True Love Cowboy by Jennifer Ryan

Jon had enough to worry about with Emmy’s quiet intensity and Trinity sleeping for the last sixteen hours. He truly couldn’t handle anything else. If she didn’t wake soon, he’d go in and try to wake her again. His last attempt an hour ago got nothing but her mumbling incoherently and pushing his hands away from her. After watching her through the night restlessly shift and move in bed and listening to her muffled screams and babbling nonsense he wished he could decipher, he just wanted to see her awake and alert, not stuck in some nightmare.

Emmy had her own nightmare during the night. It took him nearly an hour to calm her down and put her back to bed next to Trinity, which seemed to make her feel much better. He had a feeling she’d be sleeping with them for the foreseeable future.

But those weren’t the only things keeping him up most of the night.

Trinity asked him to listen to her messages and relay anything urgent to Adria. The messages were dire, and when he spoke to Adria, she had no idea how to handle the situation. Added to that, she was supposed to be on bed rest and couldn’t deal with the situation herself. Not without jeopardizing her health and that of her babies.

After all Trinity had been through, he couldn’t let her wake up to this drama, so he offered to step in and take care of it. Adria agreed, so long as he kept her in the loop and all final decisions were made by either her or Trinity once she woke up.

So he got on the phone with the Billings store manager to assess the situation and discovered it was far worse than the original desperate messages Nathan had left Trinity.

Jon had handled a recall with one of his companies, but it had been small, voluntary, and didn’t risk anybody’s life.

With twelve confirmed cases of food poisoning and four people in the hospital already, this had the potential to kill someone and potentially lots of people if he didn’t get the word out immediately. So he’d contacted the local news and given them all the information to warn the public.

He and Emmy sat on the sofa watching the noon news while Tate made something to eat in the kitchen.

“As we reported earlier, the FDA and Almost Homemade have issued an immediate recall on all prepackaged Caesar salads purchased in the last two days due to E. coli contamination of the romaine lettuce used in the salad kits.” A photo of the Caesar salad with the proper Almost Homemade labeling appeared on the screen in a box beside the anchor with a circle around the Prepared On date. “If you purchased one of these salads, you are asked to either discard it or return the Caesar salad to Almost Homemade for a full refund. So far twelve people have fallen ill in the Billings and Bozeman area with four hospitalized. Anyone who has eaten one of these salads and is feeling ill should contact their doctor or seek immediate medical attention. Next up after the break, weather.” The news cut to a chicken nugget commercial with a cute kid, reminding him that he needed to pick more up for Emmy. Maybe she’d like them with some french fries for dinner. Anything to entice her to eat and talk.

“You cheated on me!” Trinity stood just inside the living room, hands on her hips, eyes narrowed against the bright light coming through the windows, and spewed that accusation at him.

Concerned she was having some sort of episode, he stood, and walked toward her. “Trinity, honey, are you okay?”

Tate came out of the kitchen, a threat in his eyes. “What’s going on?”

“He . . . he cheated?” Now she didn’t sound so sure about the allegation.

Jon was completely confused, but remembered the doctor’s warning about her having trouble finding her words. “I’m not cheating on you, Trinity. You are the only woman I’ve been with since I moved to Montana. I love you. You know that. You know me. So what are you really trying to say?”

“I think she made that pretty damn clear.” Tate didn’t seem inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt after an accusation like that.

Trinity huffed and rubbed the back of her hand against her forehead. “You . . . you want Almost Homemade. You made me think . . .” She scrunched her face like she was thinking really hard. “You wanted me.”

He was starting to catch on. “Yes. I want you. End of story.”

Trinity scrunched her face again and shook her head, found that didn’t agree with her, and put a hand on the wall to balance herself.

“Sweetheart, you need to calm down and relax. This isn’t good for your head injury.”

Anger flared in her eyes. “She told me.” Trinity tapped her temple several times with her finger. “I hear her. I’m stupid. You used me.”

He got it now. “Steph told you that all I want is your business. I come in and I take over.”

She pointed her finger at him. “Yes. You used me.”

“Do you really believe that after everything we’ve been through?”

Tears gathered in her eyes, and it killed him to see them and the confusion making her so distressed and distrustful. “Something is wrong. We were supposed to talk and we didn’t and she said . . .”

