“What the fuck?” I whispered in confusion.

  “I don’t know,” Kara said. “I don’t know who would say that shit. Why would people even believe them?”

  “Because people are sheep,” I replied, pulling out my phone. “Jesus Christ, this explains it.”

  “Explains what?” she asked, dropping down beside me.

  “That sales are so bad,” I replied, trying to remember my sign in for the community pages. I’d deleted the app after one too many stop letting your dog shit in my yard posts, and I hadn’t even thought of it since. No one I knew even used it, because we didn’t give a shit. If we wanted to talk to our neighbors we talked to them. If we wanted to know when a business was open, we fucking Googled it.

  “Sales are bad?” Kara asked in confusion, taking the phone out of my hand. “What are you talking about?”

  “Sales have been shit,” I said with a sigh, falling back on the couch. “Like so bad, we might’ve had to close if I didn’t figure it out.”

  “What the hell?” she asked. “Why wouldn’t you tell me that? I’ve been asking for more hours! I feel like an asshole.”

  I laughed. “Why? I have to pay someone to work, might as well be you.”

  “You still should have told me! What the hell is it with you and keeping secrets? We tell each other everything, you jerk.”

  “It’s different now,” I said easily. “You and Draco are a unit.”

  “You’re still my best friend.”

  “I know that,” I replied, taking my phone back. “I just wanted to fix it before I told you how bad it was. Like, hey guess what happened, but don’t worry, I figured it out.”

  “If I didn’t want to know who the hell is spreading this shit so bad, we’d be having a much longer conversation,” she said angrily as I tried to get into the community page again.

  I shook my head. “I thought I’d gotten it all figured out,” I said, glancing at her. “I talked to Tommy today and he’s going to rent me the spot on that store property near the club.”

  “That’s awesome!”

  “Yeah, he’s putting in a health food store and it would’ve been a great place—but not if everyone thinks my shop is a fucking health hazard,” I said, my stomach sinking. “I thought it was just a traffic issue because I couldn’t figure out why the sales were so bad. You know all those hippies are on the community app—it doesn’t matter if my drinks are organic and vegan if they think we—”

  “We’ll fix it,” she said, gesturing to my phone. “Hurry up and sign in.”

  It took me two more tries before I finally figured out my password, and when I put Coffee Now—yeah, Mal wasn’t real original—into the search bar, more than ten posts popped up.

  “Has anyone been to Coffee Now lately?” I read out loud. “I went to another place today and one of the girls who used to work there said it’s really bad. Like, disgusting, since it was sold to the new owner.” I looked at Kara. “One of the girls that used to work there?”

  “Mary fucking Jones,” Kara hissed, leaning closer to my phone.

  “Or Tabitha,” I replied, rage boiling just under the surface. I set my phone down on the couch and walked completely away from it. I couldn’t afford to buy a new one if I threw it across the room.

  “Because you fired them?” Kara asked in disbelief. “These people must know its sour grapes!”

  “Clearly not,” I replied, pulling my fingers through my hair. “Did you see how many comments there are on those posts? Jesus Christ.”

  Kara picked up my phone and started scrolling. “The girl says she quit because her conscience wouldn’t let her serve people anymore. Oh, that cunt.”

  “Not that I fired her because she was never on fucking time,” I yelled at the ceiling. “I wonder which one it is.”

  “I bet it’s Mary,” Kara said, scrolling through the posts.

  “I’d be surprised if Tabitha isn’t the one doing the heavy lifting,” I muttered. “She’s the one who never has anything nice to say about anyone.”

  “Yeah,” Kara said, her eyes still on the phone. “But she does it behind people’s backs. This is just blatant out in the open lying. This says you switched the cups because rats had eaten through all the old ones and they were unusable.”

  “We ran out of the old cups and the new ones were cheaper and biodegradable!”

  “Well, I know that!”

  “This is un-fucking-believable,” I said, laughing darkly. “I mean, it makes so much sense now—but holy shit. I cannot believe this.”

