His Curvy Fantasy, page 7
I finally managed to push away the shame I felt at having Hudson Grant see where we lived and got up. I splashed water on my face and decided he needed to go. As soon as possible. If my neighbors saw him leaving my apartment, I’d get shit about it forever. The whole damn town would know.
Nope. Not happening. I needed to go back to my quiet existence, where I was unnoticeable and unimportant.
Matty was at the table when I walked back into the kitchen. Hudson was sitting between my boys, talking and laughing with them. Joey wasn’t staring at his phone, and Matty wasn’t picking on his brother. They were acting like it was normal for a strange man to be in our home.
“You boys need to get ready for school,” I said, interrupting their fun and feeling very little remorse for it.
“Hudson said he’d drop me off,” Joey told me.
“The bus will be here in ten minutes.”
“I can swing by the school on my way home. It’s not a big deal,” Hudson said.
I hated when people got in the middle of my decisions. He wasn’t a parent. He didn’t get it. That didn’t make it better. “Joey rides the bus.”
“It’s just one day, Mom.”
I knew my rage was unfounded, but it was there. If I held onto it, it was only going to get worse. I hated the idea of giving in, but if I did, it was a guarantee of Hudson leaving in ten minutes.
“Fine. But if you’re late, you’re grounded.”
“I won’t make him late. We’ll be there in plenty of time,” Hudson said. He took a sip of his coffee and nodded at Joey. Then he turned to Matty. “How’s breakfast? Need anything else before I go?”
“This is the best day ever. Can I keep a pancake for tomorrow?”
My heart cracked. Leftovers were a commodity for us. We didn’t usually have any, and Matty knew all the extra food Hudson made was valuable. Not just in the sense of money, but in the sense of what it actually meant for him. He didn’t have to go through the cafeteria line in the morning and get the free breakfast the school provided for the kids who couldn’t afford it. He could eat at home and walk straight to his homeroom when he got to school.
“You can keep all the pancakes,” Hudson told him. To his credit, he didn’t flinch or hesitate. He acted like it was a perfectly normal question.
“Really?” Matty asked.
Hudson nodded. “Absolutely. I made them for you guys.”
“What are you going to eat for breakfast?” Matty asked.
Hudson shrugged. “I don’t normally eat breakfast. I work until really late and when I get up, it’s almost lunchtime.”
“I love breakfast,” Matty said. “It’s the best meal of the day.”
Hudson grinned. “It sounds like you’ll appreciate it all a lot more than I will.” He stood and looked at me. “I’ll put everything away and get Joey to school.”
I nodded, unsure of what to say. I didn’t want him to do either, but he was being nice to my kids, so I stayed quiet. It meant he would leave.
Joey went to brush his teeth and grabbed his backpack for school. He met Hudson at the door a few minutes later.
“Bye, Mom,” Joey said, halfway out the door.
“Get back here,” I told him.
He hung his head and walked back to me, letting me hug him and kiss his cheek.
“I love you. Have a good day.”
“Love you, too. Bye.”
Hudson watched us from the door, a small smile on his face. When I met his gaze, he looked away quickly, like he was ashamed to have been caught watching us.
“Bye, Matty,” Hudson said, glancing toward the kitchen where Matty was still eating pancakes.
“Bye!” Matty waved his pancake in the air.
“Bye, Anna. I’ll see you soon.” Hudson’s parting words sent a shiver up my spine. A shiver I definitely could do without.
After Matty got on the bus, I jumped in the shower. My entire body was weak. I stubbornly refused to eat the food Hudson made for my family, because I’m insane, so I was running on coffee and liquor fumes from my night out.
Happy fucking fortieth.
I got out of the shower and found some comfortable clothes. If I was going to sit around and feel sorry for myself, the least I could do was be comfortable.
I paid a few bills and added up the remaining debt I had left to pay. If it weren’t for Ramsey Holland, I’d have a lot more debt in my name, but he worked a miracle and got me out of my marriage and divided up the debt Nick had taken out in my name. Without the money to pay for a lawyer, I was married to him for about a decade longer than I wanted to be. But Ramsey offered a very generous payment plan and got me divorced so I could move on with my life.
I still wasn’t anywhere close to paying off all my debts, but every dollar I was able to put toward them felt like a win. Which was why the money Hudson spent on food rubbed me so wrong.
I couldn’t afford to feed my boys like Hudson did. They ate breakfast and lunch at school because the state provided it for free to kids from low-income families. They didn’t get eggs and pancakes every day. They usually got frozen waffles and school pizza. But it was food I didn’t have to buy, so I appreciated it.
One day I would be able to buy my kids lunch. And make them breakfast in the morning. And not worry about every single penny we earned and spent. I wasn’t to one day yet, but I was getting closer. Thanks to Finley and the job she gave me.
Finley gave me the day off, but I wanted to thank her for getting me home, even though I wasn’t too happy she left Hudson there.
Me: Sorry I drank so much last night. I hope I wasn’t too big of a pain to get home.
