A man backed into a corner with nothing to lose is someone to fear. I need to keep that in mind if I ever confront Eden’s dad.
* * *
To get my mind off murder I track down my Eden. The Daily Drip is busy as ever, and I don’t have much opportunity to speak with her. I keep ordering as rent for my table but I can’t eat it all, so I dump the bear claws, scones, blueberry and cranberry muffins, cookies, and macaroons in a bag. I’ll drop them off at the closest shelter. The one waitress, Clare, has stopped bringing me coffee.
“Heard you were allergic,” she says. “Who’s allergic to coffee? That seems abnormal to me.”
“Me too,” I agree.
“How long you gonna sit in that chair?”
“‘Til Eden has a break.” No reason not to be frank. It’s obvious why I’m here.
“You better be careful with her, otherwise we’re going to hurt you,” Clare warns. “No trifling with our girl’s heart. She’s had a hard time.”
I lean forward. “In what way?”
“She’s responsible for all of this, isn’t she? The café, her brother, everything because her good-for-nothing dad is too busy gambling everything away.”
“What’s Eden think?”
“None of your business.” Clare flushes, belatedly realizing she’s said something she shouldn’t have. “Anyway, we’re watching you.” She stalks away after that last warning.
I guess that’s why he’s cheating his daughter, but it doesn’t tell me how Eden feels about it. She could still be protective of the old man.
A half hour later, Eden drops into the chair opposite me. “Clare says you’ve been waiting for me. Does it have to do with the distributors?”
“It does.”
“Gosh, you could’ve emailed me or texted. I feel bad you’ve waited this whole time.” Her pretty mouth turns down at the corners.
That is unacceptable. “There’s nothing I’d rather do.”
“Don’t you have a job? You said you manage businesses?”
“I’m retired.”
“Really?” Her eyes flare wide.
I can’t imagine retiring so young. It’ll be a dream to retire at sixty-five at this rate.” She chews on the edge of her lower lip. I try not to stare. “Is the situation salvageable? I want to be able to put Ryan through college.”
“It’s salvageable.” I spread contracts in front of her. “These are new distributor contracts. As you can see, your costs are going to go down by over sixty percent. With your gross monthly receipts, you’ll have an immediate profit increase of forty percent.”
She grabs the contracts and starts reading. “Forty percent? That would be amazing.” Her eyes stop. “Wait. These are between me and the distributors. Not my dad.”
“Right. I thought that you owned The Daily Drip?” I say even though her dad is on the incorporation papers filed with the state.
She shakes her head and sets the papers down. “No. It’s my dad’s, so I’ll need to get his signature.”
“I can’t imagine him not signing them. It’s going to be a huge savings. I’m happy to go and talk with him with you.”
“No. I don’t think he’d like that. He’s kind of private about his business stuff.”
I’m not liking what I’m hearing, but I’m not going to push it.
“Do you have a card? I can suggest he give you a call if he has questions.”
“You won’t need it. I’ll be here every day.” I push away from the table and grab the bag of goodies. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Chapter Six Eden
I look over the paperwork again, not understanding how or why my father would let this happen. It’s so unlike him to toss money away. He’d rather gamble it away. Sadly, I know there is something I’m missing, and he isn't likely going to tell me what that is.
If I had to guess it’s because he is a freaking con. I should have known when he offered to let me take over this place and said if I start turning a profit, I could buy it from him at cost. That was clearly never going to happen. He’s obviously made sure of that.
I scoop up the paperwork, putting it into a file and clipping a pen to the top. There is only one way to try to get answers, and that’s to go straight to the source. I make my way to the front of the shop. It’s only an hour until close.
“Hey.” I rest my hip against the counter next to Clare. “Do you think you can close tonight? I need to run out to my father’s place.” I think it’s best to catch him by surprise. That way he doesn’t have time to think about his lies or try to avoid me.
“Of course.”
“Thanks.” I give her a hug before I head up the stairs to check on Ryan. When I enter our place, he jumps up from the sofa, grabbing a book off the coffee table. I shake my head at him.
“I have to run an errand. There is pizza in the freezer. I shouldn’t be too long.”
“Cool.” He fidgets with his book, waiting for me to scold him for playing video games instead of doing his schoolwork.
“Just make sure you get your calculus done.”
“I don’t understand it!”
“Okay, I’ll see what I can do when I get home,” I say before shutting and locking the door behind me. God knows I don’t understand that shit either. Maybe I can email the school and ask about getting a tutor.
I toss the folder into the passenger seat before starting the car. “Come on, Betsy, don’t die on me now,” I say when it doesn't want to start. I try again. Thankfully this time it does start.
I practice what I’m going to say over and over again the whole way to my dad’s. I know I have to watch the way that I say it so
