Twenty-Seven

Hudson

I didn't go into too much detail with Jack, but Nate had confirmed what I suspected. After Dad had refused to cave in to his pressure to sell he started trying to put him out of business, which isn't easy in a small town where everyone knows you.

A few hours later we were sitting at the bar watching one of Jack's friends play pool against the very guy I wanted to talk to. He was about my age and was dressed for the part in jeans and a T-shirt. He fit right in, until you noticed the shoes he wore were over three hundred dollars, and the watch on his wrist was at least five thousand.

His light blond hair was cut short on the sides and slightly longer on top and if I didn't know better, I would have thought he was a local, but he wasn't and never would be. His eyes met mine and he tipped his chin in greeting which I ignored. Jack leaned against the bar and glanced at him before leaning in close to me. "So, what's the plan?" he asked.

"Nothing yet, I just want to get a good look at him then let him know I plan to buy the store and see his reaction," I said without taking my eyes off my target.

"How do you know he'll even talk to you?" Jack whispered.

"Oh, he will," I said just as he came walking over to the bar.

"I don't believe I've met you. My name is Glenn Gibbons," he said and held his hand out.

"Hudson Carter, and this is Jack—"

"Carter? Are you related to Jonas Carter who owns the hardware store?" he interrupted, pissing me off even more.

"He's my father, and this is Jack Hulbert my best employee." I grinned and Jack's eyes widened before he faked a cough to cover his laugh.

"Is that right? I didn't know he had any kids. You must not live here," he said and looked at me like he hoped to somehow get more information if he stared long and hard enough. Nate stood behind the bar, arms crossed looking as pissed off as usual, but keeping his attention on our little interaction.

"I do now," I said, and waited for his reaction. "Dad's ready to retire so I'll be taking over the store. Jack and I have been working on a few improvements. I've also talked to one of the small chains of hardware stores about becoming a franchise. Looks like Foggy Basin won't be losing a hardware store after all." I grinned at him and watched as his face bloomed red. He had no clue I was lying about the franchise, but that didn't matter.

"Your father promised me first chance if he decided to sell," he said and crossed his arms. "We've been in contract negotiations for months."

I stood then and got in his face. "You mean you've been harassing him for months hoping to bully him into selling. That's not going to fucking happen. And if you so much go within ten feet of anyone I care about, I will personally make sure you are never welcome back here again. Do I make myself clear?"

"Nate, did you hear him threaten me?" he shouted over the bar, where Nate rolled his eyes and ignored him.

"I'll be getting a restraining order against you and your company on Monday. If you come within fifty feet of my dad or the store, I'll have you arrested."

"You can't do that," he sputtered and looked around the room for someone who would stand up for him, but everyone looked away. No one wanted a part of what he'd obviously been doing. Pressuring someone they all knew to try to steal his business.

"I can and I will. Just so you know, I also filed a report with the board of realtors in your area. They didn't like knowing that one of their realtors was being as unethical as you have been. They also said your company isn't licensed to sell or buy real estate in California and that they'll be investigating." I stared at him and dared him to say something, to give me one more reason to wipe that smug look off his face.

"I'm sick of this Podunk town anyway. Nate, I'll be leaving in the morning," he said before walking out the door.

Jack turned to me and for a moment didn't say anything. "What the fuck did I just see?" he finally asked, making me laugh.

"While you were putting the chairs together, I was busy doing a little research on your friend. Everything I said was true, he's a grifter and he's done this a few times over the years. He runs an owner out of their business by either stressing them out like he did with Dad or scaring them away. He then buys their business for a steal and sells it for a huge profit. It was all about the location. He wasn't connected to the project at the lake, but he wanted a piece of it and was hoping to sell the store to them. I had some of it right, but not everything."

"First, he's not my friend, and second, what an asshole," Jack said.

"Yeah, he's more concerned with what he can take from a small community than what he can contribute to it."

"Hudson, I'm so sorry I didn't realize what was happening. I knew Jonas was having a rough time, but I didn't have any idea that this guy was pressuring him. I've seen him at the store a few times, but I never heard what they were talking about. Now that I think about it, when he'd leave Jonas would go back to his office for the rest of the day."

"I called Dad earlier, he didn't want to admit it, but he finally said he just couldn't take it anymore and was ready to just walk away. He said he was so relived to get out of town and away from it that he knew something had to change." I lay my hand on his leg where we both sat on bar stools facing each other. "Thank you for keeping the store going when he couldn't."

"Your dad gave me a job when I had no clue what I was doing and trained me how to do everything in the store. Because of him I could get a car and my own place. I owe him a lot for taking a chance on me," Jack said and squeezed my hand.

"Come on, let's go home," I said, and I didn't need to explain that I meant my house. After thanking Nate, we walked to the store, and around to where we'd both parked. I backed him up against my car and leaned in. "I need you," I whispered before kissing him. He groaned into my mouth, and I knew if we kissed much longer everyone in town would know we were fucking behind the hardware store, and I cared more about Jack than that.

"I need you too," he said and kissed me once more before the two of us forced ourselves to get into our cars and drive. Soon, very soon we'd be together.