Page 80 of The Jilted Lovers Club
Everything. But how do I explain that to him? And why would I want to?
I saw a quote somewhere once: “From the inside looking out you can’t explain it, from the outside looking in you can’t understand it.”
This was that. Even though the town sees me as an outsider, Lahoma Springs has burrowed its way under my skin, changing me forever. There’s no way to explain this to Alexander—a man who’s lived here and was still able to walk away—who’s now plotting to tear this town apart, brick by brick, so that he can rebuild it into every other cookie cutter town in the country.
I know that once I leave Lahoma, I’ll feel a part of me missing. Even though everyone here hates me, I love this town The fact that I’m a part of this scheme, even as an unknowing participant, it kills me.
Bernie is going to lose her family’s history, and I’m partially to blame.
“What changed?” I stare down Alexander. “Nothing. I was just blind. I am not taking part in any of your fucking schemes when it comes to this town.”
“Careful, Jordy.” Alexander glances around, and I do too, recognizing that we’re being listened to. “Perhaps we should take this to my room. You know, in my new hotel.” He pauses, sniffing slightly. “Have you noticed this town smells like shit? It’s like you can’t escape it.”
I narrow my eyes. “It’s called Lahoma Aroma, asshole.” The honest truth is, I stopped smelling it weeks ago. I thought thesmell had gone, turns out I’m just used to it. “And no, I will not be alone with you anywhere, least of all a hotel room.” I huff out a breath. “Mark my words, Alexander, I will find a way to get Bernie out of that sale. She is not selling her family’s historic businesses to you.”
Alexander laughs, then he leans close. “That’s precious of you,” he whispers in my ear, “but it’s a done deal. We signed papers this morning with my lawyer in a quick sale, and tomorrow I am changing the name to Winslow Hotel.” He looks around again. People are lingering, but get back to work as soon as he looks up. “All right folks, thanks for all your help getting this place cleaned up. The cleaning crew can get the rest tomorrow.” He glances at the bottle of cash. “I’ll divvy up the money and cut checks tomorrow.”
“No,” I say, stepping to the bottle and turning as I guard it. “This belongs to everyone who worked here tonight.”
Someone clears their throat behind me, and then I feel a body side up to me. “You heard the lady,” Griffin says, his arm brushing against mine, almost like a protection of sorts—or at least a form of solidarity. “We will make sure everyone is compensated.”
Alexander shrugs, then turns, dismissing us.
“Come on, help me get this to the restaurant,” Griffin says, picking up the bottle as if it weighs nothing. I follow him across the street, still barefoot but not caring. My mother would have a conniption if she saw me walking on the dirty asphalt, risking blackened feet and bacteria.
Once Griffin locks us inside Charred, I breathe a sigh of relief. He places the bottle on the ground near a table, then turns to face me. The look on his face is much like everyone else’s in this town, and I hold my hands up.
“I swear, Griffin, I knew nothing about any of this. I’m just as pissed as you are.”
“Somehow, I doubt that.”
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. He’s right. His mother was just swindled out of her two businesses, one of them being the heart of this town. I’ve only been used as a pawn in this sham. He lost his family’s business.
“I’m so sorry. When I took this job, I honestly thought it was simply redecorating a new business. I never expected that this was a town takeover.” I clamp a hand over my mouth.
He turns to me, his eyes blazing. “What do you know?”
I know I just violated the NDA. I don’t want to care, but I have to think of my family. If I break the contract, Alexander won’t come just for me, he’ll come after anything with my name on it. That includes my cousin’s shop, Polka Dots, which I own a twenty-five percent stake in—along with Nina, her mom, and mine. If it was just me, I wouldn’t care. But I can’t put them at risk too.
“I can’t tell you.”
Griffin scoffs, a disbelieving sneer on his face before he kicks at one of the tables. “This is my family he’s going after,” he roars.
“And my family will be next if I break the NDA I signed when I first took this job,” I hiss.
He glares at me, then shakes his head. “This is fucking nuts. So, am I to understand that he’s just buying random businesses for the hell of it? What’s his end game?”
I feel so frustrated that I can’t say a thing. I’m dying to tell Griffin everything I know, along with the hypotheses I’ve come up with. But how?
“What if I ask you a bunch of questions, completely unrelated to what’s going on with the owner from across the street. Just a random conversation, you know?”
Griffin stops pacing and peers at me. He sits down and gestures to the seat across from him. I take it and retrieve my phone from my purse. I start Googling “corporate towns,” then find one in Wisconsin, right on the river. This one is full of boutique hotels, trendy shops, and fancy restaurants. There are a few dwellings, but most of them are apartment located in multi-use buildings. I set my phone down, then look up at him.
“Have you ever visited the town of Maisieville, Wisconsin?”
He shakes his head, and I hold up my phone and nod at him. He gets the hint and pulls out his own phone to look it up. He starts reading, at first appearing bored, but then his eyes widen.
“Just a few years ago, they were a town like ours,” he says. He looks at his screen again. “But now they’re just … luxury shops and such.” He glances at me. “Is this what you’re telling me?”