  “It’s pretty fucking brave,” Kara said angrily. “Does she think we’ll just let her keep—”

  “They’ve been doing this for months,” I said, cutting her off. “And we had no fucking clue. Whoever it is probably thought I was too chickenshit to do anything about it.”

  “Well, what are you going to do now?” Kara asked. “You should comment on every single one of these posts.”

  “No,” I replied, taking the phone back. “Don’t say anything.”

  “Well, you have to tell people that none of this is true!”

  “I’m not getting into a pissing match on the internet,” I replied, shaking my head. “Then I look as bad or worse than they do. How unprofessional. I can’t play into it.”

  “You have to do something,” Kara argued. “Someone just posted about you again, yesterday.”

  “I know,” I replied, tossing my phone onto the couch. “I’m just not sure what.”

  “This is libel,” Kara said stubbornly. “You should sue.”

  “Neither of them have any money,” I replied, laughing. God, what a nightmare. “What coffee shop did your friends say they heard someone talking about us?”

  “That little place off the highway by the gas station,” Kara replied. “I don’t remember what it’s called.”

  “Morning, Joe?” I asked, trying to picture the place.

  “Yeah, actually,” Kara replied. “How the hell did you remember that?”

  “Mal knew all the owners of the shops around town. I think I have that guy’s number.”

  “Oh, man,” Kara said gleefully. “Call him.”

  “I think I will,” I replied. I jogged upstairs to my room and pulled out the small notebook that Mal had given me when she turned over the business. Inside were names and numbers that she’d thought I might need. Everyone from other small business owners to suppliers and two different garbage companies, just so I’d have options.

  I went back downstairs before dialing the owner of Morning, Joe.

  “This is Rick,” he answered after the first ring.

  “Hey, Rick,” I said, glancing at Kara who was grinning maliciously. “This is Charlie Butler, I own—”

  “Coffee Now, right?” he asked. “Mal told me she’d given you my number in case you needed anything. How’s she doing? Enjoying that retirement?”

  “I think so,” I said, relaxing a little. The guy seemed really nice and I was crossing my fingers he’d be willing to help me. “Listen, Rick, I am calling to ask you for help.”

  “What can I do for you?”

  “Well,” I said, pausing for a moment. “Do you have anyone named Mary Jones or Tabitha Gates working for you?”

  “Both of them, actually,” Rick replied, his tone a bit more cautious.

  “Well, I’ve heard from—” Kara held up five fingers. “Numerous people that one or both of them have been telling customers at Morning, Joe that Coffee Now has a bunch of health code violations. We don’t. We have an A rating and always have.”

  “Well, now,” he mumbled. “I haven’t heard—”

  “People are posting about it on the community app,” I said, not letting him hem and haw. “If you sign on and search our name, you’ll see them.”

  “I can’t control what an employee does on their off time,” Rick said with a sigh.

  “I know,” I replied. “I’m just asking that you tell them to stop telling customers that when they’re working. I mean, I understand that there is a bit of competition—”

  “Let me stop you right there,” Rick said kindly. “I don’t consider you competition at all, darlin.’ There’s room enough for all of us as far as I’m concerned and I’d never tell an employee it was okay to badmouth another business.”

  “Thanks, Rick,” I replied.

  “I’ll make sure it’s known that any further talk about your shop—or any other for that matter—won’t be tolerated, how’s that?”

  “That’s all I’m asking,” I confirmed.

  “I’m real sorry about this,” Rick said with a sigh. “What a mess.”

  When I hung up the phone, Kara was looking at me expectantly. “Well?”

  “He says they both work for him now,” I said, pacing.

  “Then it could be either of them,” Kara replied in exasperation.

  “Or both.”

  “Probably both,” she grumbled. “So, what do we do now?”

  “Drive over there and put the fear of God into them?” I asked jokingly.

  “Seriously tempting,” she replied. “We need to think of a way to get the word out that the cart isn’t a fucking health hazard.”

