The Pepper in the Gumbo (Men of Cane River #1)(69)

“Naw. Just the usual in these old places. This is gonna make a real nice office building.”

Alice took a moment to digest the words. “Excuse me?”

“Well, Mr. Olivier said he’d be pulling down the wall between the apartments and the bedrooms would be offices.” He frowned. “We just hooked up the two bedrooms on the one side today.”

“Pull down…?” Alice shook her head. “No, you must have misunderstood. Mr. Olivier is just here for a few weeks.”

“Huh. Well, if we’d known that we wouldn’t have drilled so many holes. We have portable signals he coulda used for the TVs.” He shrugged.

So many holes. Just the way he said those words struck fear in Alice. “Thank you. The first bill will come in the mail or do I have to go down to the office to pay it?”

“Mr. Olivier already took care of it,” he said as he headed out the door. “Evenin’, Miss Alice.”

She stood there, thoughts spinning. Did Paul think he could buy off everyone in town? Is that how he got his building permits? This is gonna make a real nice office building. Maybe Paul thought she was going to sell the building sometime soon. Alice closed her eyes for just a moment, her stomach twisting in on itself. Well, he would just have to get in line because Norma Green thought she deserved the store, too.

No, that didn’t make a lot of sense. He said he was only here for a few weeks. It had to be a misunderstanding. Alice brushed it off and refocused.

“Well, I’m headed home for the night.” Bix gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Don’t fret so much Miss Alice. Everythin’s gonna work out.”

She nodded, trying to smile. Bix wouldn’t say that if he knew everything. She watched him walk out of the store, her chest growing tight. Bix had been part of her life for as long as she’d owned the store. She couldn’t imagine telling him that she was closing it down. She could only pray that she would never have to.

***

The smell of warm ribs made Paul’s stomach rumble. The Round’emup Café was packed, even in the middle of the week. He hoped that meant good things. His mama had called a few minutes before and said she would meet them at the apartment for dinner. He’d placed his order and waited for his number to be called. Andy texted a few minutes later that the cable guys were done and gone.

The evening was shaping up pretty nicely. Good Louisiana barbecue, high-speed Internet, his mama over for dinner, and a very productive conversation with his lawyer about Alice’s legal situation.

Paul opened his email and stared at the screen. He should wait for Alice to write him first, but he missed her. Ridiculous, but there it was.

Dear Alice,

I thought of you today. I imagined you as “fire answering fire,” the way Shakespeare wrote it. Did you triumph? Or perhaps it was just the promise of good things like Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote “as kingfishers draw fire and dragonflies draw flame.” I hope your spark brought you closer to success.

Your friend,

BWK



Paul sat back and waited. She would have closed up the shop by now and gone upstairs. He grinned at the thought of her making one of those peanut butter and pickle sandwiches. You could never say Alice was boring, that was for certain.

A familiar voice cut into his thoughts. “When we get married, she’ll have to sell the place. It’s probably not up to code and we’ll need someplace safe to raise a family. That is, if we stay in Natchitoches.”

Paul swiveled his head to the right and saw Eric, both hands covered in sauce. He had a white napkin tucked into his collar. One cheekbone sported a large purple bruise. He chewed, bits of rib on full display. He was talking to an older, balding man.

“But I can’t loan you money on the promise of a sale sometime in the future. It don’t work that way, boy.” The man’s voice carried the sharp twang of a man right out of Tennessee. “And I sure can’t loan you money without her signin’ the building over as collateral.”

Paul edged closer. Eric must be some player to have moved on so quickly from Alice. Apparently, he was also a player with money issues.

“See, here’s the problem,” Eric said. He took a moment to wipe his fingers. “Alice has this old aunt, and she promised the old aunt that she wouldn’t sell the store, ever. Now, if Alice signs something and the aunt finds out, then it would cause a rift in the family. You see? So, she can say it, but she can’t put her signature on a piece of paper.”



Paul wanted to rewind that conversation and listen to it again. It sounded like Eric was bartering Alice’s building.

The other man shook his head. “I dunno. My bosses don’t work like that.” He looked down, putting a hand in his pocket. He pulled out a phone and tapped the screen. “I gotta take this. Be right back.”

The older man scraped back his chair and headed for the door. As he passed, Eric met Paul’s eyes. His expression went from shock to fear and then defiance.

Paul walked to the table and sat down, pushing the other man’s plate away.

“I could have you arrested for what you did the other day.” Eric glanced around, looking a little panicked.

Paul said nothing. These were the moments when he wished he had been blessed with being able to think of just the right thing. As it was, all his words were lost in rage.