Page 2 of Tessa's Trust

Rudy glowered.

“It’s done,” Sadie said.

Anna peered over my shoulder at the contract again. “Where did you get a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in cash, Tessa?” she murmured.

I just smiled. “Doesn’t matter.” Her eyebrow lifted, and I knew there would be a lot of questioning later. “This place is amazing.” Finally, I could start the life I wanted.

Sadie nodded, the thin skin of her neck jiggling. She was probably about five feet tall and had her gray hair in tight curls. Her blue eyes were faded and almost translucent. She could see well enough, and she had the hearing of a bat, which I knew from experience after negotiating with her the last couple of months. “This is a good place, honey. It served me well.” She patted my arm. “If you run illegal gambling out of the back again, watch out for the FBI. When they raided us in eighty-nine, it was a real pain in the ass.”

Jonathan smacked his palm against his forehead. “Crap, Sadie, we don’t talk about that.”

“Eh, everybody knows about it,” Sadie said. “My profits sure took a hit for a while, though, I’ve got to tell you.” For our signing day, she’d worn a lovely green linen dress that hung on her wiry frame and reached the floor. I was pretty sure it was supposed to be knee-length, but on her, it was longer than her thick gray wool coat. “Okay, we’re set. Don’t forget what you promised, Tessa.”

“I couldn’t if I wanted to,” I admitted.

She cackled and slid her arm through her brother’s. “Come on. You’re taking me to breakfast.”

Jonathan looked at me, glanced at the contract, and then shook his head. “All right, sister.” He barely glanced at Rudy. “You’re not in the will, kid. Get over it.”

Rudy glared, narrowing bright blue eyes at me. “We’ll see about that.” He turned on a polished loafer and stomped out.

Sadie snorted. “What a dork. He actually thinks he owns the place already.”

Anna stiffened. “Why would he think that?”

My stomach clenched. “Yeah. Why?”

Sadie shrugged. “Heck if I know. He doesn’t, so don’t worry.”

Jonathan then glanced at the iron sign hanging on the far wall. The hammered metal held an engraved high-heel shoe and text that said Silver Sadie’s. “Are we taking the sign?”

“Nope,” Sadie said. “That was part of the deal.”

“I want the sign,” I admitted. The thing had character and had hung there for probably over a century. Sadie had been named for her great-aunt Sadie, and it was rumored that the first Sadie had run alcohol when it was illegal.

I didn’t doubt there had also been some prostitution at the beginning of the century when the mines were flush. But for as far back as anybody remembered, the place was a bar with a gambling den in the back, one the FBI had shut down in 1989. I noticed there were still poker tables back there, but I had plans for that space that didn’t involve gambling.

Sadie and her brother left, leaving Anna and me to look around the large, vacant place.

“You just bought a restaurant,” my sister said, frowning.

Even if she couldn’t see the potential of the wide-open space, I could. It had been gutted in a fire about a year ago. Sadie had tried to repair it but decided she would live out the rest of her years without worrying about the place. She was a tough negotiator, as I could attest from the contract. I had no idea what she planned to do with my hundred and fifty thousand dollars, but hopefully, she’d keep it from the cranky and newly found Rudy. This place was well worth the money. It was in a two-story brick building, and I was going to live above the restaurant as I got it going.

Anna shook her head and reached for the contract. “I don’t mind you having me here signing things, but don’t you think I should’ve read this first?”

“You just signed as a witness. You’re not obligated or anything,” I said as something scurried in the far background. I shivered. I really needed to clean out the entire first floor. Thus, I’d worn old jeans and a white T-shirt to get right to work today, even though it was snowing wildly outside.

“Okay.” Anna reached for the contract and flipped through it. “This is good. The agreement for the deed is good.” She paused. “What the…?”

I knew what she had found. “It’s okay. It’s not a big deal.”

She looked up, her grayish-green eyes wide. “Are you kidding me?”

“It’s not a big deal,” I repeated, heat climbing into my face.

She shook her head. “You agreed to go on a date with each of her nephews within one week of signing this contract? I didn’t even know Bobbo was still around.”

“They’re her great-nephews. Rudy is not included in the deal, whoever the heck he is.” I kicked a brick out of my way. “She really wants one of them to marry and carry on the Brando name since her brother never did. I told her I wasn’t looking for romance, and it was just one date each.”

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