Eight Long Years (Heart of Hope 5)

I looked down, feeling sick. “I’m sorry, Cyrus.”

“It’s too bad we can’t choose our families sometimes, isn’t it?”

I gave him a wan smile. “I don’t know what happened to August.”

“Well, don’t worry too much. Jude is a fighter. I am too. We’ve faced tougher adversaries than your brother.”

I nodded, but wasn’t sure they’d be able to overcome the influence my brother had in the city. August didn’t necessarily earn all the respect he had. He’d gotten some by having been my father’s son. But that didn’t change the fact that August was a well-known influential person in Bismarck. Jude and Cyrus weren’t. I was certain August could make things difficult for them.

“If you’d like to take the rest of the day off, you can. Things are slow today,” Cyrus said.

“Yes, I think I’d like that,” I said standing. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I knew I couldn’t focus on work.

“By the way, good work on the surveillance tapes. Jude was right to hire you.”

The praise was bittersweet. I liked having my work valued, but I knew that being here was also a problem for him.

I left the office and headed straight to Petal’s. Maya was still at day camp, which was a blessing as I needed some time to wrap my head around the disaster that was my life.

Petal was serving a woman boxful of cupcakes when I entered. Her brow arched when she saw me. I simply headed to the kitchen area so I wouldn’t disturb her. I put a cup of water in the microwave to heat for tea.

“What’s up buttercup?” Petal said when she joined me.

I sat down on a stool and rubbed my temples. “My life is going to hell.”

The microwaved dinged. Petal went to it, getting the cup, plopping the tea bag in and handing it to me.

“Tell Petal what’s wrong.” She leaned against the large stainless-steel table.

“Apparently, while I was at lunch, August showed up at Jude’s business.”

“Oh. That couldn’t have been good.”

I shook my head. “Cyrus said some sort of scuffle between Jude and August ensued.”

“Jude attacked him?” Both of Petal’s brows rose to her hairline.

“Cyrus says that August pushed him first.”

“Idiot. I mean, really, August has to be stupid to push a Navy SEAL.”

I shrugged. “August said he’d ruin Jude if he kept seeing me.” Tears filled my eyes as fatigue and profound sadness sank deep into my soul. “I don’t know what to do.”

“First you need to take a minute. You can’t make decisions when you’re upset. And then you need to access all your strength and think of what is best for you and Maya.”

I scoffed. “I think I’ve proven that when it comes to August, I’m a wimp.”

“No. You left your job. You’re staying here. You’re asserting yourself.”

“And August is threatening to ruin all that.”

“No, he’s threatening Jude, who’s a big boy. August knows Jude is your Achilles heel, and he’s using it against you. Don’t let him, April. You’re so close to getting out from under him.”

I closed my eyes as I sipped my tea, hoping it would calm me. “I don’t know that I can get out from under him. He holds all the power. All the money.”

“So, get a lawyer,” she snapped, like she was a little perturbed that I wasn’t taking my brother head on in court.

“I can’t go against August. It would potentially hurt the business, and while my brother is a jerk, the business is my father’s legacy. Plus, I don’t have access to assets to afford to hire an attorney.”