N. Walters - Past Promises

Dyson, and people like him, continually underestimated Levi because of his appearance. They took one look at his large size and casual clothes and dismissed him as all brawn and not much brain. He cultivated that image, used it. It was as natural to him as breathing and had served him well in his former profession. What most people didn’t know about him was that he had an IQ that was off the charts and could manipulate computers and information as well, or better, than anyone else on the planet.

The other two men settled in to wait. After a while, Jonah got up and went into the kitchen, rummaging around. “You don’t have much food in here, do you?”

“I need to shop,” Levi muttered. He’d planned to do that this morning. One of the laptops dinged. He went around the table to the right laptop and pulled up the program. Scrolling through pages of financial information, he found exactly what he was searching for. “Gotcha.”

Linda had been expecting it, but it still stunned her to find out there was absolutely nothing she could do about the situation. The local bank had sold some of their loans to several larger institutions to offload some of their debt and hers had been one of them.

Stupid! She should have waited until she’d had the money in hand from her grandmother’s estate. But she’d been impatient and she’d found the perfect building for Past Promises. After all those years of waiting, she’d jumped at the chance to finally have what she’d always wanted. Now she was paying the price for her impatience.

Either she came up with the money or she’d lose the building.

She watched the scenery go by as Cyndi drove her home. They’d made a quick stop at the bakery, but she’d stayed in the car while her friend ran inside for snacks. Cyndi kept sneaking her worried glances, but she wasn’t ready to talk. Not yet. Amanda would want to know everything and she only wanted to go through this once. Not that Cyndi didn’t already know the score. Linda had given one shake of her head when she’d stepped out of Albert’s office. It had been enough to let her friend know that nothing had changed.

Cyndi parked the car in front of the store and turned off the ignition. Linda stared at the beautiful window displays that she’d spent hours lovingly creating.

“I’m sorry.” Cyndi’s voice was quiet, but there was no mistaking the sincerity.

“Me too.” Linda took a deep breath. “It’s just the building. They can’t touch the business.” Once again, she was thankful that the loan for the building was a personal one, not connected to her business.

Reaching into the backseat, Cyndi pulled out a baker’s box. “Let’s go in. Amanda’s got her nose pressed to the glass watching us.”

Linda smiled. Amanda was indeed watching them, motioning for them to come in. She had the door yanked open by the time they reached the entrance.

“Well?” Her green eyes flashed as she reached out to hug Linda.

“We have chocolate and lots of it.” Linda glanced around, grateful for once that there were no customers. “Quiet morning?”

“Yes, but I sold the dining room set, as well as the hutch. Oh, and she wants the dishes too. All the details are on your desk. I didn’t know how you handled delivery, but it’s local so I said you’d take care of it.” Amanda nibbled on her bottom lip. “Was that okay?”

Linda could barely wrap her head around what her friend was telling her. “I think I need to sit down.” She groped her way over behind the counter and sank into her office chair. “You sold the set, the sideboard and the Royal Albert dinnerware?”

With her red hair and fair skin, her friend looked younger than a woman in her early thirties. Amanda often said it was the smattering of freckles on her nose that did it. She might look like the girl next door, but Amanda was obviously one hell of a saleslady.

“And the silver service too.” Amanda grinned as she handed Linda the bill of sale. I gave the customer a ten-percent discount and free delivery. Oh, and I threw in the doilies as well. She liked those.”

“Do you want a job?” Linda asked her.

Amanda laughed, obviously pleased. “I’ve got a job, but thanks.”

“No, thank you.” That was a huge sale she would have missed if the store hadn’t been open this morning. Closing her eyes, Linda once again thanked the heavens for her friends. Her relationship with her family might suck, but she had the best friends ever.

“Thank you. Both of you.” She opened her eyes and stared at the two women. They were all so different in many ways, but they’d forged deep friendships that would last a lifetime.

Cyndi opened the bakery box while Amanda poured up coffee. Linda smiled when she saw that Amanda had set up cups, saucers and tea plates she’d plucked from the miscellaneous dishes that were stacked in one hutch. They were mismatched, but colorful.

It was perfect.

