“Do you need money? I had no idea the bistro wasn’t doing well. You always seem so busy.”
“Yes, I know. Apparently revenue isn’t all you need to turn a profit. You also need to control your expenses.”
“I thought Robert was helping you with that.”
“He was. Not anymore.”
“Why?”
“Well, I kind of broke things off with him.”
“You didn’t?”
“I had to. Falling in love takes time and energy and I don’t have either of those.”
“But you seemed so happy with him.”
Margo bit her lip to try and stop herself from breaking down in tears. Nora was right. She had been happy with Robert. But that hardly seemed to matter anymore. “I haven’t told you the worst of it. Tom came to see me last week. He was worried about Peter. About both of the kids.”
“Because of Peter’s reaction the other day?”
“Yes.” Margo rubbed her forehead with the heel of her hand. If only this aching would stop. “The kids have gone to stay with Tom and Catherine. We’ve said it’s just for a week, but I’m afraid it may be for longer.”
“What?” Now Nora really sounded shocked. “Why?”
“Because I’m a mess.”
“That’s not true.”
Though Nora spoke in her defense, Margo heard a hint of doubt in her voice, and it occurred to Margo that she really was a mess and all her friends, as well as Tom, could see it.
She was giving up the dog and giving up Robert, but maybe that wasn’t enough.
When she thought about what was really important, what mattered more than anything, the answer was clear: her children. She couldn’t risk losing them. Nothing would be worth it.
Including the bistro.
WHEN NORA DROPPED BY to get Boy, she stayed for tea. She tried to talk Margo out of giving up the business, but the more they discussed the matter, the more convinced Margo became that she was making the right decision.
That night Margo hoped she would finally feel at peace, but she woke up the next morning with her stomach still in knots, her head still aching.
Nevertheless, she carried on with her plan. First she called Em and told her of her decision. They weren’t going to open this morning, or any other morning. Em should feel free to start her new job immediately.
Out of habit, Margo went downstairs anyway. She touched the sign on the door, the Open sign she normally flipped over every morning at eight. Today the sign would stay where it was for the first time in the twelve months since she’d opened this business.
Margo imagined customers—regulars and semiregulars and mere passersby—walking toward her shop with anticipation, only to be met with a locked door and a sign that told them nothing except that the bistro was closed. They’d all need to get their morning snack and coffee somewhere else now.
She hated knowing that she was going to disappoint those people. Hated thinking that never again would she stand behind the counter of her very own restaurant and serve food that she had made with her own hands to the friends and neighbors she’d grown so attached to.
Next Margo went to the kitchen. Yesterday she’d set out the recipes she’d planned to make this morning. There was the one for Sherry Chanterelle soup, and the morning glory muffins and herb and cheese scones. She filed the recipe cards away, along with the notebook she used to develop new recipes. Those cherry, chocolate and pecan muffins just didn’t seem very important anymore.
She made herself coffee and, fortified with caffeine, took the next difficult step: finding a job. She called Henry Kovatch and when she ended up on voice mail, she spoke quickly, wanting to commit herself before she could chicken out.
“Harvey, this is Margo Evans. I’m looking to go back to work and I was wondering if you have room in your firm for another family lawyer. Here are my numbers.” She recited them for both her home and cell phones, then hung up and began looking for the card from the realtor who had leased this space to her.
Another voice mail. Why was it, when she finally decided to make one of the most important—and heartbreaking—decisions of her life, no one was in to take her calls?
She left a message with the Realtor, then sat back to gather her strength.
What she really wanted to do right now was talk to Robert. She longed to discuss her decision with him and get his point-of-view. A hug would go down really nicely right now, too. But she knew she had to stick with her plan.
It would all turn out for the best. She’d go back to a regular job with regular hours. Soon she’d be able to afford a house with a backyard and she’d be able to buy another puppy for the children. Giving up everything else would be worth it.
From the day Tom had told her of his plans to remarry she’d resented him for the perfect new life he’d managed to build from the ashes of their failed marriage.
Now she was going to make a perfect new life for herself and the children, too. If Ellie and Peter needed stability and security, then that was exactly what Margo was going to give them.
As for Catherine, Margo knew what she had to do.
She headed back to the kitchen and instead of starting the baking for the business, she whipped up a double batch of the kids’ favorite oatmeal cookies. Shortly after lunchtime, when she knew Catherine would be home from work, she drove to Pacific Heights.
Catherine was still in her business suit when she opened the door. “Hi, Margo.” She looked surprised but was too polite to say anything about the unexpected visit. “The kids aren’t home from school yet.”
“I know. I was hoping to have a minute with you.” Margo offered her the basket. “I want to thank you for all you’ve done for my children. Just last night I was thinking how lucky the kids and I are that Tom married someone as nice as you.”
Catherine’s eyes widened, then gleamed with sudden tears. “They’re great kids.”
Margo heard the sincerity in her voice and knew that she was doubly blessed. So easily Tom’s wife could have resented her children. Instead, Catherine’s heart embraced them.
