Her eyes softened, and she patted his face. “I’m not sure I’m up for it, dear.”
“What do you always say about putting on your best and getting out of the doldrums?” he asked her before turning to Posey and me. “You, too, girls. Come on. We’re all going out.”
I was suddenly desperate to get away from Lilac Ridge. I hadn’t left the house since the funeral, and the thought of staying in all night addressing thank you cards sounded unbearable.
“Uncle Frank is right,” I said standing. “Getting out of here is just what we need.”
“Yeah,” Posey agreed, taking Mimi’s hand. “Come on. It’s supposed to be a beautiful night.”
Twenty minutes later, we made our way down the hill toward town. “Are we going to Cora’s?” Mimi asked as we turned onto Main Street.
“Nope,” my uncle said, his voice brimming with excitement. Suddenly, I stopped in the street, causing Posey to run into me.
“Hey,” she said, poking me between my shoulder blades. “Walk much, Iris?”
But I was too busy staring up the street to respond. I could see the café from here, Rose’s next door. And the crowd of people standing outside.
“What is this?” I whispered. Frank laughed, propelling Mimi along. “Come on.”
Lights blazed from the windows of the restaurant, glimmering lanterns strung in the trees outside. Even from here, I could hear the music, the sound of people laughing and talking. Rose’s was open for business.
Andrew was standing in the doorway, his face breaking into a grin when he saw us. He trotted down the street toward us, holding out his hands to our grandmother.
“I thought you postponed,” Mimi whispered, clutching his hand.
“Well, we decided we might as well give it a try,” he said. “It didn’t seem very Powell-esque to just give up a mile before the finish line.”
“But…” I was having trouble forming words. “All that work!”
“We did most of it at night, until these last few days. Then it was pretty much non-stop. But we had some help. Come on. Eddie will want to show you himself.”
Our walk into the restaurant was slowed by the numerous people who wanted to greet Mimi, hug her, offer their prayers for Pops. She was crying after a few moments, her face lit up in happiness. I was right about the emotion finally hitting her—I had just never imagined it would be joy that would push her over the edge.
Edward and Zane met us at the host station. “You’re here!” Eddie cried. “It’s about time.”
“I don’t understand how you did all this,” Mimi kept saying, over and over again.
“Come on, Rose,” Zane said, offering her an arm. “I’ll show you around.”
The restaurant was packed, and I lost Posey after just a moment in the throng. All I could do was stare around in wonder. They’d done so much work.
“Hope we didn’t steal your thunder, Iris,” Andrew said, patting my shoulder.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I know you were kind of in charge of this project. It’s probably annoying not to be able to see it to the finish line.”
“Are you crazy? Andrew, this is fantastic!”
“Glad to hear it,” David said, coming up behind me. “I worked damn hard on this to get you to smile like that.” He fist bumped my cousin.
“This was all his idea, Iris,” Andrew told me, smacking David on the back in that guy way. “He came over that same day Eddie decided to postpone and got to work. Then he called us up and said if we could spare some time in the evenings, he was sure we’d be able to get it done.”
“You did that?” I choked on my words, feeling pretty sure I was going to start to cry.
“Of course I did.”
Andrew slapped him on the back once more before disappearing off into the crowd. “I’d hang onto that one, Iris,” he murmured to me before he left.
I intend to.
I wrapped my arms around David’s shoulders, kissing him right there in the middle of the crowd, not even minding when a few passing Libbies whistled at us.
“I can’t believe you,” I whispered against his mouth.
“I told you, your family means a lot to me.” He looked down at me, his grey eyes so light and beautiful as mine filled with tears. “You mean a lot to me.”
He kissed me one more time and then pulled me into his side. “Come on. I’ll show you around. Then I have to get back to the kitchen.”
The place looked beautiful. The first-floor dining room was much the way it had always been after a tremendous amount of cleaning, polishing, and work on the lights and upholstery. Upstairs was a different story. The damaged paneling was gone, replaced with cool walls in the palest green, with crisp white trim. The windows were always the main attraction, of course, but the lighter color palette seemed to open the room up, making the windows appear even bigger. The floors had been restored, the antique sconces saved and complimented by additional, funkier lighting. Zane’s design was perfect. The entire place was perfect.
And the food, of course, was the best part. After showing me the second floor, David headed back down to the kitchen to oversee the sous chefs. He had somehow managed to take the menu and rework it into finger foods and appetizers, which the wait staff served to the mingling guests. And there were a lot of guests. The whole town was there, as far as I could tell, along with countless tourists and day-trippers from the mainland. And since David never cancelled the promotion I had planned, there were several reporters, bloggers, and magazine photographers there to capture the moment. The wine was flowing, the piano was playing, and my grandmother stood in the middle of it all, beaming and greeting her friends and family.
“This is really something,” my mother said, appearing at my side. “You all did a fantastic job. I can hardly believe it’s the same place.”
“The boys did most of the work,” I told her.
“Nonsense. You’ve all been working for weeks.”
