“One other thing. She’s going to need brackets on the walls for TVs and a sound system expert.”
“That’s not a problem. And internet, cable, or satellite. She’ll need all the sports packages.”
“She is aware.” He chuckles. “She’s been spending so much money, I think her irises have turned into dollar signs, like those emojis.”
That puts an image of her in my mind, and I can’t picture anything in place of her beautiful eyes. “Can you blame her? She’s always worried about money for Cody.”
“Yeah, I know. This could turn A Special Place into a franchise or something.”
“Jeb, do you honestly believe that?”
“I do. This has a ring to it that her other place didn’t. Now she has a theme.”
“Mmm. You may be right.”
“I am. Wait and see.” Jeb seems convinced.
“I’ll get back to you on the contractors and timing.”
I get in touch with the guys on the job and ask for a timeline. They have the blueprints. I designed them myself. The reinforcements will be added so even if another car were to drive through, it couldn’t penetrate the steel beam running on either side. Yes, it added significantly to the expense, but it will be worth it in the long run.
Finishing up my work, I head over to A Special Place. The guys are working seven days a week on rotating shifts. I’m pleased with the progress they’ve made. The exterior is near complete, and once that’s done, the inside will go quickly. Jeb and I had decided earlier to keep the bar top where it is. He already marked where the TVs should be hung.
When I leave, I make sure the coast is clear because I don’t want Special to see me coming or going. I parked around the corner so I jog to my truck and head home. On the way there, I call her. She’s still at Mimi’s.
“Are you interested in going to dinner tonight?”
“That would be nice.” She sounds happy and I can only assume it’s because of the bar.
“Great. I’ll pick you up around seven. Is that okay?”
“That’s perfect. I’ll be at Mimi’s.”
“That’s what I figured.”
“You don’t mind, do you? I can always drive home,” she asks.
I huff, “Special, I don’t mind in the least. And you know I love seeing Mimi and Cody.”
She snorts. “You only want Mimi to fawn all over you.”
“That too.” I end the call before she can say anything else about it.
Right as I’m ending the call, my attorney friend buzzes in. When I answer, he tells me he has good news.
“Our client’s insurance payout is coming, and I’m also seeking maximum damages for Special’s case. She should see at minimum a couple hundred thousand out of it.”
“That’s great. I’ll let Special know. When will this go to trial?”
“There won’t be a trial. They’ll settle. As soon as they heard she was suing, they started scrambling. They are settling with the insurance company that covers the building, and Jeb as well. I’ll let you know as soon as I find out more details.”
When I get out to the farm, it’s dark and a fine mist of rain is falling. I’m driving the truck because I have all my things in here. Luckily, Special isn’t the type of girl to mind riding in a pickup. I’ve also made sure everything about the bar is at my apartment instead of the truck. I want to keep that a secret.
Cody opens the door for me and shakes my hand. “Hi, Mr. Western. How are you today?”
“I’m well, and you?”
“Great. And so is Honey B. She going to put footballs in her place.”
“Footballs?”
“Cody,” Special says as she appears from down the hall. She looks spectacular in black jeans, black boots, and a gray sweater.
“Hi.” I kiss her cheek. What I want to do is throw her down and fuck her silly. Damn, she smells good. I’m pretty fucking sure my dick just whimpered.
“Hello, Weston. You look fine tonight.”
“Thank you, Mimi. So do you.”
Mimi pats my arm and offers me some sweet tea.
“No, thank you. We have reservations at seven thirty, so we’d better leave. Maybe next time,” I say. Then I escort Special to the truck.
As we’re driving, Special says, “Mimi has quite a crush on you.”
“She’s the best. You don’t know how lucky you are.”
“No, I do. She’s very special. That’s what her name should’ve been. Not mine.”
“I disagree. You’re every bit as special as she is.” I reach for her hand. “You look gorgeous, by the way.”
She gives my hand a squeeze.
“I have great news. It looks like the drunk who crashed into your place has enough insurance for you to receive a nice sum. My friend said it won’t even go to court. Apparently, they’re settling Jeb damages and medical bills, along with your landlord’s. In all you’ll probably get a couple hundred thousand.”
“No way!”
“Yep. He’ll let us know if he needs anything from you.”
Over dinner, she tells me about her plans for A Special Place.
“I’m freaking out. More than just a little.”
“But you did your research, right?”
“Yes. But I haven’t spent this kind of money since I opened the place.”
“And look what happened. Besides, you’re getting money from the settlement.”
She sets her silverware down and asks, “Why do you have all this faith in me?”
After I wipe my mouth with the napkin, I say, “You have an amazing work ethic, your employees by all accounts love you, your food is great, and your location couldn’t be better. You’ve created a formula for success. What more could I want or need to have faith in your business?”
Her hand touches mine and she says, “Thank you. It means so much to know you believe in me.”
“I don’t ever want you to doubt that.”
Dinner ends and I ask her if she’s interested in seeing my apartment.
“I’d like that.”
“It’s a lot different from the warehouse, just so you know.”
