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“I was going to suggest we get dinner,” Cash said to me, ignoring Vince.
“Too late,” Vince said. “I’ve already got that lined up.”
“Maybe tomorrow night,” Cash said to me.
“No, I’ve got that one, too,” Vince said. And he had an edge to his voice that was beyond irritation. We’d been together long enough that I could detect real anger there. Whether it was at the latest real father possibility, granted that isn’t something you go through all the time, or with Cash trying to poach dinner, I wasn’t sure.
I was still trying to deal with the bomb that had just gone off in my lifeagain, so I said, “Thank you for asking, Cash, but Vince has all the dinners from now until he dumps me.”
Vince looked at me likewhat the hell?but I’d had two possible fathers shot out from under me and was looking at a third who’d had as little interest in me as the first two, and now the first boy I’d ever loved who’d betrayed me over and over again was trying to get me to eat dinner with him because he wanted something, probably sex and servitude, and although Vince was the best of the lot by millions of miles, I wasn’t taking anything for granted about any man for the rest of my life.
Cash looked at Vince and then back. “Give me a heads up when you drop her.”
Vince looked at Cash like he was about to pound him, and I said, “Like it won’t be all over town before he gets finished opening the door to kick me out.”
“What the hell?” Vince said, and Cash laughed.
Then he left, probably not wanting to get in the way of the fight he saw coming.
I shrugged.
“What did I do to deserve that?” Vince said, sounding really mad now.
“People don’t stay with me,” I said, flatly. “Fathers, boyfriends, all my employers. Why would you be different?”
I waited for him to really yell, a fight would be good right now, but instead he came close and pulled me into his arms. “I’m staying, Magnolia,” he said, no anger in his voice at all, just sure.
“Three fathers,” I said into his chest. “And not one of them claimed me.”
“The hell with them,” Vince said, “I’m claiming you. You’re not going anywhere. Besides, you can’t, you have a mortgage. And I have two diners that are bolted together. You know how hard those are to move? Those bolts are already rusting so close to the river.”
I started to laugh because it really was ridiculous, my whole life was ridiculous, I was coming unglued at thirty-three because of daddy issues, multiple daddy issues, how dumb was that?
And then he bent and kissed me, and the world stopped wobbling, and I was safe again.
“I love you,” I said against his mouth.
“Damn straight you do,” he said, and kissed me again, harder this time, and I held onto him like a life raft, which he basically was. Then he said, “Do not have dinner with Cash Porter.”
“Never,” I said. “But I could really use a tenderloin from JB’s with you now. Trauma makes me hungry.”
“Everything makes you hungry, Magnolia,” he said, and then he whispered in my ear, “I love you, and it’s forever. Never doubt that.” Which was so unlike him and yet completely like him. Vince to the rescue one more time.
Then he let go of me so I could grab my laptop bag and we could get the hell out of that doomed factory.
CHAPTER 32
Dinner worked well, especially the tenderloins, but it didn’t negate the fact that Liz’s life had been turned upside down once again. She’d been unusually quiet during the meal, which reminded me of my funk last night before the kerfuffle at JB's with the Wolves. As we drove back to the Shady Rest, I wondered if having your life flipped twice meant you were right side up, but from very personal experience, I knew that was wishful thinking. It was exponential, a double blow that takes you to your knees.
I’d briefly checked the ledger against the statement but none of the three letters codes had matched. Plus, there was the issue that I hadn’t really known for certain what the ones on Navy’s statement had stood for, though I assumed one was for Navy’s development and another was for Faye. Apparently, Cleve had never received or sent money to either of them illegally. There was history in that ledger, but I couldn’t do much with it. Although if we had cause, we might investigate and match sums in the past with what others had received, such as the late Senator Alex Wilcox. Although it made sense those on the other end had also kept the transactions secret. Plus, there was no way Bartlett was going to let me check on any of this officially.
No Wolves had come into JB’s and since it was Friday, there’d been no construction workers wearing red shirts. Just locals and some of Jason’s guys who had started hanging out in town, several of them taking rooms at newly listed AirBnBs which were going for surprisingly high rates. For Burney that is. That was good news and bad news. People were making money, locals, but property values were going up which meant some people might not be able to afford to live here.
When we got inside her room, Liz went right to the big, fluffy bed and threw herself on it, letting out a deep, but not contented, sigh. It sounded more like exhaustion with some despair thrown in.
I went into the back room and found a jar of moisturizing cream and carried it back to the bed. I pulled her shoes off and placing one foot in my lap as I sat on the foot of the bed, I used my fingers to dig out a decent sized gob and got to work rubbing it in. Hard, the way she likes it. A moan let me know it was just right.
“Speaking of fathers,” I said, which probably wasn’t the best segue, but I was venturing into unfamiliar territory. “I had one.”
