He hadn’t really thought he was, but it was good to hear anyway. It didn’t solve his problem, but knowing that Nathan believed in his innocence was one less thing to worry about. Dave knew how it must have looked to everyone in town. He was among the last people to have seen Alex before he went missing. And the argument they’d had on Main Street had been witnessed by at least a dozen people.
Plus, it was pretty much common knowledge around Royal that Alex had snapped up the investment property that Dave had had his eye on. So yeah, Dave had been furious. But he hadn’t wanted anything to happen to Alex.
“Glad to hear you say that,” Dave finally said. “In fact, it’s what I came out here to ask you. Feels good knowing I’m not a suspect, I’ll admit. But it doesn’t change how people in this town are looking at me.”
He’d been in Royal three years, and he would have thought people would know him by now. But apparently, one whisper of juicy gossip was all it took to have people looking at him with a jaundiced eye.
Nathan dropped one hand to the top of the fence post and said, “People talk, you can’t stop it. God knows I’ve tried. And in a town the size of Royal, that’s about all they’ve got to do to fill the time, you know? Doesn’t mean anything.”
“Not to you, maybe—and I’m grateful, don’t get me wrong,” Dave told him. “But I’m trying to land a contract with TexCat and—”
Nathan chuckled and stopped him. “No need to say more. Hell, Texas Cattle is legendary. Everyone in the state knows about Thomas Buckley and how he runs his company. The old man is such a straight arrow…” He broke off. “That’s why the concern over the gossip.”
“Yeah, if Buckley hears those rumors, I’ll never get the contract with him to sell my beef.” Scandal could sour the deal before it was made, and damned if Dave would let that happen.
TexCat was the biggest beef buyer in the country. But it was a family-run company and Buckley himself ran it along the narrowest lines possible. No scandal had ever touched his company, and he was determined to keep it that way. So if he got wind of rumors about Dave now, it would only make all of this more difficult.
“Ol’ Buckley is so worried about what people think,” Bill pointed out from his spot on the truck, “I hear he sleeps in a three-piece suit.”
Dave frowned and Nathan shot Bill a look. “Is that wire unloaded?”
“Almost,” Bill said and ducked his head as he went back to work.
“Sorry,” Nathan said unnecessarily, then grinned. “Everybody’s got something to say about everything around here. But you already know that, don’t you?”
“You could say so,” Dave muttered.
Still smiling, Nathan added, “Where Buckley’s concerned, it’s not just the rumors you’ve got to be worried about.”
Dave frowned. “Yeah, I know.”
Nathan’s smile widened. “Buckley only deals with married family men. Last time I looked, you were single. I figure the rumors and whispering should be the least of your problems. How’re you planning on coming up with a wife?”
Dave huffed out a disgusted breath. “Haven’t figured that part out yet. We’re just at the beginning of negotiations with TexCat. I’ve still got some time.” He jammed his hat back on his head and hunched deeper into his jacket as a sharp, cold wind slapped at them. “I’ll think of something.”
Nathan nodded. “If not, TexCat isn’t the only beef buyer in the world.”
“No,” Dave agreed. “But they’re the best.”
He wanted that contract. And what Dave Firestone wanted, he got. Period. He’d clawed and fought and earned his success the hard way. Not a chance in hell he’d stop before he was finished.
* * *
Mia Hughes opened the pantry door and stared inside at the nearly empty shelves as if expecting more food to suddenly appear. Naturally, that didn’t happen. So, with a sigh, she grabbed another package of Top Ramen and headed for the stove.
“Honestly, if I have to eat noodles much longer…” She filled a pan with a cup of water, turned on the fire underneath and watched it, waiting for it to boil. She glanced at the package in her hand. “At least this one is beef flavor. Maybe if I close my eyes while I eat it I can pretend it’s a burger.”
Well, that image made her stomach growl. She slapped one hand to her belly as if to appease it somehow. It didn’t work. She was on the ragged edge and had been for a few weeks now.