Chapter 41
James
Weston is sitting in my lap, chewing on his plastic giraffe teething toy, while I eat my sandwich—I tried the turkey and avocado BLT today—and wait for a lull in the lunch crowd at the diner.
Since the article came out linking Outlaw to Deb’s, the diner has experienced a steady influx of new customers.
Georgie even told me that Josh stopped in once for breakfast by himself.
“Is this seat taken?” Georgie smiles at me as she drops into the seat across the table from me.
“It is now.”
Weston lets out a happy shriek at seeing his mama, and I hand the baby over to Georgie. He grabs her ponytail, twisting her hair in his fists and bringing it into his mouth. The boy is putting anything and everything into his mouth these days.
Looking away from the two people who own my heart, I catch Sheila’s eye. She nods and heads in our direction.
From the rear pocket of Weston’s diaper bag, I slide a manila file folder onto the table and push it toward Georgie.
She looks at it questioningly, wrinkling her nose. “What is this?”
“Open it and find out.”
Sheila pulls out a chair and takes a seat just as Georgie opens the file and sees the partnership agreement. Glancing between Sheila and me, Georgie does a pretty spot-on impression of a goldfish as her mouth opens and closes without emitting a sound.
Holding out a pen to Georgie, Sheila remarks with a grin, “Just flip to the back page and sign it, Georgie.”
Her head pops up, zeroing in on Sheila. “You knew?” Then she looks at me. “You did this… for me?”
I nod. “Yeah, Georgie, I did.”
Flummoxed, she stammers, “But… why?”
Sheila jumps in before I can say a word. “Because he knows how much you love this place, and he loves you even more.”
Again, I nod. “Yep, that about sums it up.”
“But… James. This is so much money.” Her eyes grow wide. “Too much money! I can’t let you do this. I can’t accept this. This isn’t a gift; this is… this is enough money to fund someone’s future,” she cries.
“You’re right; your future. But you can, and you will accept it, darlin’. Becoming Sheila’s business partner and co-owning the diner, gives you a stable future, a way to provide for yourself and for Weston. You won’t need me. You’ll always have me, but you won’t need me.”
By gifting her half of the business, it evens out the power dynamics between us.
If she ever wants to leave me, she can, and she’ll still be able to provide for our son.
I hope to God it never comes to that because I love this woman and want her more than I need breath in my lungs, but I never want her to feel trapped in our relationship.
I never want her to feel like she has to stay with me or else she’ll be destitute.
Reaching across the table, she cups my cheek with her hand. “That’s where you’re wrong, James. I’ll always need you. I don’t need your money, but I’ll always need you.”
With those words, I’m reminded of why I fell in love with this woman. Grabbing her hand, I kiss her palm as she blinks back tears.
Sheila brings a moment of levity, joking, “Do I need to give y’all a moment? Or would you like me to hold the baby so you two can go,” she arches an eyebrow, “visit the ladies’ room again?”
Guess we weren’t as sneaky as I thought we were. I grin wickedly as Georgie’s cheeks flush.
Flipping through the paperwork, Georgie reads through the pages. When she reaches the last page, she questions Sheila, “So, what does this mean? For us and for Deb’s?”
“Like James said, it means we’re partners.
” Reaching into her apron pocket, Sheila slides over a set of keys to Georgie.
“And it means that we have money to make repairs to the interior and exterior of the building and to make some more of the changes you’ve been talking about.
Expanding the menu. Hiring a second cook to help Lou.
Bringing on another waitress and maybe a busboy or dishwasher. ”
“Repairs?” Georgie’s eyes brighten with excitement.
“Yep,” Sheila nods. “I was thinking we could close the diner for the week of Thanksgiving. My usual contractor has already committed to do the work for us, if you agree.”
“Oh, I agree!”
“Then sign the papers, Georgie, so we can make it official!”
Later, as I’m loading Weston into the car to drive home after lunch, Char calls. My heart races when I see her name light up my phone screen.
Tapping the button, I answer her call.
“Tell me you have good news, Char.”
Nolan’s seventy-two-hour deadline expired today. Based on everything Georgie told me about him, I expected silence until the very last moment. Making us wait is his final way of exerting control over her.
“I’ve got some good news—”
“Praise the Lord.” My mouth stretches into a wide smile as I swing the car door shut.
“Nolan signed the paperwork, and his attorneys emailed it to our attorneys just a few minutes ago.”
“Halle-fucking-lujah!”
“There’s more good news,” Char continues, “but… you’re probably not going to love it.”
My smile fades. “What is it?”
“The tabloid agreed to forget all about what Nolan told them… provided that we supply them with a better story.”
“Okay,” I drawl. “What’s the better story?”
“You have a sit-down interview with a journalist tomorrow to talk about your relationship with Georgie, your quickie marriage, and your son.”
I groan. “No way, Char. I hate this shit.”
“Look, I know you hate this, but I think you’d hate the tabloid hitting the publish button on Nolan’s story more. Even without his cooperation, they could dig deep enough to find other witnesses to corroborate parts of his story. This interview is the lesser of two evils, James.”
Despite my grumbling, I know Char’s got a valid point.
“Plus, it gives you an opportunity to push out the story we’ve concocted to explain the timeline of your relationship with Georgie.”
Fuck me. She’s right. As always.