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My lips lift at the corners. I pull out my cell phone and dictate a text to my personal assistant, asking him to extend my stay at the hotel. When I’m done, I look at Tristen with a grim smile.
I’m right where I need to be right now. I’m here in Harwicke, at Remy’s house, close at hand in case my grandfather has any need for me. I will stay as long as Burn does. I will win this battle, come hell or high water.
ChapterEight
TALIA
Walking briskly along the sidewalk, I hug my coat closer as I try not to freeze. "Brr!"
Beside me, Olivia looks up at the steel gray sky. "It’s three in the afternoon, but it might as well be midnight from the look of things." An icy wind whips past as she shivers dramatically.
"It’s definitely going to snow tonight."
"It was your idea to go to this bar instead of doing what I suggested," I remind her.
She gives me the side eye. "You wanted to stay at home and make soup. That’s not really a relaxing, social atmosphere."
I huff out a laugh. "Relaxing and socializing usually aren’t one and the same for me. I generally find those to be total opposites."
Olivia’s lips pressed together. She gives me a long look. "I think it might be less of an introvert issue and more of a personal issue. I know we were both total nerds in college and spent most nights at the library. But it won’t kill you to try something new, will it?"
"I did try something new!" I protest. "The last time that I decided to unwind by drinking a lot, I ended up with Burn, getting hot and heavy in his car." I pause, putting my hand up to silence her arguments. "Listen, I am going to this bar with you. But please, do me a favor and stop me when I’ve had two drinks. Drag me out by the hair, if you have to."
Olivia’s face crinkles with a smile. "They have a whole section of mocktails on their menu. You don’t have to drink alcohol at all."
“Now you’re talking,” I say.
We get to the bar, Herbsaint. This place is the opposite of the stuffy, dark, and snobbish Raven’s Head Club. Here the walls are a crisp white, with light oak furnishings and clusters of white linen covered tables. It’s like a breath of fresh air, and I look around at the bar patrons, a tiny smile curving my lips upward. Everyone seems to lean into their conversations. The sound of muffled speech, and the distant clink of china and glass makes this bar much more approachable than the Raven’s Head Club.
After a polite young hostess waves us on to the bar area, we slide into our seats. I glance around and notice the waitstaff that flits from table to table like a trained team of hummingbirds.
"Wow, this is so different from the other bar," I observe. Looking down at the menu in front of me, I run my fingers over it. And the menu looks so good. "I think I would like to come here for dinner."
In the next moment, I glance at the prices, and I blanch. "Gosh, it is so expensive! I take it back, I could never spend this much money on one dinner. In fact, I don’t see how we are sitting here just for drinks."
Olivia grabs my hand, giving it a squeeze. "First of all, you deserve something nice every once in a while. Second of all, I’m not letting you weasel out of this one. I am paying for our drinks. Plus, we might get hungry. I’ll pay for that too. I just got a raise at the biology lab, and now I am looking to celebrate."
My brow furrows. "I know I can’t tell you how to celebrate. But I can’t in good conscience drink a cocktail that costs this much. Hope House has a roof that leaks and walls that are crumbling. Every penny that I spend on anything that isn’t a necessity seems like wasted money in light of that."
"But I just explained to you that I am paying for everything today. So, no more feeling guilty about how much money is spent. Okay?"
I run my tongue over my teeth and give her a sour look. "One drink. A mocktail. That’s it."
She picks up her menu and wiggles her eyebrows. "Come on, if you’re just going to have one drink, it better be something spectacular. And then, once you've picked it out, you can tell me all about how Hope House needs a new roof.”
"It does need a new roof!" I say.
"You should order a drink so that you can tell me about it." She gives me a little side eye, and then the bartender takes our drink orders. We both end up with sparkling cocktails, hers is a Cure Royale and mine is a mocktail with tropical flavors. After we toast to her promotion, I go right back to my concerns about Hope House.
"We need a newer, bigger house that can accommodate more beds. One that doesn’t have the structural problems that our current house has."
"It would help if it were in a better neighborhood and not in a neighborhood that looks like it’s about to break off from the town and float away to drown in the sea."
I scrunch up my face.
"Being so close to the water has indeed taken a toll on the building," I say with a slow nod. "You know, I found out that Remy Morgan owns the whole neighborhood? I saw the mortgage check in the office yesterday, and it goes straight to Morgan Investment Company, not an actual bank. That’s the Morgan family, isn’t it?"
"I think the Morgans do own a bank." Olivia’s eyes narrow, and she looks off speculatively. "I know that they own most of the land that the hospital is on and that whole surrounding neighborhood too."
