeah,” her dad said with a laugh. “We need hands that know how to do things like lay tile and hang drywall, however.”
Unfortunately, she was not skilled in that kind of work, but she had to be good for something. “I can help with demolition, at least. I know how to swing around a sledgehammer.”
“You sure you want to go back into that big scary house full of mice?” he teased her.
Bonnie shivered at the thought. “I said demolition, not extermination. Please tell me you were able to hire an exterminator.” The Coles had a lot of influence, but they couldn’t possibly have all the exterminators in the area in their back pocket. At some point, there had to be an end to their sphere of influence.
“Yes, dear. The exterminator has already been through the house. There shouldn’t be any mice in there.”
“Or wasps?”
“No wasps,” Aaron announced as he walked out of the house. He was dressed exactly like her father—jeans, plaid flannel shirt. He even had safety glasses resting on the top of his head like they were Ray-Bans. “So when’s the demolition crew getting here?”
“You’re looking at it,” David said, opening the tailgate of his pickup. “Unless you have some buddies who can give us a hand.”
Aaron
