My lips pressed together in a slight smile as I shook my head. His eyes bugged out, then his mouth opened, but he didn’t say anything.
He shook his head and then he spoke. “What the fuck?”
I shrugged. “I think it’ll be okay.”
He closed his eyes for a long moment, and then he sighed. When he opened his eyes he looked disappointed. “You’re a mess.”
I shook my head. “Don’t know that she’s pregnant, man. And besides, I fuckin’ love her.”
“Just like you loved Jessica?”
I stiffened. “That’s low. I never thought about marrying Jessica.”
Brock did a double take. “You mentioned marriage?”
I grinned. “Yeah. Diverted Cassie’s freak-out, and nothing I said was untrue.”
Brock shook his head. “Call me crazy, but I’m thinking you should get your degree before entering into wedded bliss.”
I shrugged. “What is it Granny always told us? ‘Everything happens as it is supposed to happen.’ And it’s as true now as it was back then.”
Brock pressed his lips together, and I chuckled because I knew he couldn’t argue with that.
25Feed My Baby Daddy
Gabe
FRIDAY, I HIT CLUB Eclectic before opening so I could meet with Ryan. Even though I hadn’t shown my plans to anybody yet, I intended to invest in this club. The location was great, and if Pruitt focused his efforts, it could really take off.
As I entered the club, I put my equipment down so I could set up after I spoke to Pruitt. The door to his office was ajar, but just before I knocked, I heard a woman’s voice.
“You’ve gotten everything you’ll get from me, Ryan.”
“What are you talking about? I’ll out you to your husband.”
The woman laughed. “You make any move to do that, and I’ll have you arrested for money-laundering.”
“I’m not laundering money,” Pruitt said.
“Really? How do you claim that additional fifty thousand dollars in income on your taxes, Ryan? Are you unaware that monetary gifts larger than fifteen thousand dollars have to be reported as income? And you’ve certainly been receiving far more money than that, but no more.”
“But you’re the silent investor, so you’re incriminating yourself,” he replied.
“No, Ryan, my husband is. You should learn to read contracts more carefully. Two birds, one stone. You step out of line, I get rid of you and my husband.”
“You set me up for that, you’re setting Cassandra up for it too.”
Cassandra? My frame went stock still. I chanced a glance at the woman in the room and I couldn’t believe she was Cassie’s mother. Yet, there could be no other explanation.
“Life is full of hard lessons. My daughter never should’ve listened to her father and applied for the bookkeeping job here.”
Ryan’s voice was full of rage. “I’ll tell them the truth!”
I could only see her profile, but even still, the sharp curve of her mouth made for one helluva sinister smile. “Who are they going to believe? You? A fledgling thirty-year-old, or a respected member of the Chamber of Commerce?”
“You’re willing to set your husband up for a crime and possibly your youngest daughter too?”
She moved, and I lost sight of her facial expression. “Cassie hasn’t been here that long. I’m sure a decent lawyer can get her off.”
Jesus. This woman was a world-class bitch.
I edged away from the door as quietly as possible. Since I had brought my equipment inside, I would busy myself with setting up.
I didn’t know if Pruitt would take my offer, but I knew I had to do something. If it could protect Cassie and her father, I would do everything I could to help them. Even if it wasn’t the safest or smartest use of my money.
I’d have to find a lawyer for certain now. For one thing, I wouldn’t want to be implicated in the money-laundering, and having a lawyer on my side would prevent Ryan from swindling me, as he had clearly done to Mrs. Daughtry.
When I returned to where I’d stashed my equipment, I saw a club employee looking at my cases, and my keys happened to be sitting on top of them.
“Yo! Can I help you with something, man?” I asked as I approached.
The man stiffened and looked surprised to see me.
“No, just curious about what all this is, and I didn’t know why keys would be sitting on top.”
My smile was half-hearted. “It’s my equipment for the DJ booth. You new?”
He grimaced. “That obvious, huh?”
I shook my head. “Nah. Just haven’t seen you around before. I’ll let you get back to it.”
TO MY SURPRISE, THE club was packed that night and stayed that way. So much so, I worked half-an-hour later than normal, even though the bar had long since stopped serving alcohol. As I put away my gear, I realized I’d be lucky to get home by five-thirty in the morning. Part of me wondered if Ryan had done extra marketing to garner such a large crowd, or if it was just the last hurrah before the college kids went back to classes.
I tucked my cell phone into my back pocket when I heard raised voices from below.
“Your first damn night on the job and you take an ‘early’ break! I should fire you right now.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize—”
“You didn’t ask, Craddick.”
“It won’t happen again, Mr. Pruitt. I swear.”
“It better not. Tomorrow, you report in at six.”
I shook my head, feeling bad for the new guy, but I was dead on my feet.
Before I could leave, though, I had to wait on Ryan to give me my take of the door. My equipment could all be carried in one trip, and again I set it by the door.
I ambled over to the bar, setting my keys down. The bartender was drying glasses, and the new guy came up to put a stack of glasses into the sink on the far side of the bar.
I nodded to him, and said, “Craddick.”
He lifted his chin and wandered out to gather more glasses.
I couldn’t remember the female bartender’s name, but she grinned at me, pulled a long-neck out
