by Karen Booth
“He’s so thrilled. He already bought a stuffed animal for the baby. A little bulldog that looks just like Jolly.” Emma’s cheeks blushed bright pink. “And his mom is warming to me now. A baby changes everything.”
“Such amazing news,” Mindy said. She meant it, but damn... It was hard to keep a stiff upper lip right now.
“It really is. Congratulations to you both.” Sophie crossed her legs and bobbed her foot up and down. “So get us up to speed, Min. What happened during the week?”
“Everything was smooth sailing. Not a single problem.” That was a lie, of course, but Mindy had handled the few problems that had cropped up. The one thing Mindy did not need to do was to convince her sisters of her capabilities. “The store practically runs itself.”
Sophie narrowed her eyes. “Are you sure? Absolutely nothing bad happened? How did the big cosmetics sale go? I haven’t seen the numbers.”
“Sales were up seven percent over last year. So definitely a move in the right direction.”
“Well, great. That’s good.” Sophie shrugged and looked over at Emma. “I guess we just get back to work as usual.”
“I want to hear about your week, Mindy,” Emma said. “Not everything is about us.”
Mindy did appreciate Emma’s generosity. Sophie was the one who often put on the blinders. Mindy could have easily launched into a talk about what was going on at BMO, but she didn’t want to ignore the one good thing in her life—Sam. It wasn’t right that she couldn’t talk about it. It wasn’t right that she felt like she had to hide.
“I spent the entire week with Sam. I stayed at his apartment, and it was amazing.”
“Oh, my God.” Sophie sat back in her seat, shaking her head. “So you’re giving up? You’re ready to lose the bet and have your heart broken? Because you know that’s what’s going to happen, right? It’s always the same thing with him.”
Mindy had to stand up for herself. And she had to stand up for the only chance she had right now for personal happiness. “I’m not losing the bet. It’s silly, Sophie, and you know it.”
“I know nothing of the sort. It’s meant to keep you from making a bad choice.”
“Sam and I really had an incredible week together. He’s not the way you think he is, Soph. I don’t care what Jake says.”
“It’s not just Jake who’s coloring my opinion of Sam. It’s lots of people. Including you, at times.”
“He has made some poor choices,” Emma said. “Do you really want to give him another chance? Is he worth it?”
When Emma put it like that, Mindy had to defend him. “He deserves another chance. I believe that. You know, he sold me the Mercer Building for BMO. He sold it to me for a dollar.”
“Wait. What? Sam’s involved with the deal on the Mercer?”
Mindy had purposely not told Sophie about this before, just so she wouldn’t have any reason to question why Sam was her date at the wedding. But now she had no choice but to reveal what was going on behind the scenes. “Yes. It turns out that Sam bought the building before we had a chance to. It was a mix-up on Matthew’s part, but it all got worked out. I asked Sam about it and he agreed to sell it to me for BMO.”
“Did you know all of this before the wedding? Is that why you brought him? Did you seriously trade him an invitation to my wedding for the right to buy the building?”
“Technically, yes, but he also solved my Gerald problem. And you should be glad he was there anyway. He kept Mom and Emma’s mom from killing each other at your reception.”
“I don’t know that my mom would have actually resorted to that,” Emma said. “She’s mostly harmless.”
“Regardless, Sam does not earn a free pass for calming down a woman at my wedding. And I have to question his motives for selling you the building for a dollar. Who does that?”
“Maybe he’s in love with you,” Emma said.
“Is he?” Sophie asked. “Did he say that he loves you?”
At first, Mindy experienced a tiny blip of hope. Was giving her the building Sam’s way of saying he truly and deeply cared for her? It would be amazing if that were the case, but it felt foolish to hope for such a thing. If Sam wanted to say something, he came out with it. She could only imagine that if he was thinking about something as serious as love, he would have said it. The only secrets he kept were the painful ones. Love wasn’t painful. Or at least it wasn’t supposed to be. “No. He didn’t.”
