Because of Sydney (25 page)

“M
ark, I want the three Austin properties sold by the end of the quarter.”

“Yes, sir. I have them listed with Barbara.”

“Good.” I looked at what else I had on my checklist. If I could make it through the next two calls, I might be able to call Sydney for dinner plans. “And I’ve decided to hold the commercial space in Houston. It’s not the best time to sell, and the rents there are high enough. Take it off the list.”

“Got it.”

“I’ll be in the office Thursday. I’ll drive up in the morning, or fly depending on what kind of time I have.”

It was an eight-hour drive. I usually got on the road at five in the morning to make it into the office by one.

I could hear the excitement in the voice. “We’ll be happy to have you around.”

“It’s been a while. All right. We’ll talk tomorrow.” I looked at my watch. I had five minutes before the call with the attorney. Make that four.

My phone beeped. They were calling in early.

“Harold, good to hear from you. Tell me what you have on the environmentalists.”

After speaking with the attorneys I knew the resort was in good hands. As much as the Guardians of the Dunes wanted to cause trouble, they didn’t have a legal case against the development. There were no endangered species present, and we would have to follow the same building codes that all island construction did. It appeared they weren’t the threat Commissioner Rodriguez had promised.

My biggest issue with the group was going to be the attention they were getting. I hated to start a new project with bad press, but hopefully by the end the residents would be so excited about the resort and the new jobs they wouldn’t give a damn about the months they had to put up with high-pollution dump trucks.

It was close to six. One more call, and I could end Monday. At least the working part.

I waited while the operator set up the conference call and the investors dialed in one at a time. There was always someone late to the table. This time it was Keith Higgins.

“Keith, ready to talk money?” I joked. The man didn’t have a funny bone in his body.

“That you Lachlan?” he asked.

“Sure is. What do you say we flip to page five of the preliminaries so we can come up with a number that will work for all of us?”

I directed the call, walking them through the projections my team had put together for us. I was venturing into a small oil and gas company. It was less risky if I partnered with a few others for the first time. Once I had a handle on the business I would either buy them out or move onto my next acquisition on my own.

Finally, I ended the call. The conferences were over. The analysis. The debates. The cajoling. My head swam with numbers. I walked to the fridge and reached inside for a beer. I tossed the cap on the counter.

The only thing that would make this beer better is if Sydney were here. I pulled my phone out to call her.

“Hey girl, hungry yet?” I should have asked her to come over straight from work. I wanted to get lost in her arms, lips, and laughter after the day I had.

“Hey. I don’t know if I can eat.”

“What’s going on?” The beer slid down my throat.

“Can I just come over?” she asked. There was more in her voice, but I couldn’t tell. I only knew she was upset.

“Yeah. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” I hung up the phone and waited for her to knock on the door.

Twenty minutes later I heard her tap on the door. I swung it open.

“Darlin’, what’s going on?” I could see it all over her face. I forgot about the shitty calls and the disappointing sales results. It all seemed secondary.

“It didn’t go so well today.” She dropped onto the couch.

I sat on the coffee table. Her eyes were red, her mascara smudged. “What happened?”

“I think they’re going to fire me.”

I shook my head. “No. Fire you? That sounds like a bad idea.”

“Yes. Alice said there’s nowhere to move me, and I’ve already outed myself as a biased reporter where you’re concerned.”

“What about the features gig?”

“It wasn’t as concrete as I thought it was. She was speaking in abstracts.” She looked at me. “I screwed up the whole thing.”

“Hey, come here.” I moved to the couch, so I could fold her in my arms. “That’s not the only job out there.”

She sniffed. “It is the only one. I looked all afternoon. There is nothing down here in nowhere Texas.”

“Why are you only looking here? What about the rest of the state? Or Florida? Or California? God, that place is loaded with reporters.”

I didn’t expect the hurt look on her face.

“You think I should move?”

I realized when the words came out of her mouth what she was thinking. “I don’t want you to move. No. But, I’m trying to think through the practical angles here. If there’s nothing here you’ve got to cast a wider net.”

She scooted back. “But you’re the reason all of this happened. You are the reason I’m going to lose my job. And you think it’s ok if my net takes me to California?”

“Syd, stop before we end up arguing. That’s not what I’m saying.”

Her eyes flared. I might have already lost.

“This is my first job. My first job. My only job. I don’t own twenty different companies. And my bank account isn’t overwhelmed with zeros.” Her voice rose. “I worked hard to get that job. I moved by myself. I live in a cramped studio apartment. And it’s over.” Her eyes turned on me. “Because I slept with you.”

“Hold on. I seem to remember this has all been mutual.” I didn’t like the direction this was headed.

“But only one of us has really been in control the entire time.”

“You have had as much control as I have. More if you ask me.”

She shook her head. “More? How could I have more? You’re the one with the car and the trips and the money.”

“That has nothing to do with you and me. You know that.” I brushed her hair off her shoulder. “You are one of the only women I’ve been with who didn’t care about that stuff. As a matter of fact, I think my money annoys you more than anything.”

“It is a little irritating.” She scowled.

