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“Through his teeth, yeah,” Adrian’s father admitted. “He would’ve never expanded or opened this place. He would’ve been looking to sell it off the moment you moved out.” He took a long pull of his water. “He’d lose a little money, sure. But the loss would be offset by the extra business, once he got rid of the competition.”
“Motherfucker!” shouted Warren.
“Totally.”
It was insane, getting all this information at once. Adrian looked overwhelmed. Warren was pacing the office like a maniac, and Luke was staring off through one of the windows, lost in thought.
“So what now?” Adrian asked.
“Nothing really,” his father replied. “Old man Payne agreed to keep leasing the space here at your current rent, for as long as you like. HelovedTommy, by the way. He hated to hear that this place might be empty.”
“And there won’t be any trouble?” I asked.
“No,” Adrian’s father laughed. “Not even a little bit. We drank half the night and discussed the specifics. Junior’s going to return every single thing he ever took from your yard, pronto. He’ll start bringing it over immediately, actually.”
At that news, Warren actually stopped pacing. His face lit up.
“It might take a few days though,” Adrian’s father said. “But it’ll get here.”
“Holy shit…” Luke breathed.
“He also said if anything’s missing — and I do meananything —you’re to call him immediately.” The old man produced a worn white card with a single phone number written on the back in pencil. “That’s his private line. If something doesn’t show up, you call him or I will. But trust me when I say I don’t think you’re gonna have that problem.”
He drained half the bottle while the four of us stood there, completely blown away. In time, his eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
“Wanna know what I think, though?”
I couldn’t imagine what this man would say next. We all just nodded numbly.
“I think you make the move anyway.”
Again, it wasn’t what any of us expected. After all he’d just said and done, the man just kept bringing surprises.
“Seriously?” asked Warren. “You really think so?”
“Yup.”
“Why?”
“Because like you said, that spot is central to three different towns,” he went on. “You’ve got your own tow truck. No one’s gonna care that you’re a little out of the way, since you’ll be picking up their vehicles to be fixed anyway.”
He stood up before continuing. “Also, you definitelyarerunning out of space out there. And you’re taking on new business partners, right? So with more of you working, the business should grow.” He moved to the window and pointed. “Now look outside and tell me you’ve honestly got room for expansion.”
I looked to Warren, and saw him grin. It was nice that we could stay here if we wanted, but there was the excitement of something all new in his eyes. Something he could build from scratch, rather than inherent from Tommy. Something all his own.
Besides, the poor guy had been working in this building all his life.
Adrian’s father finished his water and dropped the bottle into an empty garbage pail. Then he turned to me and grinned.
“I’m still not sure who’s girlfriend you are,” he said pointedly. “But whichever one of these bastards it is, he’s a lucky man.”
I smiled back at him flirtatiously. On a whim, I shrugged.
“Who’s to say I’d pick just one of them?” I teased.
“Oh really?” he chuckled.
“Yeah,” I purred, adding a wink. “Sometimes it’s fun to eat your cake and have it too…”