“So again, I’m left with the question of his motives,” Sophie said.
Mindy had a deep need to prove to her sister that Sam really was a good guy. “Look. I’m telling you that he’s got a big heart. He’s hosting a charity fundraiser for ALS research in a few days. He’s one of their biggest donors, but this year, he’s going to give a talk about losing his mom to the disease. I’m going with him as moral support.”
Sophie looked at Mindy with such pity that Mindy felt sick to her stomach. “So he’s going for sympathy now? Is that why he has you wrapped around his finger, again?”
Mindy’s queasiness had turned into a feeling of hurtling toward earth headfirst. Everything she said got turned back on her. “Why are you being so mean about this, Soph? Is this about winning the bet?”
“Would I love to declare the bet a done deal? Absolutely. But it’s not about winning. I’m tired of not knowing that you’re going to stay at Eden’s for the long haul. Emma and I want you here by our side. We love you, and frankly, we’re worried about what you’re doing to yourself.”
“We know you feel pulled in several different directions,” Emma said “We understand that’s hard. But maybe if you made a decision on the business side of your life, the personal part might fall into place. You might meet the perfect guy.”
Mindy wasn’t foolish enough to tell her sisters that she was starting to feel like she had met the perfect guy. It was easier to focus on the business part of this discussion. “But it’s not a decision, is it? It’s not a choice I get to make,” Mindy asked, hating the way her voice was starting to crack. “My inheritance is tied to these two years at Eden’s. I can’t walk away from that.”
“Is it just the money?” Sophie asked. “I’d like to think that you want to be here because of us.”
Mindy closed her eyes for a moment. Of course it was about more than that, and it was far more complicated. “I do want to be here because of you two. I actually really enjoy my job at the store. I like feeling like I can fix things. I sure as hell can’t fix things at BMO right now.”
“I thought things were going great,” Sophie said.
Mindy shook her head. “They’re not. They’re falling apart. And the worst of it is that I think the person who might be making it fall apart is Matthew Hawkins, the man I hired to keep the operation afloat. And I think he’s doing it on purpose.”
“Why do you think that?” Emma asked.
Mindy told her sisters everything—every last embarrassing detail, including the fact that it had been Sam who figured it out. “So I have to figure out if Matthew really is trying to poach my company.”
“How will you do that?” Emma got up and pulled three bottles of water from the small fridge in Mindy’s office, handing one each to Mindy and Sophie, then taking a drink of her own.
“I don’t know, exactly,” Mindy answered. “Do you guys have any ideas?”
Sophie twisted her lips into a tight bundle, clearly putting on her thinking cap. “You could offer to sell him the company. See how he responds. That’s what he wants, isn’t it?”
“That sounds risky,” Mindy said. “He’ll want it in writing and then I’ll be stuck. I’m not giving that guy any leverage over me at all.”
“Do you have an employee you trust?” Emma asked. “Someone who’s been there from the beginning and knows the ins and outs of the business? Maybe they can shed some light on what’s going on. Or help yo
u figure it out.”
It was typically Mindy’s last resort to trust anyone. It was easier to rely only on herself. But this situation called for extreme measures. “Carla Meadows. She was my third employee. She oversees the production. In fact, she’s the person Matthew has blamed a lot of our problems on. He’s been dealing with her.”
“Talk to her,” Sophie said. “And most importantly, tell him that you’re talking with her. Make him nervous. That’s when people start making mistakes.”
“That’s exactly what Sam says.”
“I don’t make a habit of agreeing with Sam, but I might have to on this one.” Sophie leaned forward, placing both elbows on her knees. “Frankly, I’m surprised he didn’t come up with a plan to help you catch Matthew. That seems like his wheelhouse.”
“You know, all of that is way more about Sam knowing how to get what he wants, rather than him being particularly underhanded. I have to admire that in him.”
“Yeah, well, Jake doesn’t.”
