Chapter Ten
Dalton
I woke up next to the most beautiful woman. A woman I’d dreamed about for almost a decade. Last night was more than I ever could have imagined. The young man I had been never would have been able to enjoy what I had last night. I had been selfish, immature, and my fantasies did not match to the reality of what I had found.
There had been women through the years. Some stayed around for a while, quickly discouraged when they realized my work held more interest for me. No one had touched my soul like Taylor had on the night of her eighteenth birthday. Pops had little to say after I had come out of the kitchen. But it was that little bit that had changed my world.
“Do you love her?” he asked.
I stammered. “I don’t know.”
“You better know, Dalton. I love you like a son, but my daughter, she’s special to me. You don’t deserve her.”
My male pride took offense, and I was just about to let him have it. How dare he?
He made one small movement, raising his hand. “Yet.” He shook his head. “I saw this coming, Dalton. The way you’ve been looking at her. You need to grow up and know who you are. Then come back and see where it is. Let her grow up, too.”
The movement in the bed next to me took me away from the past and brought me back to the present with a rush.
He was right. Pops was always right. I don't know if it was because of her innate sweetness, the way she handled everyone, even the drunk bar patrons, with kindness. I had taken to watching her at the bar when I thought no one was looking. I knew I couldn’t tell Eric. At that time, I couldn’t tell Eric anything, as most days he was out boning Courtney.
As I watched her sleep, I didn’t know if it was just the amazing chemistry between us. What we had shared last night, I had never had before. What I did know was when she moved, she pulled me with her and when I moved, she came.
I never expected to find that when I came back here. The previous women didn’t want real attachments. They either wanted the attention of a prominent bachelor in town or they wanted the free ride of going out on my arm for a day, a week, a month. They weren’t really interested in me, just the exposure I could give them. The people they would meet, the connections they could find through me.
To say I didn’t care about them would be callous. What I can say is that the attraction of what I did for a living and building a business far outweighed what these women wanted. Those women I had dated expected nothing from me, and it allowed me a certain type of freedom. The ones who were clingier had been gently steered toward other men more suitable through introductions at the clubs.
Having the responsibility of caring for someone was never in the cards.
I heard Taylor sigh, and I rolled over and wrapped my arms around her. If my world had toppled and ended last night, I wouldn’t have care. The moment her lips touched mine, I wanted to be nowhere but by her side. I was chained to her by my own heart.
I took a look at the hotel clock and realized I only had a few hours before I had to be up. I’d promised Eric I was going back to The Boar to look over inventory and bills. He was very happy to have someone who knew something about running a bar to talk to about his issues. I was happy to help him. Anything I could do to mend our bridges and make them stronger, I would do. For me, and for Taylor.
Yesterday, progress had been made in getting the books together on the Cloud. I had a better feel of how things were going. Today, we were tackling the kegs and inventory, and if time prevailed, bills. A huge stack of them.
I wrapped my arms around my sleeping beauty, waking her gently. “Baby.”
She rolled over in my arms to smile at me. I fell into those gorgeous green eyes. They had always reminded me of the waves at the Outer Banks, as they gently caressed your feet as you walked through them.
“Morning,” she said.
“I need to head down to the bar to help Eric.”
She smiled at me and my heart soared. “I’m glad. You don’t know what it means to him, knowing you're back, even for a little bit before you leave. Just knowing you care about the bar and our family is really helping him.” She smiled sleepily at me. “With all the stuff that happened with Pops… it was so fast. We never had a chance to learn from him.”
I nodded, my heart in my throat. This will business was going to throw a wrench into everything that was currently happening. It would be like a Band-Aid, I told myself. Pull it off quick. The devil on my shoulder agreed, a Band-Aid made with duct tape. I closed that thought off in my mind and pulled her closer. Her lips came to me and after that, I forgot everything that was going through my mind.
A couple of hours later, I was down at the bar with Eric. How Taylor and I would be able to keep meeting in secret, I didn’t know. She glowed from just being around me, and I was sure I did as well. Hopefully, it wouldn’t have to be a secret for too long. We just needed to know how Eric was going to react. Taylor was pretty sure Kris would keep her word to me, and I was, too. Eric, however, would be unpredictable.
I was dropped off by Uber again. I’d be getting a rental later today as I really didn’t want to be riding around town in a limo. This was a country town with long roots. Limos were customarily frowned upon. I walked through the back door and across the hardwood floors of the bar to the office. I glanced over at the bar inventory. It seemed to be going quicker than it should. Including the kegs, even from the wake two days ago.
