Page 37 of Cakewalk
“No?”
“Because life isn’t. As long as you’re breathing, there’s going to be hard times, guaranteed. Not everybody’s willing to sacrifice their comfort and stick by someone else through hard times. If a relationship is easy, goes untested, you’ll commit to it before you ever see its true strength.”
“Yeah, that’s true. So you’d recommend more harrowing first dates then? Like an African safari? Or scuba diving among sharks?”
He winked. “You’d learn real fast if they’ll throw you to the wolves to save their own hides, at least.”
“Very good information to know before getting into a relationship with someone.”
“Quite.” Griffin pointed at the general store we were about to pass. “Should we introduce ourselves?”
“Definitely. James, my brother-in-law, works there, so he should be nice enough.”
“Do his views line up with your sister’s?”
“Actually, I have no idea. He’s very quiet and shy.” I then shrugged. “Nah, I can’t imagine him going off on you. Maybe it’d be good to soften him up a bit, though, since he has Courtney’s ear.” I pulled open the door, a little bell ringing.
Griffin gave me that panty-melting smile, then walked past. I followed him inside. The place was old-fashioned, with wooden barrels carrying an assortment of overstock, counters full of old-timey candy, a cooler with sodas in glass bottles, and pretty much no big name brands to be found. It was more of a novelty place than an actual grocery store, but it was the biggest attraction in town for that reason.
James was at the counter, working the till as the owner, Betty, an older woman with her hair in a braid, tidied up. James immediately greeted me, then frowned curiously at Griffin. I introduced them, and it wasn’t until I mentioned the ocean front development that Betty spun around and narrowed her eyes.
“Mr. Reed,” she intoned, her hands on her hips. “Trying to charm your way about town, hm?”
Griffin managed a smile despite her Disney villain act. “It seems the operative word in this case is ‘trying.’”
“I know about you. Did my research. You got caught trying to defraud the city and the IRS, and now you’re here, thinking it’ll be easier to get away with it because you take us for a bunch of bumpkins.”
Griffin kept his tone pleasant. “Clearly I’d be a fool to think that, with keen people such as you around. I doubt much gets past you.”
She barked out a laugh. “Yeah, that handsome smile and pleasant tone won’t work on me. You’re not pitching your camp here unless weallget the sweetheart deal you’re getting from the town. I don’t see why a criminal with a trust fund should get special treatment when hard-working people like us have to scrape by to make a living.”
“I don’t see why either, nor how that’d benefit me. Anyone who wants to visit the Marketplace Square is going to have to go through Main Street, so I’d hope they’d get a good first impression. It’d be best for all of us if Main Street was bustling.”
Betty narrowed her eyes at Griffin, crossing her arms as she appraised him further. I held my breath, hoping she was reconsidering, but in the end she simply sneered. “I know how your father does business, anyway, and I can only assume you learned from him. The last town he hijacked, he started off with nice reasonable rents, then raised it the second the leases were up and sold out to big franchises, turning it into another generic shopping plaza. A place to stop by from the highway. Not a great place to live.”
Griffin looked suddenly drained. And who could blame him when he was constantly having to fend off his father’s reputation? I stepped in, knowing Betty was at least familiar with me. “Listen, Betty, I wouldn’t be working with him if I thought he was a grifter. We’ve come up with some great plans that I think will really revitalize the place for everybody.”
She dismissed me with a hand wave. “You’re clearly smitten. Me? Well, I’m already forty years into my marriage, so I don’t find young hotshots like Mr. Reed to be so charming anymore. Besides, from what I read, he was raised by nannies—not even his own mother. No wonder he’s gotten up to so much trouble.”
Griffin’s eyes lowered to the wooden floor, and he said under his breath, “Well… I hope you come to the town hall meeting, where I’ll be addressing these concerns in greater detail. It was a pleasure meeting you.” With that, he turned and walked out.
I hurried after him, and I could tell from his clenched fists and set jaw that he was holding a lot back. How he managed any level of civility with Betty after what she said was a miracle to me. I half-wanted to wring her neck myself.
“Griffin,” I said, keeping my tone soft despite Betty riling me up past my boiling point. “That’s so unfair, what she said. I hope you don’t take it to heart.”
He simply shook his head, clearly not wanting to talk. He turned into an alley between two shopfronts, then leaned back and rubbed his eyes, his body language the image of exhaustion. “Some people sure can be vicious.”
I grabbed his hands, held them to my chest. “Forget her. Everybody else we talked to seemed open enough, right?”
He looked down at my hands holding his. “She’s the only one who did her research. And a lot of research too, if she knows about my mother. Everybody else will learn it all eventually, and then how welcoming are they going to be? And I can’t say a word about my innocence, as those are the terms I agreed to in order to take full control of this operation.”
I groaned, though not at him. More in frustration at the idea that anyone would judge Griffin the way Betty did. “I’m going to PR the shit out of your business. Everybody’s gonna be singing your praises, or so help me—”
“You’ve only known me for a few weeks. How are you so sure I’m not who people say I am?”
“I just have a gut feeling about you, Griffin. I did from the start. And if it turns out youaresome evil fat cat looking to fleece this town, I’ll make you pay so hard, you’ll wish you never came here. But I know you’re better than that.”
His eyes glistened. Had nobody ever believed in him before? “I would hope so, Jade.” He discreetly rubbed his eyes again, then looked back out at Main Street. “Maybe we should call it a day.”
