by J. Kenner
She loved him.
“I’m sorry if you don’t love me, too, because I can’t imagine finding anyone to fill my heart the way you and Faith do.”
You and Faith.
It had just come out, but she meant it. He could tell. She wanted him. But she wanted the family, too. Faith wasn’t an afterthought. The boyfriend’s annoying attachment. She truly wanted the entire package.
And, damn him, he was still too fucking scared to take the risk.
“Brent?”
His throat felt tight. “It really was good to see you,” he said lamely.
She held his eyes, and he saw tears well in hers. “Well. I guess. I guess I should go mingle.”
“Elena, wait—” But she’d faded back into the crowd. And he was left standing there feeling like he was a sixteen-year-old boy all over again.
He wandered through the fair, only half looking at the lovely serving tables, and not even tasting the exquisite food. All he wanted was to find her. To tell her that he was an idiot.
To tell her that now he was willing to take the risk.
From across the room, Jenna made a beeline toward him. “You look like hell. Have you caught something?”
“I think so. I’m going to head home.”
She pressed her palm to his forehead. “You’re not warm, but that’s probably a good idea. I hope it wasn’t something you ate. I’d hate to think we’re going to have an outbreak of food poisoning after this event.”
“I haven’t eaten a bite.”
She looked so relieved he had to laugh. After a moment, she joined in. “Sorry,” she said. “Just … you know.”
“Yeah. I do. I’m looking for Elena,” he said after a moment had passed.
“Trouble in paradise?”
He cocked his head. “You knew?”
“Duh. And all I’m going to say now is that you two are perfect together. Take it under advisement.”
“Thanks for the tip.”
“And if you’re looking for her, your best bet is Tyree.”
Since that made sense, he left her by a cake ball table and went in search of Tyree. He found him near the bar, a glass of scotch in one hand.
“I had a long talk with my daughter recently,” Tyree said without preamble. “And she says you make her happy. Since I’ve seen the way you two look at each other, I believe it. So why isn’t she on your arm right now?”
He started to say that Elena wasn’t with him because he’d been an idiot, but before he could, Tyree continued.
“I’ll tell you why. Because you’re living with the shadow of Olivia. But that woman was a terrible wife and a horrible mother. Maybe she was a bad person. I don’t know. I never knew her that well. But I know she was weak. And don’t you dare judge Elena next to her. Give the girl some credit. You think she’s just going to abandon her dreams? No. But you’re part of those dreams now. So she’ll figure out a way to work all of her plans together. Better yet, you two can work it out together.”
“I’m older than she is.” Brent said, his mood improving now that he knew Tyree had come around and now supported his plan to claim Elena.
“You don’t say.”
“That doesn’t bother you?”
“Turns out I’m not a key variable in this equation. The relevant question is, does it bother you?”
“No.”
“There you go. She’s always gonna be my little girl. But I know you, Brent. I know you better than most anybody except Reece and Jenna. And I couldn’t ask for a better son-in-law. Or am I presuming?”
Brent didn’t even miss a beat. “No, sir,” he said.
“Then I think you have somewhere to be right now.”
“I would, if I knew where she was.”
“She went home,” Tyree told him. “You go see her tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll talk about this eminent domain bullshit.”
“Good. Because Landon and I’ve been—”
“Sir?” A lanky man in a Winston Hotel uniform held out an envelope. “You’re Tyree Johnson?”
“Yes.”
“This arrived for you by messenger.”
“Thank you.” Tyree tipped the man, then started to open the note.
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” Brent said, assuming it was a love note from Eva setting up a tryst in one of the hotel rooms.
“Wait.” Tyree reached out and grabbed Brent’s arm, his voice strangled.
“What?” Fingers of dread crawled up his spine. “What happened?”
Tyree didn’t answer. Just handed him the note.
We know how to get you where it hurts.
Call off your bloodhounds and quit fighting the action. If not, it will be worse for her next time.
Brent felt the blood drain from his face.
“Elena,” Tyree said.
But Brent was already racing for his car, and Tyree followed, right on his heels.
Chapter Fifteen
“Faster,” Tyree yelled as Brent floored the Volvo while shouting at Landon over the car’s speakerphone system.
“I’ve got two black and whites racing to her apartment,” Landon said. “And I’ve put out a call that you not be pulled over. She’ll be fine, you two. Just hang in there.”
Brent nodded. He knew she would be. Any other reality was unacceptable. “I was right about Bodacious,” he said. “And damn me, I could have nailed the bastard days ago if I’d only made the connection when the Center cut Elena loose.”
“I’ll follow up whatever lead you want, but you’re going to have to run that one by me more slowly.”
“The Fix is a prime location, right? And the folks from Bodacious have been trying to get their hands on it for ages. That’s why Ted Henry called Tyree’s loan,” Brent said, referring to the man who’d lent Tyree the money to open the bar, then later invested heavily in the corporation that owned Bodacious. “He wanted Tyree to default so he could foreclose on the property.”
Ted Henry was actually the impetus behind the Man of the Month contest. Tyree needed cash to pay off the note, so Reece and Brent invested. But Tyree insisted the bar be in the black and debt free by the end of the year. And Jenna had come up with the brilliant—and lucrative—idea of the contest to increase revenue.
