Caught in the Act (Independence Falls 2)

“Moore Timber wants to buy Summers Family Trucking,” Chad said, cutting to the chase.

“What?” Her eyes widened and she set the bottle on the table before it slipped from her hand.

“After the snafu with B&B Trucking, Eric Moore feels his timber company would be better served by having their own trucks and drivers instead of relying on an outside vendor,” Brody explained.

With four years of undergraduate business classes under her belt, that part made sense to her. “But why was Liam here and not Eric?”

She couldn’t name one person in Western Oregon who didn’t respect and trust Eric Moore. He’d built his late father’s timber company into the largest operation in the Pacific Northwest. He had a reputation for working hard alongside his employees when needed, and he always did the right thing. He even took in his three-year-old nephew, Nate, after his sister and brother-in-law passed away in a car accident.

“It is Eric’s company,” she added.

“He made Liam an equity partner,” Josh said. “Eric’s stepping back to spend more time with Georgia and Nate. Get ready for the wedding and all.”

“Seems Eric put Liam in charge of closing the deal,” Chad said.

“Liam was here to buy our trucking company?” He hadn’t said a word to her while they walked home. Katie bit her lower lip, her grip tightening on her beer. It wasn’t as if she needed another reason to dislike Liam Trulane, but he’d given her one anyway.

“Look, I know you two have a history,” Brody said.

Chad snorted.

“We didn’t

want that to influence your view of this deal,” Josh added.

“It won’t,” she lied. The idea of giving control of the family business, her grandfather’s baby—Summers Family Trucking—to Liam Trulane? It turned her stomach.

“But I don’t think now is the right time to sell,” she added.

“Look, I don’t know the ins and outs of finance. Not like you do,” Brody said. Of all her brothers, he was the only one who hadn’t gone to college, choosing instead to stay home and run the trucking company alongside her father. But he was also the brother who understood the business side of things the best. He’d managed Summers Family Trucking for years without her help. And while Chad and Josh had graduated, they hadn’t exactly focused on business management classes.

“None of us do,” Chad said. “But we’re not deaf. You’ve been saying for the past year that we’re in trouble.”

“We were,” she clarified. “But once Mr. Fidderman at Black Hills Timber signs the contract that gives us the exclusive right haul the excess from their harvests, the limbs and other useless pieces, to the biomass plant, we’re going to be fine. Better than fine. We’ll make a good profit from our cut of the haul.”

“Maybe,” Chad said. “If he signs the contract.”

“He will,” Katie insisted, her attention focused on her oldest brother. “And then we won’t need to sell to anyone.”

Especially not Liam Trulane.

“We can keep the business in the family. In a year or two, some of us can step back,” she continued, glancing around the table at Chad and Josh, and back at Brody, whose lips formed a thin line. “If we want to do something else.” She had a feeling Brody would never walk away.

“Katie,” Brody said. “I want that deal to come through. But the contract with Black Hills isn’t worth anything until we iron out the details. Frankly, right now all we have are a few trucks and a new chipper to process a bunch of branches no one is paying us to haul. If Mr. Fidderman doesn’t come through—”

“Trust me, he will,” she insisted, lifting her head. “We’re just waiting for him to get back from vacation. He’s going to sign.”

“But there’s more to this deal with Moore Timber,” Josh said, setting his half-empty bottle on the table. “I never thought I’d be here. Driving trucks, hauling timber like Dad. And this is a way out.”

Katie nodded. Josh’s point tugged at her guarded heart. She didn’t want to be here either, living at home, struggling alongside her brothers. That was why she had insisted on setting up a side business to haul biomass. She wanted to follow her dreams and find a job that allowed her to focus on doing what she loved—caring for animals. But she couldn’t walk away from the business until she knew her brothers would be all right. As much as they liked to think they kept tabs on her, it ran both ways.

“If you guys really want out . . .”

Brody looked away, not meeting her gaze. Katie had a bad feeling her oldest brother was planning to sell for the wrong reasons. He’d go ahead with this deal not because he wanted out of the family business he worked night and day to run, but because he thought it was the best thing for his siblings.

That tore at her heart. After their father died suddenly, Brody had held them together. He’d set aside his own grief, and at twenty-five, her oldest brother had done his best to fill their father’s shoes. And now he was willing to give it all away for them. But this time, they owed Brody, not the other way around.

“Do you want to sell, Brody?” she asked.