Page 56 of Forbidden Kisses
The ankle biter in Mr. Tomlin’s hands growled low in its little throat.
“Fine. But five minutes is all you get, and the answer is still going to be no when you’re done.”
“Thank you.” Grace shut the door behind her and followed the old man inside the dark house with a TV blaring from the front room. She looked at all the photographs on the wall as she passed through. They were of happy, lively people in sharp contrast to this man. People who didn’t live here, Grace assumed. Maybe they weren’t even in Mr. Tomlin’s life anymore.
He sat on a worn recliner and reached for the TV’s remote. With a push of the mute button, silence punctuated the room.
Grace sat on the edge of the couch and folded her hands in her lap. She’d served drinks to guys who looked and acted just like Mr. Tomlin for years. She knew how to get along with anyone. “Here’s the thing. My mother never had any right to sell that boat to you.”
“Your mother?” he asked, interest piquing his curiosity now.
“Yes. She’s the one who sold you the boat all those years ago. It didn’t belong to her, though. It belonged to my stepdad.”
“I know your stepdad,” he said with a healthy dose of irritation. “Pete Sawyer.”
Grace nodded. “That’s right.”
“He stole my girlfriend in high school. Did you know that?”
Grace shook her head. “No.”
“I loved that girl and Pete snatched her right out from under me. Literally,” he said, casting an image in Grace’s mind that she’d probably never rid herself of.
“I’m not sure I understand.” She wrung her hands in her lap nervously.
“My girlfriend’s name was Beatrice. She was mine before she was Pete’s.”
Grace’s lips parted.Ohhhhhh.Things were starting to make sense now. “And that’s why you wanted the boat. You knew my mother was selling it without Pete’s permission.”
“It was dirty and underhanded. And I’ve never felt better about anything in my life,” Mr. Tomlin said, surprising Grace.
The Chihuahua in his hands barked in agreement.
Grace’s body tensed. “Pete Sawyer is a good man.”
“He stole my girlfriend, then married her. Then he let her die. I bought his boat fair and square, and I’m keeping it.”
Grace took a breath. “My mother sold a lot of things of Beatrice’s. It led to the breakdown of her marriage.”
“Not my problem.”
Grace swallowed and continued. “My mother is sick now. She has a lot of regrets. I was hoping you’d understand what it means to regret something.”
Mr. Tomlin eyed her coldly.
“I want to help her resolve some of those regrets. That’s why I want to buy that boat back for the Sawyer family.”
“Not for—”
Grace held up her hand. “Everything has a price, Mr. Tomlin.”
“You can’t buy back a man’s pride, and that’s what Pete took from me. I finished up my senior year in high school watching the girl I love kissing Pete in the corner. It hurt like hell. Now,” Mr. Tomlin stood up, “your five minutes are up, sweetheart.”
Grace stayed rooted on the couch for a moment longer, unable to believe that this was the result of her visit. Finally, she stood, no arguments left in her, and headed back to his front door.
“I’m sorry about your mother,” Mr. Tomlin said, with only the slightest fragment of sincerity.
Grace turned and added one more thing. “What if I paid you twenty thousand dollars for that boat?”