“So even though Ted Henry was out of luck, the folks from Bodacious just kept trying. Stiff competition. Poaching employees. Graffiti. Vandalism. But nothing worked. They didn’t shake Tyree from The Fix at all.”
“And then someone must have realized that if they couldn’t get the property, then getting it away from Tyree was the next best thing,” Landon said, picking up the thread.
“How does this fit in with Elena?” Tyree asked.
“Someone from Bodacious must be involved with the Center,” Brent said. “And when they set the plan in motion they didn’t realize who she was—your daughter, I mean. Obviously, she had to go before she put two and two together.”
“We find the person with a link to the Center and to Bodacious, and we have our perp,” Landon said. “I’m on it.”
“We have more,” Brent added. “I doubt they realize her apartment has security cameras. Pull the feed, and I bet you have a face.”
“On that, too,” Landon said. “You two just focus on Elena.”
“That’s the plan,” Brent said. “After all, I’m not a cop anymore.”
He ended the call just as he made a hard right into her apartment driveway. The patrol cars had beat them there, and the complex was bathed in the eerie red and blue strobe of police lights.
“Come on,” he said to Tyree, though the words were unnecessary. His friend was already out of the car and racing toward her unit.
“She’s okay, sir,” a uniformed officer told him. “Detective Landon said to give you full access.”
“Thanks.” They passed the cop and stepped into what looked like a blood-soaked living room.
“Paint,” another officer said. “Thrown in through the windows.”
“And Elena
?” Brent demanded.
“Fine. She’s giving a statement. She’ll be done shortly. They didn’t touch the bedroom. Apparently, she slept through it all.”
He nodded, unsurprised. Considering their encounter at the fair, he imagined she’d had a few drinks before going to bed.
“Did they enter the premises, or just throw the paint cans in?”
“We’ve got them entering, sir,” the officer said. “They sprayed a message on the bathroom mirror. Next time it will be her.”
Brent’s insides knotted and he met Tyree’s rage-filled eyes. Yeah, Landon was so going to nail these bastards. And then Brent was going to dance at their sentencing.
“Brent! Daddy!”
Elena stumbled out of her bedroom and into Tyree’s arms. For a moment, Brent felt lost, afraid that she was going to shun him, not give him the chance to apologize.
But then she pulled away, and Tyree stepped back. “Talk you two. I’ll be outside when you need me.”
“You came,” she whispered once Tyree had gone.
“Of course I came.” He guided her to a quiet corner of the dining room. “You’re alright? Can I touch you? I need to touch you. We know who did this. Landon’s on it. But I have to touch you now.”
“Yes, please. Brent, I’m so—I’m sorry. I don’t want to lose you, and if the only way I can have you in my life is to be your friend, then I can handle that. I won’t like it, but I can—”
“Marry me.”
She blinked at him. “What?”
“You heard me. I want you to marry me.”
“Wait. No. What? Because some guy attacked my apartment?”
“No, because I love you. I was on my way from the Food Fair to tell you— to ask you—before I knew about any of this. Ask Tyree.”
Her face brightened. “Truly?”
“I swear on my daughter’s life.”
“Oh.” Her voice was soft. Reverent. She understood too well what Faith meant to him. “Brent.” She touched his cheek. “But why? Why marriage? Why so fast?”
“Because I’m miserable without you. Because I believe that you love me too. And don’t say it’s too fast, because dammit, Elena, I know. I know. And I think you do, too. But if you want to wait, that’s fine, too. We can wait forever, because I know you’re not going anywhere. And neither am I.”
“That was a great speech. Did you rehearse it?”
“Not a word.”
She laughed. “I love you, Brent Sinclair.”
“Is that a yes?”
“That’s a yes. On two conditions.”
“Anything.”
“I want to adopt Faith. You want me in her life. I want to be her mother. Assuming she wants that too.”
“Oh, babe.” If he wasn’t already in love with her, he would have fallen hard right then. And since he already had a court order terminating Olivia’s parental rights, they could make that happen right away.
“That would make me very happy,” he continued. “And I’m sure Faith wants you as much as I do.” He took her hand. “What else?”
“All my friends have boyfriends or husbands who are in the Man of the Month calendar. The Mr. December contest is next week.” She flashed a mischievous grin. “I want you to enter it. Bonus points if you win.”
“Good God. Really?” He stepped closer. “And what’s my bonus?”
“I’d show you, but these nice men might not want to see me naked.”
He laughed then pulled her close. “All right. I’ll win the contest. And then I’ll marry you. And then we’ll live happily ever after. How does that sound?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled at him, her eyes full of warmth and tenderness and love. “I think that sounds just about perfect.”
Epilogue
“Everybody!” Tyree stood on the stage and thrust up his hands. “Hey, can I have everyone’s attention, please?”
All around him, the friends, co-workers, and customers who’d come for The Fix on Sixth New Year’s Eve bash continued to talk and laugh and drink as the clock ticked its way toward midnight.
