Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 77719 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77719 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Looking to the side, Wes’s jaw ticked as he let this sink in. “She’s in the wind.”
“No, man, she’s in a category fifty storm.”
Wes nodded his head slowly while his fingers drummed on his thighs. “Okay, I think we find a photo of her, hand it out to all of the guys, and get them to let their friends and family in on the fact we need to know if she shows her face back here. After that, we wait to see what Hazel’s friend who’s married to the cop—”
“Her name’s Jill,” I added, then watched in fascination as his head snapped up.
“Wait, Jill Long?” When I nodded, he made a noise. “July knows her from some fundraiser she did for a dog home. I don’t think they’re close, but I know I’ve met her, and she was very adamant our kids should all become best friends.”
“Are they?”
“Hell no. Jill’s youngest is a year older than James,” he huffed, talking about his eldest son. “Her son’s also a deviant and a little asshole. No way would July let him around James or Dean, regardless of how desperately she wants to be friends with my wife.”
“She wants to ride July’s coattails,” I guessed but didn’t phrase it as a question because I already knew this was likely the case.
People like that pissed me off in general, but more so with someone wanting to use the Mayson name to do it. What the fuck was wrong with just making your own way through the world? I’d done it, and trust me, it brought more pride than using someone else for it.
“Yup. You met her husband?” When I shook my head, he smirked. “I’d say there’s a good chance he’ll make sure his wife doesn’t cause shit after he talks to Nico and hears what he has to say.”
This was great news, even though I’d guessed as much already.
“That just leaves Helen and Jane.”
“What’s their last names?”
“I only know her unmarried name, but there’s Jane Mansfield and also Helen Cooper.”
Throwing his head back, Wes burst out laughing. “Oh, this is just priceless. Helen Cooper’s been trying to get all of our business for at least three years now, promising to give us the heads up as soon as the best properties are going up for sale. In return, she wants us to sign an exclusive contract with her, promising to sell our old homes with only her.”
Leaning in, he winked, “And she wants Mayson Construction in on the deal, too.”
Blinking at him, I tried to estimate how much those sales would net her in commission. Sadly, ‘a fuck ton’ wasn’t a legitimate figure, but it’s the closest I could think of to the amount.
“Is she going to get it? I only rent my place, but if I bought one, it’s unlikely I’d do it through her.” Past grievances aside, I didn’t want to spend any time near the woman.
“Is she hell.” He squinted as he thought of something. “I don’t know if I’ve met Jane.”
“She’s married now. To some local news guy, I think.”
“Wait, is her married name Jane Hill?”
“Maybe?” I shrugged. I hadn’t been interested in what she’d done with her life before now, and I was kicking myself for it. I was also kicking myself for not already knowing the answer to that question.
“Yeah, that one might be difficult. Jane’s a social climber, a lot like Jill but on steroids. She also wanted July to get the kids to play together, but my wife saw right through her. It also didn’t help that she tried to do it by going through December, Sophie, and Lilly after she bumped into them one day.”
“Let me guess, she wanted them to suggest it to July.”
“Of course she did. She’s desperate to get to the top of the ladder and having a tie-in to the Mayson family would be a big deal in her mind. That’s also why she married Ben after she divorced her first husband, who got a job as an accountant after he left college. She wanted more status, and that wasn’t good enough for her. She sued him for child support and married Ben, who’s a local legend because of the stories he reports about.”
Ben Hill was a reporter with a difference, that much I knew. Hell, even I paid more attention to the news when they said the words “live and on location” and mentioned his name.
Why? The man climbed Everest to raise awareness about the fallen bodies left behind on the mountain and changed them from frozen corpses to human beings in people's minds. While he was there, he’d also raised awareness on the amount of garbage left behind by climbers.
Then there was the report he’d done on Mount Merapi, an active volcano in Indonesia. It was so active that it’d erupted twice last year and had already done it again this year. And there Ben was, three weeks ago, as far up as he could get, telling us about the impact it was having on the people living around it as black smoke and ash came out of the damn thing behind him.