Page 13 of Jack

Instead of calling Ivy, she called her grandmother. She had been notified too about her mom wanting money, and it didn’t bother her all that much either. Mom would be overwhelmed again and call them like she had the first time. Things were no different for her, except that she might well get overwhelmed quicker with her and Jack getting married and such. She couldn’t understand why her mother was trying so hard to make everyone mad at her.

The two of them went over the paperwork that had made her able to trade on the open market. There was also a signed paperwork that said that her mother would allow her to make money for her on the same market. It was worded well, the attorney told them at the time, making it so that her mom nor any of them, for that matter ran out of money. She’d always been really good at investing and trading, but her mom had never seemed to care so long as when she wanted something, there was a way for her to get it. Ivy joined them just as they were finishing their lunch.

“I’d be glad to join you in this. I’ve been looking over all the paperwork that your grandmother sent me, and it doesn’t seem to me that you’ve done anything untoward to her in what she considers theft of her money. Do you suppose that she simply wants to be involved more?” Grandma said she thought that Gilda thought that by wanting her money, she’d make them broke. “There isn’t any way that she could make either of you broke. Henrietta, you had millions before Gilda was even born. Taylor, you own so many businesses and assets that there isn’t any way that if she took what she thought should have come to her that it would make a dent into your money. What else could it be?”

“She doesn’t want me to marry. Or for that matter to have anything to do with anyone that isn’t her. Mom is dependent on me—selfishly I might add and won’t allow me to have a life in the event that she needs something from me in the future. All my time and energy should be just for her, and she won’t tolerate me having a life outside of her.” Ivy said that was just silly. “But the truth. I’ve been taking care of her all my life. Even when I needed her to take care of me, her needs came first. Grandma and I have both been talking about it, and it has to do with the fact that her parents pampered her every need and now she’s gotten used to it, there isn’t any other way that it should be going. She demands that she live with Jack and me so that she can make sure that I don’t have children that will distract me from her needs. She actually said that to us.”

For the rest of the afternoon and into the evening, they talked about the case that her mother was bringing against them. At about six, Jack reached out to the family, saying that he was buried at work and needed all their help. Apparently his thoughts of not being all that busy didn’t happen like he’d thought.

Everyone was going to go to Jack’s to help out. Almost as soon as they pulled onto the street, they could see the lines of people waiting to get in. She and her grandma got out of the limo and ran to the back door of the place. Jack was standing at the back door like he was ready to bolt.

“There are over seventy people in the dining right now who are waiting on dinner. Then, there are as many as two hundred waiting to get inside to eat. Almost three hundred people are here to eat and standing in the chilly night to get some food. I don’t know how I’m— Henrietta, did you just hit me?” She said that she had and would again if he didn’t stop babbling. “I can’t do this. I don’t know that I even have enough food for all of them.”

“Of course you can. Damn it, boy, get in there and start cooking. Just cook one ticket at a time until you get them all cleared off. Didn’t that witchy woman make your walk-in special? Well, thatdoesn’t sound to me like you’re going to be running out of food anytime soon. Get in the kitchen before I have to start cooking. And I don’t know a lick about cooking.” He left the two of them standing there. “Do you think he’s going to remember that I taught you how to cook, love?”

“Not tonight, he might not.” They went into the kitchen to hear Jack telling his crew what to do. Basically, just wait on one table at a time until they were finished. Assigning his brothers as bus boys and two of them making salads to take out, it looked less like they were going to be in trouble and more like the family was going to be in over their heads. She and her grandma started chopping up the vegetables that were going to be needed for the grill, and they were set to go. When the first order came back, it was like a Zen or something laid over the kitchen. Not a sound was made that was loud, no one panicked when the salad bowl was temporarily empty, and when Denver took over as host, tables were being reseated in record time, and there was very little in the way of complaints made when people had to wait for an extra few minutes to have a seat to eat in the newest place in town.

It was well after midnight when the place was beginning to slow down. Thanks to the extra hands and the magic, they were able to feed all the people that had ventured out tonight. She noticed that everyone looked beat, but Jack decided to feed them all for helping out, including his staff and helped with the dishwashing that seemed to be never-ending. To her, it had been a good time. She didn’t know how Jack was going to feel when he realized that he’d fed well over three hundred patrons, and not a one of them had been upset with the long waits if you weren’t first in line.

“I think that I should have taken tonight more seriously.” She laughed with Jack as he sat at the table in the kitchen with them. “I kept thinking that you guys were just ordering food to make me feel better. I snuck out once to look and the dining room was as full as I’d ever thought that it would be. There seemed to be no end to the amount of food that I was cooking.”

“You’re going to have to expand soon. Word has gotten out now that you’re open, and I think that you’re going to be busy like this all the time. I, for one, was hard-pressed not to take someone’s plate of scallops and rice. There were so many compliments about it that I was sure you were going to run out, magic or not.” Denver laughed. “People were so wonderful, Jack. They were willing to share tables with strangers rather than wait for a second table to open up. And six tops were full of people who were strangers to each other. You did good, little brother.”

“I couldn’t have done this without you guys. When I got here at noon, Shelby said that the reservations were full. I thought that she was joking. Then, when I went out to check on the tables at one point before I started cooking, I couldn’t believe the place was standing room only for the tables that we had.” Denver told him that he thought tomorrow night was full as well. “I’m going to need to hire more people. Not just to be inside, but the patio was a huge hit tonight, even though it wasn’t all that warm out. I have to admit, I’m about as excited about a project as I’ve ever been. I can’t wait to tell Grandma and Grandda. They’re going to get a kick out of this.