David appeared on the other side of the room with a tray of food, accepting congratulations from many of the guests. He looked good in his chef’s coat, working the room, showing off his food. I felt a swell of pride for him. This was his night as much as my grandmother’s, and he deserved every minute of it.
“He’s a good guy,” my mom murmured in my ear. And then, as if the night needed more surprises, she leaned in and kissed my cheek. “I’m so glad you’re here, Iris.”
Then she turned, leaving me standing in the middle of the room, stunned.
I’m glad I’m here, too, I thought, suddenly wishing I could tell her that. What had been missing for me during those days of mourning and grief was in this room, at the end of all this hard work. The feeling of belonging. The feeling of family. I wanted to tell her how much it meant to me that everyone in her family had welcomed me back without question this summer. How much fun I’d been having, how good it felt to be a part of something, to work for something. How good it felt to be here.
I watched David approach my grandmother, kissing her cheek as he handed her a plate, grinning down at her before he headed back to the kitchen.
I wanted to tell her how badly I wanted to stay.
“Iris?”
I frowned as I looked over my shoulder, thinking that the voice sounded familiar. Sure enough, mere feet away stood my father, looking exactly the way I remembered him. Expensive suit, perfectly styled hair, tan skin against the crisp white collar of his shirt.
“What are you doing here?” I blurted out, and he frowned.
“Do you not say hello anymore?” he asked, sounding put out.
“Sorry.” I shook my head and moved toward him for a hug. “Sorry, Daddy. You just surprised me.”
“How you holding up?” He released me quickly. No surprises there. He’d never been much of a hugger.
“I’m doing okay.” I swallowed past the lump in my throat. I couldn’t believe that he had come all this way, to a place that he openly despised, just to pay his resp
ects. It seemed unbelievable, really, and a wave of love for my father washed over me.
“And your grandmother?” He looked around the room. “I haven’t seen her.”
“She’s over there,” I told him, gesturing to where I had last seen her. “Let’s go over and—”
“Hang on,” he said, tugging on my hand. “I want you to meet some people first.”
I stared at him in confusion. Why would he have people for me to meet when he was the visitor here? He turned to reveal two men in nearly identical grey suits behind him. They had the same polished look as my father, the same neat hair, same perfect white teeth. “Iris, this is Bill Johnson and Giles Keplan. They represent the Guardian Group, based in Traverse City.”
“I’m so sorry to hear about your loss,” one of the men said, while the other clutched a plate of David’s crab cakes and nodded solemnly as I shook their hands, feeling numb. Who were these people? And what in the hell were they doing here with my father?
“I know this isn’t the optimal time,” my dad said.
“How did you even know we decided not to cancel? Even I didn’t know.”
He looked at me blankly. “I had my secretary subscribe to the mailing list. There wasn’t any notice about a cancellation.” Of course. Sending out the cancellation notice was one of the things David had promised to do. My father continued. “Since it seemed like you were going ahead with the opening as scheduled, I wanted these guys to have a chance to see the place first.”
“You’ve done a great job here,” grey suit number one said. “Your father showed us pictures of what the place used to look like. And he shared your financial analyses with us.”
“Your ideas definitely match up with ours,” the other guy said, nodding seriously. “We’re seeing a great amount of growth here, fantastic upmarket potential.” His words filled my head like a dull buzz, barely distinguishable. What was he talking about?
“And your idea about combining the property with one of the hotels,” he continued. “Excellent thinking. Just the kind of cross-market investment we get excited about.”
“Hang on.” I raised my hand to stop the torrent of gibberish spilling from their mouths.
“Iris, these men are here to see what you’ve done with the place,” my dad said, a note of warning in his voice. “Their firm is very interested in expanding onto Lilac Bay, and they have a lot of ideas for development on the island that they’d like to talk to you about.”
Oh my God. I couldn’t believe he had done this. He brought developers here? To the grand opening of my family’s restaurant? Two days after my grandfather’s funeral? No. Not even my father would be that callous.
“I’m confused,” I said, my voice shaking, desperately trying to refrain from screaming. “And I think you may have a misunderstanding, gentlemen. This is a family business. We have no intention of selling it.”
The guy holding the crab cakes laughed. “Isn’t that what they all say? Just wait until the money guys put dollar signs in their eyes.” The other guy laughed, and I was filled with the very real urge to punch them both. “Everyone changes their mind when cold hard cash is on the table.”
“And we’re very interested in this property, Iris,” the other guy said, looking out the window. “Of course, we’d want to tear down that coffee place next door for expansion.”
“Definitely,” crab cake guy said, nodding seriously. “What a waste of lake front real estate.”
“And we could probably get rid of that shop on the other side, too. Pretty rundown-looking. Doesn’t really fit the brand. Maybe even expand down the whole block.”
I felt like I was going to throw up. That little shop on the side was Chrissy’s place. Chrissy, my grandmother’s friend, who came and helped us vacuum the flour the night of the anniversary dinner. Chrissy, who had shut down her store on the day of Pops’s funeral as a sign of respect for my grandparents.
