Page 2 of The Last Goodbye

Briar fucking Sinclair.

I should have known this was her.

The woman had been relentless with her calls and emails.

Her company, Winchester Investments, currently owned the land beneath my restaurant, and from what I’d gathered, they wanted to cut my lease short.

I motioned for her to take the seat across from my desk and returned to my chair. “I thought I made it clear that there was nothing to discuss at this time.”

“And I thought I made it clear that there was plenty to discuss at this time,” she said, pink lips pursed and tone icy.

“Listen, Ms. Sinclair…” I paused to blow out a breath.

“You can call me Briar. We don’t have to be so formal, nor do we have to be enemies.”

“Don’t we?” I said with a shrug. “You want something that I’m not willing to give you, and you don’t seem to like that.”

“Fair assessment,” she said, tipping her chin up. The woman oozed confidence. “But I’m not your adversary.”

“Well, my restaurant is not for sale. You trying to force my hand certainly doesn’t make us friends, from where I’m sitting. And then having the audacity to tell my manager that you’re pregnant with my child? That’s a bit much, isn’t it?”

“My last dozen calls have gone unanswered. You left me no choice.”

“There’s always a choice, Ms. Sinclair. I made a conscious decision not to engage with the conversation any longer, after making it clear that my restaurant is not for sale. End of story.”

“Mr. Bennett, let me remind you that we own the land beneath this building. We’ve also purchased the surrounding lots. And you’re leasing that land from us as of now.”

“And I will continue to do so until my lease ends in two years,” I said.

She shifted in her chair and uncrossed her legs before crossing the other leg over the top this time. A pair of shiny black heels peeked out from the hem of her jeans, and I found it difficult not to stare at the way she moved so casually. She tucked her long blond hair behind her ear and said, “So let me explain how this works, because you refused to listen via phone or email.”

“Well, I mean, now that you’re carrying my child, it seems like the right thing to do.” I rolled my eyes.

Her lips formed a straight line, and she tipped her chin up again. “Two years is going to pass quickly, and at that point, you won’t be getting offered this deal, or any deal for that matter. You will walk with nothing.”

“I’ve spoken to my attorney, and I’m more than aware of the situation,” I said, keeping my tone casual when I felt anything but. Because starting over would be a nightmare. I’d worked hard to design this place, and when I’d purchased the building, I’d just taken the word from the past owner that renewing the land agreement would be a piece of cake.

Turns out that was no longer true.

One of my best friends, Cutler Heart, had called his uncle River, who was an attorney in Magnolia Falls, a town not too far from here, and asked him to meet with me and discuss my options.

We’d talked it out, and right now I’d decided to stay put. I didn’t have the financial means to make a move or to afford to close my doors.

My sister was graduating from college in a month, and I’d no longer have tuition bills or her cost of living to cover, so things would look very different two years from now.

“Well, what you haven’t allowed me to discuss with you before now is the offer we’d like to make you.” She clasped her hands together on her lap.

“Why would I want to hear about an offer when my restaurant is not for sale?” I glanced at my wrist, noting it was time for me to prep the kitchen for dinner, and I stood. “I appreciate you coming here and shooting your shot. But this conversation is done.”

She narrowed her gaze into almost a glare, showing no signs that she was going to stand up. “It’s a generous offer, and it will allow you to move your restaurant to a new location. Let me be clear: we will not be making this offer in two years. We will not offer you anything at that point, because we won’t need to.”

She reached in her oversized purse and tossed a file on my desk, and I glanced over, feigning disinterest.

“Maybe I like to roll the dice, Ms. Sinclair.” I shrugged.

The problem was, I couldn’t move a business on a whim. I’d need to find a new location and get it renovated before I could open the doors. It would be a nightmare. A huge financial hit for me, and where would it leave all my employees? I had too many people depending on me to make a reckless decision. And though taking whatever money they were offering sounded good in theory, it wouldn’t be as fabulous as she was trying to make it sound.

She had no idea how much money this restaurant grossed a month, nor what my overhead was. She also had no clue how difficult it would be to find a location as good as this one, not to mention the amount of time it would take to renovate it before we could open our doors.