All Summer Long (Fool's Gold #9)(76)

Gil was an average kind of guy. Not too tall, with more paunch than muscles. But there was rage in his light brown eyes. Seconds later a teenage girl climbed out of the passenger seat. Her eyes were red and her mouth trembled.

“Daddy, no,” she cried.

It didn’t take Clay long to figure out what this was about. His stomach tightened as he realized his farm manager had continued to play the game Clay had warned him against.

“Your daughter?” he asked, motioning to the sobbing girl.

Gil jerked his head in agreement. “Do you know where he is?”

Clay reached for his phone and pushed a button. “Nate, would you come out by the house, please?”

“Sure, boss.”

Gil’s gaze settled on Clay. “You brought him here?”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

“Like that’s gonna help.”

Nate appeared at the doorway to the barn and surveyed the situation. Clay watched the indecision cloud his gaze.

“Don’t make it worse by running,” Clay told him. “Come face what you’ve done.”

Nate nodded slowly and approached.

Clay was willing to let this play out. If Gil wanted a piece of Nate, Clay didn’t have a problem with that. If the girl was under eighteen, Clay would be the first one to call the police. He hadn’t decided if he was going to beat the shit out of Nate or not. He supposed that was up to Gil.

Nate closed about half the distance and then raised both hands, palms out.

“It’s not what you think,” he began, his weasel eyes darting left and right. “She’s over eighteen.”

“She’s seventeen,” Gil said with a growl. “And she’s my baby girl. What the hell were you thinking?”

Clay felt the other man’s rage and knew he couldn’t begin to imagine what this father must be feeling. He thought of Charlie and what had happened to her, then knew he couldn’t touch Nate. Once he started, he wouldn’t stop.

“Daddy, no!” The girl grabbed her father’s arm, tears pouring down her cheeks. “Nothing happened. I’ve told you and told you.”

“Get in the car,” Gil told her, starting toward Nate.

“Daddy, stop! Daddy, we didn’t—” She sucked in a breath. “Daddy, I’m still a virgin. We never did that.”

Gil stopped. He glanced back at his daughter who was bright red and still crying. “You swear?”

“We can go see Dr. Galloway if you want. I wouldn’t do that. Not with him.”

Gil glanced between them. “All right, then.”

Clay stepped toward him and lowered his voice. “I’m still sorry, sir. Nate worked for me and that makes what happened my responsibility.”

“Worked?” Gil’s gaze was steady.

Clay nodded.

“I’ll leave you to it, then.”

He motioned for his daughter to get in the car. He got in, as well, and they drove away. Clay watched Khatar work his way free and stroll over. The big horse ignored Nate and walked to Clay, as if showing where his loyalties lay.

Nate shuffled his feet then stuck his hands in his back pockets. “I didn’t do anything to her.”

“You took her out.”

“That’s my business.”

“It is. But I’ve got no use for you here. This is a small town. You don’t respect that or me. I’m going to write you a check for the pay I owe you, plus two weeks. If I see you around here again, I’ll escort you out of town myself. Am I clear?”

Nate nodded and took a step toward the barn. “I’ll go get my things.”

“You do that.”

Getting rid of Nate only solved one problem, Clay realized. It wasn’t that he had chosen the wrong man that bothered him so much. It was the fact that he hadn’t listened to his gut when he should have. He knew better. Now he had to figure out what other mistakes he’d made and how he was going to fix them.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHARLIE TUCKED HER feet under her as she sat on her sofa. “You’re taking this too much to heart.”

Clay, normally easygoing and optimistic, stared past her. His mouth was tight, his expression troubled. “I screwed up. I’m the one who hired Nate. I know about two girls. Who knows how many others there were.”

Charlie wanted to point out the young women in question had at least been over sixteen, but didn’t think that information would help. Nate had been a dog when it came to dating habits. The girls might have been plenty willing, but they were far too young.

“I talked to the police chief,” he said. “She assured me Nate is gone. Last she saw, he was heading over the mountains.”

“Good riddance.”

“It’s not enough. Dammit, Charlie, why did I choose him?”

“Because you thought you were doing the right thing. Because he had experience and when you ran a background check, he was clean.”

“He’s still clean,” Clay muttered. “He didn’t break the law and it’s not illegal to be a jerk.”

“Too bad.” She reached out and put her hand on his. “You made a mistake. Now you learn from it.”

“That’s it? I’d feel better if you’d at least yell at me.”