I glared at my father. “I can’t believe you did this,” I muttered, clenching my fists. “After I told you—”
“Gentlemen,” he interrupted smoothly. “Could you give us a minute?”
“Sure thing,” crab cakes said, holding up his near-empty plate. “Great chef you found here, by the way.”
“We’d probably want to bring in someone with more of a name, of course,” his partner told him as they walked away.
“I can’t believe how unprofessionally you’re acting,” my dad said before I could lay into him. And God, I wanted to lay into him. Wanted to yell and pound my fists on the perfect lapels of that perfect suit.
“And I can’t believe how cruel you’re acting!” I cried. “We just buried Pops. How in the hell did this seem appropriate to you?”
“You have to move quickly in this business, Iris,” he shot back. “Your grandfather hadn’t passed yet when I invited them to come up. I wasn’t going to cancel on them. Opportunities like this don’t come up every day.”
“There’s no opportunity! We’re not selling!”
He leaned down so his face was close to mine, anger radiating from him. “I meant the opportunity for you, young lady. Do you have any idea who these men work for?”
“Should I?”
He sighed, looking supremely disappointed in his only offspring. “The Guardian Group, Iris, is owned by Kent and Collins of Chicago and New York.”
Oh. Shit. Yeah, that was a name I knew. They were one of the biggest development groups in the eastern half of the country. “I’ve been working to get you an interview, Iris, so Hunter Kent suggested I bring his Michigan outfit up to see your work. And you, young lady, are in danger of blowing it. So get your act together and act like a professional.”
But I didn’t want to act like a professional. My grandfather had just died. My family was grieving. This wasn’t the time for this. Not by a long shot.
“I want you to get them out of here,” I said, hands shaking so much, I almost dropped my wine glass. “Now.”
“Iris—”
“Now.”
He shook his head, his face disbelieving, like he didn’t recognize me. And then the suits were at his side again. “Iris, we just talked to your chef. Excellent work.”
Oh God, they’d talked to David. What had they said? What would he think?
“Gentlemen,” my father said, his voice smooth and all business once again. “I think my daughter has had a bit of a rough day, what with the death in the family and all. Perhaps we could head up to see the hotel as planned?”
“Oh, absolutely,” one of the guys said, shaking my hand. “So sorry, again. Listen, we hear you’re looking for an interview in Chicago. We’d be happy to recommend you. You’ve done a great job with this property.”
“Absolutely,” the other said. “Just don’t go running off to the Windy City until we get a chance to talk about the future of this place.” He laughed and rubbed his fingers in the universal sign for money.
“Thanks for coming,” I muttered, refusing to meet my father’s eyes. He leaned down under the pretense of kissing my cheek. “We’ll talk about this later.”
And then they were gone, leaving my head spinning. I couldn’t wrap my mind around what had just happened. My dad brought developers to the opening, without consulting me, all in attempt to get me an interview with the biggest firm in Chicago. How could one person be so eager to help and so… blind, all at the same time?
I turned to go find David, crossing my fingers that they hadn’t told him anything. But I didn’t get that far. Because standing right behind me, apparently having heard a great portion of that conversation, was Posey, my grandmother at her side. Mimi’s face was white, her forehead pinched. My breath caught, thinking she might cry, but then her eyes flashed, and I understood. She wasn’t sad at what she had overheard. She was angry. Very angry.
“Iris Holder,” she hissed, her voice like a slap. “How could you?”
Chapter 18
Twenty minutes later, I was standing in the living room at Lilac Ridge,
trying not to cry. “I’m telling you, I didn’t know they were coming,” I said for what felt like the hundredth time. I looked between Mimi and Posey and found nothing but anger on their faces.
The entire thing was a bigger mess than I even imagined. One of the developers had talked to Mimi when they went off in search of the chef, told her that he hoped we could all sit down soon and discuss an offer on the property. And Posey had been standing with her at the time. And then they’d heard the end of my conversation with my dad and the developers, heard them mention the interview. Saw him make that money sign while talking about the restaurant. They’d come to their own conclusions, and nothing I said seemed to dent their anger.
“I didn’t invite them,” I tried again. “I had nothing to do with it.”
“Your father just showed up with them?” Posey asked, disbelief clear in her voice.
“Yes! That’s what I’ve been telling you.”
“They sounded pretty knowledgeable about the property,” Mimi shot back. She was pacing the room, so upset that I was scared for her. She’d been through too much this week to be this worked up.
“Mimi, please sit.”
“One has to wonder where they got that information, Iris.”
“What do you mean?”
“That conversation with your father last week,” she snapped. Mimi never snapped at me. “The one that your mother walked in on.”
“She told you about that?”
“Of course she did! She was very worried. She heard you talking about profit margins and investment opportunities for my restaurant. She wanted to know if I had any idea what you were up to.”
“It wasn’t like that—”
“And I told her not to be so hard on you, that you would never do something like that. Not to your family. I told her that she must have misunderstood.”
“Mimi—”
Where Your Heart Is (Lilac Bay Book 1) Page 23
