Page 71 of I'll Carry You

Jason set his hamburger down. “So you’re saying she became a pretentious snob who put money above the only family she had?”

Mildred gave him a hard, knowing look. “Is that so hard for you to believe?”

The hair on Jason’s arms stood on end as he stared at her. How she’d turned this around on him, he wasn’t sure. But she had. He’d come down to Brandywood with the same mindset.

“I want to do right by Jen and Colby, though. And you, too. I want to get to know you better.”

“Now. But those weren’t your original intentions, were they?” Mildred smiled at the passing server. “And if Jen ever finds that out, what do you imagine she’ll think?”

“She doesn’t need to know that.”

She clucked her tongue. “I thought you wanted to tell her the truth.”

“I do. And I’m going to. Speaking of the truth and ways to tell her, part of the reason I wanted to talk to you today is that I found out you own some prime real estate on Main Street in Brandywood.”

Mildred threw her head back and laughed. “Oh, why am I not surprised? You want whatever the shriveled hag can give you since old limp dick didn’t leave you anything.”

“Thanks for the crude assessment of my character, but no.”

“Well, I’m sorry to tell you, sonny, but I’ve already decided to leave that disaster to the town of Brandywood. It’s a worthless headache that only costs me money I don’t have in property taxes every year. Stopped even being able to get a renter for it about four or five years ago. I would have gotten rid of it, but no one will buy it off me in the condition it’s in. And to make it worse, the damn thing is on the National Register of Historic Places, so any updates to the place have to go through so much red tape that I’m going to let those law-making idiots deal with it themselves.”

“I already know most of that.” Jason crumpled his napkin and tossed it on his plate. “I didn’t know who you intended to give it to, but it didn’t take me too much research to figure out you’d probably benefit more if I burned it down for the insurance money.”

Mildred quirked a brow. “Is that what you’re suggesting?”

She seemed game for that.

He chuckled. “No.” Setting his forearms on the table, he leaned forward. “Jen mentioned that she’d love to fix it up and make a bakery out of it one day. I don’t know if the building caught her eye because of Colby or you or what, but obviously, she can’t afford to update it. But I can.”

“So you’re going to buy a building that’s worthless and fix it for her? That’s a hell of a bribe.”

Jason bristled. “It’s not a bribe. It’s just something I want to do for her.”

“She might see it as a bribe. I’ll think about it, though. We’ll have to talk numbers.”

The server chose that inopportune moment to come back to the table. “Can I get either of you anything else?”

“My grandson would like a big chocolate milkshake.” Mildred clapped her hands enthusiastically.

Jason shook his head. “I don’t want a chocolate milkshake.” What was she up to now?

The server looked from Mildred to Jason with a confused look on his face. “So . . .”

“A chocolate milkshake.” Mildred gave a firm nod, then smiled.

Arguing about this was pointless. The server looked at Jason, and he sighed, then gave a curt nod.

As the server walked away, Jason leaned forward. “Trying to run up the bill?”

She eyed him. “No. And if that’s what you’re worried about, you need to stop being so tight-fisted. I’m paying.”

God, this lady liked to argue. “You’re not paying.” He was in a much better financial position than she was, so having her pay would be ridiculous.

“Yes, I am. I may not be swimming in tubs of gold coins like your grandfather, but I can afford burgers and fries for my grandson. I won almost six hundred on the slots this weekend. And I asked for the milkshake because you need to relax. Those were your favorite as a kid. You used to beg your daddy for them, and he’d split them with you.”

Jason stared at her, trying to make sense of her. He hated his grandfather’s voice in the back of his head at moments like these, spouting off wisdom about logic. She was driving him nuts, but she was flat-out honest, and that was appreciated. Strangely enough, he liked Mildred—much more than he’d expected to. She was a simple, eccentric woman but surprisingly funny.

“Is there a reason you want me to talk about my father?” Jason crossed his arms.

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