“You didn’t even want to think about a long-distance relationship? Philadelphia isn’t that far away.” Caitlyn also ate a piece of cheese.
“It’s far enough. Sure, could we have tried it out? I guess so. Doing every other weekend. Talking on the phone during the week. Seeing each other whenever we could. Anything that’s worthwhile takes work. Being together would’ve taken extra work. Not impossible. But once again, here it is, days later and not a word from him. How long should I wait?”
“You can’t give up,” Caitlyn said.
Corinne shrugged. “Sure I can.”
“You don’t want to give up. You love him.”
“And?” Corinne shook her head. “So what?”
“If you just told him,” her sister began, but cut off at the sight of Corinne’s expression.
“He knows. He’s always known. Sometimes, it doesn’t matter.”
Caitlyn was silent for a moment. “You can’t mean that.”
“He broke my heart once. Should I let him break it again? Let him go break someone else’s heart. I don’t have anything left.” Corinne’s phone buzzed with an alert she wasn’t expecting, and frowning, she swiped the screen to see a message from her credit union app. “What the… Oh. No.”
Caitlyn craned her neck to see. “What? What’s wrong?”
“Someone made a deposit into my account.” She showed her sister the screen. The amount was enough to make Caitlyn choke on the cube of cheese she’d been eating. Corinne gave her sister a grim smile. “Yeah. Right?”
“From him?”
“Who else could it be from?” She shook her head, already thumbing in his number. “I have to tell him I’m not taking it.”
“Are you crazy? With that kind of money you don’t need to work for a long time! If you don’t want it, give it to me!”
Corinne gave her sister a look. “Forget it. He thinks this is all about money? Fuck that.”
“Don’t do anything crazy,” Caitlyn said. “From what you said, five hundred smackers is like something he sneezes into a tissue and throws away.”
“Oh, that’s so gross.” Corinne grimaced. Reese wasn’t picking up. She didn’t leave a voicemail.
She didn’t have to, though, because a minute later, her phone buzzed again, this time with a text.
At the diner.
Meet me?
Then, a few seconds later, before she had time to answer…
Please.
Chapter Forty
Tony had brought along his tablet instead of a pile of folders. Reese preferred the paperwork so he could flip through it, take notes. Papers were physical and tactile. They felt more permanent.
He scrolled through the various pages. There wasn’t much to note. At this point, the businesses in his portfolio, including Stein and Sons, were all running smoothly without needing any input from him—that was the point of it all, really. Hire good people to take over, and he could sit back and reap the benefits without having to be the guy overseeing every little detail.
“Coffee?” That rockabilly pinup waitress was back with eyes only for Tony.
Tony grinned and held out his cup. Reese rolled his eyes at the obvious simpering between the two of them, but waited until she’d gone before he tapped the tablet screen. “So, are you two a thing, or what?”
“We are not a thing. We are now, officially, partners.” Tony gestured at the diner. “I’m buying this place.”
Reese’s jaw dropped. “What the hell? Are you quitting?”
“Do I have to? I mean, especially now?” Tony frowned.
“No. Of course not. I mean, if you can own and run a diner and work for me, more power to you.” Reese blinked, still surprised.
“Gretchen’s going to run it. I’m the money man. She has the practical experience.”
“Sounds like you’re going to make a good team,” Reese said.
Tony shrugged, looking kind of irritated instead of happy. “That’s what I think, but that girl is hard, man. She is hard like…like concrete.”
“To work with?”
“To be with,” Tony said with a scowl.
Reese’s brow furrowed, confused. “So…you are or are not a thing? I mean a dating thing.”
“I have no idea what we are. I’m a damned booty call.” Tony crumpled up a paper napkin and writhed a little in the diner booth, letting his head fall back with a groan. “She makes me crazy. This deal is taking forever to go through. I’m in a hell of my own making, man, and the worst part is, I could get out of it, and I don’t.”
Reese laughed. Tony gave him the finger. Reese laughed harder, though he softened his hilarity out of respect for Tony’s clearly despairing situation.
“Can we get back to me?” Reese asked. “You know, business at hand?”
Tony waved a languid hand. “Yeah, yeah. Everything’s under control. I handled all of it, just like you wanted. Some final paperwork needs to come through, but all the i’s are crossed and t’s are dotted.”
“Good. Thank you. Now, get lost.”
Tony groaned, but got up to slide out of the booth. Tony had taken his tablet when he left, but Reese had a single folder on the table in front of him. All he had to do was wait for Corinne to show up.
He had another offer for her.