“Just a guy claiming to have rights to half the diner,” I said over my shoulder. I had to raise my voice slightly to be heard over Brody as he spoke to the staff in the kitchen.
“What?” she asked. From the corner of my eye, I saw her quicken her pace to catch up to me.
I stopped at the sink and turned to start unloading the plates from Breia. “Just some guy claiming to have rights to the diner,” I repeated.
Breia frowned. “Did Doug tell you about him?”
I shook my head. “Not a word.”
“So, he’s lying.”
I wanted to say yes. I wanted to agree with her. But I’d seen the contract. It looked like my uncle’s handwriting. All indications pointed to that document being real. I just feared if I spoke the words out loud, I would speak them into reality. And I didn’t want that to be my reality.
I was so ready for freedom when Uncle Doug signed over the diner. I’d lived the last seven years of my life stuck under a man who was hell-bent on crushing me. From my brief five-minute interaction with Cole, I feared I was going to find myself back in the same situation.
I wasn’t ready to give up my independence. Not yet.
“Well, if he thinks he can just come in here and take over, he has another thing coming,” Breia said as she set the last plate onto the stack in the sink.
“He won’t be back until next month,” I said as I reached over and flicked on the faucet. Water started to shoot out from the sprayer.
“Next month?” Breia asked.
I nodded. “That’s what he said.”
She laughed. I turned to see that she was grinning at me. “What a loser. He won’t be back.”
I raised my eyebrows. “He won’t?”
“No. He won’t. He came here, tried to throw his weight around, but found out you’re a formidable force.” She folded her arms. “You scared him off.”
I studied her. Was that true? I wanted to believe her. I wanted to think that this was the last time I was going to come face-to-face with Cole Watkins. And maybe for the next few weeks I could let myself believe what Breia said was true.
But deep down. Deep,deepdown, I knew. This wasn’t the last time I was going to interact with Cole Watkins. He would be back.
I was sure of it.
4
ASHER
Two Days Later
The Gracie Mansionwas quiet when I pulled up to the front gate and let my engine idle. I watched as a security guard noticed my truck and waved at me in acknowledgment. My hand was resting on the top of the steering wheel, so I raised three fingers to let him know that I saw.
As I waited, I glanced around. The yellow mansion was huge and surrounded by green, luscious grass. George had always been involved with local politics. My family was happy for him when he ran and won the NYC mayoral seat. He was hard-nosed, but he loved people. This was the perfect job for him.
As the security guard approached, I rolled down my window. The man was older, late forties, with greying hair and a pair of glasses perched on his nose.
“How can I help you, son?” he asked as he glanced around the cab of my truck before turning his focus back to me.
“Asher Wolfe,” I said. “I’m here to see Harriet and George.”
The man narrowed his eyes. “And you are?”
“Oh,” I said as I shifted in my seat so I could reach my wallet and pull out my license. “Just an old family friend.”
I handed over my license, and the guard turned it around in his fingers a few times.
