Small-Town Girl Read Free

“Shoot.”
    â€œMy business is in trouble.”
    Evan’s eyes grew wide. “What kind of trouble? Do you need money? I could—”
    Brice stopped Evan’s words by holding up his hands. “I didn’t come here to ask you for money. I hate admitting it, but I think I bit off more than I can chew. I’m not in serious trouble—at least not yet—but I could be soon if business keeps going in the direction it’s heading right now.”
    â€œAre you behind on bills?”
    â€œNot yet.”
    â€œListen.” Evan slid back down so he was standing on the floor. He crossed the room so he was inches away from Brice and lowered his voice. “Don’t mess with Sesser. Whatever you do, promise me you won’t go into debt to that man. He will... Just don’t get in debt to him.”
    â€œEvan, I know what he did to you. I won’t—”
    â€œPromise me.” Evan growled the words through clenched teeth. A vein on his neck bulged.
    Brice dropped a hand onto his brother’s shoulder. “I won’t go into debt to the likes of him. You know I wouldn’t do that. I’d lose my house and move in with your hide before missing a payment to that man.”
    â€œGood.” Evan lifted his shoulders, making Brice’s hand fall, and strode away from him. “So, what— exactly —is going on?”
    â€œWhen I first started, shipments were good. But last winter was colder than normal and there was less of a demand. Last summer, since things seemed to be going well, I purchased more boats. And not just barges, all different kinds. If business had kept up like it had been, I would have been able to start socking away money. But it didn’t. Do you know how expensive upkeep on a boat is?”
    Evan shrugged and glanced around his furniture shop. “Costs a lot more than buying wood.”
    â€œAnd if those boats are just sitting in dock, taking a space that I have to pay for and not doing anything...they become a red line in my accounting books.”
    â€œYou still use actual books? The sort with paper and pens?”
    â€œStay on topic, will you?”
    â€œSorry. Too many boats.”
    â€œBetter.” Brice turned away from his brother and watched the people seated outside, on vacation, joking with one another. Had he ever taken a break or just gone away from home? Not other than college...and that could hardly have been considered a break. “I think I need to start selling off my boats and cut my fleet to just the two or three that are constantly in use. Then I’ll just pray that none of them break down.”
    Short term, the unused boats might be a problem, but they only masked what truly bothered him. Sesser Atwood was the real issue.
    What Brice wouldn’t give to get out from under that millionaire’s thumb. Everything the man touched turned bad. Made money, sure. But Atwood’s influence corrupted and did so absolutely. The man cared about success and compounding his money and nothing more. Paying rent to the man for space at the dock irked Brice more than he cared to admit, but other than moving, there’d been no other option when he first started his shipping company.
    And moving from Goose Harbor was out of the question. At least while his younger sister still lived at home with his unstable parents. Brice needed to stay nearby, be there for her and take the brunt of their parents’ emotional outbursts whenever he could. He’d done the same for his brothers as much as he could. Besides, Brice knew a thing or two about bullies. He would put up with Sesser’s antics for as long as Laura needed him to.
    Which left Brice with no other options. Sesser owned the moorings in Shadowbend, the next town over, as well as Goose Harbor. The property on the other side of town was a state preserve, so no docks there. He would have to go twenty miles up or down the lake in order to dock