Chapter 19 #3
She handed me a pen. “You just need to sign the papers, and it’s yours.”
My lips thinned as I read over the document, ensuring there weren’t any hidden clauses that would give them any sort of power or that would lead to me somehow owing them money.
There was a sale price, but when I looked closer it was a dollar, which I could only assume they weren’t actually going to ask me for since they’d stolen much more than that from my tips in the past. But just to be sure, I pulled out my phone and sent them a dollar through my banking app, just to make sure they had no legal recourse.
Spade chuckled as he glimpsed what was on my phone, and a moment later Pam’s phone dinged.
A crease formed between her brows as she glanced at the screen, but it smoothed out as she read the payment notification, and she grinned.
The expression caught me off guard for a moment, my brain trying and failing to reconcile her with the mother who scowled more than smiled.
“I can’t say I blame you for not trusting us completely.” Her amusement quickly turned somber as moisture pooled in her eyes.
Spade bent, giving me his back to sign the papers on. There was a copy for them and a copy for me to keep. Greg and Pam had already signed both copies, so I did the same and handed back the one on top.
“We also have our contact information if you want it.” Pam swallowed thickly and passed me a sticky note.
I frowned down at the paper with their numbers and emails scrawled on it along with the new house they’d apparently purchased in the last few days, along with a hotel they’d be staying at in the meantime.
I hesitated for a second before taking it. “I won’t promise I’ll use it. We barely had a relationship before, and after what you did, it feels like any bond we once had was severed irreparably.”
Pam flinched, moisture pooling in her amber-brown eyes, but she didn’t argue.
“We understand.” Greg sighed, his head hanging in defeat. “We’ll respect your decision.”
They ran their gazes over me, like they were trying to reconcile me with the girl they knew once upon a time. But the truth was, they never knew me; they never cared to. This was the woman hidden beneath the mask I had to wear for so long in this town.
They hesitated like they wanted to … hug me?
Thankfully they thought better of it, or else I think Spade might’ve just lost it.
With sad smiles, they turned their backs on us and strode out.
With one final pained look that seemed to speak a thousand words, Greg let the door close behind them.
Darkness filled the bar, the sliver of light snuffed out with the closing of that chapter of my life.
“I’m assuming you want more drinks after that?” Eve asked, peeking her head out from the back, apprehension turning her smile tense as she watched us warily. “I know I would.”
“Yes, please,” I said with a grateful smile. Some of her nerves seemed to drop away at my reassurance, and she hurried back to the bar and poured three more whiskeys and produced another seltzer from the bar fridge. “Thanks.”
We headed back to our table with fresh drinks in hand, a tense silence seeming to permeate the air. Kellan pulled me onto his lap this time, bundling me up against his chest as he popped the tab to my drink and handed it to me.
I knew the question was burning inside them, but they held back, knowing I’d need some time to reflect on everything that had just happened.
“So I guess I own a burned-out husk of a diner.” I shrugged, slapping the paperwork onto the table.
“What do you plan on doing with it?” Kellan asked now that the silence was broken.
“I’m not sure yet,” I said. “But I definitely know what it won’t be.”
“A diner?” Spade chuckled.
“Exactly.” I grinned and clicked my can to his glass, both of us taking a drink.
“Are you going to reach out to them?” Merrick asked, not one to mince words.
“Right now I would say no, but I have no idea if I’ll want to in the future.
I’m not going to let it weigh on me, though.
I sort of like that I have the option.” My relationship with Greg and Pam had always been tenuous at best. I couldn’t forgive what they’d done, but I wouldn’t throw the paper out in case I later regretted it.
“They made a good point, though, you always wanted to leave this town. Are you sure this is where you want to stay?” Kellan asked, tightening his hold on me. I sank into his warmth, loving the way his arms banded around me like he never wanted to let me go.
“I’m not sure.” We all knew that we couldn’t leave right away. Otherwise, it would allow a new power to sweep in and take the Barone’s place. “Maybe one day. Who knows what life will hold for us in the future? But it’s a decision that we need to make together.”
“Well, we go wherever you do,” Spade said, as if it was the simplest decision he’d ever made, and the other two voiced their agreement. I guess it was a simple choice. Whatever the future might bring, we were in it together. We were a team, a family, and no one or nothing would separate us.