Chapter 28 #2
She sighed and looked nervously around the bar. “Let’s get this place cleaned up and then we can talk, okay?”
Sutton helped me close down, and after flicking off the lights, we headed up to my apartment with a bottle of rum, mixers, and a blender.
She got the floor situated with blankets and pillows, and I poured the pina colada concoction into an oversized vase.
I grabbed a pack of comically large straws left over from a bachelorette party and a couple of bags of chips before meeting her in the living room.
We sipped and snacked quietly for a few minutes before I put my hand on her knee and met her eyes, pleading for her to tell me what was on her mind.
She let out a heavy sigh before spilling the story about Dane coming on to her. She explained how she was going to tell me everything until Vance showed up and threatened to have LaMonte fire her. I listened, stone-faced, my skin crawling with each new detail.
I suspected Dane was involved in our spat somehow, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself. Hearing her say it out loud brought me to tears so fierce I could hardly catch my breath.
“I told Lee, the night of his first gig when I was in the green room crying all over him in just my bra,” she started, a stark sadness lacing her voice.
“We thought we’d try to come up with a plan to tell you, to gather up some more evidence, but I guess…
I don’t know Magnolia. I really don’t know what to say other than I was terrified. ”
“I get it. I’ve done some stupid things so that I didn’t lose what I have, too,” I offered through wracked sobs.
Sutton nervously pulled at her bottom lip with her teeth. “That’s not all of it, I’m afraid.”
I pulled the blanket up to my neck, bracing for the bombshell Sutton was about to drop. The way her face turned white as a sheet told me this was going to be one of those moments where I’d better hold on tight.
“This land, this building, it’s worth a lot,” she started softly. “And I’m not sure if you know this, but it’s also not protected by any sort of historical society. Or really protected by anything…”
Sutton got quiet for a moment, and I jerked my chin at her to go on, shaking under my blanket.
“I overheard at work that Dane was shopping the property around to some huge investment firm out of Atlanta. They’re looking to tear down the building and put up one of those mixed-use high-rises—shops on the bottom, condos on top.”
Being betrayed by my fiancé and having my future father-in-law threaten her was bad enough. But selling my bar, my family’s only legacy and the land that it stood on for a high-rise?
A quiet, angry, “Wow,” was all I could muster.
“So, I guess none of it really mattered, then. Not you raising money as fast as you can and Lee investing into the Trust. No matter what, Dane was always going to try and sell this place right out from underneath you.”
“Wow,” was all I could say again.
“I’m so sorry, Magnolia. This is all my fault.”
“No, Sutton. It’s not your fault, and don’t ever let me hear you say that again.”
She wiped her cheeks with the sleeve of her shirt. “Do you hate me?”
I shook my head. “No, I couldn’t. Ever. You’re my sister, Sutton.
Nothing will ever come between us. I’m sorry some foolish man tried.
” We both murmured a faint, bittersweet laugh, and I leaned in to her, putting my head on her shoulder.
“Just promise me you won’t ever keep anything like that from me again,” I said.
“Promise. What are you going to do?”
I shrugged. “I’m going to marry him. I need to get my claws into that Trust somehow, or I’ll lose everything. Nothing about this situation changes. It’s still a business deal.”
Sutton shook her head and then took a huge guzzle of our drink. “Magnolia, you can’t go through with this. He’ll make you sign a pre-nup. It’s just so awful to me you’d marry Dane and then lose your happiness in the midst of it all.”
I leaned over and grabbed her hand. “The bar is my happiness. It’s everything. I had a great romance once. That’s enough for me.”
Sutton started tearing up again.
“Oh my gosh, that just sounds so awful! I seriously can’t get behind this. I mean, I will if I have to because I love you. But it’s going to be so hard for me to watch, especially since that great romance is still in Savannah and is clearly still crazy about you after all these years.”
Hearing her say what we all knew all this time made my stomach do a somersault.
“Wonder why Lee never told me the truth, either,” I muttered.
“I think it’s because he’s still in love with you, and you’re still in love with him, and he was just hoping and praying you’d figure that out on your own.”
I almost opened my mouth to respond to Sutton when she yawned into a huge stretch and laid back on her pillow.
“If this is what you want, what you truly, genuinely want, I will stand by you every step of the way. Maybe once it’s all said and done, there will be less drama. We’re off to a good start. I haven’t had to pull you out of any bushes recently.”
My best friend’s tired eyes rolled back in her head, and I realized how exhausted I was, too. I curled up next to her, and Pickle settled in between us, purring wildly. Before I knew it, my eyes were opening to the dawn of a brand new day.
And, I hoped, a brand new start for me and Sutton.