“I know, sweetheart. We were supposed to talk about the business ideas I had for you and Adria, but then Nathan thought I wanted to buy the company, and we had to go to Emmy’s school. Remember?”

She nodded.

Jon continued filling in the blanks for her. “And we never talked about it. You were upset that you thought I wanted to buy the company and expand it without you.”

“Yes.” Understanding filled her eyes.

“But that’s not true. And it doesn’t matter now. I threw the proposal away, because all I want is you, your love, and our life here together. Remember? We talked about that in the hospital.”

She still looked upset and unsure.

“Sweetheart, I swear to you, all I’m trying to do is what you asked and help Adria with Almost Homemade until you’re feeling better.”

She went still. Her eyes locked on him. “Wait. What?”

Now he was confused. “I thought you heard the recall announcement I put out on the news and that’s what upset you.”

“What recall? What are you talking about?”

Tate stepped closer. “Sis, you’ve been asleep for like sixteen hours. I think your brain needs time to boot up. You seem confused and unable to think straight.”

She pressed her lips tight and furrowed her brow. “What recall?”

Jon touched Tate’s arm to get him to back off and let him handle this. “When I brought you home, I told you your phone had all those messages. You asked me to listen to them and call Adria with anything important. I did. Several of the messages were from Nathan at the Billings store and Theresa at the Bozeman store calling to ask what to do about customers calling saying they got sick eating their Caesar salad that they picked up at lunchtime.”

Trinity covered her mouth with her hand, the metal brace on her broken fingers touching the tip of her nose. “Oh no.”

“Exactly. So I called Adria and we’ve been working together with the hospital staff.”

“Were people that sick?”

“A few. The lettuce was contaminated with E. coli. In one of my other businesses, we had to do a small recall of products that had a defective part. I kind of know the process, so Adria decided that I should take the lead and contact the Montana Food and Safety Bureau and the FDA and let them know we believed the lettuce was contaminated based on the sample that tested positive at the hospital. The FDA has since confirmed the E. coli contamination and is tracing the lettuce back to your romaine producer.”

Trinity’s eyes narrowed. “That’s not right.”

The doorbell rang. Tate turned and answered it, letting Adria and Drake inside.

Jon tried to finish his conversation with Trinity. “The tests are conclusive. The recall went out on the morning and afternoon news. They’ll replay it tonight on the evening and nightly news. We phoned and emailed as many customers as we had contact information for, but we couldn’t reach everyone.”

“No. That’s not right,” she repeated, getting that confused look again.

He tried to be patient. “Take a second to organize your thoughts.”

She gave him a dirty look. “I’m not stupid.”

Adria put her hand on Trinity’s shoulder. “He’s not saying that.”

He hadn’t slept in two days, but still tried to hold back the hurt she’d think he’d be so callous. “You have a major head injury. Your brain is not working properly. You say it’s not right. Why isn’t it right?”

Her mouth tilted into a lopsided frown. She turned to Adria. “Hydro . . . hydro?”

Adria gasped, covered her wide-open mouth, then spit out, “Oh shit. Pregnancy brain. I forgot.”

Jon waved his hand between them. “Care to fill me in?”

Trinity took a breath and went slow. “After there had been reports of several romaine recalls over the last few years, I knew we had to be careful about our supplier. Lettuce Harvest supplied all our greens until I read an article about a group of University of Montana students who were working with hydro . . . hydroponics,” she said, finally finding the word. “They had a small setup and were supplying high-end restaurants with clean, organic greens. Because they are grown indoors and everything in the process is strictly controlled, the likelihood of contaminations like listeria and E. coli are nearly nonexistent.”

Brilliant. Jon loved how she thought outside the box. “When did you change suppliers?”

“Last week at all the stores, but earlier than that at the Billings store, though I didn’t tell them when I accepted . . .” She pressed her lips tight. “No, not the right word. Um . . .”

“Take your time,” Jon coaxed.

“I received . . . No.”

Adria’s eyes went wide. “You went to the new hydroponic warehouse to look at the operation and sign off on verification that they met the quality standards we put into the contract.”