Finley: We all have those nights. And no clue. Sorry. Hudson said he’d get you home. I was leaking and needed to go. Sounds like it all worked out, though.
What? Hudson got me home by himself? I thought he helped Finley.
I jumped up and paced my apartment. I couldn’t remember anything. His truck, walking inside, anything. How did he get me here? When I thought it was Finley and he helped, I was more okay with it, but just Hudson? He probably had to carry me. And I was not small. Oh, God.
Me: Oh, okay. Well, thanks for last night. I had fun.
Finley: LOL! You know that sounds dirty, right?
I snorted and shook my head.
Me: Not what I meant.
Finley: Are you sure? Because you were flirting with someone on your phone. Maybe something dirty happened that you don’t remember.
On my phone?
Texting…
Oh, God, who did I message?
I flipped back to my last messages. Huh. Nothing. So, what…
I saw the icon for Book Boyfriends Wanted, and my stomach turned. Shit. It was coming back. I’d been so sure of myself with the alcohol fueling me.
My hand shook as I reached for the icon and opened the app. No new matches, but a message from someone. I tapped on it and groaned.
Then laughed.
Introducing myself to the same guy six times didn’t bother him. He appeared to take it in stride. He didn’t even ask for a picture or something creepy when it was clear I’d been drinking.
Finley: Are you going to tell me who he was?
I flipped back over to my texts.
Me: I don’t know. Someone I was matched with. I made a fool of myself, but he didn’t call me on it. Just let it go and said we’d talk again.
Finley: Then you should message him today and do some more flirting.
Me: I’m not sure it’s such a good idea.
Finley: Flirting is always a good idea. It’s like fighting, but without the drama.
Me: Fighting is not fun. Ever.
Finley: Maybe. But making up can be a lot of fun.
My body flashed with heat. The last time that happened… Nope. I wasn’t going to think about how good it felt when Hudson kissed me. He did it because he wanted me to stop yelling at him. We weren’t making up. Or anything. He hates me as much as I hate him. And after last night, I didn’t think I could face him again, anyway.
I spent the rest of my day cleaning my apartment and figuring out how I was going to avoid my son’s boss for the next few years. At least until I got control over my body’s reaction to him. He was attractive, and kind, and he’d been a good influence on Joey, but he was not for me. And until my body got the message, I was staying away from him.
8
Hudson
I nodded at Joey as he walked in and resisted the urge to ask him how his mom was.
I hadn’t seen her since I spent the night in her living room and cooked breakfast for their family. She was weird when I left, weirder than normal, and she’d been avoiding me since.
At least, I was convinced she was avoiding me. I couldn’t actually prove it, but I hadn’t gone a full week without seeing her since Joey started working for me and she barged into my bar and demanded I don’t hire him.
Even that first day, I knew she was going to fuck up my life. But back then, I thought it was going to be in a very different way. Not in a consuming my thoughts and wishing I could see her kind of way.
Joey went to work, and I pushed Anna from my mind. I had shit to do, and no time to wonder how a woman who didn’t want anything to do with me was doing.
Jonathan was behind the bar and nodded me over when I joined him.
“What’s up?” I asked.
He glanced over at the customers sitting a few feet from us. None of them were paying attention to us, but he still leaned in closer. “I didn’t get paid this week.”
“What?” I blurted.
“Usually my check is in on Wednesday mornings, and it wasn’t there today. I normally wouldn’t say anything until a few days were passed, but we’re looking at buying a house in the next few months and I need to prove I have a consistent income.”
“Yeah, of course. Um, let me look into it. I don’t know any reason it wouldn’t have gone through, but I’ll go… Are you good up here?”
“Of course. And I’m sorry to put you on the spot like that, but—”
“No. You don’t have to apologize at all. You worked, and you should have gotten paid. Let me see if I can figure out what’s going on, and I’ll be right back.”
Jonathan nodded. He looked a lot less worried than he was a few minutes ago.
I logged into my computer and got into my payment system. Melody set it all up for me when she worked for me a few years ago, but it was an easy enough system and better than the one I was using before. I clicked through to the employee pay section. Everything looked right. All the employees were listed. Hours were in.
I went through to the payments section and stopped. No payments were scheduled for the week.
“What the hell?”
I clicked to a few other screens and stopped. I tossed my hat on the desk and rubbed my head. How in the hell did I not pay my employees? It was supposed to happen automatically. Once I reviewed and approved the time it went through. And I did it every single Tuesday night. I was there last Tuesday. It was Anna’s birthday…
“Fuck me,” I mumbled as I realized what happened.
I was in the middle of it when Finley brought Anna to me. I planned to finish it up that night, but I spent the night at Anna’s house. And forgot all about the paychecks.
Shit.
No one was going to get a paycheck. They had families to take care of and bills to pay, and I fucked it all up for them. Because I couldn’t remember to get it done.
I logged into my personal bank account and saw that I had money to cover the payroll in there. Obviously the business account had enough since it was supposed to pay out already, but with money in my personal account, I could write everyone checks and ask them all to pay me back when their paychecks went through. Or I could go to the bank and see what could be done.
