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Best night of his life.
He was in.
Now it was time to set his sights on an executive position.
Enforcer would do quite nicely.
Chapter One
Tennessee Present Day
Toni trailed her hand along the sparkling clean counter top as she strolled the length of the diner. Spotless. Always clean to the point of sanitized. The health department had nothing on her parents.
All her life, their family-owned diner had done well. Their baby. More so than their flesh and blood child. A fact that had messed with Toni’s head growing up, but she’d long ago come to terms with. Or so she liked to think. Some people just weren’t meant to be parents.
The diner had been a thriving business from the moment Lucy and Roger Jennings hung the first open sign in the window.
Location, location, location.
They’d always had it going for them. The town itself was itty bitty. A true American small town where neighbors borrowed a cup of sugar, citizens were all up in each other’s business, and gossip spread like a fiery line of gasoline lit by a match.
Townsend, Tennessee just happened to be one of the gateways to the Great Smoky Mountains. Fortunate for business owners because throngs of tourists, campers, and hikers shuttled through the area year after year. Summertime never failed to be packed with visitors from all over, eager to spend time in one of America’s most beautiful regions.
Closing down the diner would be a tragedy. It was iconic. A landmark in their little slice of the world. Some of the regulars had been enjoying the cooking here almost daily for thirty-plus years. As a child, Toni used to imagine owning it all by herself. Having everyone in town swing by to chat with her as much as to eat the food. The diner had been home to her more than her actual house had. Especially as she grew into her preteen years, and her relationship with her parents deteriorated.
The chatter of the townspeople. The smells of frying bacon, brewing coffee, and cinnamon rolls. Even the heat of the kitchen after hours of cooking comforted her. The sights, sounds, and smells of the diner were so burned into her sense memory, it was difficult to think about parting with it forever.
But now Toni lived in Chicago. Had a job in Chicago. A boyfriend in Chicago. A life in Chicago. One she wasn’t willing to give up to run the diner her deceased parents left in her care. Especially given the fact that she hadn’t spoken to her parents in over five years.
Really, it was a wonder anything had been left to her at all. Her inheritance came down to one of two things. Either Lucy and Roger hadn’t gotten around to changing their will before their untimely deaths, or they just figured screw it, Toni was their only child. Who else would they leave their legacy to?
So, she inherited a diner.
And a house.
Two things that were now solely her responsibility. Two responsibilities she didn’t want.
The plan was to find a buyer for the diner as well as the house. The money she’d receive would go a long way toward purchasing her dream home in Chicago.
Selling the diner would be the best decision all around. She could vet the new owners. Choose someone who would continue to run it as a diner so she didn’t feel like she was selling off the one good thing from her childhood. No matter her fondness for the establishment, she didn’t want it. It wasn’t part of her life plan.
For some reason, she had to keep reminding herself of that. The idea of someone else owning and operating what her child-self had imagined running put a bad taste in her mouth. Even if a buyer planned to run the diner exactly as her parents had, some things would inevitably change. And something about that had her heart aching.
The last piece of her childhood, last good piece anyway, and she was selling it off like a fatted calf bound for slaughter.
From the booth closest to the entrance, her phone chirped. She’d dropped her purse there when she arrived, because it would be hard to forget on her way out. After digging the phone out of her giant bag, she grinned at the display. “Hi, Uncle Mark,” she greeted her favorite person in the world.
“Hi, sweetie. How’re you holding up? I’m so sorry I had to jet five minutes after the funeral.”
“I’m good, Uncle Mark. And I think I told you the last four times you apologized, to knock it off.” She sighed. “Let’s be real here, no one would have held it against you if you hadn’t come at all.”
He snorted. “Not to speak ill of the dead, but I didn’t do it for them. I did it for you.”
Warmth filled her chest. “I know.” And she did. Her mother’s brother was more of a father to her than her own had been over the past decade.
