A Nutcracker Nightmare by Christina Romeril

Author:Christina Romeril [Romeril, Christina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CROOKED LANE BOOKS

Chapter Nineteen

Alex wandered back to the gym where the program was continuing. Eudora was up on stage and had obviously taken over when the principal was called away. She called Fenton up to talk about Kyle.

Alex looked for a place to sit and saw Eddie by himself nearby. She started to back away to go to another door, but he’d already caught her eye and motioned her over.

“Come sit here.” Eddie flashed his warm smile as he indicated the seat beside him. “I’ve been meaning to call you and see if you’d like to go for that coffee another time.”

Fenton was sharing a brief synopsis of Kyle’s time as the star quarterback at Harriston School. As he droned on, Eddie leaned closer. He smelled of citrus, soap, and a hint of sawdust. The combination was intoxicating, and Alex was intensely aware of him.

There was no denying how attractive Eddie was, but Alex was uncomfortable having him so close. She could feel people’s eyes watching them. She took off her coat and managed to create a bit more space between them. “I’m surprised they’re doing another memorial today. I didn’t think Kyle was that well liked.”

“He’s not going to be missed at the dealership. I’ve worked hard to have solid relationships with our customers, and he was undoing that work faster than I could make repairs. I hate to say it, but this is the best thing that could have happened for the company, though not for me personally.”

“Yesterday, I overheard you talking to Fenton outside the sheriff’s department. Was he one of the customers who had a problem with Kyle?”

“You overheard that?” Eddie looked a bit sheepish. “Yeah, Kyle was giving Fenton a hard time about renegotiating the terms of a loan. After everything that man did for Kyle. I couldn’t believe it. I would have stepped in either way, but I can’t lie. It’s easier without having to fight Kyle on every issue.”

“I heard you had a knock-down, drag-out fight with him a couple days ago?”

“News does travel around here. It was just another fight about our customers. We had them every week.”

“How did everyone else feel about him at the dealership?”

“About the same as me. Even his father was unhappy about his return.”

“Did you know him in high school?”

“Barely. I was a couple of years ahead of him, and I wasn’t on the football team. By the time I started working for Mr. Allerton at the dealership, Kyle was already off at college. I think his dad had hoped Kyle would return and run the company after he graduated, but Kyle had bigger plans than working at a farm equipment dealership in a part of the country most people haven’t even heard of.”

“From the little I knew of him, that makes sense. How did his return impact you, aside from him alienating your customers?”

“About ten years ago Mr. Allerton and I formed an agreement for me to start taking on ownership of the company. I get between one and two percent ownership each year in lieu of a bonus.

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