“You run the hardware store,” said Norah. “Relationship gossip is less what gets brought to you. Whereas I have a coffee habit that also happens to coincide with my daily gossip fuel up. And today that meant Cassie telling me she heard it from Carolanne that you had a cake tasting.”
“Wow, congrats!” Miranda leaned in for a hug. “This is awesome. Wait, why did you have a cake tasting today?”
“Because the wedding is a week from Saturday.”
“What?!” Tyler exploded. “Okay that came out wrong. Why so fast?”
“We were going to just elope—that was our preference—but his grandmother found out and had a hissy fit. We said we didn’t want to wait, thinking she’d be put off, but nope. She’s putting together a wedding in ten days. She’s the only person I’ve ever met other than Norah who could actually pull that off. It’s kind of terrifying.”
“Well I think it’s great,” Norah declared. “You two were great together on stage. It only makes sense that you’d be great in real life. Gotta say, though, I’m jealous you’re going to pull off your wedding before me. We had to schedule ours so far out from the engagement to get ahead of the city calendar, it’s starting to feel like it’s never going to happen.”
“Elopement has a lot going for it. I’m just sayin’. I still wish that’s what we were doing, but the families are involved now, so it’s no longer about us.”
“Is this about you?” Tucker asked. He’d been strangely silent since she’d made the announcement, and now he looked uncharacteristically grave.
“What kind of question is that? Of course it’s about us. What else would it be about?”
But Piper could tell by the look on his face that he knew. Of course, he knew. He was Myles’ attorney. He knew about the trust. He was the one who’d made the crack about Vegas.
Tucker just shook his head. “Nothing. I just want you to be happy.”
She laid a hand over his and squeezed. “I am. Although my level of happiness would be dramatically improved by a bacon cheeseburger and onion rings.” Looking around, she flagged a waitress.
They placed their orders. As soon as the waitress hurried away, Piper turned to her friends. “Okay, so please tell me the three of you are available to go dress shopping tomorrow.”
Chapter 7
“There! The damned thing is fixed.” Myles tossed a small basketball toward the hoop mounted on the wall, giving a celebratory fist pump on the swish. “There is beer and a burger in my future.”
Before he could make a beeline for the exit, Simone shut the door to his office, her face serious. “Is there something you want to tell me?”
The answer is ‘No, absolutely not.’ “You’re doing a kick ass job. Which you already know.”
She angled her head, eyes narrowed in disapproval. That wasn’t what she’d meant and they both knew it.
“What did Piper mean that you could lose the paper?”
Shit.
“The paper’s fine.” It wasn’t a lie. With his marriage and access to the trust, it would be within a month.
“Myles, I’ve known you too long. You’re an old friend and I changed my whole life to come up here and work with you. You owe me the truth if that’s about to blow up in my face.”
Editor Busted For Lying To His Staff, Forced To Come Clean
Myles scrubbed both hands over his face, feeling the rasp of beard stubble against his palms. He was too damned tired for this. But she was right. He owed her the truth.
“Okay, look. I had to pursue unconventional investment when I bought the paper. My investor has decided to pull out early, and I owe the balance of the loan by May 4th or my ownership of the paper is forfeit.”
“Myles! Are you in it with some kind of loan shark?”
He smiled a little. Given the stories they’d covered back when he worked in The Big Easy, the question wasn’t entirely out of left field. “No. Nothing illegal. And it’s not a problem. My grandfather left me a trust.”
“Why didn’t you use the money from that to buy the paper in the first place?”
That certainly would’ve been handy. “I don’t gain access to it until I’m married.”
Her eyes widened. “Dear God, tell me you didn’t just ask Piper to marry you for this. I know you haven’t turned into that kind of asshole.”