“I know you already talked to the mayor about donating the money to the town, but twenty grand will make a nice down payment, and if you ran the B&B properly, it could pay the mortgage,” I say.
She looks down at her drink, but not before I catch the sadness in her eyes. “I can’t manage a B&B with my work schedule. That, and my life and my family… Well, they’re on the other side of the country.”
Her voice falls off, and my gut clenches as she tells me the reasons that she doesn’t belong here, but fuck me, she does. So do I. She once said to me that we can’t pick our families, but she was wrong. We can choose our families, and I choose this one right here. I want to be a better man than my father, my brothers. I want to be a man who puts the community ahead of the bottom line. I want to stay here with these kind and caring people. I want Albert to call me son. I rack my brain, try to figure out how to convince her she belongs here, as the servers come with our huge two-pound lobsters.
“Oh my, that’s big,” she says.
I lean into her and whisper, “Thankfully, Sam is out of earshot, or he would have blurted out, that’s what she said.”
She laughs at that, and her mood lightens. It’s all I can do to stop myself from pulling her in for a hug. From my pocket, my phone buzzes, but I ignore it. The only people I want to speak to are here. Yet, the damn thing won’t stop.
“Your pants are lighting up,” she teases.
“I guess I’d better get it.” I excuse myself from the table and slide my finger across the screen and step into the bathroom for privacy. “Dad,” I say when I answer.
“I take it you have good news for me?” His gruff voice booms through the phone.
“Yeah, we tracked down the owner, and an offer is in place. Looks like everything is a go. We can break ground in the spring.”
“I wanted that done by now, Nathan. Time is money.”
“It was out of my hands,” I say, understanding it was supposed to be well underway by now, and I was supposed to move on to the next venture once construction started. Now, I’m not in such a hurry to do that. “We’ve done everything we could.”
“Maybe I should fly there myself to make sure this gets done.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. The last thing I need is my father here undermining my decisions. “No need. It’s all under control.”
“Don’t disappoint me,” he says, and the line goes dead. I exhale loudly and turn on the water. I splash it on my face and work to pull myself together. Talking to my father always leaves me angry. But I do have this under control. He just has to trust me.
My phone buzzes again. “What now?” I pick it up and read the text from Oliver, and the world goes a little fuzzy around me as I sag against the sink. She refused the offer, is all the message said.
Goddammit. I text back: We need this. She’s playing hardball. Up the offer. She’ll give in when we get the right amount.
I shove the phone into my pocket, run my hands through my hair, and take a deep, fueling breath. Laughter swirls around me as I exit the men’s room, and the second I sit next to Kira, who is tucking her phone away, it lightens my mood.
“Everything okay?” she asks.
“My father.” She nods. “Now, let’s eat these bad boys,” I say and dig into the lobster. Juice squirts from the claw and gets me in the face. “Dammit,” I say, and Kira laughs.
She uses her napkin to wipe my face, and I don’t miss the way Izzy is watching us. I’ve given up trying to hide what I feel for Kira. This has grown into so much more than a hookup. I listen in as Albert tells a tale about his younger days fishing, elaborating on everything, and making those around the table laugh. We enjoy our lobster and finish our wine, and once the shells and dishes have been cleared, the lights dim for the Saturday night dance.
I check my phone a few more times, as it keeps lighting up in my pants. Caller display informs me it’s my three brothers who keep calling, and I don’t answer.
“I need to go wash up,” Kira says, and I note the way she’s looking at her phone again, a frown on her face, as she enters the women’s room.
When she comes back, it’s my turn to ask if she’s okay. She nods, but her body language says otherwise. Whatever she has on her mind, she’s keeping to herself. Who am I to talk? I’m doing the same thing, but I don’t want to ruin this night with my troubles. Maybe she’s feeling the same way. Hopefully we can talk later because I want to be there for her if she has something weighing on her.
The music starts, and Sam grabs Kira and takes her to the dance floor. It’s easy to tell how much they like each other, but I no longer feel the jealousy because Sam is one of the good guys and would protect his sister with his life.
Izzy grabs my hand. “Come on, boss,” she says, and I groan.
“Don’t make me.”
“Well, I’m not going to let you sit here and mope because Kira is in Sam’s arms and not yours.”
I follow her to the dance floor and step in beside Sam and Kira, who are laughing and having a great time. My heart swells to see her happy. I want to make her this happy every fucking day if only she’d let me.
The song changes to a slow one, and Izzy pulls me to her. We sway on the dance floor, and she says, “You like her?”
I pause for a long while. “Yeah, I do,” I say.
“Guys in your position rarely stay here long. Always making changes that affect us workers, not always in a good way, and then moving on to bigger and better.”
“I know,” I say, and I do know. The bottom dollar has come first over the people, but the new processing plant will actually help them, create more jobs, but I can’t tell her any of that just yet. Past experiences have jaded these guys, and they probably wouldn’t believe me, anyway, until they see the new hires, the influx of people and money into the town.
“Then you better get your shit together and figure out what comes next,” she warns in a soft but serious voice.
“Yeah.”
“Don’t hurt her, Nate. She’s a good girl.”
“I’d never do anything to hurt her.”
“I like you, Nate, but if you do break her heart, you’ll have her three brothers and sister to deal with, and probably half the town.”
It’s a threat, but it brings a smile to my face. “I like that you guys are protective of her. She needs that in her life. Gram would be so happy.”
She pokes my chest. “Just don’t make us need to protect her from you, okay?”
“Okay,” I say. “Thanks, Izzy.”