“Hang on,” Taylor said. She stood just a few feet away holding Landon’s hand, and the two of them were among the few who were actually listening. She released Landon long enough to trot to the locked cabinet that was camouflaged into the exterior wall. She punched in the code, pulled out a cordless mike, fiddled with the settings, then hurried back to Tyree. “You’re all set,” she said as she handed it to him.
Tyree shot her a grateful smile, then lifted the mike to his mouth. He flipped it on, then said hesitantly. “Can y’all hear me?”
His voice boomed out through the recently upgraded speaker system, and a chorus of “yes!” accompanied by applause filled the bar’s main room.
He’d rehearsed tonight’s speech, but for a moment, he feared that he would forget it as he looked out at all the people who were looking back at him. But then he reminded himself that these were his friends. His customers. Hell, they were his family. And remembering that, his nerves faded, and he flashed a broad, happy grin at the crowd.
“First of all, I want to thank you all for coming. As some of you know, this New Year’s Eve party is a tradition at The Fix. But this year it’s extra special, because a few months ago, I’d been afraid that we were going to have to shut this place down by the end of the year.”
A chorus of boos and “no way!” echoed through the room.
“Well, you’re right,” Tyree continued. “Because I have some brilliant and generous folks working with me. Jenna, Brent, Reece, you three need to take a bow. We not only infused some capital back into this place, but we launched the Man of the Month contest, which pulled us back firmly into the black.”
Another explosion of applause, and Tyree’s grin grew wide.
“Not to mention a reality show,” he added, as someone in the crowd lifted Brooke up above the sea of faces as she laughed and squealed in protest.
“And of course most of you know about Brent and Easton and Landon’s heroic and successful work in thwarting an attempt to use the city’s power of eminent domain to shut us down. We couldn’t have foiled that without lawyers and cops—who happen to be customers—working together.”
They’d caught the vandals, who’d ratted out the higher ups at Bodacious, including Ted Henry and the local Bodacious manager, Steven Kane. Easton had used that evidence to challenge the eminent domain action, proving that absent those crimes, The Fix was being well-cared for. Seeing the writing on the wall, the city had withdrawn the action.
In front of Tyree, Taylor hugged Landon while Brent gave Easton a congratulatory slap on the back just seconds before Selma pulled him down for a messy kiss, and Elena moved in to hug Brent, her diamond engagement ring shining.
“In other words,” Tyree continued, “it’s been quite a year. And I’m looking forward to many, many more.”
Once again, glasses were raised along with congratulatory voices.
There were still a few minutes left, so he told the crowd about the calendars and cookbooks, then went around the room, pointing at each of the calendar models and introducing them to the crowd, starting with Mr. January, Reece, who stood by the bar next to Jenna, who looked ready to pop any minute. Hard to believe she still had most of the month to go.
And then there was Spencer—Mr. February—who was sharing a bottle of wine with Brooke and their cameramen, Nick and Casper were their nicknames—Tyree never did learn their real ones. The four had moved from filming The Business Plan at The Fix to filming Mansion Makeover at the old Drysdale Mansion that Brooke and Spencer both occupied and were in the process of renovating.
Mr. March, Cam, was working behind the bar, moving at a speed that would have intimidated a lesser man. His girlfriend Mina and her brother, Darryl, sat on the stools in front of him, their attention split between Cam and Tyree.
It took Tyree a second to find Mr. April, but then he saw the group in the corner, with Nolan in the center
telling what appeared to be a raucous joke as Shelby looked on, both amused and appalled.
Of course, he had to introduce himself as Mr. May, then he continued to navigate around the room, finding Mr. June, Parker at the bar with Megan talking to Mr. July, Derek, and his girlfriend Amanda.
August was easy, as Landon and Taylor were right by the stage, and Landon took a bow with sportsman-like grace.
Misters September and October—Tyree’s lawyer, Easton, and his personal trainer, Matthew—stood together with their girlfriends, Selma and Hannah. It took a moment for Tyree to find Griffin, Mr. November, in the audience; he was so used to looking for the writer and voice actor’s gray hoodie that he almost missed the man who sat with Beverly, his movie star girlfriend, at one of the tables with absolutely nothing covering the violent burn scars on his face or arm.
Tears of pride welled in his throat, as intense as if Griffin were his own son, and his voice shook a little as he moved onto Mr. December, his soon to be son-in-law, Brent, who had won the contest by a landslide.
On the big screen TV, episodes of The Business Plan were playing on a loop. In just a few minutes, the screen would go dark, and then a countdown would mark time to the new year. But until then, Tyree was going to enjoy what remained of this one. It had been one hell of a ride, but ultimately one hell of a good year.
A few feet away, Eva started toward him, her smile lighting his soul. Yeah, he thought. One hell of a good year.
He reached out a hand and drew her up onto the stage with him, his eyes seeking out Elena who beamed at both of them.
As soon as Eva was beside him, he pulled her tight against him, dipped her, and kissed her soundly, making her laugh and the entire room burst into applause.
“Thank you, everybody,” he called out, speaking once again into the mike. “You’ve made the first six years of The Fix a raging success. We had some rocky ground, but I think we proved that there’s nothing more magical than friendship—and love,” he added, once more hugging Eva to his side.