“I wonder if this is all really because of the Galleria – or because you can't stand the thought of her being part of the family. Does her social standing really bother you that much?”
“...I didn't ask you here to discuss personal matters in front of my associates.”
“You want me to accept your offer? Then I want answers. Otherwise, it's not going to happen.”
His eye twitched. “You'd throw away something like this? For what?”
“Because I love Sarah, and I'd need a pretty damn good reason not to make her my wife.”
The words came from my mouth without thinking. Hopefully, my acting was enough to convince dad.
But was it really acting anymore?
The waiter arrived with appetizers, but dad got up and beckoned for me to follow him.
“I'm sorry. We'll be just a moment,” he told his friends. “I need to have a word with my son.”
I followed him, feeling very much like a little boy being led off for a spanking. He'd always treated me like this, like a child, no matter how old I got.
The hallway leading to the kitchen and restrooms was quiet. He stopped there and turned to me.
“Listen, son. I know your mother is eager for you to start a family, but marrying Sarah is a terrible idea. She's only doing this for money; don't you see that?”
I laughed at him. “Yeah, mom said the same thing. You're both wrong. She's not like all the other greedy, entitled gold-diggers I've met. She's different.”
Just another reason why I found myself so drawn to her. She was kind and generous, the most hard-working woman I'd ever met.
“You're being naive. I know what you're planning, that this is all a ploy to keep your silly little store, but be realistic. Once you're married, she's going to bleed you dry and there won't be anything you can do about it.”
“I'll get a prenup.”
“And what about after? I promise you, Asher, you'll wake up one day to find your bank account drained.”
Surely all of this was some idiotic ruse. Dad was just trying to make me suspicious of her, to ruin my trust in her. Sarah would never steal from me. She was too good of a person to stoop that low.
“If this is your argument for me taking your deal, it's a pretty bad one.”
“You may trust her, but it's time to face the facts. Her whole family is poor, and once she's got that marriage license and a ring on her finger, what's yours is hers, too. Do you seriously think she won't realize that?”
He took out some more papers from his briefcase and shoved the stack into my hand.
“I took the opportunity to do a bit of research for you. As you can see, Hazel's Curiosities cleared less than twenty thousand dollars in sales last year.”
I knew the situation was bad, but not that dire. What was she living off of, ramen noodles and beans? She'd have made more money working as a cashier at Slicker Image, for God's sake.
“Her sole employee barely receives minimum wage. Her parents, Emma and Rocky, have five adopted children – and they're trying desperately to adopt another before Christmas, but they simply can't afford it.”
The next paper had a picture on it, a photo of a scowling Middle Eastern boy with a missing leg and hand. The paperwork was from an adoption agency; apparently it'd cost over fifty grand to bring this kid home.
What the hell? Why hadn't Sarah mentioned this to me?
A sudden thought raced through my mind. They wanted to adopt before Christmas, just like I had to get married by the end of the year. I had money. They didn't. The timing seemed just a little bit too perfect.
No! No, I was being irrational. She'd never use me like that.
“Let's see, what else? Her mother, Pam, is an unemployed homemaker who happens to have quite the shopping addiction. She's put the family in debt and maxed out four credit cards in as many months.”
He handed me statements with sickeningly high dollar amounts printed on them.
“Her father sells cars for a living, but it's barely enough for them to scrape by. They've missed a few mortgage payments lately, I see. Then there's her grandma, Hazel, with all the typical health problems and doctor bills that come with old age.”
I didn't know where he'd gotten all this private information, but I'd had enough of it. I threw the papers back at him. They fluttered to the ground like fallen leaves.
“Yeah, so they have money problems. Big deal! That doesn't mean Sarah's going to bankrupt me over them.”
“You don't think she'll at least be tempted?”
As much as I hated him for it, he'd sowed a seed of doubt in me. If all of this was true, then even the most perfect, good-hearted woman would have trouble resisting the siren's call of free, easy money.
It had always been one of my worst fears, and a major reason for not getting hitched: marry and take the chance that some girl would take everything from me. Why bother?
“Don't do this to yourself, Asher.” He gathered the scattered papers. “There's still time. Save yourself from becoming a divorce statistic. Run the Galleria with me. We'd be good partners.”
“I know there's more to this story, so don't try to win me over with your fake concern. What was the deal with you saying I 'can't' marry her, that there's some kind of bad blood between our families?”
“That doesn't matter now. What happened should stay in the past, where it belongs – but marrying her will change that. It will ruin things, and a lot of people will get hurt. That's all I'm going to say about the matter.”
“Then if you'll keep on