The last thing my employees needed was to have to worry about paying me back. The bank was my better option.
I went to Jonathan first to explain to him what happened and ask if he would take care of anything that came up while I was gone. It was close to closing time for the banks already, so I had to go.
Jonathan agreed, but the worried look on his face said he wasn’t holding out a lot of hope of me solving the issue.
I jogged to my truck and resisted the urge to tear off down the street. The bank was about ten minutes away, on the outside of town, and would be closing in about twenty minutes. I had to hurry.
The doors were still open when I walked in. People were waiting in line to speak to the one and only teller helping customers. I glanced around, catching the eye of a manager and waving him over.
“How can I help you, sir?”
“Listen, I run a local business and my payroll didn’t get processed like planned. Is there anything that can be done?”
“I’m assuming you have your accounts with us?”
I didn’t roll my eyes at him. I was proud of myself for that. “Yes.”
“Well, we aren’t likely the ones who process your payroll, but I can see what we can do. Come with me.”
I walked behind him as he turned toward a cubicle on the side with glass walls and absolutely zero privacy. Once he verified my identity, Lucas pulled up my accounts and asked about the payment processing system.
“It looks like we do manage it,” he said. “It was set up almost two years ago. Which means it’ll be something we can handle for you. Unfortunately, since our system is set up to run your payroll automatically on Monday nights, we have to do this manually and there is a fee associated with it.”
“I’ll pay it. As long as my employees get paid this week. Some of them would normally get paid today.”
Lucas nodded. “I see that. The ones who bank with us usually have their direct deposit the day it’s released from your account. The others likely have to wait a day or two for processing.”
“How long will this take?”
“We are technically closed for the night, sir. It’s not something I can do without getting permission from a manager.”
“You’re not a manager?”
He shook his head and actually looked sorry for the first time since I walked in. “I’m an assistant manager. But I can do this. Your staff is small, so it won’t take me longer than two or three hours to manually process all of this. If you’re willing to wait while I speak to my manager about it…”
“Of course. Thank you.”
He walked out of the cubicle. I ran my hands over my head again and held my breath. I couldn’t believe I did this. The first year I owned O’Kelley’s, I almost lost it all. I was drowning in grief and not paying attention to the business. I transposed numbers one night when I was not paying close enough attention and fucked up my accounting for the month. When I thought I was doing well, I was barely hanging on, but my confidence got the better of me and I ordered extra. When my checks started to bounce and brewers stopped signing agreements with me, I had to pull back.
It still churns my gut to think about what I put my employees through back then. Some quit, some stayed but hated me, and some were loyal and never left, like Charlie. But the experience shook me. I told myself I’d never screw up like that again.
Sitting in the bank after hours and begging an assistant manager to work overtime to make sure my people got paid this week was not my finest moment.
Lucas came back a minute later with a smile and another person. She introduced herself as Jane and handed me paperwork to sign.
Jane went through the process with me, outlining what it was going to take and how long it would be. I would have signed away everything left in the account if it meant making sure my employees were okay.
“Your first employees should see a deposit pending tomorrow at the earliest. It might be Friday, though. This is the best we can do.” Jane offered no sympathy or better option.
“Thank you. Both of you. I really appreciate your help.”
Jane and Lucas nodded.
“Is there anything else we can do for you, Mr. Grant?” Lucas asked.
I shook my head and moved toward the exit where a guard stood, waiting for me to leave. “No. I’m good. Thank you very much.”
I hurried toward the door and left them to their work, thanking God for Melody and getting everything set up as easily as possible for me.
When I made it back to O’Kelley’s, Jonathan met my gaze with his own weary one. I didn’t make him ask. I told him straight out what was going on and when he could expect his paycheck.
“Here’s the thing… If you can’t wait until Friday, I’ll write you a check right now and you can pay me back when you get paid. I’m hoping it’ll hit your account tomorrow, but I can’t guarantee that. I will cover your check if you need me to.”
“I can’t ask you to do that,” Jonathan said.
“You’re not asking. I messed up, and I owe it to you, and everyone else, to make this right. Your checks will be in this week, but obviously, they’re late. That’s my fault, not yours, but you shouldn’t need to pay for it.”
Jonathan considered it for a minute, then said, “If it’s not in there tomorrow, we’ll talk. But hopefully it is.”
I nodded. “Let me know. I will write you a check and not think twice about it. Thank you for letting me know it wasn’t deposited. I probably wouldn’t have caught this until next week.”
Jonathan nodded, his face worried again.
I clapped him on the back and went to speak to the others, one by one.
Some of my employees were more concerned than others. A few took me up on the offer to get a personal check immediately, but most of them said they’d wait and see if it cleared the next day.
Joey was the last one I needed to talk to, and I knew I couldn’t talk to him alone. I had to talk to Anna, too.
I waited until it was almost the end of Joey’s shift, then I approached him. “Is your mom picking you up today?”
“Yeah. She should be here soon. Why?”
“There was an issue with the paychecks for this week. I need to talk to you about it, but I wanted to make sure she’s here when I do.”