Trinity sighed with relief. “Yes. And while I was there, I took delivery”—she beamed with a smile that she’d finally gotten her words right—“early and brought several boxes of greens to Billings because they ran out.”

“Because of the Robertson wedding!” Adria grasped Trinity’s arm. “So they’d switched over without even knowing. So what does that mean for the contamination and our customers getting sick?”

“You don’t think it was the lettuce,” Jon said for Trinity.

“Not if it was hydroponic lettuce. Can’t be. The stores would have run out of the Lettuce Harvest greens early last week.”

“You’re sure?” He needed to be before he started digging further.

“As sure as I can be with you and the doctor warning me about not being able to think straight.”

“But this makes sense to you?” Jon saw it in her eyes.

“Yes.” She held his gaze, imploring him to believe her. “Something else is wrong. I can’t think of what it is, but it’s something about Bountiful Foods.”

“Okay.” Jon remembered Nathan telling her she should take that deal. “They wanted to buy Almost Homemade, but you said no.”

“Not about that. About lettuce.”

“What about lettuce?” he asked, hoping to spark something more in her mind.

Tate held up his phone. “Tree Top Grocery recalled all their romaine lettuce about ten days ago because of E. coli contamination. They are owned by . . .”

“Bountiful Foods,” they all said in unison.

Trinity sighed with relief again. “Yes. That.”

Jon put his hand to her cheek. “You’re really locked in with the produce news.”

She nodded. “It hurts to think right now though.”

“You’re doing great.” He brushed his thumb across her cheek and she leaned into his palm.

Drake chimed in. “So Bountiful had a recall of their romaine ten days ago. Did their grower also supply Almost Homemade?”

Trinity almost shook her head, but stopped herself before the pain really hit her.

“Try to keep your head still, sweetheart.”

“I forget.”

“It’s automatic, I know, but seeing you in pain is killing me.”

Trinity drew closer to him, and he loved that she was finally putting her earlier thoughts and feelings aside and remembering they loved each other. “Not the same supplier, but I remember Nathan saying they took a hard hit for that recall because customers feared all the fruits and vegetables were contaminated in the stores.”

He thought about how aggressive Nathan became when he thought Trinity was selling the store to Jon. “Is Nathan associated to Bountiful Foods in some way?” He sure did want Trinity to sell to them.

“His father owns it.” An “ah-ha” lit Trinity’s eyes before she closed them and connected all the dots in her head she couldn’t earlier. “Nathan came to work for me because he wanted to be a chef and manager of the store to prove to his father he could run a successful business just like his dad. He wanted the inside track on the start-up. He is the point person for each new store we open because Adria and I can’t be everywhere at once. But what if the job with us was just a ruse so he could scout the business for his father’s company?” She opened her eyes and stared at him. “He cheated.”

“I think you mean he used you.” That’s what she’d meant before about him trying to buy her company. Which was not what he’d been trying to do. At all.

He wished it would stop coming up though, because it kept coming between them. And that’s the last thing he wanted.

“Yes,” she agreed.

Drake hooked his arm over Adria’s shoulders. “Well then, it’s a good thing we have surveillance at all the shops.”

Jon wished that were enough. “He manages the store. If he brought in contaminated lettuce and made up the salad kits with it, he’d have been smart enough to turn off the system.”

“Which is why there is a secondary system that kicks in whenever someone other than Trinity or Adria shuts off the cameras.”

Trinity grinned. “Paranoia pays off,” she said to her big brother.

Jon got it. Drake had some issues a while back. Adria’s sister had been killed in one of their stores. He understood why Drake would take extra precautions with his wife and sister. “So you think we have a recording of him doing this?”

“I guarantee we do,” Drake confirmed.

Jon thought of something else. “But there were cases of people getting sick from the Bozeman store as well.”

Adria supplied that answer. “We had two early morning employees out sick, so the Billings store sent over some of their salad kits so the Bozeman team could focus on the hot food counter offerings for that day.”

Jon thought that all made sense and everything tied back to Nathan. They still needed to prove it. But the state bureau and FDA would want to be sure. “We’ll still need to test the hydroponic greens both in the store and at the source to be sure. We’ll also want to test anything left over from Lettuce Harvest and at their farm to rule them out. Then the FDA and authorities can build their case against Nathan and Bountiful Foods if they can connect them to the sabotage.”

