Chapter 16
Chapter sixteen
LEE
Iwas sitting across from Momma and Daddy at their ridiculously long dining room table, feeling less than thrilled about the whole situation.
They’d summoned me for an official “discussion” about my interest in buying into O’Malley’s, but I knew it was more like an interrogation.
They were trying to figure out what I was really up to.
Daddy had propped up his laptop in front of Dane’s empty chair, where Dane was joining us via video call, scarfing down his room service like he wasn’t casually trying to multitask a major family decision that could alter the fate of Magnolia’s entire life between bites of filet mignon.
We were all munching, working our way through the mountain of Trust paperwork, and it was clear from the way Momma kept topping off her wine with very generous pours that she was about done with our shit.
“I’m just saying, Leland, if you’re serious about running the bar, there may not be room to indulge in your little extracurricular singing activities.” Daddy was teetering on the edge of belligerent, his tone somewhere between “concerned father” and “unnecessary life coach.”
I stared at him, my mouth hanging open, the words stuck somewhere between my teeth and my throat.
Instead of saying something I’d regret—like I usually did—I shoved a huge bite of pasta into my mouth.
I chewed, focusing on the texture, the flavors of the meal, anything to keep me from opening my damn mouth.
Dane laughed from the monitor, his head propped against the headboard of his hotel bed like he was settling in for a good show.
He briefly glanced at something—or someone?
—next to him, the corners of his mouth twitching in a way that made me wonder just how much of this conversation he was actually paying attention to.
“Shut up, Dane,” I said childishly. “Laughing away while you haven’t even called your girlfriend, who’s been sick for days.”
“Probably another one of her wicked hangovers, if I had to guess. And where’s your girlfriend while you’re busy shacking up with mine?” He glared at me through the computer camera. If he had been in the room, in real life, I would have punched him in the jaw.
“What are you talking about?” I spat. “You were sick yourself when you left. Was that a hangover? You know what? I’ve heard you can be awfully critical—”
“Now, now, boys. Please behave so we can get through this. Leland, you didn’t tell me you were seeing someone?” Momma took a gulp of her wine, and I noticed she had barely touched her meal.
“Sorry, Momma,” I offered.
“She’s one of those social media influencers. The label set them up,” Dane piped in, rocking a shit-eating grin. I wanted to jump through the computer. “He still can’t get a real date,” he added smugly.
My father took his glasses off and rubbed his face with exaggerated frustration.
“Enough, you two. I’ve reviewed the paperwork the accountant from the Trust sent over, and it seems you have more than enough to buy some shares.
But money isn’t the problem, Lee. Magnolia is the real sticking point here. ”
Dane rolled his eyes. “If I didn’t believe Magnolia was secure in her relationship with me, sure, it might be an issue. But she is, so it’s not.” His smug tone only made my blood boil more.
“That’s not what your father means, Dane,” my mother said, voice laced with agitation. “He means that she might have trouble handing over more than half of her share to our family. As it stands, she can barely afford to own a quarter of the business. I’m thinking ten percent, and that’s generous.”
I arched an eyebrow. “I’m going in as a silent partner. She’s not handing the bar over to me or to our family.”
“That’s not what we drew up.” My brother forked a bite of steak into his mouth and then washed it down with a sip of red wine. “If you go in as a partner on this, it’s not just you that owns the bar, it’s the Wilder Family Trust. We will have control over the building and the bar as a unit.”
“Are you freaking kidding me?” I snapped.
“What, Leland? If you’re going to continue to write music and have your career here in Savannah, you’re still going to need to travel and head into the studio.
The Trust needs to be put into place to make sure the bar stays afloat.
It’s obvious Magnolia can’t be trusted to handle it.
She’s already run it into the ground.” My father didn’t meet my eyes when he said it.
He just kept thumbing through the paperwork before him like he was casually reading off a lunch menu.
“Because the reality is,” my brother interjected, “if you didn’t offer buy into the bar—the building and the business—I was going to. This was almost a done deal before you decided to catapult your ass back into our lives.”
A sudden shadow flickered in the corner of Dane’s screen, and before anyone had the chance to react, he quickly shut off the video.
A moment later, Momma casually glanced down at her phone. “Dane lost connection,” she announced, her tone just a touch too innocent. “Said he’ll call back later. Anyway, why don’t I talk to Magnolia tomorrow? She and I can go over this together.”
I raised an eyebrow, biting back a grin. Lost connection, huh? More like “his connection decided to join him in bed.”
I hadn’t heard a single word about Dane investing in the bar—neither from him nor Maggie. If he was so ready to swoop in and save it, why wait on me to invest through the family Trust? Why not just pull the trigger himself?
And who the hell had been lurking in the corner of his screen? I had no idea what Dane, or the rest of my family, was up to, but I was hellbent on figuring it out—and stopping it. I wasn’t about to let them sink their claws so deep into Maggie and the bar she loved that both ended up lost forever.