She smiles widely and waves back, and then I continue down to my own restaurant.
I don’t go inside, but peering through the glass, I can see that Anderson has accomplished a lot over the past couple of days. The walls are up and painted, and it looks like the flooring has arrived, and the boxes are sitting in the middle of the room to acclimate.
According to my contractor, I should be able to open my doors in two weeks, and I hope he’s right because I miss being in there, feeding people.
I took Connor’s advice because it had been playing in my head over and over again since that day he offered to help me.
Money isn’t personal.
The money didn’t treat me like shit. Justin did that all on his own. And because I enduredyearsof being married to that prick, I inherited the fortune from my late husband. It’s mine to do with as I please. Every cent is in my name. Except for the money he left toher, but that’s not relevant to anything else.
I have millions in my name, and I’ve been stubborn about using it.
I’m not going to be stubborn anymore.
My staff have been off work for two weeks, and I need them to come back to me when I reopen. If I couldn’t pay them, they’d have to get new jobs, and I’d be stuck. So I’ve been paying them their regular salaries while they’ve been off. Every single one of them has offered to help me in any way that I might need, which made me feel good.
Christy, Tandy, and Erica check in with me almost every day.
So, I’ve used the money to pay my staff, and rather than accept Connor’s financial help, I’ve paid for the repairs myself. I am, however, accepting his help when it comes to the construction crew and any other business advice he might want to send my way. Who am I to say no to aridiculouslysuccessful billionaire? People pay a lot of money for that kind of advice.
I quickly go around to the back of the building and climb the metal stairs to the apartment above. Pushing inside, I take a quick look around. It’s empty now. Anything I could salvage—which wasn’t much—was taken to Brooks’s house, and the rest was hauled away in the massive dumpster. It’s dried out, and Anderson treated all of the raw, exposed wood with something to prevent mold.
And now that I take a good look around, I realize that I was so freaking bullheaded to think that I could live up here without remodeling it and making it a true apartment. Once the restaurant is finished, Anderson will get started up here, and I guess I’ll be moving in after it’s finished.
The thought of that ishorrible.I love living with Brooks in his little house, which offers a view of my dream home and the mountains. I love sleeping beside him at night, wrapped up in his strong arms. It’s where I was supposed to be all along, but we haven’t discussed the future or what will happen when the renovations are complete.
With a sigh, I shut and lock the door behind me, check it three times, and then get back to my usual route. The sky is starting to cloud up, hiding the sun away and making the air cooler. When I approach Brooks’s house, he’s waiting for me on the porch, with two mugs of steaming coffee in his hands.
“How did you know I’d be back now and ready for coffee?”
He smirks as he holds a mug out for me, then leans in to kiss me.
“You’re nothing if not a creature of habit, Wildfire.” He sits on the top step of the porch, and I join him, quietly sipping our morning coffee.
His garage is closed today, and we’ve been spending Sundays together lately. It’s quickly becoming my favorite day of the week.
“Darby came to book club last night,” I tell him, filling the silence. “She sure has changed a lot since high school.”
“She’s changed a lot since she went to Colorado for vet school,” he rumbles, watching as a delivery truck drives by. “She seems lighter. Happier. Quicker to smile.”
“I agree. She was laughing with Ava and me last night and having a blast. I’m glad she’s moving back to town when she’s finished with school. She also said that she’s going to start joining us for book club via FaceTime.”
I grin and wave at a woman who walks past with her golden retriever.
“What are you reading next?” he asks me, reaching over to hook my hair behind my ear and then brushing his thumb down my cheek.
“It’s an A.L. Jackson book.At the Edge of Surrender.Romantic suspense. It should be good. I love her books.”
My man nods, and I nibble my lip as I continue to stare at the house across the street.
“This is going to sound crazy.”
He glances down at me and lifts an eyebrow. “I doubt it.”
“I kind of want to march over there and ask the owners if I can have a look around. It’s killing me, Brooks. Isowant to see the inside. Do you think they’d have me arrested for being a creep?”
He searches my gaze, not even cracking half of a smile at my creepy comment, and then the next thing I know, he stands, sets our mugs aside, and offers me his hand.