“Let’s go find out.” Trinity turned to go back down the hall.

He took her arm and stopped her. “Where are you going?”

“With Adria and Drake to check the recordings and contact the police.”

Jon, along with Tate, Drake, and Adria, said, “No.”

Her brow furrowed again. “But I can help.”

“The doctor said you need to rest. No bright lights. Only an hour of screen time and no stress.”

“But . . .” Her lips scrunched into a disgruntled pout.

“You have a concussion, and your brain was bleeding inside your cracked skull not even a full day ago. No.” He took her by the shoulders. “I couldn’t stop what happened with Steph. Let me take care of this for you and make sure Nathan doesn’t do anything else to ruin your business.”

Drake stepped close. “I only brought Adria over to see that you’re okay. I’m taking her home, then Jon and I will check the recordings and move forward with whatever needs to happen next with the FDA and authorities. We’ll take care of it, Trinity. Right now, you and Adria need to take care of yourselves.”

“But I can do this.”

“Of course you can,” Jon assured her. “You put all the pieces together. You figured out what is really going on here. I won’t let Nathan tarnish the company reputation, tank your sales to devalue the company, buy it cheap, and slap an Under New Management sign on it to bring customers back.”

As manager of the Billings store, Nathan knew a lot about their finances and that opening the two new stores had stretched them thin. A big recall and loss of customer confidence could sink them fast.

That’s what initially made Jon come up with his ideas to help Trinity and Adria expand and not put everything at risk. But that didn’t matter now. Stopping Nathan and restoring customers’ faith in Almost Homemade took precedence.

Jon brushed his hand up her arm. “Let us clean up the mess and get Almost Homemade back up and running the way you want it. Right now, your health is more important than anything.”

Adria moved closer. “I know it sucks. It’s our baby. But Drake and Jon will bring Nathan down.”

“Fine.” Her stomach rumbled, reminding Jon she hadn’t eaten in a good long time.

“You need some food and rest. I’ll call and update you as often as I can, but I’m betting we get the proof and Nathan is arrested in no time.”

Tate walked out of the kitchen with a huge plate of lasagna and garlic bread.

Trinity held her hands out for it, eager to dig in, judging by the way her eyes devoured the food on the plate. “At least you brought one of my favorites.”

“You probably made it. I took it out of my freezer.” Tate handed over a fork.

Jon slipped his hand around the side of her neck and stared into her eyes. “Please rest.”

She narrowed her gaze as she looked at him. “If I have to.”

“You do.” He nodded toward the sofa. “Maybe you can get Emmy to open up and talk. I’m worried about her. And you. But we’ll talk when I get back.”

She fisted her hand in his shirt. “I’m sorry I said you cheated. You wouldn’t do that.”

“Never. But I understand you were having trouble finding the right words.”

“Still.” Her frown deepened. “I don’t like feeling confused about us.”

“I love you. Try to hold on to and remember that.”

She leaned in and pressed her forehead to his chin. He rubbed his hands up and down her back, trying to soothe her.

“I’ll keep in touch, Trinity.” Adria brushed her hand over Trinity’s hair.

She looked up. “You’re supposed to be on bed rest.”

“I’m going.” She took Drake’s hand and let him lead her to the door.

Drake glanced back over his shoulder. “I’ll meet you at the store in town. We can view the footage from all the stores on the computer system there.”

“Okay.” He turned back to Trinity after they left. “Thank God I don’t have to drive all the way into Billings. I’m too tired for that.”

Trinity brushed her fingers under one of his eyes. “How long has it been since you slept?”

“Two days,” Tate said from his spot on the sofa next to Emmy, where they sat transfixed by the cartoon.

“Go eat your food, sweetheart. Drink some water, too. You’ve got to be dehydrated after sleeping so long.”

“I’ll take care of me if you promise to take care of you when you get home.”

“All I want to do is spend time with you, so I can really take it in that you’re okay and you’re here with me.”

“Then go do my thing, so we can do our thing when you get back.”

He kissed her softly. “I love you.” He wanted her to hear it, to believe it, so she wouldn’t be confused anymore.