What the hell else had she missed?
“They did. I sort of fucked up their elopement.”
Tiana covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh no.”
“Yeah, I was walking out as they were walking in and literally bumped into them. I tried to leave, and I apologized, saying it wasn’t about me, it was their day. But Poppy stopped me, she was already having second thoughts and really wanted Liam, Frankie, Yaya, and Arthur there too, so they invited them.”
“Awe, that’s so sweet.” Tiana’s hand covering her mouth now clutched at her chest.
She also thought, for everyone’s sake, it was good Yaya had not been left out of the festivities. She, for one, wouldneverwant to be on that woman’s bad side.
“After the wedding, I asked Yaya if she knew the owner, Richard Reddick. She said she knew his dad and would take care of it. I just got into Hope Falls city limits when she dropped me a pin and told me I needed to meet her there. When I showed up,she introduced me to Dickie, as his dad calls him, who had just returned from an all expenses paid trip to Vegas, and his father, Nelson Reddick. It seems Dickie Reddick has an issue with gambling. He’s been good for fifteen years, but nine months ago he won an all expenses paid trip on a cruise that was like candy for gamblers. Then three months ago, he won an all expenses paid trip to Atlantic City.
“His dad had no idea he was in so much trouble financially until Yaya called and asked him about Dickie selling. It took some convincing, but he agreed, verbally, to my offer. I still didn’t know if he would actually take it. When we left, something was bothering me, though, so I had AJ look into the trips he won, and he traced them all back to Bartlett’s business manager.”
“Brock?”
“Yeah. I don’t know how he found out about Dickie’s gambling addiction. He’d been clean for fifteen years. But he found out and exploited it so Dickie would have no choice but to start selling his assets. It was a waiting game for him to get to your property, which held the greatest value for him.”
Tiana’s head was pounding. It was too much information to take in, she honestly was just tired and wanted to go to bed. She just needed to speak to Pops.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I just need to call Pops, and then I think I need to get some sleep.”
“Oh, okay, I don’t know if he’ll be up to talking.”
“Up to talking.” She stood up. “Is he sick again?”
Niko’s face blanched. “No, he’s not sick. He’s post-op.”
“Post-op.What?!”
Niko spoke to her in a calm, soothing tone that made her think she wasn’t going to like what she heard. “Wednesday morning Dr. Best called and said the surgeon was no longer going to be in Sacramento in December, they were going to be inPine Ridge, and there was an opening the next day. Then Pops got on the phone and said that the insurance didn’t cover it and not to bother you. I told Dr. Best I would take care of it.”
“Youwhat?”
“I said I would take care of it.”
“It’s forty thousand dollars!”
“I know, it’s fine, it’s not?—"
Tiana saw Niko catch himself from saying it’s not that much money, because to him it wasn’t. But that wasn’t the point.
“So, Pops just went into surgery when I wassosick I didn’t even know what day it was?!” She felt the tears streaming down her face.
“Tiana, I’m sorry, I was just trying to do?—”
“What if he didn’t come out of the surgery?! What if he were gone?! I wasn’t there! I wasn’t there when he was in surgery!”
“He knew you were sick,” Niko explained calmly in contrast to my manic energy. “Yaya, Frank, Cindy?—”
“They’re notme! I should have been there with him!” Tears were now pouring out of her eyes. She heard herself talking and reacting, and in the back of her mind, even the front of it, she knew she was being ridiculous. This man had just nursed her back to health. Paid for her pseudo father/grandfather’s surgery, not only ran her business but also improved it, oh, andbought the buildingwhen her villain of an ex was trying to destroy her life. But he’d also sent Pops into surgery when she was in bed totally delirious.
She walked to the kitchen table and picked up her phone and dialed Pops’ number. It went straight to voicemail. “Shit.” She sniffed as she walked down the hallway towards the bedroom.
“Room 1406,” she heard Niko’s voice behind her, and she stopped and turned around, leaning against the wall in the hallway, needing support for her jelly legs.
