Stay calm. Stay calm.
“You could call your billionaire friend. The one who bought you the place,” he suggested.
This time, the growl did leave my throat. “No way!”
Call Jack? I wasn’t asking for money from Jack Marrow if my life depended on it. He’d made his goodbye very clear, and I was a grown woman. I could figure this out.
“How about you do the job for eight grand and you and your assistants eat one meal a day for free for life?”
His eyebrows rose. “Even steak?”
I had to suppress my laugh, because he was dead serious and I saw it as a payment plan of sorts. Besides, my credit card onlyhad an eight-thousand-dollar limit anyway, so that was literally all I could afford.
I nodded. “Anything on the menu, one meal per worker, only once a day. For as long as you live. I’ll even sign a contract.”
He stuck out his hand. “You got a deal. We’ll start right away.”
I sagged in relief. A week of being shut down was not ideal, but I didn’t want to burn the place down in an electrical fire, either. And in the end, I’d gotten fifty percent off the price. Sort of. Whatever. I’d figure it out, and everything was going to be okay.
Chapter Twenty
JACK
Chloe peeked into my office and met my gaze. “How much are we ignoring Hannah? Like, do we still care about her wellbeing?”
I sat bolt upright. “Is she okay? Is she hurt?”
Chloe stepped into my office, holding her hands out to calm me. “No, not physically, but financially?—”
“What happened?” Was it something with the restaurant? Her mom’s cancer bills?
“Hugeelectrical problem, it sounds like. Raj just called. It’s going to shut down the restaurant for a week and cost her thousands.”
She’d called Raj for help and not me? That hurt.
I nodded. “Pay for it.”
Chloe chewed her lip. “I tried. Right after Raj called me, I called Hannah.
She said, and I quote, ‘No, thanks. I don’t need any more of Jack’s money.’”
Ouch!
What was wrong with taking my money?
“Alright. I’ll handle it. Thanks.”
Chloe left my office, and I picked up my cell. I stared at the last text she’d sent to me. It killed me to ignore her, but I couldn’tbe just friends with Hannah Phillips. And I didn’t want her to go into debt over pride. Her mom was cancer-free now. She should have been able to move on from all that trauma and just enjoy her life, not be saddled with more bills.
She picked up on the first ring. “Hey, stranger.” Her voice did not hold the sunshine I was accustomed to. It was more like cloudy with a chance of rain.
“Hey, I heard about the electrical issue. Bummer. That can get expensive.” I was trying to find a natural segue into offering money.
“Yeah, it can.” Her voice was flat, annoyed.
She was mad at me. Why? Because I’d been ignoring her? She had a boyfriend!
“Well, it’s a good thing I have enough of that to go around. Why don’t you send me your electrician’s name and I’ll make sure he’s paid?”