Taylor helped with cleaning the tables. After setting all the chairs on the tables, one of the waitstaff got out the vacuum and started cleaning up the floor. Grandma and Bailee took the flowers that had faired well back to the cooler for tomorrow and they all laughed about how they were all starving when they’d arrived and had eaten their fair share of bread while working.

Jack had picked a good staff. None of them had quit like she might have well done if she’d been sixteen and hit with this much business. But they all pulled together, had a great night with tips, and were eagerly excited about tomorrow night’s business.

In two days, she was going to have to be in a courtroom with her mom and she found that she didn’t care how it turned out. If her mom took what she thought that she had coming to her, it really would be one less thing that she had to worry about. Her mom was becoming a drain on her, and she wasn’t sure if she could handle any more of her stress like she had over the last few weeks. Her mom was going to have to grow up, and she couldn’t think of a better way for her to do so than to be in charge of her own money and life.

~*~

Selling her condo was going to be the first thing that she did. Gilda Jane had wanted a bigger place forsome time now, and there was no reason for her to wait until the court said that she was rich. She was too. Simply because Taylor was. Her daughter would take care of her, and she’d have all her money, too. That was what she wanted and Gilda Jane wasn’t going to let her marry either.

She didn’t know why she wanted to marry someone anyway. She’d never cared for it, but her parents had made her get out of the house and do so, or they’d cut her off and kick her out. Marrying Henry Paul hadn’t been a real hardship on her but he would tell her no more than she cared for. Then there was the baby.

She could have gone her entire life without getting pregnant. It made her body out of shape. Her feet and hands were always swollen. The doctor tried to make her do some exercises, but she didn’t want the baby, much less getting her body ready to deliver it. And good Christ, having the kid nearly killed her. There was never going to be any way that she was going to do that again. It was too painful and messy. But Henry Paul thought that the baby was adorable. She wasn’t.

Her face was forever pinched-looking. Her hands and feet were so small that she thought that there was no way that it would ever be able to use them. Also, Taylor had been born with a full head of blond hair that never fell out like she’d been told it would. Taylor had more hair appointments than she did right after birth.

Then, her husband had died. All his promises about him caring for the thing went out the door when she woke one morning with him lying beside her dead. It wasn’t fair. She’d not wanted it in the first place now she had her all the time, day and night. No, she thought, it wasn’t fair that people, especially Henrietta, would fawn all over the child while she was sitting right there. No one, after Taylor was born, wanted to do a damned thing for her, not even to take her shopping so that she could get herself some new things.

She remembered one time when her mother had set her up with a babysitting job. It had been the little girl down the street, and she was, she supposed, about four years old. Gilda Jane had only stayed at the house for twenty minutes before she decided that the kid was too needy and left her there all alone. The little girl called the police, and she’d gotten into a bit of trouble with that, but her mom never set her up with a babysitting job again. She couldn’t stand kids.

“You’re not a good child, are you, Gilda Jane?” She told the officer that it wasn’t her fault that the kid needed things when Gilda hadn’t wanted to get them for her. “You were supposed to keep an eye on her. Leaving her alone could have gotten the child hurt or worse.”

“Well then, I guess no one would have to babysit her again. I didn’t want to go over there in the first place. My mom wouldn’t come with me so that I could do what I wanted, so the kid got what she deserved.” The officer looked shocked, and she shrugged. “When I go places people have to remember that I’m the one that should be taken care of. My needs come before anyone else’s. That’s the way it’s always been, and it will always be like that. I don’t like people getting more of anything more than I am.”

“That’s just selfish, Gilda Jane. What would you have done if she needed her dinner or even hurt herself? What would you have done for her?” She told him nothing. She’d just have to learn that Gilda Jane was far better than anyone and got what she wanted. Forever. And by golly, her daughter was going to have to learn the same thing. She came first in all things, and that included her time. She didn’t want to have to be put second in her life that’s why marrying that man was such a terrible idea. He’d want all her time and where would that leave her? Second. She didn’t want to be second. It was Taylor’s duty to make sure that she was first in everything that she did. Or she’d make her regret it.

The morning of the trial was set for two hours from the time she woke up. The first thing she was going to figure out was why she couldn’t sell her condo. Since all her money was tied up in things that her daughter had figured out for her, the bank wouldn’t allow her to purchase something else that was larger. Her daughter should have wanted her to have the best. Now, here she was, living in the same place without Taylor around to make sure that things were set up the way that she wanted. That didn’t sit right with her, and she was going to make sure that the judge made it right, too.

The courtroom had too many people in it. She told the man standing at the door to get everyoneout so that she could have the room all to herself. He told her that these people were here to support her daughter and that he wasn’t going to make anyone leave. She’d just see about that. It seemed to her that no one wanted her to have what she wanted, and heads were going to have to roll if things didn’t straighten up.

“Mother.” She looked at the woman at the table and didn’t recognize her. There was something about her that made her think it was Taylor, but this woman was just too beautiful her skin seemed to glow. The smile on her face was nothing that she’d ever seen before. It was bright and beautiful. It wasn’t until she spoke again that she realized that it was indeed her Taylor. “Why are you doing this? It’s not going to get you anywhere.”

“We’ll see. You will either have to start taking care of me the way that I want, or I’m going to take all your money from you. And I have a list of things that you’re going to do the first day that are just going to be the tip of the things that you’re going to do for me. Just say that you’ll do as I want, and I’ll call this off. Otherwise you’re going to see yourself in a very deep hole and still having to take care of me.” She told her that she wasn’t going to do that. “Because of that man you think you’re going to marry? Is that what that is all about? I won’t allow it, Taylor. You need to make sure that I have everything that I want. It’s the way things should be going.”

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