Chapter 21
Lucas and Joe sat down in his tiny office, pressing an ice pack to his eye. His dad was back at the house, resting from his trip. According to Joe, they talked and while they still had a lot of healing to do, it seemed they’d found a common ground.
It amazed Lucas how one side of his life was slowly repairing itself and the other was in complete and utter shambles.
“I’m sorry, Grandpa. I never should’ve trusted a Moretti.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“It is. I trusted her… fell in love with her when you told me to stay away. If I would’ve just listened to you…” He shrugged. “I could have avoided this mess.”
“What is with the negative energy in this room?” Martha asked as she breezed in, not caring that she was interrupting. “You know what you two need? Lavender.”
“Martha, this isn’t a good time,” Joe said.
She waved her hand at him to shush. “When is it ever a good time?” She came over to the desk and sat on the edge.
“Heard you got yourself in a little tizzy with one of the Moretti brothers,” she said, turning her green eyes onto Lucas.
“I don’t know if I’d call it a tizzy. He punched me.”
“They are fiercely protective of each other. So, tell me, doll, what’d you do to provoke him?”
Lucas didn’t want to have this conversation, but he figured the faster he aired his business to Martha the faster she’d leave, and he and Joe could go back to figuring out their next steps.
“Ella and I got in a fight, and she walked away crying.”
Martha snapped her head to the side, looking at his with displeasure. “Don’t you tell me you made that girl cry? She is as sweet as pie.”
“She’s also a liar.”
“Ella?” Martha laughed. “No child, she is not. You’re mixing her up with someone else.”
“Martha, this is not the time,” Joe said, but Martha ignored him.
“She did lie,” Lucas said. “She’s the only person I told about this.” He picked up the flyer then slammed it back down. “And she came up with the fundraiser idea.”
“Oh dear,” Martha said.
“So yes, she lied to me. I asked her to promise to keep it between us, and she went out plastering it all over the damn town anyway. I don’t know what her motive was, but it doesn’t matter. She betrayed me.”
“You got it all wrong.” Martha said.
“No, I’m pretty sure I got it all right,” Lucas said, the tension in his neck tightening with each word.
“I made the flyers,” Martha said, and Lucas’ head snapped to her, trying to process what she was saying.
“Excuse me?”
Martha stood from the desk and swept her gaze to both of them. “The other day when I brought the salt lamp I overheard your conversation. I wanted to help. Joe’s done so much for me and the community. I honestly thought I was helping.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” Lucas said, reclining in his seat. Ella hadn’t lied to him. She’d been telling the truth the entire time. Relief rushed through him like cold water on a hot summer day, but it quickly turned uncomfortable, drowning him in regret. If she was telling the truth then he accused her of being a liar.
Oh god, he messed up.
“You made these?” Joe asked, grabbing the flyer off the desk and holding it up to Martha. His blue eyes narrowed, anger evident in the set of his shoulders.
She, as usual, was undeterred. “Someone had to do it. Your ass is too damn stubborn to admit you need help.”
“Why do you think I called my grandson? To help me!”
“Oh please, that was just an excuse to get him here. You weren’t going to take any of his suggestions into consideration.”
“You are insufferable!” Joe yelled.
“And you’re an ass!”
Lucas ignored the two of them as he tried to figure out how the hell he was going to fix things with Ella. He finally found someone he could see himself spending the rest of his life with and he screwed it all up. He needed to not only fix what he broke, but he also needed to find a way to fix this stupid feud. Until the Prescotts and Morettis could end the decades old rivalry, he and Ella could never have their happily ever after.
***
Hours later, Lucas was still at Joe’s desk nowhere near solving his problem with Ella or the problem with the restaurant when Martha walked back in. Her salt and pepper hair sat in a mess of wild curls that bounced with each step she took.
“Martha, this really isn’t a good time.”
She slapped her hand down on the desk, and he looked up past her cluster of silver rings to see a stack of crisp twenty-dollar bills underneath. It was a sweet gesture and while he appreciated it he knew Joe would be a different story.
“You know Joe won’t take charity,” Lucas said.
“This isn’t charity. This is money I owe him. I’m sure you can find it on an IOU in that box over there.” She motioned to the shoebox that was filled with scraps of paper. “If I’d known the old geezer was suffering for cash I would’ve paid him back ages ago.”
“That’s really nice, Martha, but I’m afraid he’s going to need more than hundred-and-twenty dollars.” If it was only a hundred-and-twenty-bucks then Lucas could have given him the money a week ago and he wouldn’t be pulling his hair out trying to find another solution.
“I know,” Martha said. “That’s why I made a few phone calls.”
Lucas sat up in his seat intrigued.
“Line up!” she called out the door. Suddenly a line of people appeared in the doorway. A line that extended all the way outside. People of all ages, holding cash and check books. “Okay let’s get started, shall we?” Martha said to Lucas then turned to the man at the door. “You first.”
The man walked up. “Name’s Skip Harrington. I owe Joe thirty-two dollars and twenty-nine cents. My IOU should be in that box.”
Lucas stared at the man and the line, trying to comprehend what was going on when Martha snapped at him. “We don’t have all day, and these people have places to be. Chop chop.”
Lucas grabbed the box and opened it, the scraps of paper practically pouring out the top. He started sorting through them and found one for Skip Harrington. He pulled it out and wrote paid across it then placed it aside.
“Next,” Martha said.
Frank walked up to the desk, and Lucas smiled at the cab driver. “Frank, it’s good to see you.”
“Likewise, young man. Your grandfather has done a lot for me over the years, and it’s time I pay him back.” Frank handed Lucas an envelope, and Lucas’s eyes widened at the stack of hundreds.
“This is a lot of money.”
“I would’ve lost my house if it wasn’t for Joe. He bailed me out, and now I’m happy to return the favor. He’s a proud man, your grandfather, but he’s a good man. You can learn a lot from him.”
“I’m starting to realize that,” Lucas admitted.
“What’s taking so long?” Martha called out.
Frank laughed. “I hope this isn’t the last time I see you.”
“It won’t be.”
Frank shook his hand, and Lucas placed his envelope to the side. Martha sent the next person over, and Lucas dug out IOU after IOU, marking paid and writing down loans Joe never recorded.
His grandfather had helped so many people through the years. Lucas had people handing him money dating back to the seventies. Lucas thought Joe was lonely, but how could he be lonely in a town surrounded by so many people who cared about him?
Joe lost his son to his own stubbornness, but he became a father to the entire town, taking care of the people the best way he knew how—by lending them money and never expecting it back.
After a couple hours the line finally dwindled, and Lucas was about to close the empty box when Vinny Moretti walked through the door.