All Mindy could think was that this would all be solved if Sophie, Jake and Emma were able to see Sam in a different light. She wanted them to see the Sam that she adored. The man she was falling for, even when that was the scariest thing to admit. “I want you all to come to the fundraiser. I’ll buy the tickets.”
“Seriously?” Sophie asked, seeming incredulous.
“Yes. It’s for an amazing cause and I think it will be good for you to see what he’s really like. He’s going to give a speech and I think it’ll all do us some good.” She knew this was a huge gamble. It could very easily backfire.
Lizzie appeared at the door. “I don’t want to interrupt, but we just got this letter from a lawyer’s office. I had to sign for it. It looks important.”
Sophie reached out for the envelope. “I’ll take it.”
Mindy sat back in her chair, her previous hurt morphing into panic. She was going to have to find a way to break it to Sam that she had not kept the fundraiser a secret. In fact, she’d gone so far as to invite her family to the event. He was going to be horrified. And quite possibly furious.
“Oh, my God,” Sophie said, her skin going starkly pale. “A man named Benjamin Summers claims to have a promissory note against Eden’s. Not just the building. The land, too. It belonged to his father and it’s his now.” Sophie stood and placed the letter on Mindy’s desk. Emma got up out of her seat and read over Mindy’s shoulder.
Unfortunately, one line into the letter Mindy realized she’d made a mistake when she didn’t speak to the man who called the day she was going to the Mercer.
“Gram took out a private loan? Why would she do that?” Emma asked.
“I have no idea,” Sophie said. “We have to bring in our lawyers right away to look at this. The tone of the letter is so aggressive. And I need to talk to Lizzie. It says that they tried to reach us by phone but were unable to get through.”
Mindy raised her hand. “That was me. My fault. I thought it sounded like a scam, so I told Lizzie to just get the guy off the phone. I had no idea it was real.”
Sophie blew out an exasperated breath. “Well, now we’ve apparently made Benjamin Summers very angry. We’re going to have to figure this out. Right away.”
Mindy was desperate to redeem herself in the eyes of her sisters, not only because of this gaffe, but because she wanted to find a way forward with Sam. She’d never be able to forge a lasting relationship with him if her sisters weren’t on board. “Let me handle it. I need to talk to the legal team about some other things, anyway.”
“Are you sure?” Sophie asked. “You’re the one who’s already stretched way too thin.”
Mindy shrugged. “I work best under pressure.”
“So you really want us to come to this fundraiser? It’s going to take some doing to convince Jake,” Sophie said.
“Just tell him that if he comes that night and still hates Sam by the time it’s all said and done, then I’ll drop the whole thing.”
“You mean you’ll drop Sam?” Emma asked.
Mindy wasn’t willing to go there. Not yet. “I’m not saying that at all. Frankly, I’ve had enough of wagers and bets.”
Eleven
Within twenty-four hours, the situation with Benjamin Summers grew even more complicated and inexplicable. This mysterious man claimed that Gram had an affair with his father, and that he had loaned a great sum of money to her because he was in love with her and she was trying to get out from under Sophie and Mindy’s grandfather’s gambling debts. It was both hard to believe and nearly impossible to prove. Most of the people involved in the tale Mr. Summers was weaving were dead and gone. Still, none of that mattered for the present day. Mr. Summers was moving forward with a lawsuit. He wanted the store or the money owed, a sum that had yet to be determined—the way the interest was to be calculated was still subject to debate. One guess put it north of several hundred million dollars.
Mindy didn’t have that kind of cash lying around. Sophie and Emma didn’t, either. There was a big difference between a person’s net worth and the size of a check they were able to write. Regardless of what happened, the Eden sisters had a huge legal battle on their hands and if things didn’t go their way, a massive financial problem to fix. One that could destroy their grandmother’s legacy. In that scenario, Mindy worried most about Sophie. Both her heart and her sense of self were wrapped so tightly around the store, it was impossible to know where one started and the other ended.
