That email clearly expressed that he did not intend to pay for the cedar yet.
> [19] On February 10, 2016, Ms. Jenkins emailed Mr. Ginther that she was couriering cedar samples to him and attached a confirmation notice dated February 3, 2016. It showed a revised amount of hemlock (now 6,000 LF), with the stain noted as Cloverdale Messmers Oak Brown; 2,400 LF of cedar siding and specific amounts of cedar for the window trim. The confirmation stated that the stain colour for these last two items was undecided. Later that evening, Mr.
Ginther replied to Ms. Jenkins’ email as follows:
> The cedar siding # we are still sorting out final volume and it could be more than quote. How long is the turnaround time on this product?
> Secondly the 2x4 and 2x8 trim we only discussed and won’t be needing those at this time.
>[20] In response, Ms. Jenkins emailed Mr. Ginther on February 11, 2016 saying that she had deleted the cedar window trim and attaching a revised confirmation, which included the hemlock soffits and the cedar siding, again noting that the cedar stain colour was undecided. Ms. Jenkins also couriered raw cedar samples to Mr. Ginther that day
The whole thing, including invoices that mention the siding stretch over the weeks and it is explicitly noted that only question about the color is undecided (we will tell you later).
There is a sharp difference between invoices and quotes. And the samples actually indicate that the order had not been agreed to yet.
The overall situation reads like the customer was unhappy with the quality of lumber [0], and wished to cancel subsequent business rather than try to compel specific performance for an acceptable quality. The supplier, rather than simply accepting this and going their opposite ways (and/or responding with a specific penalty amount for canceling the half-completed order), then attempted to compel specific performance on the remaining part of the quote. I'm sure glad I don't live in a jurisidction where calling that type of pushy business practice "fraudulent" might land me in court.
[0] Having just used Home Depot's bring-the-lumber-pile-to-your-driveway service, that then took over a month to pick up the rejects, which for some things was all of what was ordered, I completely identify with.