Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 95107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
“Gyms?” I guess, all the while wondering how Sabrina and I possibly fit into this.
He nods. “One, to start. Prime real estate in Manhattan. All I need is a partner with a modest investment but who understands how to get a small business off the ground, market it, and make it profitable. Then, hopefully, a nationwide franchise.” He grins widely. “From what I’ve seen, you’d make a hell of a chief operating officer.”
“You can’t be serious. Just like that?” I can’t help but laugh, scratching at the back of my head to make sure I didn’t take one of those coconuts and don’t remember.
“I’m not much for business,” Bruce says, shrugging. “But I know people. I like you, John Tucker. I think the two of us might do good stuff together. If you’re up for the challenge.”
“Wow. This is a lot to think about,” Sabrina tells them, looking as dazed as I feel.
“Sorry to blindside you both, but we couldn’t let you leave without catching you,” Kevin explains.
“Thank you. Really,” I insist. “We can’t tell you how much we appreciate this.”
“Can we take some time?” Sabrina asks. “We have to consider Jamie. And the bar.”
“Of course.” Kevin offers his hand. “Talk it over. You have our numbers.”
We thank them again, then nearly collapse from the news the moment they’re gone.
“Is this seriously happening?” Sabrina stares at me, eyes sparkling. It’s maybe the happiest I’ve seen her since we left Boston.
I start laughing again, marveling at this curveball. Two curveballs, to be exact. “I guess we were due some good luck on this damn island.”
In the taxi on the way to the marina, we attempt to hash out how viable this plan might be.
“My mom would go anywhere to follow her granddaughter,” I assure Sabrina when she worries about letting strangers babysit Jamie. Mom moved to Boston from Texas to be closer to us. No reason she wouldn’t go to New York.
“And Kevin said the hours were manageable. Flexible.” There’s an excited chord in Sabrina’s voice. “So we might not even need that much babysitting. I’d be able to see you guys a lot more than if I took one of the Boston jobs.”
“And I wouldn’t have to spend any evenings at the bar. I assume the gig with Bruce would be a daytime one.”
“Wait. But Jamie starts preschool in the fall. You think getting her placed in Boston was tough, you have any idea how hard it will be in Manhattan?”
“Dean and Allie are there,” I remind her. “I’d bet his family is giving money to someone, some board member, who owes them a favor. If not, we’ll make it work. It’s a big city.”
“And we’d already have friends there,” she adds, chewing on her bottom lip. “So it’s not like we’d be totally alone.”
“It’s maybe not a terrible idea.”
“Granted, those same friends tried to ruin our honeymoon with Alexander, so really, we should be discussing cutting them out of our lives, not bringing them closer into the fold.”
My expression darkens. “I don’t like knowing he’s in there,” I say, nodding toward my carry-on.
“Maybe airport security will think we’re smuggling drugs inside his creepy head and confiscate him.”
I snicker at her hopeful face. “Babe, if they decide we’re drug mules, we’ll have bigger problems to deal with than a haunted doll. Don’t worry, though. We’ll ship him off the moment we get home.”
“It better be Dean.”
“Nah. They’ll expect it.” I pause. “Wasn’t it Garrett who left him under my pillow when they came over last Thanksgiving?”
Indignation burns in her eyes. “Jamie woke up when she heard me scream, and we couldn’t get her back to sleep for hours.”
I nod. “G.”
She nods back. “I concur. I mean, he and Hannah are over there living their best lives. We can’t allow that.”
“Someone needs to knock ’em down a peg.”
“Exactly.”
Grinning, I sling an arm around my partner in crime. “Now, back to the topic at hand. Do we want to move to New York?”
“Ugh. I don’t know, Tuck.”
We’re still talking it out as we board the boat to St. Maarten, until eventually Sabrina holds up a hand and says, “I vote we hold off on a decision until we’re back in Boston. Let the idea sit for a while. But…man, it sure is tempting.”
“Damn tempting,” I agree. “But you’re right, let’s put a pin in it.”
Right now, all I want to do is get home and see our baby girl.
Part IV
The Legacy
32
Hannah
There are few things less dignified than a loud pee in a cavernous marble restroom. Somehow, a slinky sequined gown hiked up around my boobs doesn’t make this any more glamorous. It was a mad dash from the lobby of the auditorium to this bathroom stall. The entire twenty minutes on the red carpet standing between Garrett and Logan, a smile plastered on my face against shouting reporters and camera flashes, was an agonizing exercise in endurance while every muscle in my body clenched in desperation. I knew that bottle of water in the limo was a bad idea. Lately, I even look at liquid and I’ve got to pee like a racehorse.