Page 8 of Just for Tonight

“You’re golden then.” I drain my glass as he stands there, practically rooted to the spot. If he thinks Sylvia is going to turn him down, he’s dead wrong. “Go on. Get out of here.” Mike heads for the door. “And good luck.”

He pauses on the threshold to look back. “You said that when I brought Lauren home.”

“Well, I was saying it to her, but details.”

“What?”

“Come on, Mike. From certain angles, Lauren resembled Sylvia, and you’re so transparent, everyone knew you were still in love with Sylvia.”

“But…”

“But nothing.” He has doubts and I’m going to dismiss them, here and now. “You didn’t shortchange Lauren. She had her eyes wide open. It’s not like you got hitched on a drinking binge in Vegas, and woke up the next morning, not knowing who was in bed with you. You dated Lauren for years. She dated you for years. She knew exactly what she was getting into, and she chose you anyway. Well, for a while.”

Mike still doesn’t leave so I give him a bit more encouragement.

“As much as it pains me to admit it, I think some people are destined to be together. They fall in love hard, sometimes right away, and no matter what happens, they never fall out of love. Everyone else is left in the shade. No one else compares. And those lucky bastards can pick up where they left off, whenever their paths cross again, whenever the situation is right.” I toast him and watch him smile.

It was just an attempt to encourage him, but I have that awkward feeling that Truth has made an unexpected cameo appearance. Of course, I cover as best I can.

I’m not sure Mike is fooled.

“I never knew you were a romantic,” he says, maybe seeing a little too much.

“Tell anyone and I’ll have to kill you. Okay?”

“Okay.”

When he still doesn’t leave, I look pointedly at my watch. He takes a fortifying breath and off he goes to his happily-ever-after.

I, in contrast, have work to do.

Me, a romantic? I don’t think so.

My gut is a train wreck by eight that night when I give it up for the day.

It’s been intense.

I did take a break from the familiar and hunt Mike down to talk about the forward path for Cavendish Enterprises. He was at Sylvia’s place, a refurbished trailer parked beside Una’s cottage. (Una is Sylvia’s grandmother.) Mike had a lot of great ideas, a whole plan in point form on his phone. It was beyond expectation and really good. On a whim, I ended up offering to be Mike’s finance guy at the greenhouse, because he needs the expertise in that arena to make it happen.

I don’t know what the hell got into me. Maybe it was the pair of them holding hands in that trailer, looking as cute as a Hallmark movie, and some crazy-ass idea that I could help to make their dreams happen. I rationalize that I can fulfill that obligation remotely. Mike will be the feet on the ground. I’ll find him an operations person once we get some financing. With Mike’s ideas for the future and my connections, that should work out just fine.

An intense summer, then I’ll be clear of it. That’s not such a big deal.

Plus, I get the fun of suiting him up, probably for the first time ever. I like buying clothes, good clothes, and this will be even better since Mike will be picking up the tab. My tailor will have a blast.

I also learned during that interval that Sylvia works at a new restaurant in town, The Carpe Diem Café. (I did not meet the daughter. Yet. I have a niece. Huh.)

By the time I’m ready to give it up at Candace’s, seizing the day sounds like exactly what I need. I back the car out of the driveway at the big house without saying goodnight to any of the occupants, leave my tie in my pocket and head downtown.

Downtown. Ha. Empire’s core is two blocks on a single street, with a big old maple tree growing at the intersection of Nowhere and Irrelevant. The bistro is supposed to be in the old diner, the one that Leon and Dotty ran for years, the one they sold to my dad when they retired to Florida. It’s pretty much the only place with lights on.

Of course, there’s parking right in front. This is still Empire, after all. But if I didn’t know the address, I wouldn’t recognize the old diner. It’s got a new lease on life. Even from outside, it looks warm and inviting. When I open the door, the smell of good cooking engulfs me and leaves me a bit dizzy. I step inside and just breathe, realizing how famished I am.

Sylvia appears and smiles at me, gesturing me toward an empty table. She’s telling me the specials when I see something that shakes my world.

Someone.

There’s a table near the back with a group of women seated there. They’re laughing and talking like old friends. I can’t hear the conversation and I don’t care. It’s good to be around some happy people. It’s when one laughs and I glance up that I realize one of them, the blonde facing me, is the woman I’ve been hoping to see again for almost a month.