I shrugged, and we carried on down the street to her condo, my temporary home, linked arm in arm.?
“You’ll find it,” she said, breaking the silence. “And it will be perfect.”
Since we’d been back, every time I stopped when I saw a for sale sign in a window, I’d done extensive research on the building. But nothing felt right. Nothing gave me the vibes I wanted for my new bar.?
Or if it did, my new business partner would just find something else tonitpick. Mostly trivial things, like not being zoned for liquor, or like tonight, that it didn’t have a kitchen.
More often than not, she’d tell me she felt spirits inside, insisting that we couldn’t run a successful business if we were too busy being haunted.
“Think his tour is done? Lee, I mean,” I asked quietly, as we turned the corner to our street.?
“Who else would we be talking about? Stop obsessing,” she chuckled.
We crawled the stairs to Sutton’s condo on historic Oglethorpe Ave. The place had Sutton written all over it—bright throw pillows that didn’t match but somehow worked, oversized candles that smelled like heaven, cookbooks all over the place, and walls crammed with artsy prints she’d collected over the years. My things were scattered here and there—my favorite mug on the counter, my boots kicked off by the door, Pickle, glaring ominously at us from her perch on top of the kitchen cabinets—but all they felt out of place, like I didn’t quite belong.
I was grateful, of course. Sutton had opened her home to me without a second thought, and I didn’t take that lightly. But after living alone for so long, I missed having a space that was mine, a place where I could be still and sort through the chaos in my head. As much as I loved Sutton, her constant energy could feel like too much when all I wanted was to sit in silence and figure out what came next.
“What about something like this? I could buy the whole building, and most of these places have retail or restaurant space below?”?
“Where are you going to get that money? Sorry, where arewegoing to get that money?”?
I shrugged. “It might take some time, but it will happen someday.”?
I woke up the next morning and ran out for coffee and pastries. Sutton was off working a dry baby shower, which meant I had the day off. I’d planned on looking for a great space somewhere, possibly close to Charlie, but the vibe didn’t feel right.?
Munching on a danish and slowly walking through Chatham Square, I heard my name bellowed from behind me.?
“Now wait up for me, darlin’. You know an old woman can’t walk that fast.”
“Good morning, Eunice,” I said, kissing her cheek. “How are we today?”?
As much as the sight of her still gave me somewhat of a panic attack, like her eldest son was going to come out of a bush and light me on fire—or worse, ask me to take him back—as time went on and we spent more time together, I felt some of that fog lifting.?
“Just fine, just fine. Wanna take a bench with me? I’d like to chat with you about something.”?
I nodded and presented her a bag with a fresh pastry to see if she wanted a nosh while we talked.?
“I just left B. Matthews, otherwise I would. But thank you. You really are so kind, even though I know my boys destroyed you.”?
A few months ago, that might have struck me like a hatchet to the heart, but today, I just shrugged and took a seat next to her, listening as I sipped on my coffee.?
“Before Dane scooted off to who knows where with that trollop, Vance and I were talking with his realtor friend Joseph. You know that good ole’ Christian boy who frequently hangs out at the titty bars?”?
I spit my coffee into Eunice Wilder’s lap.?
“Did you just say titty? On a Sunday?”?
“Now, it’s a new era. If I learned anything from our whole ordeal, it’s that when you try and keep things shoved into a mold where it doesn’t belong, it combusts. So shit, fuck, titty, and then some, darlin’.”?
I stared at her with my jaw hitting my knees for a solid thirty seconds. I couldn’t believe what my ears were hearing, and frankly, they were burning. “So, what about Joseph, frequenter of the less finer establishments here in town?” I finally asked.?
“Well, as I said before Dane and what’s her face absconded, Vance and I were fixin’ to buy you two a house, just down the street from us on Jones.” She kept her eyes trained in her lap, which was now covered in my coffee, and wouldn’t meet my eye.?
She knew what my reaction was going to be.?
“You’re not giving me anything,” I said it quickly and sternly, and I meant every word. I wasn’t taking anything from the Wilder family ever again.?
“It was once a bed and breakfast. It’s zoned for a liquor licenseandhas a commercial kitchen. We thought, someday, you and Dane would restore it andthat it could be your project—you know, when Dane eventually got you to loosen your grip on O’Malley’s.”?
