Chapter 23
23
J ace was in a great mood. It had been a great night. Although he ended it differently than he would have liked to, he really meant it. He was gonna woo her. She'd been through a tough time recently. Betrayal was a hard thing to get over, and even though he had told her, and he felt she believed him, he was nothing like Logan. There would always be those niggly doubts until they got to know each other a little bit better, and he wanted to get to know her better.
Hanna came in and brought fresh cinnamon rolls for everyone. That always made his staff happy. The mood in the kitchen was lively today. It usually was, but now they were all on a sugar high. The closing on the thrift shop was in two days. There was excitement within the company about the expansion. Everyone felt like this place had a great future.
And it did. He was happy that he'd made the decision when he first bought this place to hire only veterans. These folks served their country, and a lot of them needed the help. They yearned to feel needed. It was also a reprieve from feeling like they didn't exactly belong. That was the hard part about getting out of the military. You felt like you didn't belong anywhere. Veterans who saw battle witnessed things many could not comprehend. It changed a person. It altered your brain. As a result, you didn't feel like a regular person anymore. But you were. It was just that others didn't understand you and what you'd been through. Here, they all understood each other.
Everywhere he went, people would ask him where he served or if he served, and when he said that he did, they would say, 'Oh yeah, I was gonna go in the service too, but I decided...whatever.' He was so sick of hearing people say how they were gonna do that too, but they didn't for whatever reason. If you didn't, you didn't. Don't tell a veteran that you thought about it. It's like they were just trying to ride on their coattails or something. It was fucking annoying. It was hard enough dealing with everyday life without all that bullshit.
So, when he bought this place, he made the decision to hire only veterans. That was the rule he told everyone when he hired them. You don't tell anybody, 'Oh yeah, I was gonna go in that branch of the service, but the food sucks.' or 'I was gonna go in that branch of service because of whatever. You didn't.' You didn't go to that branch of service.
You went in the branch of service you were with. Be happy about that. Be proud of it. Proud of your service. Proud of your fellow co-workers because they had done it too. That was it. It made for a better environment here.
He finished setting up the tables outside. Theresa was out raking the sand. Mason had the bar all set up and ready to go for lunch, and he had a moment. He pulled his phone out and texted Margo his address. Then he called her.
"Well, hello there," she said.
"Hi, I just texted you my address."
"Oh," she said, "I didn't see. Hang on, I'm gonna look."
When she responded, she sounded surprised. "Isn't that the Governor's Mansion?"
He chuckled. "That it is."
"Do you own it?"
"I do."
"When did you buy it?"
He chuckled. "Why all the questions?"
"Well, I didn't even know it had been for sale. That place has been sitting there empty as long as I can remember."
"It was, but it just worked out that I had a friend who had some knowledge of the former family and contacted them privately. They were all excited for a private sale, so we quietly made the deal."
"Well, I'll be," she said softly. "Aren't you the sly one? And I missed out on a commission."
He laughed. "I'm sorry about the commission, but I was glad to get the deal done."
"Was it in decent shape?"
"Yeah, it was all right. I mean, some things had fallen into disrepair from sitting, and you know the humidity here and such. Luckily, they had kept the heat and air conditioning on. Even though they had the air turned up to eighty-five, it did keep the place from getting moldy. But I've had it completely remodeled since then, thanks to my friend Quinn, and now it's just my home sweet home."
Margo laughed. The sound of her laugh was melodic and sexy. The little deep undertone she had kind of did something to him. The hair on his arms stood up.
"Okay, so you'll be over at six?"
"Yes, I'll be over at six. Can I bring something?"
"Nope, I've got this covered. Just bring yourself. And a smile."
She laughed again, and he closed his eyes to listen to the sound.
"All right, I'll see you then."
She ended the call, and he whistled as he took the empty dishwasher racks and glasses back to the kitchen. As he came back out, he was still whistling and had a little skip in his step until he saw Sierra walking into the bar.
"Mother of ass," he muttered.
He quickly spun around and stepped back into the kitchen. "Jose, are you ready to wait tables?"
"I am."
"Can you please take care of the redhead? She just walked in."
"Sure thing."
Maybe she'd appreciate a male server instead of a female. Not that he wanted Jose to have to deal with bullshit. He would handle that if it came to that. But he knew he didn't want to have anything to do with her. Jose exited the kitchen and Jace went outside and began setting up the new Tiki bar that he had just had Quinn's crew build. It wasn't finished quite yet, but it was certainly operational enough that they could have basic drinks, beer in the coolers, and their Sandbar Punch, so the servers didn't have to go all the way inside when refilling drinks. It would make things easier for them. And the best part, boaters and swimmers who were hanging out on the sandbar could walk up and not have to go inside to get drinks. Win-win. He was all about winning.