Page 35 of The Last Goodbye

“He seems to take his job very seriously.” His gaze locked with mine when I straightened my head to look at him. “Do you two know one another well?”

“I mean, just from me basically harassing the man to get this deal done. But I’m fairly certain he despises me.” I chuckled, though I didn’t actually find his disdain to be all that funny.

“Nah. He likes you. I can tell.” He shrugged.

“I think you’re using the word ‘like’ loosely.” I started walking toward the next lot.

“You might be right.” He stared out at the water. “I’m here until tomorrow. I thought maybe we could grab dinner tonight and go over these hotel plans some more?”

“Yeah, sure. That sounds great. Why don’t we meet at the container park. We can sit at the bar and grab a bite to eat.” I liked the idea that it was casual and wouldn’t be giving date vibes. As a woman in a very male-dominated industry, I was extremely aware of the fact that I had to work double time to prove myself. The last thing I wanted was for people to think that I dated the men I worked with.

I also loved the container park. I’d met Gracie and Tatum there for happy hour two nights ago, and they were trying to convince me to go line dancing with them tomorrow.

I’d never line danced in my life, and I had zero rhythm, so I doubted I’d be very good at it.

But I was going to be living here for a few months, and I really liked both of them, so I told them that I’d think about it.

“Sounds great. Let’s walk the entire space while we’re here, and then we can head over to the restaurant and take some measurements.”

And that’s exactly what we did.

We talked through the plan for the hotel and where it would sit, with all the rooms looking out at the water. It was truly going to be magnificent.

We stepped inside the restaurant, and Winona, the restaurant manager, greeted us. She appeared to be in her mid-forties, and she always had a warm smile. Her cropped hair sat just above her shoulders. I’d met her many times when I’d tried to come in and meet with Bass, who’d ignored me every chance he got. I had a feeling she was done being the messenger, and I understood it.

“Hey, we’re just here to take some measurements,” I said, hoping she wasn’t going to think I’d made it up, because I did need to get in the kitchen. “Bass is expecting us.”

“He told me you were stopping by.” She chuckled, because I clearly didn’t hide the fact that I was nervous, seeing as the woman had been forced to come out and tell me repeatedly that he was too busy to meet with me.

Although I did tell her I was pregnant with his child the first time I met her, so I could also understand if she didn’t want to help me any longer.

“Sorry about him being so difficult about meeting you whenever you came by the restaurant,” she said, her voice full of humor. “He can be a stubborn man.”

“Of course. And I’m sorry for putting you in that position so many times.” I couldn’t help but smile as Steven tossed me a questioning gaze. “And I probably took things a little too far the first time I came here.”

Winona just laughed as she walked us back to the kitchen, where Bass looked up from where he stood at the prep table. His gaze locked with mine, and he set his knife down, just as Steven stepped forward.

“Is it okay for me to dive in and start taking these measurements?” he asked.

“Yes. Of course.” Bass glanced over at the guy pulling things out of the refrigerator. “Joey, this is Steven and Briar. They’re taking some measurements of the kitchen.”

“Are you remodeling?” the cook asked, and I smiled and had to turn away, surprised that he hadn’t shared the news with his staff.

“I’ll tell you about it at the staff meeting in an hour. You can go take your lunch break now. You need your energy. You’re the late guy tonight.” Bass kept his voice even and relaxed, not showing any signs of discomfort about the situation.

In all honesty, he was moving to a better location with more space. Yes, it was an inconvenience, but ultimately, I was confident it would be a much better plan for him in the grand scheme of things.

Not to mention that he’d own the land beneath the new building, as well as having a larger property.

Once Joey stepped out of the kitchen, I turned to look at Bass, keeping my voice low. “You haven’t told them yet?”

“I wasn’t going to stress everyone out until I had the keys in my hand. I’ll be filling them in today.” He folded his hands together casually and leaned over the prep table. “Thank you for making this happen. Unless I’m missing something, it appears you gave me a damn good deal, though I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“I think there was a compliment in there somewhere?”

“Sure, Magpie. There’s a compliment in there.” He grinned as he reached for a knife and grabbed some red peppers from the metal bowl sitting beside him.

“Briar, can you come help me get these appliances measured?” Steven called from the other side of the kitchen as Bass started chopping the pepper into tiny pieces.