Maybe the college kids were overpouring. Pops always knew and would say something. Maybe he had gotten too sick to know. I had strict protocol in my all my nightclubs and great managers who were paid well to make sure we made a profit and stayed honest.
As I walked through the bar, my mind tried to figure out a problem that I didn’t even have a question for yet.
“Eric,” I called out.
“Hey, Eric!” I tried again.
“Down here,” I heard him yell from the cellar.
When I got down there, I saw him scratching his head.
“You know, I was pretty sure we had more kegs yesterday. We didn’t have too much business, as it was Thursday.”
I looked around the cellar, and my eye caught the table where Taylor and I had become reacquainted.
Eric snapped his fingers in front of my eyes. “Wow, it must have been some lady last night.”
I shook my head, shocked, but then realized he didn’t know anything about last night. “No. Nothing like that. I was thinking about being down here when the kegs were turned two days ago, and I think you’re right.”
He walked around. “Some of the more expensive craft beer is gone. Looks like some of the hard liquor was moved out of the cage as well.”
All the hard liquor was kept in a cage in the storage area. You needed a key to get in. We went back there now. Wine was missing as well.
“Do you have people you trust working for you?” I asked.
Eric shrugged. “College kids mostly. No one has a key but Peggy and family.”
“Let me give Mabel a call and see about our security we use for our liquor cabinets and get some installed here.”
Eric scratched his stubble on his face. “That would be great. Who’s Mabel? Girlfriend?”
“No, she’s my executive assistant. Handles everything I can’t get to. She handles the scheduling of flights to the various clubs or online meetings with the managers of each club.”
“You need to tell me more about how you became the lord of the free world when it comes to night clubs.”
I laughed. “I’ll be here long enough to tell you tales. We better find out sooner rather than later what is happening here.” I took a deep breath. “So, how’s Taylor been?”
“She’s good. Listen, let’s take a look at the bills. We need to see if they match up.”
As we walked back up the office and the stack of bills, I tried again to bring up Taylor to Eric. I just had a niggling fear in my gut what the reading of the will was going to do to Eric and Taylor. I wanted to have Taylor and I out in the open with Eric before we got there. I didn’t want to keep it a secret from him.
I got on the phone with Mabel. She handled everything wonderfully and sent me the number to the locksmiths we used. I texted Taylor that I wanted to let Eric know.
She gave me a text back, Are you nuts?
I grabbed a pile of bills and so did Eric. I couldn’t talk about how involved Pops and I were, but I thought it would be very bad not to let them know before this afternoon’s meeting. A promise was a promise, and Pops wanted it told in his own way. However, one of the bills had me distracted.
“Eric, didn’t Pops pay the property tax this year?”
Eric put his stack down and walked over to me. “Yeah, every year. Like clockwork. Pops calls, gets the current amount, and flirts with the county clerk like he does every year. She tells him what he owes, and he runs it over there.”
I pushed the bill over. “Did he do that this year?”
Eric thought about it. “You know, this year and last he didn’t. He had Rhonda go each time. He would get the receipts back from the clerk and file them.”
Eric turned around and went to the filing cabinet in the corner and dug up the taxes file and brought it over to me at the desk. “See. Here it is.”
He pulled out a stack of receipts, including the ones for the last year. “Rhonda did it every quarter this year and last.”
I pushed the tax notice over to him. “I think we better talk to Rhonda. Who is she?”
“She’s a college kid. Been working for us for about two years.”
“Where is she now?”
“Classes just ended for the semester, so she is supposed to be back at the end of the week after some decompression time down at Hilton Head.”
“We need get some answers.”
At that moment, Peggy poked her head into the office. “Hey, boyos. Take a look at the clock, why don’t you? You got about fifteen minutes to head over to the lawyer’s.”
“Shit,” Eric and I said in unison and headed out to the bike out back. There would be no talking now about Taylor or about anything.
All I could do at this point was handle the fallout. I was pretty sure once Taylor and Eric knew the other reason why I was here, I may very well find myself back in the doghouse. I didn’t know how they were going to feel when they found out that as much as Pops helped me, I helped him. I swallowed. It was all going to come clean in the wash. And all hell was going to break loose.
I didn’t want to lose what was just starting up with Taylor or bust the bridge Eric and I were building. Eric wouldn’t have a choice, and, by extension, Taylor was really going to hurt. Secrets. I’d never know why Pops wanted to keep everything so close to his chest. Now we needed to deal with the consequences. And by we, I meant me.