“Those are Peter and Ellie’s favorites,” she explained. “I’ve included the recipe.”
“Thank you. Would you like to come in for some tea? I don’t need to pick up the children for a few hours.”
Margo forced a smile. “Another time, okay?”
On her way back to the car, with her head still pounding and her stomach hurting and her heart aching, Margo wondered when she was going to start feeling like she’d made the right decision.
ROBERT FELT alternately restless and angry all week long. Despite being a reasonably intelligent man, he’d gone and made the same mistake twice—fallen in love with a single mother.
Two Saturdays after Margo had told him she didn’t want to see him anymore, Robert went for a long, aimless walk. After about an hour he found himself passing by Belinda’s apartment. He went to a nearby shop for a milk shake and when he stepped out to the street again he happened to catch the three of them—Andrew, Belinda and Belinda’s new boyfriend—on their way home from some activity that had given them all a touch of sun on their faces. They looked tired as they made their way into the apartment foyer.
Neither Belinda nor Andrew noticed him standing at the ice-cream shop across the road. As the boyfriend held the door open, he placed a hand on Andrew’s shoulder. The gesture seemed easy and natural. Andrew turned slightly and Robert glimpsed a smile on the boy’s face.
He looked happy.
So maybe Belinda’s decision for Robert to just butt out had been the right one in the end. Robert studied the woman he’d thought he loved. He remembered how he’d felt when she’d told him she’d found someone else. His first thought had been for Andrew.
That hadn’t happened with Margo. Much as he liked her kids, his first thought had been for her. He loved her in a way he’d never loved Belinda. He’d felt the magic the first time he’d stepped into her bistro.
He couldn’t let that g
o.
Robert started walking again, this time purposefully. Soon he was on her street. Even before he reached the bistro, he knew something was different. The air didn’t smell right.
A Closed sign hung over the door. He peered through the glass. The space was dark and empty.
He stood back and noticed another sign, this one in the window. It was a local Realtor’s sign.
Robert swore. What was going on here? He tried knocking on the locked door, then when that didn’t yield any response, he went to the main entrance for the second-floor apartments. He punched in the code for Margo’s apartment and waited until her answering machine kicked in.
“Leave a message.”
“Hey, Margo, it’s me, Robert.” He had more to say, a lot more, but it seemed crazy to try and put all of it on an answering machine. “I’ll come by later.”
He pulled out his BlackBerry and tried her cell number. No luck.
Robert knew he wouldn’t be able to focus on anything else until he found out what had happened to her. He returned to the street, and sat on the apartment stoop. Who else could he call? He knew Em fairly well, but had never been introduced to her formally so he had no idea of her last name.
What about the friends Margo met for coffee? Nora Clark. Didn’t he have her business card somewhere? He went through his wallet and found the card she’d given him the night they’d met.
Fortunately he caught her between clients.
“Do you know where Margo is? She isn’t answering her home phone or her cell.”
“I think she and the kids are looking for a new house.”
What? “Why is the bistro closed?”
“Margo’s selling it. She started back with a law firm last week.”
“She’s going to work as a lawyer again?”
“That’s right. Unfortunately she wasn’t making money with the bistro. At least not enough to pay down her bank loan.”
Oh, Margo. He’d known that sending the kids to their father—even temporarily—had been torture for her. He should have realized it would push her to the breaking point. Why hadn’t he insisted that she let him help her?
“Nora, I think Margo’s making a big mistake here.”
“So do I. The bistro was a really special place. I can’t believe it wasn’t profitable.”
“It could have been.” She’d been so close. Robert sucked in a frustrated breath. Any food service business that did the volume of sales that Margo’s had would turn a profit if properly managed. Why hadn’t she come to him before giving up on it?
There were two possible answers.
Because Margo didn’t love him and didn’t want his help. Maybe she’d worried that if he became too involved in her business, she’d be obliged to him in some way.
But there was another possibility that Robert liked better. That Margo did love him. And that she’d been too proud to admit that she couldn’t handle everything on her own.
If the second answer was right, then he still had hope. Of course he would need to take some pretty big risks…emotional as well as financial.
Should he chance it?
He thought about the way he felt every time he stepped foot into Margo’s Bistro and he knew he couldn’t live without that feeling in his life.
“Nora? I have an idea. But I’m going to need some help….”
CHAPTER TWENTY
MARGO HANDED A BOX of Kleenex to the woman sitting across from her at the small meeting table. Her client was in her early thirties, a wisp of a woman, temporarily overwhelmed by her circumstances.
“I’m sorry,” Lisa Scott whispered, dabbing her eyes with a tissue.
“No reason to be sorry. I know this is very hard.”
Lisa nodded. “Our son is only eight. And nothing I say will convince Brad that he’s setting a terrible example.”
“If you can’t reason with him, then you should try mediation. It’s been helpful for many couples I’ve worked with over the years.” Margo passed Lisa a business card. “You may have someone else in mind, but I have no hesitation in recommending Audrey Dodds. She’s very warm and caring, but she can be firm, as well.”
