On the piece of paper was scratched the familiar handwriting of my great-uncle. Something about losing a bet and Nick Watkins being a rightful co-owner of the diner. It was signed and dated by both parties.
After I scanned the piece of paper, I laughed. He had to be joking, right? Sure, I recognized the handwriting, but there was no way this contract was valid. It wasn’t notarized. I glanced up to Cole, whose gaze hadn’t faltered. He was staring at me as intently as when he had first walked in.
“You’re joking.” I shifted the pile of plates so they were more stable as I nodded toward the paper. “This is your proof?” Every second that ticked by made me feel better and better about this situation.
“It’s a contract,” he said, his expression remaining stern as he stared at me.
“It looks like chicken scratch.” I gave him a wide waitress smile. “I doubt any judge will uphold that.”
His eyes widened at my words. I could see his gaze darken as he stared at me. I instantly slammed my lips shut, cursing myself. Why had I saida judge? I didn’t have the mental bandwidth nor income to fight a lawsuit right now.
“A judge?” he asked slowly and methodically.
Well, I’d already started down this path, there was no way I could turn back now. “Yes, a judge.” I glared at him. “Do you honestly think that you were going to be able to come in here and make these demands when not a single soul here has ever heard of you before? Did you think that all you had to do was wave a handwritten piece of paper around and I was just going to, what? Concede?” The plates felt like bricks in my hands, but I wasn’t going to let up. He needed to know that I wasn’t a woman who could be pushed around like that.
He studied me. It felt like an eternity before he slowly started to fold the piece of paper up and tuck it into his back pocket. The sounds from the diner slowly faded away as my ears pricked against the silence between us. He wasn’t speaking, and his lack of words made my entire body feel on edge.
Why wasn’t he saying anything?
“I can see that we’re not going to see eye to eye on this,” he said as he slowly brought his gaze up to study me once more.
I snorted. “That’s an understatement.”
He didn’t acknowledge my comment. “I have to head back to Miami?—”
“Of course you’re from Miami,” I huffed under my breath.
He paused, his gaze fixed on me. My cheeks warmed with embarrassment. This wasn’t how I acted.
When Harold cheated, he broke me. He ripped me to shreds and left me in a pile on the ground. It took sheer will and my love for my son to pick myself back up and dust myself off. I wasn’t whole by any means, but I was doing what I had to keep my head up and my body moving forward.
What Harold did to me left me weak, and I so desperately wanted to be strong. I should be strong, but I feared I wasn’t capable of doing anything but faking it.
I hated that about myself. Jasper deserved a strong mother. But at every trial, I proved I wasn’t. I’d lost his father to another woman. If I lost this diner to Cole, what was I going to tell him? Sunny Side Up Diner was our fresh start. It was going to bring in a steady income. I was finally going to be able to give him the life he deserved. What kind of mother would I be if I lost this chance?
Not a very good one, that’s for sure.
“I don’t have time to come back until next month,” he continued, ignoring my little outburst. “I will have a lawyer assess this contract, and I’ll bring better proof when I come next.”
I parted my lips, but his words had left me speechless. What was I supposed to say? I’d been the one to mention a judge. I didn’t fault him for realizing that, in order to get anywhere with me, he was going to have to come with receipts. And if I were honest, Uncle Doug was a gambler. It was not out of the realm of possibility that he’d gotten himself in too deep. I just never thought he was capable of betting half the diner.
“Okay” was all I could squeak out. My entire body wanted to collapse, but I couldn’t with the plates still clutched in my hands. So I just stood there, my arms burning and my knees threatening to give out.
“Everything okay?” Breia’s familiar voice had us both turning to face her. She was standing there, her gaze focused on me with a pad of paper in one hand and a pen in the other. She raised her eyebrows when my gaze met hers.
Grateful for her interruption, I nodded. “I’m good,” I said, the words scraping against my dry throat.
Breia’s gaze flicked over to Cole. I slowly glanced in his direction as well. He just gave Breia a curt nod before he turned and made his way to the front door of the diner and disappeared outside.
Now alone, I took a staggering step back in an effort to keep myself from collapsing.
“Whoa,” Breia said as she quickly tucked her pad and pen into the front pocket of her apron and hurried to take the stack of plates from me.
“Thanks,” I murmured as my arms went from numb to tingling. I rubbed them in an effort to make them wake up faster.
“Who was that guy?” she asked as she nodded toward the door.
I waved for her to follow me. When I got to the kitchen door, I pushed it open and held it so Breia could pass through. Once we were in the kitchen, I headed toward the dish sink in the back.
