“I don’t know. I haven’t seen you much in the past month. Just in passing. But sitting there you look like maybe you had a long day.” Or a long several days. He was still thin to her and now was almost pale.
“It’s the end of the day. This is normally how I look. Once I get home and eat I’ll relax more.”
“How long are you working? Liz is gone. We could leave together and walk a block. Maybe get some dinner?”
He seemed to hesitate. How much more did she have to do? How much to say or give for him to see she was still trying.
It felt like her childhood all over again.
If it weren’t for having Ethan in her life, she’d be all alone. He said he didn’t want that for her, that it was why he’d asked her to move.
“I can be done in five minutes if you want to get dinner.”
She smiled. “I’ll go lock up and be back.”
“Well,” Ethan said. “How did it go?”
Oh shit, she forgot he was waiting for her. “Good. We are going to dinner together. Sorry. He looked off to me. Tired and I think he’s getting thin. Or I thought so. Anyway, he was good with it and I mentioned maybe he could come say hi to me once it was out. It’s like he didn’t realize I would want that.”
“All he has to do is open his eyes.”
“I tried to help him do that. So, I’m sorry. Another night?”
“Go have dinner with your father. But I’d like to hear how it went later.”
She returned the smile he had forced on his face. He’d just have to understand that she wasn’t always going to be at his beck and call, even after hours.
So far she’d been doing it because she had nothing else planned. This time, she needed to see what was going on with her father. Or at least take the steps to soften him up for the big reveal about her relationship.
Not now. But soon. Maybe.
31
GUARD HIS EVERY ACTION
“This is where the donuts are going,” Ethan said on July Fourth as they walked past the shops in the casino. They’d taken the first ferry over to Amore Island after he’d bought two dozen donuts for his family. A dozen each for his brothers. His parents said they’d take a pass.
“There is a lot of work done already,” she said. “What if things get held up?”
“That is always a possibility, but the owners are pushing for a fast close. They are struggling and, right now, as you know, I’m keeping them afloat.”
Money that was coming off the purchase.
“If they’ve mismanaged it now, how comfortable do you feel letting them continue to run things once you buy it?”
“They aren’t going to be running the business. They are making the products and overseeing them at the other three shops for quality control more than anything else. I’m going to be meeting with other staff to see if maybe there is someone better equipped for another role, but I’ll hire a regional manager to oversee operations. Those things will be separated.”
“Do you need someone with food experience?” she asked. They moved behind the boarded-up wall to see the counter taking shape with the cases that would be lined with donuts, then racks behind them with more as they are baked.
“That will be a must. It’s going to work out, just might take time. I expect them to do a great business on the island. As I said before, people who live on the island or just work here and take the ferry, they come into the casino for these shops.”
They left the area since there wasn’t much more to see. He watched as she looked around the section of the casino that had grown from more than a salon and spa with one restaurant in the beginning.
“It’s like a tiny mall. Even just a food court.”
There was McDonald’s and Taco Bell, then a specialty coffee shop that served up fancy coffees and teas. The donuts would be a nice addition, even for those guests in the casino.
Lots of times people wanted something fast and quick at night or in the mornings rather than a sit-down meal. He’d had his doubts when Eli wanted to do this, but he’d been proven wrong.
