“We are?” Ira frowned at her, saw her expression, and then turned to the rest of the room. “We are.”
“And me,” Emery said, surprising everyone in the room. She blushed when they all looked at her. “I have . . . um . . . If Mr. Tremaine . . .” She blushed even harder as Tremaine focused on her. “If Mr. Tremaine is uncomfortable with being used as part of the financial bluff . . . I . . . um . . .”
Jesus. Cooper sighed. It was uncomfortable watching Emery struggle, and he was relieved when Jess let go of Joey to walk over to her friend to place a supportive hand on her shoulder.
It seemed to bolster Emery. “I inherited my grandmother’s company. It’s worth quite a bit and as a company it is . . . well . . . its profits are public.” She looked at Jessica, her fondness for his woman evident. “You’re welcome to say that I will be a benefactor to those who would lose income by shutting down.”
He could see Jess was as surprised by this information as the rest of them. With Emery not growing up in Hartwell, no one had really known her story. Wealthy grandmother was a new one to all of them.
“That’s so great of you, Emery,” Dahlia said, giving her shoulder a squeeze.
Emery flushed but gave Dahlia a smile.
“I’m signing, too.” Bailey gave Tremaine a look that would have made Cooper want to crawl behind his bar if she’d shot it his way. “It looks like we don’t need you after all.”
Tremaine flicked his glance from Bailey to Emery. “It was smarter keeping your wealth to yourself, Miss Saunders.” He ignored her blush and turned back to Cooper. “We’ll use me as the bluff. And no one outside of this room learns about Miss Saunders’s inheritance.” His gaze fixed on Cat.
She huffed. “Why are you looking at me?”
“Your son.”
“Joey won’t say anything.”
“I won’t say anything,” Joey said, piping up.
“I don’t get it.” Bailey looked at him suspiciously, her eyes moving between him and Emery. “Why?”
He gave her a suffering look. “I come from a world of wealth, Miss Hartwell. When a single woman has a lot of wealth it brings out the worst kind of scum to fleece her. When a woman is as beautiful as Miss Saunders, the more scum come scurrying out to get to her and her money.”
Emery blushed redder than Cooper had ever seen.
“Why would you care?” Bailey snapped.
“Why do you care if I care?”
“I don’t.”
“Oh, it certainly looks that way.”
“Enough!” Jessica huffed. “Fine. Vaughn is right.” She gripped Emery’s hand. “It was sweet that you trust us, Em, but no one else should know your business.”
“I feel a little stupid,” Cooper thought he heard her mutter.
“Don’t,” Jessica said. “You can trust us.”
“I’d assume Devlin already knows about it,” Iris said, eyeing Emery in concern. “That’s why he hasn’t bothered her. He knows Emery’s got the financial backing to defend herself against him.”
Cooper thought he saw a flash of concern on Emery’s face. “You think he’s looked into me?”
“Yes,” Jessica said grimly. “Speaking from experience, I’d say he’s looked into everyone in this room.”
“Bastard,” Bailey huffed and then winced apologetically at Cat.
“Is that settled, then?” Iris said, clapping her hands together. “We sign this damn petition, Vaughn plays the bluff, no one says a word about Emery’s grandma’s money.”
“That sounds about right.” Dahlia grinned at her concise summation.
“You don’t have to do this.” Cooper thought it bore repeating.
Iris shook her head at him. “You’re not talking us out of this. We’re doing this for you, son. But we’re also doing it for all of us. Ian Devlin is a town bully. You have to stand up to bullies or they’ll just keep coming back to steal your lunch money.”
And because Cooper supposed she was right, he gave in.
Jess took out the petition she’d written up and everyone signed it. After she’d promised to keep them updated, they all left to go back to their businesses, Bailey storming out first, Emery stuttering and blushing as Tremaine held the door open for her, and Dahlia laughing at whatever Iris and Ira were saying to her.
When they were gone Jessica walked over to him as Cat cuddled Joey into her side, whispering at him, probably about keeping quiet about what he’d heard.
“Are you mad?” Jess said, sliding her arms around his waist.
He smoothed his hands up her bare arms and shook his head. “No. It’s the only plan we have. Hopefully it works.”
“I think it will. This town depends on the boardwalk for tourism. There’s no way they will risk you all shutting your doors. The media would have a field day and that would open up a whole can of worms about bribery in the city office.”
“It’s smart.” He nodded, leaning down to press a soft kiss to her mouth. “Thank you.”
She grinned at him, bouncing a little in his arms in a giddy way that made him chuckle.
“Jessica,” Cat said.
The doc turned in his arms to face his sister and he felt her tense underneath his touch. “Cat.”
His sister didn’t waste any time smiling at her. “Thanks for looking out for my brother. I’m glad you’re staying.”