“Okay, well, let’s call Patrick,” J.J. said.
“If this works, you might be stuck with me,” Hope said.
“I don’t know what you’re planning, but that was the point all along,” Libby smiled.
And the fire came back into her friends’ eyes. The fight that saved a dance pavilion when they were kids was contagious. Maybe Libby had passed it on to Hope.
Hope was sure of one thing. Archie wasn’t going to decide what she did anymore.
He wasn’t going to get to stop her dreams before she had a chance to make them come true.
ChapterTwenty-Two
Hope
To win big, sometimes you had to risk big.
That always seemed like a line of bull crap to Hope, especially when Archie was risking their future at every turn, with every stupid scheme.
But maybe there was truth to it.
Hope was about to take a risk.
Archie had agreed to meet Hope at Patrick Tate’s little office around the corner from her restaurant. Her restaurant. She was manifesting left and right since she decided what she was going to do about Archie and her divorce.
She slid the piece of paper to his side of the conference table.
“What is this?”
“It’s a settlement.”
“A settlement?”
Hope watched Archie as he read. His lips moved.
She decided to help him out. “Thanks to a red-hot housing marking, you’re sitting on a house that is worth three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. You’ll remember that we purchased it for just under one hundred grand. Not a bad turnaround. Sell it, keep it. Do what you want. I’m signing it over to you.”
“We wouldn’t have that house if it wasn’t for me,” Archie replied. “You never wanted to move in there. You’re giving me something I already have.”
“Thanks to my sweat equity, the house we bought with both of our savings has increased quite a bit. I’m the one who turned it into what it is. As the kids say, I have receipts.”
“We have a mortgage,” Archie countered.
“Last I checked, we only owe thirty grand on the mortgage, even after all we went through during the recession. You’re sitting pretty there with a ton of equity.”
She knew her numbers, she knew the market, and she knew that she was giving up something that, if she went to court, she’d likely win half of.
Patrick Tate had drawn up the papers, even though he thought this was a bad idea. Poor Patrick was used to women ignoring his advice though, and no lawyer would advise their client to do what Hope was doing.
It was a huge risk.
“So, the house I have, I keep, big deal.”
“Archie, you don’t want to be with me, and I don’t want to be with you. We’ve raised two amazing daughters. We had some good times, but you’re going to go your way, and I’m going to go mine.”
“That restaurant? You’re no Chef Ellston. That thing is going to tank unless you have my help.”
“I appreciate you want to help, but I want to try it, all on my own. To seal the deal, to have you sign that other paper.”