“Tell me why we’re fighting right now? Because all I could think about through those calls and meetings was seeing you at the end of the day. God, I’ve never rushed through a day before just to get to the end. What have you done to me?”

“I can’t stay in South Padre, Mason. It’s like a big, sick, twisted joke. I told my boss about you so we could have this, and because of it we can’t have it.” A tear slid against her cheek.

“You have forgotten who you are dealing with.”

Her head cocked to the side. “Do I want to know?”

“Tomorrow, getting a job for you is my top priority. At the very beginning of the list.”

“And what about tonight?” Her eyes narrowed.

“Oh, that’s easy. Making you feel better is my top priority.”

“You think you can do that?” She sounded doubtful.

I kissed her gently before standing. “You need dinner, a glass of wine, probably a backrub and then a hot bath. Sound good?” I walked to the fridge and began to uncork a bottle of cold wine.

“Did you read that in a book somewhere?” She watched me while I poured a glass and carried it to her.

“Not what you want?”

“Oh, I definitely want it. I’m not going to turn any of it down.” She took a sip and sank back on the couch.

I pulled out my phone. “Pete’s for dinner? I’ll walk over and pick it up. You can hang out here. Relax.”

“Pete’s sounds good. I want an enormous cheeseburger. Tell Mac to pile on the fries too.” She rested her feet on the end of the couch, shoving a pillow out of the way.

I placed the call and ordered two plates to go. “I’ll be right back. Enjoy the quiet. We’ll figure this out, girl. There’s always another deal along the way. We only have to find the right one for you.”

I left her sitting on the couch, a glass of wine in hand, the wheels spinning in her head about her job. I knew to her it seemed as if the bottom had fallen out, but I knew better. She was smart and talented. There would be another job. When I returned with dinner I‘d have to tell her how many times I had been fired. It sucked, but it made me stronger. She would bounce back more resilient, more experienced.

Grey was standing next to the bar when I walked in.

“Hey,” he greeted me.

“Where’s Eden?” I looked around but other than a few guys playing pool, Pete’s looked slow tonight.

“She sent me to pick up dinner. What about you?”

I chuckled. “Same. Sydney’s back at the condo.”

“Think we have time for a beer?” Grey checked over his shoulder as if Eden was about to walk through the door.

The cook was still prepping the orders. I didn’t see anything pass through the kitchen window.

“I think we could have one.” I sat next to him at the bar.

The wood surface was worn and faded from years of people smoothing their fingers over the waxy coat. I traced the paths their fingers had taken. It hit me my father had probably done the same thing.

Mac slung a towel over his shoulder. “How are you boys doing? The orders are going to be a few more minutes. There was a problem with the fryer, but cook’s got it going now.”

Grey and I exchanged a look. “Two beers, Mac. We’ll sit for a minute.”

“You got it.” He turned to pour the amber liquid into pilsners.

One of the pool players tapped on the jukebox to change the song. I never heard anything other than country music play at Pete’s. Sometimes there was live music. Mac had arranged a squatty stage out of plywood, but Monday night the place was practically dead.

Mac deposited the drinks in front of us. “I’ll check on your orders.”

“No problem, Mac. We’ll sit for a while.” I realized I had half a beer back at the condo, but this one tasted good. Cold. I needed to give Sydney a few minutes.

My fingers rubbed into the grooves on the bar. “Did you and Dad come here a lot? I mean, Pops.” Hell, I didn’t know what to call the man anymore.

Grey’s head bobbed. “We did. Sometimes we’d close up the office at the Palm and walk over. But he was more of a whiskey man. Not big on beer.”

“Whiskey? Really. Huh.”

“I usually left early. He was a talker. He’d run into someone he knew and they’d start on something, and I let him close down the place.” Grey shook his head. “He had a way of convincing people to do things even when they didn’t want to.” He looked at me. “I guess that’s where you got it.”

I didn’t take it as a jab. “We didn’t have much in common.”

“I think you’re wrong about that.”

“It wasn’t like we spent that much time together. He’d drive in for a night maybe two at the most. And I never felt like he was really there to see me. My mom came first.” The bottom of my glass clanked against the bar. “I’m glad he put her first though. She needed him. I don’t think he ever realized how much.”

Grey adjusted his barstool. “I always thought Pops was a simple man. He worked hard. He lived in the same place his entire life. Took me in. But ever since you showed up, I realized he wasn’t simple at all.”

I tried to picture the two of them sitting here like this. Stones of jealousy hardened under my skin. Grey knew my dad in a way I never would. Half the people on the island saw something in him I didn’t know existed.

“I don’t know which one of us gave up first.” I swallowed another gulp of beer. “I guess none of that matters now. He’s gone.”

“What do you think he’d say if he saw us sitting at Pete’s drinking a beer?”

I laughed. “No telling. Either run because he got caught.” I paused. “Or join us.”

Grey pushed his empty glass out of the way. “Yeah, I think he’d join us.”

Mac appeared from the kitchen, holding up two white bags. “Y’all better get dinner back to those girls.”

“Thanks, Mac.” Grey took his order and slapped me on the back as he turned. “Have a good night. Uncle.” He said it light-heartedly and it made me smile.

“Tell Eden I said hi.”

“Will do.”