“Sure. My grandparents used to live nearby. I visited the building from time to time as a small boy. When I heard it was on the market, I couldn’t pass it up.”
“I’ve heard you’re in talks with the city to open a fitness center. Is that correct?”
“It is. Fitness has always been important to me, and I’ve learned a lot over the years, which I would enjoy sharing with others.” He recited what Elizabeth had coached him to say, doing his best to sound sincere.
“What about the local businesses in this building? Won’t they be displaced when you renovate?”
Hank’s palms grew sweaty, but he resisted the urge to wipe them on his shirt. He kept his smile fixed in place. Thankfully, Elizabeth had prepared him for this question. “No decisions have been made at this point, but if we do open a fitness center, we’ll work with the current renters to secure another location, if desired. Our goal is to blend in with the local community and make a positive addition to the city of Cleveland.”
“I read somewhere you work out four hours every day. How do you manage that with such a busy schedule?”
“It’s not easy. But I think staying healthy is important. I try to stick to a daily routine of exercise and eating well.” Except today, when he’d devoured more bakery items than he’d eaten in the past five years.
“Well, I think our viewers would agree, you sure manage to make exercise look good. I’ll be anxious to try the new fitness center once it’s built. Any idea when that might be?”
Hank kept his smile in place. “As I said, nothing’s decided at this point.”
They finished the interview, which Susan assured him would be on the evening news. Then he signed autographs for a few minutes until his driver showed up to escort him and Elizabeth to their hotel. Hank sighed as he settled into the limo for the drive to their hotel. He closed his eyes for a moment, remembering the delicious cookies and the sound of Bethany’s laugh when he’d left her kitchen.
“Now that we’ve got that out of the way,” Elizabeth said, looking at her phone, “you can catch some sleep, and we can have dinner tonight.”
Hank rubbed his whiskers. “Sleep sounds good, but I’ve already made dinner plans.”
“Who with? We’re supposed to fly out tomorrow, remember?”
“Yeah, let’s cancel that. We can fly out Monday. I want to stick around for a bit.”
Elizabeth’s eyes widened, and she tilted her head. “What’s this about?”
“This is where I was born.” He hoped Elizabeth would let it go at that, but of course, she didn’t.
“Hank, who are you taking to dinner?”
He fumbled in the center bar for a glass and the bottle of Irish whiskey. “Bethany Parker.”
She crinkled her nose as if a decomposed body was hidden underneath the leather seat. “The owner of the restaurant? You must be kidding me. Whatever for?”
He poured the golden liquid into the glass and added ice chips. “I promised her I would.”
“Let’s get this straight. You’re staying in town to take out the restaurant owner you’re putting out of business? Not the wisest idea, Hank.”
He downed the whiskey, enjoying the familiar burn. “I never said it was wise. Just that I was doing it.”
Elizabeth made her I-can’t-believe-you’d-be-so-foolish face and pulled a glass from the bar along with a bottle of Shiraz. “You’re asking for trouble. I’m sure she’s been throwing herself at you ever since you entered her restaurant. You’re threatening her livelihood. Stands to reason that she’ll do anything to convince younotto open Fitaholics. Besides, you should know better than to get involved with someone who clearly needs money.”
“She’s not after my money. She barely acknowledged me today.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes toward the roof of the limo andtook a sip from her glass. “I’ve seen that act before. Women play hard to get all the time. It’s the surest trick in the book to get a guy interested. You should have seen her face today when I told her you owned the building. You would have thought she’d lost a child. Take it from me, the woman’s manipulating you.”
Hank pictured Bethany as she’d sat across from him in the restaurant, her eyes lighting up while she talked about her parents and grandparents. And the flicker of sympathy he’d caught when he’d told her about his parents. There had been nothing artificial in either expression. “I don’t believe she’s putting on an act. But does it matter? It’s one dinner.”
Elizabeth looked like she wanted to say more, but thankfully their driver pulled up to the hotel entrance, putting an end to the conversation.
“Get some rest, Hank,” Elizabeth said as she left him to enter her hotel room. “I’ll call you later to see how your evening went.”
He passed his security card across the lock as his phone buzzed. His assistant Pamela’s face flashed on the screen.
“Hi, Hank. You asked me to call you if I heard from the realtor about the house on West 10thStreet. Well, he called today. The house you want is on the market. What do you want me to do? Should I make an offer on your behalf?”
