‘Dad, this has to stop,’ December said the next day, throwing her hands in the air. ‘You will go to prison if this continues.’
‘There’s a principle involved.’
‘A principle? You’re willing to go to jail for a principle?’
‘If it comes to that,’ he shrugged. ‘Oh, for God’s sake, it’s not going to bloody come to that. How many of those Greenpeace activists do you see in prison? It’s just a threat the police make to scare off protesters.’
December sent a pleading glance to her two brothers. ‘Tell him!’
‘Dad’s got a point, Em. I mean, this is our town. He can’t just walk over the top of everyone. If we let him do it once, he’ll do it again,’ Craig said.
‘It’s his business, he can employ whoever the hell he wants! What would you do if all these protesters were outside the hardware store complaining about who you employed?’
‘I would never go and bring someone from outside to fill a position, would I?’ Jack pointed out, sitting back in his chair.
‘This is crazy. Fine, do whatever you want. Get arrested again. Don’t worry about what it’s doing to the rest of us,’ December snapped. ‘Have you even considered what this is doing to Mum?’
‘Your mother is in full support of standing up to Hunter.’
‘Are you sure there’s not some other reason all this is bothering you, sis?’ Craig was sitting on the other side of the room, an open can of beer resting on his knee.
‘What do you mean?’
‘I’ll give you a hint. It starts with Seth and ends with Hunter.’
‘Don’t be stupid, this has nothing to do with him.’
‘Every time something comes up you always seems to stick up for him. You still got a thing for him or something?’
‘No,’ December snapped quickly. A little too quickly if her brother’s sly grin was anything to go by. ‘I’m concerned about my father and my two knucklehead brothers.’
‘He threw down the gauntlet the minute he opened that hardware store in Rollings,’ her father said.
December rubbed her face with her hands and gave an irritated sigh. ‘I wish you would all just grow up and move on from this stupid vendetta. I don’t understand it.’
She saw something flicker across her father’s face, and suddenly her brothers were overly interested in their beer cans.
‘I don’t care about Seth Hunter’s past—no one comes into my town and threatens what we’ve got. There’s no way I’m backing down from this fight. I don’t care how rich he is,’ her father said, then stood up and left the room.
‘I’ve gotta make a phone call,’ Craig said, heading out the front door as soon as she turned back to look at them.
She eyed Scott warily as he toyed with the top of his beer can. ‘Maybe I’m stupid or something, but why do I keep feeling as though I’m the only one without a clue as to what’s really going on here?’
‘It’s just that . . . Look, it was all a long time ago. What good does it do to stir up all that shit now?’
December shook her head slightly as she took the seat Craig had just vacated. ‘That’s my point—stir what up? Dad made it difficult for Seth and I to see each other, and there was no love lost between them, but why would Seth spend all this time plotting revenge over something like that?’
‘Don’t ask me. I’m having enough trouble with Craig and Dad at each other’s throats to worry about what’s going on with Seth Hunter.’
‘What’s happening with Craig and Dad?’ December asked warily.
‘Just the usual,’ Scott said, sitting forward, his empty can between his hands. ‘Craig’s just not interested in the store. I know Dad putting me in as store manager annoyed him, but I had nothing to do with that decision. Two managers just wasn’t working.’
‘I don’t think he’s upset about you being manager,’ December said. ‘I think he’s just . . . I don’t know, lost. You have the store, and I think his heart just isn’t in it. He needs to find his place.’
‘Yeah, well, I’m getting sick of covering for him with Dad. If he doesn’t start pulling his weight around the place, there’s goin’ to be trouble.’
‘All the more reason to stay clear of all this protesting nonsense.’
Scott looked at his sister solemnly. ‘Dad’s got a point, Em. Seth Hunter came here looking for a fight. We’re not going to let him destroy our business and the whole town. It’s not right.’
December got to her feet wearily. ‘The way things are going, it won’t matter whether there’s a business to save or not, you’re all going to be in jail anyway.’
Don’t stir up the past, Scott had said. That was all well and good but her past had come storming back into town like a damn cyclone and turned everything on its head. Things were already stirred up.