Page 3 of Acquiring Ainsley
“Ainsley, I’ll take care of it.” Brooke reached for her purse, dug around inside of it, and produced two twenties. “Is this enough?”
The server nodded. “More than.”
“Good.” Brooke handed the money to the woman. “Keep the change.”
Flustered, I didn’t say much until the two of us reached our cars, which we’d parked a few blocks away from the restaurant. By then, I’d thought of a thousand excuses for why this had happened to me. None of them sounded great, but I was willing to try any of them.
“Let me pay you back,” I said, my lame offer quivering as I clicked the unlock button on the key fob of my red Infiniti Q60. “This was supposed to be my night to treat you, not the other way around.”
Brooke shook her head. “You know I won’t let you do that.”
“But I’m—”
“You need to call AmEx yourself.” She took the few final steps to her Audi. “It sounds like a major glitch.”
“That’s probably it,” I agreed, but the words sounded hollow as I spoke them. I followed Brooke, then gave her a quick hug. “Goodnight. And thank you, by the way, for… for covering for me.”
“I’ll text you later,” she murmured over her shoulder, and then she climbed into her car. “I’m interested to hear what the folks in customer service say about it. They should at least give you a decent explanation.”
“If their customer service is worth a damn, they’ll be groveling.”
I got behind the wheel of my car and watched her drive away, headed to a condo on the Intracoastal Waterway in West Palm Beach. Her forays across the bridge were another thing that divided us. She lived on the wrong side of the water.
I didn’t.
As I shifted my Infiniti into drive, my phone rang again. Annoyed, I threw my car into park and finally answered it. “What do you want, Ashton?” I groaned, not bothering to hide my frustration. Four phone calls in thirty minutes was a lot, even for him.
This better be important.
“Is this a bad time? Are you out?” he asked.
“I am.” I turned down the car radio so that I could hear him better. “I was just at Bar 365 with Brooke. But now I’m about to head home.”
“Good.” He cleared his throat. “Anything happen tonight?”
“Actually, yes. Something’s going on with my credit card—the AmEx, the one you pay the monthly bill for.” I reached into my purse and pulled out my wallet, still trying to sort out what had happened inside the restaurant. “The server claimed the system declined the card.” I removed the American Express from its slot and studied it. “She was pretty clear about it. No mistakes. She wouldn’t accept it.”
“I’m sure she wouldn’t.”
The fact that he didn’t question what I’d said sent a jolt of surprise through my body. “What? You don’t sound very shocked about that.”
“I’m not.” He paused. “I turned the account off this afternoon, Ainsley.”
I gasped. It sounded painful, as if he just told me someone had died. “What?Youdid that? Why? I haven’t overcharged—”
“It’s because I need to tell you something, and this was the fastest way to get your attention. I know you use that card the most. Shutting it down did exactly what I wanted it to do. It made you call me.”
The heaviness in his voice made me grip the steering wheel a little tighter. My brother never sounded this way on our phone calls. I took a deep breath, dreading where this conversation would lead. He’d turned off the credit cardjust to get my attention? That sounded drastic. That sounded… completely bizarre.
I gulped. I didn’t want to ask, but I had to know. “W-what do you need to tell me?”
“It’s about Dad’s estate. And the family business.”
I shrugged. So far, no major landmines. But even I knew landmines were hidden, deadly objects… “Okay?” I replied, drawing the word out. “So, what about it? Are we bringing in record-breaking profits again? I hardly think this is the way to tell me. Couldn’t you have simply—”
“Please, Ainsley. I need you to listen to me.” Ashton’s voice sounded flat but pleading. “This is important. You’ve got to focus.”
“On what?”
