Page 73 of Yummy Cowboy
From the grim set of Abigail’s mouth, Brock guessed that whatever had happened, it must be bad.
Did she get more bad news about her health?he wondered.
Then, without acknowledging anyone else at the table, she marched straight to where Summer sat, next to Brock.
“Summer. I need to speak with you,” she said, her words clipped. “Right now, and in private.”
Brock saw the color drain out of Summer’s face and felt a mule-kick of apprehension in his gut. Everyone stared at them.
Without a word, Summer rose and led her grandmother to the back of the diner. They vanished through the kitchen door.
“Do you have any idea what this is about?” Priscilla asked Brock, looking after them with a worried expression.
Brock shook his head. “No, but I’m gonna find out. Excuse me.”
He shoved his chair back, got to his feet, and went to find some answers.
Slipping quietly through the kitchen door, he lingered just out of sight, eavesdropping shamelessly.
Abigail was speaking, her voice tight and angry.
“—Kenny told me he discovered that your restaurant is closed because you’rebankrupt,Summer. Not because you’re renovating, like you told me and everyone else. At first, I thought he was just bitter about losing his job at the diner.”
Fucking Kenny!Brock thought angrily. His fists clenched.I’m gonna have words with him. No more of this badmouthing Summer shit from him!
“I’mnotbankrupt,” Summer protested. Her voice sounded shockingly thin and reedy.
It made Brock itch to charge in and enfold her in a protective embrace.
“No?” Abigail asked sharply. “Because just now, some of your creditors contacted me. I don’t know how on earth they got my phone number, but they confirmed that you’re in big financial trouble, young lady. Now, what do you have to say for yourself?”
Brock froze in shock. Summer had lied to him and everyone, including her grandmother about what was going on with her restaurant in San Francisco?
No wonder she didn’t want us to apply for that business loan!
Chapter Twenty-Four – Summer
Summer’s stomach twisted as she saw the hurt, bewildered look on her grandma’s face. It took all of her self-control not to throw up.
Of all the awful, stressful things she’d been dealing with since Greg took the money and disappeared, this was the one she’d feared the most. The intense pressure of her shame squeezed the breath out of her like the remorseless coils of a hungry anaconda.
“I had faith in you, Summer,” Grandma Abigail said. “Because I thought you were better thanthis.” Her expression sharpened. Suddenly, she wasn’t the sweet grandmother, but the savvy businesswoman. “How long have you been hiding this from everyone?”
“My business partner looted SummerTime’s accounts and disappeared just before Grandpa Frank passed away.”
Grandma Abigail’s lips thinned even further. “And you didn’t think to mention it when I asked you to help me make this diner profitable?”
This was Summer’s worst nightmare.I’m a failure and a fraud, and now even my family knows it.I was a fool to think San Francisco was far enough away that no one would find out before I could fix things.
Summer couldn’t deal with the disappointment and betrayal on Grandma Abigail’s face any longer. She turned away.
And caught sight of Brock, watching them from the kitchen doorway.
Oh, God. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse!
“Summer, what the hell is going on?” he asked. He looked shocked, and she knew that anger would follow in another minute.
She rarely cried. But she’d kept all of her fear and stress bottled up for weeks because she had to keep the disaster in the city under control while she focused on fixing the diner.