Touched by the gesture, Linda took the cup of coffee Amanda handed her and set it on the desk beside her. Cyndi handed her a plate with one of the sinful chocolate éclairs she’d purchased from the bakery. It probably had a zillion calories, but it would be worth every single one of them.

Lifting her cup, she raised it high. “To friendship.”

“To friendship,” they echoed.

Amanda pulled up a Victorian chair and handed Linda a sheet of paper. “This is a list of empty properties around town. Cyndi doesn’t have vacancies in any of her properties that are suitable for Past Promises but Jonah knew of a few places.” She shrugged at Linda’s quizzical gaze. “Being an electrician, he knows everyone in the construction business. I called the real estate agent, got some prices and details. I figured you’d call him about setting up some appointments to view when you were ready.”

“Thank you, Amanda.” She’d known she’d have to tackle the real estate issue sooner, rather than later. But Amanda had already done a lot of the preliminary work for her.

“And, of course, you’ll stay with us when the time comes.” Cyndi took a bite of her éclair and chewed, an expression of ecstasy crossing her face. “Ohmygod, this is divine.”

“Thank you.” Linda was beginning to feel like a parrot. But she didn’t know what else to say. The generosity of her friends was staggering. She’d spent so many years being only able to depend on herself and her grandmother. This was almost overwhelming. Tears pricked her eyes, but she blinked them back. She’d done enough crying and it didn’t change a thing. All she could do now was move forward and that was exactly what she’d planned to do. “But I can’t stay with you.”

Cyndi swallowed her bite of éclair and glared at her. “Of course you can.”

Linda shook her head. “I appreciate the offer, but it’s your busy time of year. You can’t afford not to have the inn packed to capacity and I can’t afford to pay full rate for who knows how long.”

“You’re not going to pay anything.” Cyndi’s outrage would have been funny if it hadn’t been so touching. “I have more than enough money to leave one of the rooms not rented.”

Reaching out, Linda took Cyndi’s hand in hers. “I really appreciate the offer, but it’s not going to happen.”

“You’re so stubborn.” Cyndi groused.

“Look who’s talking.”

Amanda watched the byplay as she sampled the éclair, licking sweet filling from the corner of her mouth. “You can stay with us. We’ve got an extra room.”

“Maybe for a day or two if I absolutely have to. I want to look around first. If I can find an apartment, that would work best.” She took a sip of her coffee before setting the fragile cup back on the saucer. “Besides, I figured Levi would be staying with you. After all, when this place is sold, he’ll lose his apartment too.”

Silence greeted her. Amanda glanced at Cyndi, and then they both stared at her. It took every ounce of self-control not to squirm under their intense scrutiny. Cyndi shook her head. “You’ve been holding out on us.”

Amanda pulled her chair closer. “You and Levi. I never would have guessed. How long has it been going on? When did it happen?” She sat back and fanned her face. “This is too much. Details. We need details.”

“Ladies.” Levi stepped out of the shadows, figuring it was long past time to make his presence known. He’d come downstairs a few minutes ago after he’d glanced out the window and seen Cyndi’s car parked out front.

Jonah and Shamus had left for work twenty minutes ago, promising to call later. Levi had worked out his plan of action and that meant he had to leave early tomorrow morning. He’d only be gone for the day, but he wasn’t looking forward to being away from Linda for even that long. Jonah was right. He did have it bad.

All three women jumped in their seats. Amanda’s cheeks grew red, but Cyndi just stared at him with speculation in her pale blue eyes. Linda smiled at him. She was putting on a brave face, but he could see the underlying sadness beneath.

“How did it go?” He already knew, but he wanted her to tell him.

She took a deep breath. “Nothing has changed. The bank sold the promissory note and the clause in it allows the new bank to ask for full payment. If I can’t pay, they’ll foreclose and sell the building. It’s my own fault. I signed the papers knowing that clause was there, but I figured my grandmother’s estate would be settled by now.”

“I could give you a loan.” Cyndi leaned back in her chair and linked her hands over her stomach. “You could pay off the loan and then pay me when you get your grandmother’s money. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before.”

Levi could tell Linda was stunned by her friend’s generosity. And so was he. “You can’t do that!” Linda leaned forward, her face pale. “I appreciate the generous offer, but my family could keep my grandmother’s estate tied up for heaven only knows how long. It could be months, maybe a year or two.”