I pulled her into a side hug so we didn’t squish Chevelle. “Cass, I don’t want you to pay me back. I have more money than I’ll ever be able to spend in my lifetime or my children’s lifetimes. I want to be there to help my family. I want to help you.”
She rested her head on my shoulder. “I know, but I also know it won’t ever feel like it’s mine if I don’t at least try to pay you back.”
I understood where she was coming from. It was why every single person had turned down the cash I’d tried to throw their way. Self-respect. A desire to do it on their own. Independence. But I also knew we had a long way to go before we had to cross that road. I might not know anything about the food service industry, but I knew enough to know it was a long haul from creation to profitability. I hoped Cass got there, but even if it lost money every single year, I’d still be there supporting her.
Chevelle started to fuss, his tiny voice barely a whisper of a sound.
“Okay, I’m going to go nurse my baby, get some rest, and then start working on plans,” she said, a glorious smile appearing on her face that made my sister far more than pretty—it made her gorgeous. “I feel like, for the first time in a while, I have something besides Chevelle to look forward to. Something for me. I’m really, really grateful.”
“Stop. It’s my first command as a silent partner. No more thanking me. Let’s just get it going so Mom can see how you really can stand on your own two feet.”
Cass smiled even wider, and then left, patting and soothing my nephew as she went. The role of mother fit her. Just like it fit the woman upstairs in the art studio. Just like it had fit my mother, regardless of the fact that she’d taken it to the extreme. Powerful women with hearts and smarts and ingenuity.
Buying Kincaid’s and turning it into a restaurant wouldn’t keep William from foreclosing onLa Musica de Ensuenos, though. I had to let my brain stew on that one for a little longer. There was an answer to this problem as well. I was sure of it.
My phone rang, and I looked down to see Elsa’s number.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey yourself,” she said, a tone I recognized from using it myself many times: flirtation covering the letdown.
“So, you heard my offer?”
“I’m sorry to tell you it won’t be accepted.”
“Why the hell not? It’s been empty for years. It’s cash on the table. Why would the Kincaids turn it down?”
“The Kincaids haven’t owned the space since it shut, Brady. The bank foreclosed on them years ago,” Elsa responded.
Fucking William Chan. Why would he care if I bought the place? It was exactly what he wanted—a smart restaurant going in.
“So, your brother would turn down cash for a property that’s done nothing but cost him money, why? To get back at me? To prove a point?” I growled into the phone.
Elsa sighed. “Look, William’s been waiting for years to merge the two spaces. He thought Elana would…”
“What? That she’d die years ago? That she’d just sell something she’d built with her own two hands? Something she loved?”
“He has the town’s best interest at heart. He really does. But he only sees it the way he wants it, if you know what I mean,” she said.
Fire lit me up, not desire like Tristan had been filling me with, but anger at everyone in my life who seemed to think they knew better than me these days. The critics. Mom. William Chan. I was tired of it. I may just be a country-rock singer, but I wasn’t stupid.
“I’ll pay another fifty thousand over asking price,” I told her.
Silence as she took it in. “I’ll talk to him, but I’m pretty sure it’ll still be a no.”
As soon as we hung up, I was hitting the call button again, this time to Lee. “What’s wrong?” Lee asked.
“Why does something have to be wrong for me to call you?”
Lee laughed, and I could see in my head, him pushing his square glasses up his long nose. “You would just text otherwise.”
It was probably true. “I need for us to do something we’ve never done.”
“Which is?”
“Use my name to help make things happen. There’s this guy in town causing hell for the people I care about, and I don’t want to be quiet about it. I want it out there. Do we have a lead on Dani’s replacement yet?”
“I’ve narrowed it down to two who have music PR experience. You could come interview them this week.”
