“How dare you fire my father because of what happened at Lauren’s wedding? Don’t even think about telling me that’s not why you fired him. It’s one thing to let Lauren ban me from your market and your movie theater or to blacklist me so people won’t let me sell their houses, but to fire my father, who has dedicated his life to your construction company, is...” She seemed to struggle with finding a harsh enough word for his father’s actions. “...heartless.”
Aaron eyes were wide. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Mr. Windsor was a foreman at Cole Construction. He was an incredibly hardworking employee and an amazing craftsman.
“Well, some would say that it’s heartless to have an affair with their best friend’s fiancé, Miss Windsor.”
Aaron couldn’t stay silent. “Dad, she wasn’t having an affair with Mitch. I told you this.”
Bonnie had tears in her eyes. “I never had anything to do with Mitch. I have done nothing but be a loyal friend to Lauren since we met. You have known me since I was a little girl. How could you think I would do something like that to her?” Aaron’s father didn’t bother to reply. “Please don’t do this to my dad. Hate me. Ban me. Run me out of town. I don’t care, but don’t do the same to my father. Blue Springs is all he knows.”
“The Cole family has decided to cut all ties from the Windsors. You have wreaked havoc on my daughter’s life, and we choose to no longer associate with you or anyone related to you. That is our choice. And it’s nonnegotiable.”
Two brawny security officers entered the room. “We need you to come with us, miss,” one of them said.
The other one put his hand on her arm. Bonnie pulled away. Aaron got on his feet.
“Don’t touch her,” Aaron said, feeling protective. “I’ll see her out.” He got in between Bonnie and the security guard who dared to put his hands on her.
Bonnie didn’t fight about leaving. She stormed out the way she had stormed in. Aaron had to jog to keep up with her. “Bonnie, wait.” He caught her right when they got to the bank of elevators. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. “I am so sorry. I don’t know what’s going on, but I will do whatever it takes to make this right.”
She shook her head. “There’s nothing you can do. Your sister always gets her way. She wants to destroy me, and she knows that the best way to get to me is through the only family I have left in this world. Your sister is the worst.”
“My sister is not at her best right now, but she’s hurting. I’ll talk to her. I thought she was coming around. She’s been less agitated lately.”
“Yeah, well, I’m sure she’s been very pleased about successfully ruining my business and humiliating me in public in front of people we’ve known for years. I can’t wait to see what she has up her sleeve next.”
Lauren didn’t make it very easy to defend her. Still, Aaron was struck by a sense of family loyalty. “I don’t condone anything that’s happened, but let’s remember she was publicly humiliated in a way neither one of us would wish on anyone.”
“I was mortified for her that day. What Mitch did was terrible, but Mitch did that to her, not me.” The elevator opened and Bonnie stepped inside. “Why am I the only one being punished?”
The doors began to close, and Aaron didn’t have a good reply. It was unfair, plain and simple. Lauren was taking out all of her anger on Bonnie because she was an easy target and Mitch was out of the country. Aaron loved his sister, but this was wrong. The Windsor family didn’t deserve to take any of the heat.
Aaron went back to his father’s office, where the elder Cole was busy signing his name to a stack of papers. “You can’t fire Mr. Windsor because Lauren has decided that Bonnie is the bad guy. Mitch told me himself that he hadn’t even shared his feelings with Bonnie, let alone had an affair with her.”
“If there are things I can do to ease your sister’s suffering, then I’m going to do them. When you have children, you’ll understand.”
Anger affected Aaron’s ability to see straight. “So Lauren’s feelings matter, but mine don’t? You’re going to ruin an innocent woman’s reputation and take away her father’s livelihood because of Lauren’s irrational feelings, but I tell you I want to do something different with my life for completely valid reasons and I’m told to be quiet and do as I am told? None of that makes any sense, Dad.”
His father set down his pen and glared at Aaron. “I can only deal with one child’s drama at a time, and your sister is draining every ounce of patience I have left. If you want to work with your hands, get a hobby. You need to take a vacation to go build houses for some charity, go ahead. But I need you to do your job for this company. You are a Cole, and you need to start acting like one.”
“If acting like a Cole means mistreating people because of Lauren’s childish whims, maybe I’ll change my name.”
Aaron left and walked down the hall to his office. He shut the door and sat at his desk. He hated everything about this job. The long hours, the business trips, crunching numbers, answering emails and spending a ridiculous number of hours on the phone. Aaron’s passion had always been building things. He’d had enough Lego kits as a kid to open his own store. He loved how it felt to take a bunch of pieces and make them whole. He enjoyed taking something old and worn down and cleaning it up and giving it a face-lift.
He had spent every summer during high school working for Cole Construction, and it had been the best time of his life.
