Page 182 of Sing with Me

“I don’t remember, but you look great.” Watt stepped back to assess Skye. “Your company doing well?”

Skye nodded. She didn’t like to talk about company business in public—although she had broken her own rule within the last hour discussing sales with Jared.

Speaking of Jared, where did he go? Skye glanced around and spotted Jared talking up a pretty redhead at another booth.

“Skye, meet my girlfriend, Anastasia,” Watt said. To the young lady, he said, “Love, this is Skye Langston, the granddaughter of my best friend from cooking school, Miller Langston.”

Love? Oh sorry. Not granddaughter.

“Nice to meet you.” The young woman in spaghetti straps and too-short shorts handed Skye a bottled water. It looked cold with condensation on the outside.

“Thank you.” Skye twisted the cap open and drank half the bottle. “You’re a lifesaver.”

“She is, for sure.” Watt held Anastasia tighter and planted a noisy kiss on her cheek. “We’re moving to St. Thomas to live on a yacht.”

“You are?” Shocked, Skye didn’t recall Watt ever mentioning yachting while Jessica had been alive. They had been a down-to-earth couple who worked around the clock, built Watt’s for Dinner from the ground up in Savannah, moved their company to metro Atlanta where their revenues went through the roof.

“Since Jessica’s been gone, I don’t have the energy left.” His voice was tinged with tones of regret.

“Are you managing Watt’s for Dinner from the Caribbean seas?” Skye was curious, more than anything else.

“Absolutely not. I’m retiring, Skye. Watt’s for Dinner was more Jessica’s thing. Without her…” He cleared his throat. “Anyway, I waited too long to enjoy myself.”

He pointed a finger at Skye. “Don’t drive yourself to the ground. Make time for your loved ones, for a family. One big thing I always regret is how Jessica and I didn’t have time for children.”

“We’re going to change all that,” Anastasia said. “Three months in a yacht should do it.”

Skye didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She barely remembered how old Watt was.

Watt nodded. “Yep. We’re leaving next week. Do you want to buy Watt’s for Dinner?”

“What?” Skye’s jaw dropped.

“Watt, you mean?” Watt wiggled his eyebrows. “I’ll sell it to you for what you can afford.”

“Why?” Immediately, Skye’s mind began to calculate how much she would profit from the sale of her restaurant shares. If she needed more money, she could sell the piece of land she’d been hoarding on Seaside Island for who knew what.

“At my age, I can’t keep up with my chefs. I’ve downsized it to what I can manage, but I can’t be running around like I’m thirty anymore. I’ve got my American dream. Now I’m going on permanent vacation.” He pointed to his hips. “These hips can’t take it.”

“What are you saying?” Skye asked.

“I was going to move my office out of Alpharetta to Cobb County or somewhere with lower taxes, but I decided I don’t want to deal with the corporate life anymore. Take it off my hands. In fact, if you don’t buy it, I’ll will it to you.” And he kissed Anastasia again. “She doesn’t want any of it. She just wants cold hard cash.”

Skye was speechless.

“I’m talking to you, Skye,” Watt said. “Say something.”

“Are you drunk?”

Watt laughed. “Nope. Haven’t had a drink since breakfast.”

“Did you just make me a business offer right in the middle of a food festival?” Skye asked.

“We didn’t run into each other for nothing. I was waiting for a sign from heaven.”

“You don’t believe in heaven.”

“My own heaven is waiting for me on St. Thomas.” Watt let his girlfriend go. “Love, go mingle. I need to talk to Skye for a minute.”

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