  “I don’t even know how to do that without looking like we’re on the defensive,” I said, defeat making my shoulders slump.

  I dropped down on the couch and pulled my knees to my chest. I’d been wracking my brain trying to figure out where all of my customers had gone, making tweaks here and there to try and save my business, working unending hours to save money—and I finally knew. Someone was sabotaging us and there wasn’t much I could do about it.

  “I’m going to get a snack, you want anything?” Kara asked, getting to her feet.

  “No, thanks,” I replied, laying my head on the back of the couch. Even the idea of food made me want to hurl. My guts were churning with anxiety.

  I wanted to confront them. I wanted to tell them they were horrible and disgusting and mean—but I knew that wouldn’t change anything. Mary and Tabitha were adults. They already knew what they were doing was shady as fuck—they just didn’t care. They resented that I’d bought the business from Mal and they hated me for firing them—even though they didn’t do their fucking jobs and deserved it.

  What had Tabitha said to me when I’d fired her? Something about how I hadn’t paid my dues yet—that I had no idea what running a shop actually entailed. I guess when I’d actually done okay, she’d needed to make sure that it didn’t last.

  It was too much. Finding out that my old employees were badmouthing me and I’d been too stupid to see it, that I’d been posting on social media non-stop but hadn’t even thought of using the community app—it was the shit cherry on top of the diarrhea sundae.

  “Kara,” I called as I slowly got to my feet. “I’m gonna go lay down.”

  “What?” Kara asked in confusion, coming out of the kitchen with a bowl of ice cream. “No, stay, so we can figure this out.”

  “I’m exhausted, dude,” I replied, waving her off. “Let’s make a game plan tonight, okay?”

  “Okay,” she said slowly, unconvinced. I could feel her eyes on me until I’d rounded the stairs.

  The cart would be open for a couple more hours, and I’d normally make sure that I was available in case something came up—but I didn’t have it in me. I silenced my phone and set it on my nightstand before crawling into my bed fully clothed. For the first time in a long time, I fell asleep almost instantly.

  Chapter 14

  Bishop

  “Shhh,” Kara hissed as I closed the front door behind me.

  “Sorry,” I replied, raising my hands in surrender. I was usually a little more careful about not letting it slam behind me, but I hadn’t been paying attention.

  “Charlie’s sleeping,” Kara said, walking toward me.

  “She sick?” I asked, taking off my boots.

  “No, just tired,” Kara replied. Something in her expression seemed off, but I had no idea what it was and I didn’t really have time to figure it out.

  “Alright,” I said, nodding. “I’ll be quiet.”

  “Why are you in such a rush?” Kara asked, laughing as I hurried toward the stairs.

  “Runnin’ late,” I called back over my shoulder.

  “Hot date?” she joked.

  “Somethin’ like that.”

  I ignored the shocked look on her face as I continued up the stairs. I knew what she was thinking. And yeah, I still had a thing for her best friend. Who wouldn’t? But Charlie had made it perfectly clear that she didn’t want to start anything with me—and that was fine. It was her call and she’d made it.

  But I was tired of sitting at home alone all the damn time. It was different when I’d been hanging out with everyone, and we’d had this whole sitcom roommates thing going. It wasn’t like that anymore. Charlie was always busy and Draco and Kara had their own shit going on and were usually studying or hanging out in their room.

  It wasn’t wrong for me to have a life. It wasn’t wrong for me to make other friends. It wasn’t wrong for me to date.

  So, I’d been branching out. I’d started going out for a beer with a couple of guys I worked with and their girlfriends. I liked them. It wasn’t as easy as hanging out with Draco and the girls, but it was better than nothing and I was fucking bored at home. A week before one of the girlfriends had brought along a friend.

  One thing had led to another and this would be the second date in a week—I glanced at my watch—which I was going to be late for if I didn’t haul ass.