“I expect it would be. You’re a spoiled rich boy, aren’t you?” She winks at me.
We drive the twenty minutes it takes to get to my high-rise and park in the garage beneath the building. When I pull into my designated spot, she says, “Ah, there’s the fancy car.”
“Yep, right in its usual place, all lonely.”
She laughs. “You act like it has feelings.”
“You mean it doesn’t?”
She punches my arm as we walk to the elevator. “This isn’t so bad. I always thought living in one of these would be a pain in the butt. You know, going to the grocery store if you had a lot of bags to carry in.”
She eyes me and my cheeks heat. I wouldn’t know because I have people who do all my chores for me.
“Oh, my God. You’ve never gone grocery shopping, have you?”
My palms lift up in the air. “I admit, guilty as charged. I have a couple of people who take care of things around here for me.”
“A couple? Not one, but a couple?”
“Uh, yeah,” I say, ducking my head. “I have Alma, who does my cooking and laundry, and then Leona does the cleaning and other things, like grocery shopping.”
“Jesus, I can’t believe you. One isn’t enough?”
“That’s not it. Neither of them wanted to work full-time, so I had them split things up.”
“Yeah, right.” She pokes me in the ribs with her elbow.
We get off the elevator and walk down to my unit. When I let her in, I worry what she’s going to think, but she needs to see how I live.
The first thing she does is head to the glass windows that overlook the city. It’s pretty phenomenal.
“Whoa. This is fantastic.”
“Yeah, it’s why I live here. Feel free to look around.”
She wanders from the living area into the kitchen, which is free f
lowing and open. The kitchen is modern and has the latest and greatest of everything.
“Mimi would go crazy in here.”
“You should bring her sometime. Cody too.”
She turns toward me with a pensive look. “I’m not ready for that yet.”
Her finger drags along the stone countertop and she moves from the kitchen over to the dining area. I have a large table that seats twelve. (I have no idea why, because I’ve never entertained up here, other than having the guys over for dinner.) Off the kitchen is a hallway that leads down to the bedrooms. There are three, each with an en suite. She ambles first into the two guest rooms and finally the master. One wall is entirely glass, just like the living and dining rooms.
“I’m speechless. I’ve never seen anything like this.” She moves through the door, which leads to the closet. It was built as a his and hers. Since there is no her, one half is empty.
“This closet is larger than my apartment.”
“You exaggerate.”
“No, I don’t. It’s enormous. I’ve never seen a closet that contains all the dressers and bureaus. And shoe racks.”
She makes me smile, but at the same time, I hope it’s not freaking her out.
When she exits, she asks, “No bathroom?”
“It’s through there.” I point.
“Don’t know how I missed it.” She heads toward the door, and I know she’ll be amazed.
“Holy shit, your bathtub is like a swimming pool.” Her finger takes aim and she says, “Look. Just look at it.”
“I am. And it’s not a pool. It’s a tub.”
“And it has jets,” she murmurs longingly.
“Special, feel free to use it if you’d like.”
“Oh, I … maybe another time.” Then she moves to the shower and her jaw drops. “Do you use this thing every day?”
“Only if I want to bathe.” I laugh.
“This isn’t a shower. It’s a room. It has two shower thingies. Who needs two of those?”
“I do when I’m super dirty.”
She narrows her eyes and says, “I can imagine.” Then her tongue pokes the inside of her cheek. “How many women have you brought up here?”
The question takes me off guard. I have brought women up here, but very few. And none of them have been in this bathroom.
“So, you think I use this place to put those notches in my belt?” I can’t keep the grin off my face.
“Well, it would certainly impress them.”
“Does it impress you? Because you’re the only one I care about impressing.”
“Yeah, but I’m sorry. That wasn’t a very nice thing to ask, was it?”
“Special, you can ask me anything you want. I won’t get offended. But you have to allow me the same in return. Can we take this conversation to the living room, so we can sit and talk?”
On the way to our seats, we stop in the kitchen, and I pour us each a glass of wine. We sit close to one another, but situate ourselves so we can see each other’s faces.
“I know you think I’m a player, and I’m not sure how to change your mind about that. While I admit my reputation wasn’t the best in the past, I’m not that guy anymore. It’s true women chase me, but it’s not me they’re after. It’s my bank account.”
“How can you say that? Why wouldn’t they be after you?”
“Look at me, Special. You and I are cut from the same cloth. I don’t fit the mold of the typical heir. Look at my hair, my ink, the way I prefer to dress, the truck I drive.”
“But your fancy car.”
“I bought that on a whim.”
“Your watch.”
“Was a gift. I usually only wear it to work or when I know I’ll be seeing my family. I prefer leather cuffs and boots. Do you honestly think someone like Evelyn really wants me?”
Special doesn’t say a word, only stares at me with soft eyes.
“She’d prefer someone who wears Gucci or Armani, has his hair artfully styled with product, who shaves every day, and is comfortable in a suit and tie. I wear them because I have to, not because I’m comfortable in them.”
She inches closer to me and says, “I think you’re perfect the way you are.”
