Her seventy-three-year-old grandma had set up a tent outside the ticket office and slept on the ground to purchase an all-inclusive pass, which included an outdoor showing of one of his movies, a signed t-shirt and poster, and a brief face-to-face and picture opportunity with Dane. It didn’t matter that Dane was thirty years younger than Grandma—Grandma was in love, and Viola was not going to take this away from her.
“It’s fine,” Viola insisted. The gala was still another week and a half away. “I haven’t even gotten to the Bs in my phone yet.” She pulled up her contacts and found Billy George’s name. They’d gone to junior prom together. Billy was in the middle of an ugly, too open about their business on social media, disaster kind of divorce. He could probably use a stress-free night on the town.
She almost pressed call, and then last moment, sent him a text. She wasn’t in the mood to get into a long complaint session about whatever Kendra was doing now. Busy next Friday? I need a plus-one for the Winter Festival Gala.
Billy responded only a few minutes later. Sure. I’ve always wanted to check the gala out.
Thanks, Viola replied.
“Got a date,” she told her grandma.
“Do I even want to know who it is?”
“No, you don’t.” Grandma’s nose always scrunched whenever one of Billy’s posts came through on her Facebook. “Drama,” she often said under her breath, and Viola didn’t disagree, but beggars couldn’t be choosers, and all that. Besides, Billy always told the best stories, so at least Viola wouldn’t have to be bored the whole night.
“I saw Liam Nichols today,” Viola said casually. She wiped at at spot on the kitchen table to avoid having to look at her grandma. Grandma knew all about her heartbreak in Hawaii.
She felt her grandma’s stare. “And how did that go?”
“Fine,” she tried to say casually. “No big deal.”
“Hmmm.” Grandma definitely wasn’t buying that. “Are you going to see him again?”
Viola snorted. “I’m sure he’s half-way back to L.A. or one of his stores by now.”
“Well, don’t write him off too quickly.” Grandma went back to drawing on her paper. “I’ve never seen you fall for someone like you did for him.”
“It was the magic of the wedding and being in Hawaii,” Viola said. “I’m going to read in bed for a bit.” She kissed her grandma on the cheek, disconcerted to see what appeared to be a top hat drawn on the spider’s head as she did.
✽✽✽
Nearly a week later, Viola went into work, surprised to find someone already standing in front of her office door. His back was to her, and he had on a hat, a dark green, waterproof jacket, and jeans, and he was looking down at his phone.
“Can I help you?” she asked as she got closer. He whipped around, and she was more surprised than she should have been to see Liam there. It had been over a week since she’d seen him last, and she expected that he’d be long gone by now. He hadn’t stayed more than a few days for his only brother’s wedding; it was hard to believe he was still out in Eureka Springs.
He flashed a smile, way too charming for her own good. “Yes, you can. I’ve made a purchase that I need your expertise with.”
She pulled her keys out of her pocket and unlocked her office door. “What kind of purchase?”
He followed her inside as she turned on the lights and opened the blinds to let the sunlight in.
“An really big one. But I don’t know if I’ve ever been so excited about a purchase.”
Despite herself, she was intrigued. Still, she replied, “And you’re telling me because …”
“Because I need to hire you to restore it.”
“You bought a building?” She had to sit. He sat across from her, leaning forward, his forearms on his knees, his expression way too excited.
“I did.”
“Here in Eureka Springs?”
“Yes.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask.”
He pointed at her wall. “The Old Grand Theater.”
She let out a long breath. Of course he’d bought that one.
“I need you to restore it.”
“Why are you doing this?” she asked him. What kind of person bought someone’s favorite building? Who did that?
He looked down at his hands and then up again. “Because I regret how things went down in Hawaii. Not you—” he said before she could get angry. “I loved every minute with you. But how I left like that, without saying anything.”
“You’ve had a year to say something. You had my email and phone number; you could have sent me a message at any point to tell me where you were.”
“You’re right,” he said. “I hurt you, so I want to do something to make it right.”
“By buying the theater and hiring me to restore it.”
“Pretty much.”
She leaned back in her chair, thoughts whirling too fast through her head to grab a hold of any single one. Had he really thought this was a good idea? Did he think he could throw a little money at her feelings, and she’d forgive him like it was nothing? That he would be absolved for not only standing her up, but completely ghosting her afterward. For months, she’d wondered if the entire thing had just been in her imagination.
But could she really say no to this, just on principle?
“I’m expensive,” she said.
“Money is not an issue.”
“And if I agreed to do this, it wouldn’t mean that I forgive you.”
“I wouldn’t expect it to,” he replied. “Seriously, no strings attached, other than, you know, the ones in your client contracts.”
“So I do this, and you have no expectations whatsoever.”
“Other than making you happy.”
“Nope, that’s an expectation, and I’ll say no.”
“Fine,” he replied. She could tell he was fighting a smile, and it only made her more resolved to set firm boundaries with him. “You may be happy or miserable while restoring the theater, but I do expect that you’ll do an amazing job, and that’s one expectation I’m not changing.”
They stared at each other, each one daring the other to look away first. Attraction buzzed through her, and her memory flashed back to the first night they’d met, how his lips had brushed against hers oh-so-gently just outside her room at the resort, the moonlight only giving her the barest glimpse of the outline of his face.
She tore her eyes away from his first. “Fine.”
“You’ll do it?”
“I’ll do it. But it’s not going to be cheap. And you’re lucky I’m even available at such short notice.” It wouldn’t hurt to take this job, and she couldn’t help the frisson of excitement that went through her. She’d been dying to get her hands on the theater her entire adult life. She wished it had come through anyone but Liam, but he would be so busy anyway, it wasn’t like she was going to have to see him very often at all. If ever again.
“I am lucky,” he replied with a large grin, but she shook her head sharply.
“We’re not friends,” she reminded him. “Business associates.”