For now, Mindy couldn’t entertain worries about Eden’s. She was on her way to Sam’s to help him with his speech for the fundraiser. There was a lot riding on Friday night, especially since Mindy had slipped up and not only told Sophie and Emma about the event, but then dared to tell them to attend it. All sorts of things could go wrong, like Jake and Sam getting into another staring contest, but Mindy had no choice. If the gap between her family and Sam wasn’t bridged in some way, it would never, ever work. No, she didn’t know if Sam was built for love or marriage, and she had the same reservations about herself, but she couldn’t bear to think of the alternative—walking away from him. They’d made so much progress. She had to keep trying.
He buzzed her into the building as soon as she arrived and was waiting, wineglass in hand, when the elevator doors opened into his apartment. “I hope you’re ready to work.”
Mindy’s first thought was that she wanted to get to work on Sam’s shirt, but she had to focus. She stepped inside and let him take off her coat. “Of course. That’s what I’m here for.”
“Good. Because my writing is a disaster.”
“I’m sure it’s great. I’m sure you’re overreacting.”
“I’m not. I read it over the phone to Isabel. She told me it stinks.”
Mindy placed her hands on both of Sam’s biceps, telling herself this was not the time to give them a playful squeeze, however much she wanted to. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll stay all night if I have to.”
He knocked back the last of his wine and grabbed the bottle from the kitchen counter, refilling his glass. “This is not my area of expertise. I’m not good at pulling heartstrings. And that’s what this requires. If I’m going to get people to open their checkbooks, I need to leave an entire roomful of people in tears.”
“Stop making excuses and show me what we’re working with, okay?”
Sam waved Mindy into the living room and they headed up the stairs into the library, where his home office sat at one end of the loft. He pointed to his laptop, which was sitting on the desk. “Go ahead. Take a look. I’ll be over here, dying a quiet death.”
Mindy laughed quietly. She thought Sophie could be dramatic. Sam was giving her a solid run for her money. She pulled back his black leather desk chair and took a seat in front of his computer. She read carefully, trying to imagine Sam standing onstage behind a podium, looking as handsome as he had the day of Sophie’s
wedding, delivering these words he’d written. His work was indeed well composed, but this was not the sort of speech that would leave anyone clamoring for a tissue, and most certainly not their wallet. It was too clinical. Too safe. Sam was hiding again, this time behind words.
She turned in the chair when she finished reading. He was a good ten feet away, sipping on wine and pacing back and forth in front of the bookshelves. “I told you. It’s terrible. Be honest. Be brutal. I need it.”
Mindy had to figure out how to frame this. She didn’t want him to be discouraged. It would make it far too easy for him to back out of delivering this speech and she sensed that he needed this, however much he was putting up a fight. If he hadn’t wanted to do it, he never would have run it by his sister. He never would have asked for Mindy’s input. When Sam was certain, he acted, without hesitation.
“I think you need to tell some stories, Sam. I think you need to tell people how it felt to be in that situation, with your mom sick and your sister away at school, and your dad struggling with it in his own way.”
He kneaded at his forehead, the most stressed she’d ever seen him. “I don’t know where to start. There are a million stories, and the ones that are the most memorable are also the most painful. I’m not really in the right mental space to sit in front of a computer and just bleed.”
Mindy grabbed his laptop and wheeled the desk chair in front of the leather recliner he loved so much. “You sit and I’ll ask you questions and when you answer, I’ll type out what you say. We can use that as a starting point.”
“I don’t know, Min. I was sort of hoping we could just have a nice night together. Drink some wine. Drink some more wine.” He bobbed his eyebrows up and down.
She was absolutely on board for that, but they had to stay on track. “There will be plenty of time for that. Let’s finish this first. The fundraiser is only two days away and you need to practice before then. If we don’t get this done, you won’t be able to be as polished as you want to be.”