Her hand is close, so I take it and press my lips to the inside of her wrist. “And I happen to think the same of you. Now, tell me why it’s so damn difficult for you to trust someone.”
Chapter 28
Special
He had to go there. The question looms before me, and there is no way to avoid answering.
“It’s not what you think.”
“What exactly do I think?” he asks.
I glance away, then back. It’s not possible to keep the pain from clouding my expression.
“I’m not sure. But it’s not you, it’s me.”
He laughs humorlessly. “An original line, if ever there was one.”
“No, really, it’s true,” I say, grabbing his hand.
“Then tell me, Special, because mind reading isn’t my area of expertise.”
The story is hard to tell. The words don’t want to form on my tongue. Bitter and foul tasting, they wound my heart as I go into detail about my high school years. “I was sixteen when a boy named Joseph Carmichael started flirting with me in the cafeteria. He asked me why I was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and not the fancy meals they served for lunch. I lied, of course, saying I didn’t care for what they were serving that day. The truth was, we couldn’t afford it. Mimi had scraped and saved to send me to a private school, thinking she was doing what was best. She wanted a top-notch education for me so I could go on to college. But all it did was plunk me into an environment where I didn’t fit. Joseph began showing up every day and filled my head with all sorts of things—how I was pretty and that he had been crushing on me for months. I finally agreed to go out with him and things progressed quickly. By the spring, I was in love with him. He did and said all the right things—told me I was beautiful, sweet, had the prettiest eyes. He’d even hinted he wanted me to be his prom date, but never asked me. So about a month before the prom, we went out, and he took me to a run-down old cabin. He called it his secret place. It was there he coaxed me into handing over my V-card. I wouldn’t call it stellar, but it wasn’t bad. About a week later he took me back. I thought this was where he’d ask me to be his prom date. At first it was cool. He gave me a beer and I didn’t think too much of it. One beer, right? But soon my head felt weird, and the room spun.
“Next thing I knew, I couldn’t move. When I tried to speak, I couldn’t. Nothing came out. I was terrified. I thought I was paralyzed. It never occurred to me he’d drugged me. Then I heard other voices, but I couldn’t tell how many. I was so drowsy. I knew I needed to stay awake because something bad was happening, but I couldn’t.
“When I woke up, my head hurt and I was nauseous. There were three other guys there—all guys Joseph hung out with. I was so confused. Initially, I didn’t know where I was. Why was I with all of them? They were talking, laughing, making jokes about fucking some girl. Why would they do that?
“I must’ve groaned because one of them said something about me being awake. That’s when I noticed I was naked. Then it all fell into place. I was the girl. I couldn’t remember the details, but at the time I was thankful for it. Joseph took me home later and when he dropped me off, he told me if I mentioned a word of what happened to anyone, they would all deny it. He also explained there would be no evidence of the drug in my system because it was in and out super fast. When I got home, I did a search on the internet and discovered the truth about being roofied. He was a calculating son of a bitch. Sasha was the only one I ever told, and now you. She took me to a clinic to get checked out. They apparently wore condoms because I was fine as far as that went. I was afraid to report it because he’d threatened me and I’d already had sex with him prior to the rape.
“The following Monday, I became the school slut. Joseph told everyone what happened and how I let
him and his friends bang me. He’d never intended to take me to the prom. I found out he had a girlfriend the whole time he’d been pretending to date me. Why she would even go out with him after he told everyone he’d fucked me, I don’t know.
“That’s when it really started. I had boys calling me constantly, begging me for dates. They wouldn’t leave me alone. Girls wrote nasty things on my locker. Boys followed me around, begging me to suck them off after school. They even offered to pay me. I had earned quite the reputation, all because of Joseph. When I finally found a boy at school I thought I could trust, he ended up being a fraud like all the rest. He, too, pretended he cared. Turned out he cared all right. Cared about getting into my pants. All those rich boys thought they were untouchable because they could buy everyone off. That’s when I decided there wouldn’t be any more. I was done with rich bastards.
“I waited several years and ended up meeting someone. I figured enough time had passed and I should give it another go. Except he turned out to be an ass too. Guess normal guys can be just as terrible as the rich ones. That was it, until now. You’re the first person I’ve taken a chance with. You should be proud you’ve gotten this far. You’ve managed to get through the walls.” By the time I finish, my hands have twisted up my sweater, and Weston gives me a tissue. I hadn’t realized I was crying. I wipe my face, then say, “This is why I don’t talk about it. It still disturbs me. In some respects I’m thankful I don’t remember the rape, but in others I don’t know. It’s like they took a part of my life away.”
He grabs my chin with his thumb and index finger, forcing me to look at him. “I’m not like them, Special. Those boys should’ve been prosecuted for rape. I would never—I won’t ever use you or harm you in any way.”
“But you might break me again, and then what?”
“I think there’s a bigger risk of you breaking me. Haven’t you noticed that I’m the more fragile one here?”
Suddenly I’m on his lap, tucked against the warm wall of his chest. It feels so right to be here, that I can’t muster the energy to push myself away.
The Best of Forevers Page 77