  Ignoring the way my stomach flipped as I glanced at Charlie’s closed bedroom door, I grabbed some clothes and made my way quietly into the bathroom to shower.

  Charlie and I had come to a happy medium, I thought. We didn’t see each other much, but we didn’t avoid each other either. We’d parted on good terms and I still considered her a friend. I wasn’t mad, by any means. I knew she was overwhelmed by the shit she was dealing with, and even if I didn’t understand why she thought that hooking up with me would make things harder for her, I was at least sympathetic to it.

  I refused to feel guilty about seeing someone else.

  If I kept telling myself that, eventually it would be true.

  Fifteen minutes later I quietly shut the front door behind me and headed back out to my truck. I hated being late. I think it was probably something I’d picked up from Uncle Beau. Gus, bein’ late is the quickest way to show disrespect for the person waitin’ on you.

  God, I missed that old fucker. Part of me was glad that he hadn’t been around when I’d gotten sent up—that he hadn’t had to see me like that. He would’ve been so pissed that my life had gone off the rails. I was pretty sure that he’d be happy with where I was at now, though. Working with my hands, good friends, nice place. Hell, the downstairs of the house I was living in was bigger than our entire trailer. He would’ve gotten a kick out of that, even if I was living with three roommates.

  At some point, I was really going to make him proud though. Make good money, have a place of my own, a sweet woman, maybe a couple of kids. Yeah, definitely a couple of kids.

  I parked outside Tally’s house and watched as she hurried out the door toward me.

  Tally’s kids?

  I immediately dismissed the prospect. She was sweet and sometimes funny, but I couldn’t see anything long term with her. Something just wasn’t right. We didn’t really fit.

  “Hey,” she said, climbing into the passenger side. “I almost called to see if you were still coming.”

  “Sorry about that,” I murmured, leaning over for a kiss. “Got hung up at work.”

  “Construction, right?” she asked, pulling on her seatbelt as I backed out of her driveway.

  “Yep,” I said, glancing over at her.

  She was pretty. Short brown hair that curled wildly around her face, big brown eyes, and when she smiled she was a stunner. I looked back at the road.

  “That’s the nice thing about my job,” she said with a small laugh. “I start so early that I get off pretty early.”

  I nodded.

  “But it sucks if I want to stay out late,” she continued. “Do you want to still get dinner before the movie?”

  I looked at the clock on my dash. “We probably have time to run through somewhere?”

  “Works for me,” she said, getting comfortable. “I’m starving.”

  We ran through a fast-food joint and ate in the parking lot of the movie theater. It wasn’t exactly the date I’d had planned, but she seemed unbothered by the whole thing, which was nice. We didn’t really know each other at all and spent the whole time talking a little about everything. She had an older brother. Her parents were still together. She’d lived in the same house her whole life, but she was planning on renting an apartment with a friend soon.

  It was easy and natural.

  And I was bored as hell, which I really hoped didn’t show on my face.

  By the time we got to our seats in the theater, I was ready to be distracted. Where was the spark I’d felt on that first date? Was it gone because this was the first time we were actually alone? The first time we’d gone out with my friend from work and his girl, too, and the conversation had seemed so much easier.

  Halfway through the movie, I just wanted to go home and sleep. It had to be the most boring thing I’d ever seen.

  “This sucks,” Tally whispered to me, grimacing. “Do you want to just go?”

  “Fuck, yes,” I replied, making her laugh.

  We hurried out of the theater, trying to duck so we wouldn’t get in the way, but people still bitched anyway.

  “The previews were so good,” she said as we walked toward the truck. “Talk about false advertising.”

  “I was tryin’ really hard not to fall asleep,” I confessed, making her giggle.

  “I don’t blame you,” she said, wrapping her arm around mine. “It was pretty snoozeworthy.”

  “Jesus,” I said, shaking my head. “First I show up late and then the movie sucked. What a date.”

  “Well, it’s not all your fault,” she replied, smiling up at me. “I agreed on the movie.”