Lisa accepted the card. “That sounds like exactly what I need.”
Their meeting was over, and Margo offered Lisa a drink of water before walking her back to the reception area. She was glad this was her last appointment of the day. This meeting had been more grueling than she’d anticipated.
Margo went back to her office to enter her notes into her computer. As she recorded the behavior Lisa had found so objectionable in her ex—in particular having women over for the night when his son was staying with him—she reflected again on how fortunate she was that Tom had married someone like Catherine.
She was lucky in many ways. Lucky that she had qualifications for a well-paying job. Lucky that her kids were resilient and strong. Even lucky that she’d been able to sell the restaurant to someone who intended to operate it as a going concern. As well as subleasing the building space, she’d received value for her leasehold improvements and existing assets. The papers had been signed last night, all transacted through numbered corporations in order to limit liabilities.
She knew she should be grateful she’d ended up getting enough money so that she could clear her outstanding business loan, plus afford first and last month’s rent on the house she and the kids had looked at last week.
It wasn’t as grand as Tom and Catherine’s house in Pacific Heights. But there were three bedrooms and a study and a big backyard. The kids hadn’t seemed as excited about it as she’d expected. It seemed as if they’d been fond of that crazy, cramped apartment after all. But over time they’d get used to the bigger house. They all would, she hoped.
Compared to Lisa Scott—heck, compared to the vast majority of her clients—she had nothing to complain about.
After typing in the last comment, Margo closed the document then shut down her computer. With a sigh, she gathered her briefcase and jacket for the commute. The kids were at their father’s tonight. She and Tom had come up with a new coparenting plan, one where the kids alternated weeks between each home.
It wasn’t the perfect solution, but it seemed to be working more smoothly than their previous schedule. The kids weren’t shuttled around quite so much, and they seemed to appreciate that.
At any rate, it was good that they weren’t going to be around while she finished up the packing. Tomorrow the movers were coming. It was going to be a long, difficult day.
The hardest part of all of this, Margo thought, was walking past the Closed sign on the bistro door. It was something she’d been doing every day now for almost two weeks. Something she would do once more tonight, then again tomorrow then never again….
Tears burned behind her eyes as she stepped into the elevator. When her cell phone rang, she scrambled to answer the call. “Hello?”
“Margo. It’s good to hear your voice.”
It was Robert. Margo stepped off the elevator, heart pounding and knees uncharacteristically weak.
“I was wondering if you would meet me for coffee?”
She closed her eyes against the rush of longing she felt to say yes. She’d given up so much to get her life back on track for her children. Letting the bistro go had been bad enough.
But Robert.
She’d had no idea how much she would miss him.
“Just coffee, Margo,” he said quickly, as if he could sense her indecision and was trying to tip the scales. “Just fifteen minutes of your time.”
How could she deny him that, especially when her kids weren’t even waiting at the after-school day care program for her to pick them up.
“Yes.” She could feel her lips turning up in a smile. “Where?”
He hesitated. “I have a place in mind, but it’s complicated to explain. How about I meet you at your apartment in a half hour?”
She ought to be able to make it by then. “Sure. I’m just leaving the office now.” She paused for
a beat. “Thanks for calling, Robert.”
“You bet.”
AS SHE ROUNDED the corner of her street, Margo saw Robert waiting for her on the sidewalk. She was five minutes early so she hadn’t expected him yet.
He’d come from work and was dressed in a suit. His hair was short again. He must have had a trim. Margo thought back to the first time she’d met him. She’d thought he looked a little too conservative then.
But he looked perfect to her now.
He smiled and she started walking faster. She couldn’t believe how much better she felt at just the sight of him. They had so much to talk about. She wondered if he would be glad to find out she was working as a lawyer again. Maybe, just maybe…
She pushed herself to go even faster, cursing the heels she’d paired with her pantsuit that morning.
“Margo.” Robert stepped toward her, gave her a hug then stepped back to look at her. “You look great. Very professional.”
“Thanks. You look good, too. How’s work going?”
“Very well. I think it was a good thing I lost my job at Wells Fargo. This new position is right up my alley.”
With the first excitement at seeing him passed, Margo took in her surroundings. Something didn’t seem right….
“What’s that smell?”
Robert grinned. “Are you referring to the soup of the day?”
“What are you talking about? Robert, I closed the bistro. Didn’t you see the sign?” Surely the new owners hadn’t reopened already?
She walked up the street to point out the Closed sign to him, but it was gone and the door to the bistro had been propped open. The chalkboard in the window proclaimed “Store-bought Tomato” as the soup of the day.
Store-bought tomato? What kind of idiot had subleased this space from her? She went inside. Nora and Selena were behind the counter serving a long lineup of customers.
“What’s going on here?”
Robert came up from behind her. “Meet the new owner of Margo’s Bistro.”
Love And The Single Mom (Singles.... With Kids #1) Page 17