Grayson smiled at Henry’s predictable retort. He and Sarah had been pushing each other’s buttons from the time they were little kids.

With the conversation among his siblings waning—for now—Grayson turned his attention to the packet he’d picked up at the store, outlining Ed Sheehan’s complaint. He was suing for unlawful termination, emotional distress and other damages.

Sheehan, a seasonal employee at the tree farm for five years, had been fired by Lucas Abbott after word got back to the family that Sheehan had told Gavin Guthrie that the US had wasted its time in Iraq. The comment had led to a fight in a bar between Gavin and Ed, both of whom had been arrested.

Gray made a note to get a copy of the police report from the incident.

Expressing one’s opinion, the attorney had written, wasn’t grounds for termination under the First Amendment right to free speech. He went on to make a case for damages based on the harm done to Sheehan’s reputation and his inability to secure new employment since the reason for his termination had gotten around town.

As he read, Gray made a long list of questions he wanted to ask Gavin and Lucas about the incident, which had come to a head at a company gathering in November where Lucas had fired Ed.

Grayson totally agreed with the decision to fire Ed and didn’t think he or his attorney had a leg to stand on with this case. Thanks to language Grayson had drafted himself, all their employees were classified as “at-will,” meaning they could be terminated at any time for any reason. That anyone could say such a thing to a man who’d lost his only sibling in Iraq was mind-boggling. Ed was lucky that all Gavin had done was punch him, and Lucas had done the right thing firing him.

Ed was embarrassed and lashing out, but he didn’t have a case.

Grayson picked up his cell phone to call his uncle to let him know that.

“How’s it going?” Linc asked when he answered the home line at the barn.

“Good. I’ve been looking over Sheehan’s complaint, and it’s nothing to worry about. He doesn’t have a case.”

“I sort of suspected as much, but it’s always good to get confirmation.”

“I’ll do the legwork and respond to his attorney, but I’m fairly confident I can make it go away.”

“Whatever you need to do. Did you get a chance to look at the info about the proposed site of the distribution facility and the contract with the company that will walk us through developing the catalog?”

“Not yet, but that’s next.”

“I’m interested in your thoughts on both. With the website going live tomorrow, I want to keep things moving forward.”

“I’ll be back to you early next week on both items.”