I turned and stormed toward the exit. He yelled at me to come back, shouting so loudly that diners and waiters gaped at him in shock.
“Where do you think you're going, son? If you walk away from this, you're a moron. No child of mine would be so stupid.”
“Sorry to disappoint you.” I glared at him over my shoulder. “Oh, by the way – you can keep on hiding things if you like, but I will find out the truth somehow. Nobody keeps things from me.”
I threw open the door, grateful for the icy wind to cool my hot face and drown out dad's howls of anger.
“Don't you dare. You stay out of this, do you hear me? If you keep on pushing, I'll make sure you regret it, and I don't make idle threats.”
The door closed, and I hurried to the car. There was work to be done, secrets to uncover, and a wedding to keep planning. I just had to put all that had happened tonight out of my mind. Pretend it never happened.
Forget about the mall, about the millions of dollars that could be mine. Forget that Sarah and her family were broke as could be, that there might be some ulterior motive for this marriage beyond saving her store.
A text arrived on my phone, from her.
Hope the dinner with your dad is going well. If not, you can come over my place instead. Soup and hot cocoa for you. :)
I rested my head against the steering wheel. Sarah would never marry for money. She was too good for that.
Too good for me. She deserved better.
Sounds great. Spike that cocoa with rum and you have a deal. After tonight I'm gonna need it.
Off I went to her apartment, which was beginning to feel more like home these days than my own.
Chapter 18 - Sarah
I may have been poorer than dirt, but that never really mattered too much. Thanks to saving every penny I earned, I'd always had a decent cushion to float me through tough times.
Well, that cushion was beginning to deflate and lately, every single day was a “tough time.”
“How can the electric bill for this shack be three hundred freaking dollars?” Lana tossed the bill aside with disgust. “It's smaller than my house.”
The paper sat on the counter, taunting me. I was too sick to look at it. Pay my rent, or keep the store's lights on?
These hard choices weren't going to end any time soon.
“It would probably help if we didn't have the twinkly lights running twenty-four seven.”
She gazed sadly at the colorful lights she'd put up only a couple of weeks ago. I recalled that day, the day Heath marched into Slicker Image and demand Asher get married. It was crazy how much had changed between us since then.
I'd resisted letting him have me for so long and wished that I hadn't. This wasn't just about the good sex; no, things between us had evolved beyond merely that. He was good to me, visiting me at the shop, bringing me lunch, and even hanging out at my crappy apartment to watch shows on the Internet because I couldn't afford cable TV.
But even with all that, and our “wedding day” quickly arriving, I still had no idea what his real feelings were. Was he screwing other chicks on the side? Did it matter? We weren't a couple, and he owed me nothing.
“Sarah, you look like a zombie,” Lana teased. “Better get it together before our first customer shows up.”
“It's already eleven and we haven't had one yet.”
The doorbell ding-donged. I looked up, eager to greet the shopper, but found that it was just Asher. He didn't looked very happy, either.
“Hey there, Asher.” Lana batted her eyelashes playfully. “Aw, you didn't bring us more of those donuts?”
He wasn't in the mood for chitchat. “Sarah, can I talk to you someplace quiet? Alone?”
Lana skittered away and worked on some mundane chore. Asher and I went to the office, my stomach suddenly not feeling so good.
He took a deep breath and launched right into it.
“You know how, last night, you asked me what was wrong and I said nothing? That was kind of a lie.”
“Yeah, I figured as much. You weren't acting like your normal flirty self. Didn't try to get me naked once.”
Instead of making a dirty joke like he tended to do, he frowned harder.
“When I went to meet with my dad, he presented me with a new contract. If I agree not to marry you, he'll give me almost half of the Galleria.”
Oh, no. It was worse than I thought.
“Then I'll lose the store.”
“I know.”
I didn't want to ask if he'd take the deal. Of course he would; he'd be crazy not to. He'd get out of the marriage he didn't want in the first place, and be paid a boat load of cash for doing it.
“I guess it was stupid to think I'd win,” I muttered. “Maybe it's for the best we close down. Bills are piling up. I can't afford to pay Lana what she's worth. No customers even after that expensive publicity stunt.”
To my surprise, he sank to his knees and looked me in the eye.
“I never said I agreed.”
“I... I don't understand.”
“Dad's desperate to stop this wedding, and I think if I can figure out the real reason why, he'll be screwed. I'm not just going to roll over and quit Slicker Image in exchange for more money. I built that store into what it is today. Maybe I don't have any kids, but that's my baby.”
I understood; if I had to let Curiosities go, I'd be devastated. The place meant everything to me.
“I guess, but
