Читать книгу A Bayberry Cove Makeover - Cynthia Thomason - Страница 7

I hope you’ll continue to work here once I take over.

There had been a time when Bobbi Lee might have raised a ruckus over the news that Zach Martingale was planning to yank her restaurant out from under her, but not today. She was a businesswoman now. And she would handle this in a businesslike way.

She sidled up to Zach, flashed her red-lipped smile and said, “Zach Martingale, as I live and breathe. You’ve come back to Bayberry Cove.”

“I have.” He took a deep breath as if he were still inhaling the fresh air of the park and said, “I never knew coming home would feel so good.”

“That’s because in the past twenty years you haven’t tried it much.” Frown lines appeared on his forehead and she pointed to a booth. “You have a seat with your uncle, and I’ll bring y’all some pie.”

“Don’t scrimp on the ice cream, Bobbi Lee,” Mason said. “This is a celebration.”

Her businesslike attitude slipping, Bobbi Lee narrowed her eyes, placed her palms flat on the booth between the two men and said, “What are you celebrating, Mason? Zach was a bit vague a moment ago when he made his offer of employment.”

Mason straightened his stooped frame and grinned at his nephew. “I’ve talked the boy into moving back here, Bobbi Lee. Cinched it by offering him this whole block of prime Cove real estate. It’s what Buttercup would have wanted.”

The boy? Bobbi Lee almost choked. From all she’d heard, this boy had been in Chicago for two decades buying and selling Lakeshore Avenue properties and making a fortune. She glared at Zach. “Is this true, Zach? You own this building now?”

“I’ve agreed to pay Uncle Mason a fair price for the entire 200 block of Main Street,” he said.

Mason waved his hand. “We’ll settle on the money details later. The important thing is that you’ve come home before I’m six feet under. I’ve told Zach that the Kettle is perfect for his plans.” He beamed with pride. “Just what this little burg needs. New blood and a few new choices on the menu of our favorite restaurant.”

Bobbi Lee stood straight and placed her hands on her hips. She wanted to glare at Zach until he flinched, but she didn’t trust herself. He still held some stupid, inexplicable power to interfere with her ability to reason. So she zeroed in on his blissfully ignorant uncle.

“Here’s something you might want to think about, Mason,” she said. “There’s some old blood in town that might have a problem with this plan.”

“What are you talking about, Bobbi Lee?”

“Speak to Max before he leaves town,” she said. “He’ll tell you the Bayberry Cove Kettle already has a new owner, and you’re looking at her.”