“We had drinks at Vol. 39 bar at the Klimpton hotel.” Veronica said, texting Katie to let her know she was back and would be upstairs shortly.
“Oh! I’ve heard about that bar. Classy and swanky.” Zelda nodded and continued to follow her around as she finished tidying up the chairs around the tables. “So, what else happened?”
“We just had drinks and talked.”
Zelda’s smile wilted. “That’s it?”
“That’s it. I’m a very boring person,” Veronica said, half-joking.
“No, you’re not. A single mom who runs her business in the city? You’re incredible.”
“You’re sweet to say that.”
Zelda frowned. “Come on. You’re only twenty-four, Veronica. That’s only four years older than me and you’re a real adult. I feel like I haven’t done anything compared to you.”
“You have. It’s called college, Zelda. You’re doing exactly what you should.”
“Tell that to my student loans. A business degree wasn’t as lucrative as I was led to believe.” Zelda’s eyes narrowed. “And he kissed you… I totally saw that.”
Veronica wiped the counter where a pile of sugar cubes had spilled.
“It was just a little one and not even on the lips.”
“Did you want him to plant one on you all Gone with the Wind style, sweeping you away in his arms?” Zelda asked, her eyes going all dreamy.
“Maybe. I don’t know.” Veronica wasn’t ready for that. But she couldn’t deny she’d wanted more. When he’d leaned in, her world had blurred at the edges, and for the first time in four years, she’d wanted to be kissed by someone other than Parker. She’d had so many dreams over the years about her husband, but with time they’d faded, and her carnal hungers had faded with them. She’d let the role of mother and businesswoman take over. Those responsibilities had given her a reason to keep going. But her desires and sexuality? Those had shut down and she didn’t think they would ever come back, until tonight.
Thad had managed to reach the most feminine part of her. Veronica had wanted so many things in the moment his lips touched her forehead, but he’d sensed she wasn’t ready. Yet that short caress had given her a promise of things to come.
“It’s okay to want things, you know.” Zelda reached out and stopped Veronica’s hand from scrubbing the counter.
“I know. I’m just not used to wanting things.”
“Are you going to see him again?”
“Yes, after next week’s open mic night.”
“Do you think he will come and sing again? You should ask him to. His voice just slayed me.” Zelda clutched her hands to her chest and batted her lashes wildly until Veronica laughed.
“I can ask. He’s some hotshot real estate guy, so probably doesn’t have a ton of time though.”
“Just text him,” Zelda said.
“Won’t that make me look desperate.”
“Definitely not. It just shows you’re interested in him and you love his voice.”
“Fine,” Veronica shook her head with a wry chuckle and texted Thad.
Veronica: Hey, are you going to come sing an open mic night?
A moment later he responded. Thad: you want me to?
Veronica: You’ve got a great voice. It really seemed to make the crowd go crazy last time.
Thad: You got it. I’ll sing for you.
“What did he say?” Zelda peered over her shoulder and read the text exchange. Her eyes widened. “Oh, damn. That’s hot.”
“What is?” Veronica asked.
“I’ll sing for you,” Zelda whispered in a deep voice as though she were Thad. “He’s totally into you.”
“You are reading into this way too much.”
“I’m not. You’ll see.” Zelda grinned before she noticed a customer who needed her attention.
Veronica let Zelda close up for the night and headed upstairs to relieve Katie of her babysitting.
“So, how did it go, Mrs. Hannigan?” Katie asked, clearly trying to restrain her eagerness.
“Good. It was really nice.”
“Nice as in…?”
“Nice in a good way. He’s coming by for open mic night next week. Do you think you could watch Lyra again for an hour?” Veronica set her purse down on the kitchen table and got out some money to pay Katie.
Katie beamed. “Sure! By the way, you really should Google your date.”
“What? Why?”
Katie giggled and collected her backpack and purse. “Just do it.”
Google Thad? She wondered what Katie had found, but Veronica had to check on Lyra first. As suspected, she found her daughter asleep, so she changed into her pajamas and climbed into her own bed. Just as she pulled up the browser on her phone, it vibrated with a call.
Evil Stepmom showed up on the caller ID. Annette.
Dread spiked through Veronica’s body as she answered.
“Hello?”
“Veronica, I need you and Lyra to be out of the apartment and the coffee shop on Sunday from one to five PM.”
“Why?” Sundays were her one day off when the shop was closed, and she liked to catch up on laundry and cleaning.
“Someone is interested in buying the building. They want to come by to have a look.”
“Buy the house?” The words were like poison upon her lips.
“Yes.”
“But you can’t sell it. Dad left it to me when he died.”
Her stepmother’s tone turned acidic. “No, he didn’t. He put it in your trust and after he died, I became the sole trustee with full discretionary power. I can sell all of your nonmonetary assets if I wish.”
The money from any sale would go right back into the trust, of course, but that trust wasn’t going to terminate until Veronica was thirty, a condition her stepmother had convinced her father was necessary since Veronica had been so irresponsible as to run off and get married at eighteen. Any money disbursed from the trust each month was very small, since, like Annette said, she had all the power.
“Annette, please.” She tried not to get hysterical. “I put three years of my life into the Chi-Bean. I can’t just pick up and move and still have a viable business. And this place is my home. It’s Lyra’s home too.”
“Your father was too soft, letting you use the house to live in and to make that stupid coffee shop. He didn’t even charge you rent.”
“Because he knew I was building up my business and he was trying to support me. What do you think he would want?”
Annette snorted. “He was always too easy on you. You got away with everything. When you ran off and got married after high school, he finally saw what a mess you’d made of your life. Putting me in control before he died was the smartest thing he ever did. I keep you from squandering his money away.”
Pain knifed Veronica’s chest. She’d run away with Parker because she couldn’t stand to live another minute in a house with a woman who despised her and the father who was blind to his wife’s cruelty. That huge chunk of money her father left her wasn’t really accessible either. Annette was supposed to pay her a decent amount of money to live on every month. But Annette, with her sole discretion, had the power to pay only a tiny amount because Veronica had the Chi-Bean income to live on. The income wasn’t much, but it was enough to satisfy the trust rules.