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Any further thoughts I’d had of trying to talk them into backing out of the contract vanished. Noah was one of their three children. I’d had no idea he was sick. “I guess congratulations are in order after all,” I said weakly.
“Jon is right,” Cici said. “We shouldn’t jinx it.”
It only took a moment of deliberation for me to set her mind at ease, even though doing so went against my goal of nixing the resort. “You don’t have to worry,” I assured Cici. “I know Claire Holden personally. Her word is good.”
“Oh, Bennett, I’m so happy to hear that. I feel better already.”
With mixed feelings, I watched the couple clasp hands. I swallowed thickly. “Glad I could help. The wine is on the house.”
***
I LOOKED AROUNDthe empty space, searching for some other tasks that needed to be completed. Our last customer had left an hour before, and I’d sent Declan home shortly after. With nothing else to do, I drafted myself a beer and sat alone at the bar. It was just after midnight, late by most people’s standards but early for me to have already closed the bar. There was no point keeping it open if there were no customers, though.
Earlier in the evening, I’d slipped into the back and called my mom to get the lowdown on the Zooks’ situation. Noah was their middle child, and he had cancer that required weekly treatments at the children’s hospital in Norfolk. Cici had given up her job to manage his care. Between that and the medical bills, they were struggling to make ends meet. This had been going on for almost two years.
I claimed to be loyal to my fellow residents, but I hadn’t even realized my former babysitter’s child was fighting for his life. I could have organized a fundraiser at the Brew Co. or something—anything—to help. Mom told me the Zooks were trying to handle everything on their own, but still, their situation had been going downhill for two years, and I’d had no fucking clue.
I dumped out the rest of my beer—a first for me—and locked up. At my place, Larry did his usual happy circles when I opened the door, but it didn’t bring me as much joy as it usually did. I took him outside to play fetch with his glow-in-the-dark ball. He was his normal exuberant self for the first few throws, but then he refused to give me the ball. With it blinking in his mouth, he peered at me. His eyebrow appeared to be raised as if he was judging me—if dogs even had eyebrows. I’d never thought about it because he’d never looked at me that way before.
I sighed and tried one final time to get him to release the ball. Finally, I stared right back at him and put my hands on my hips. “It’s complicated. You’re a dog. You wouldn’t understand.” I scrubbed my hands over my face. “And I’m the idiot talking to my dog in the middle of the night.”
Even though he was only a dog, Larry was right with his judgmental look. I wouldn’t be able to sleep that night if I didn’t put myself out of my misery. I gave Larry a rawhide bone to keep him entertained and assuage my guilt for leaving him after I’d just gotten home.
Ten minutes later, I pulled into the driveway at Claire’s rental house and left my truck running as I stared at the dark building. I should have expected that she would be asleep. Most people didn’t keep bartenders’ hours.
My sisters would definitely label me a creeper, but I couldn’t force myself to put the truck in reverse—not until I knew for sure I wouldn’t see Claire. Only she could ease my mind. I had to know if the Zooks’ contract would be void if the local business commission vetoed the rezoning. Without the approval to build the resort, Markham would have no use for the land, and the Zooks could be screwed out of what they considered their saving grace.Could I live with myself if I contributed to that?
Yet the resort would affect all the residents in the Carolina Banks. For the first time, I realized that I might not understand all the factors that played in people’s opinions about it. Who was I to try to sway the commission members’ votes? I liked and respected these people. My attempts to manipulate them into my way of thinking was underhanded at best. Most likely, it was flat-out wrong.
A light clicked on in the stairwell, and a figure appeared. With the glare, I couldn’t tell who it was, but considering that the Land Rover wasn’t in the driveway, it was most likely Claire. Suddenly, I wasn’t so sure driving over here in the middle of the night had been a good idea. She was going to think I was nuts. Or more nuts that she already did, anyway.
Did she know about the Zooks’ situation and go in like a shark in bloody waters?As much as I wanted to believe Claire was playing dirty for Markham, the woman I knew had too much integrity to do that. I couldn’t even claim she was taking advantage of them, because the terms she’d offered them were beyond generous.
The front door opened, and I could see Claire peering out. Tension built in my shoulders, and I had to force myself to relax. My truck was dark, so I doubted she could see me, but she stared in my direction. Tentatively, she approached.
“Bennett? What are you doing here?” She wore black-and-pink plaid pajama pants and a Harvard Law T-shirt. Fuzzy slippers adorned her feet. Her face was bare, her blond hair was loose around her shoulders, and she looked sexy as hell. Fancy lingerie was nice and everything, but the vision before me was what I craved—a real flesh-and-blood woman, not some pinup fantasy.
God, I wished she had come to the Carolina Banks solely for a trip down memory lane. I didn’t want to be at odds with her. For the first time since she’d returned, I admitted to myself I wanted to be with her, even though I knew it would never work out in the long term.
I got out of my truck. “The Zooks came into the Brew Company tonight. To celebrate.”
Her shoulders sagged. “Oh.” Then she stiffened, and she glared at me defiantly. I admired her fire—I just wished we were on the same side.
“Did you know about their son?”
She nodded, as I’d expected. Still, I couldn’t believe she’d known when I hadn’t.
“I did,” she confirmed. “But I would have offered them the contract regardless.”
I took a moment to process her words. She hadn’t offered them the money out of pity—it was a business move, plain and simple. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
She stepped closer. “Markham doesn’t need that property to go forward. It would be beneficial, but it isn’t strictly necessary.”
I finally asked the question that was plaguing me, the one that had made me drive over here in the middle of the night. “If the local business commission vetoes the project, then what? What happens to the contract with the Zooks?”
“I don’t know if I should discuss this with you. It’s a confidentiality issue.”
“For fuck’s sake, Claire. I just want to know if that poor family is going to get screwed by Markham.” I imagined Cici Zook getting the news that she’d have to continue to travel with her child to get him life-saving treatments and that they would soon lose their home to foreclosure.
