Page 38 of Another Last Call
“I know. But it’s where we’re at, so let’s get to work.”
Maggie led me to the office, asking Big Tim to keep an eye out for customers. She hesitated, then sat down behind the desk, looking uncomfortable.
“Here’s the renovation plans and schedule,” I said, passing her a stack of papers. “I can’t give you an exact amount of time, but I think we can swing it so that we only have to be closed for a little over a week. Two at the most, but that’s if something goes horribly wrong while they fix the foundation.”
“What’s this stuff?” She was flipping through the papers and had stopped on a sketch.
“That’s my plan for the renovations. Since we have to close anyway, we should update the look in here.”
“No.”
“Mags, your mom said the place has never been updated.”
“She’s not the owner anymore. I am.” She flipped through the rest of the package. “I say no. We don’t need all this. The bar is perfectly fine the way it is.”
I pressed my lips together. “We’ve already approved all this, and a lot of what’s currently there has to get torn out so they can fix the structure.”
She continued to fight me on every possible thing she could. She hated every suggestion I made, from putting a new hood fan in the kitchen to refinishing the bar stools and high tops. By the time I got to the end of the package, I was as grouchy as Maggie was.
“Look, you can hate all these ideas, but they’re happening,” I said. “Your mom and I discussed this and—”
“She’s not here!” Maggie snapped. “She left this place in my hands and what I say goes.”
“Half of what you say goes,” I shot back. “I don’t want to swing my dick around and tell you we’re doing it my way or no way, but we are. Wehaveto pull a lot of this shit out anyway, so we’re updating it. That’s final.”
“Oh, of course, so sorry, Mr. Moneybags, sir. Can you please forgive me? I only have worked here my entire fucking life.”
“I’m not saying I don’t want you to have a say! Maggie, this shit would have to be done even if I wasn’t here. If you’d raised all the money, you’d still have to do all this stuff.”
She seethed quietly for a moment before pushing the stack of papers at me. “Fine. You’ve got the money, you’ve got the business degree, you call the shots.”
“I’m not—”
“Just answer me one thing,” she interrupted. “You came here to renovate your fucking mansion and then sell it. Now you’re investing in my bar. So what’s your game here, Caleb? What’s your priority?”
“The bar,” I answered without hesitation, staring directly at her. “I’m committed to this, Maggie. I wish you’d stop looking at me like I’m the enemy.”
A flash of what I thought might be guilt crossed Maggie’s face, and she looked away.
“Fine,” she said. “Let’s go with your plan. Just do it.”
I swallowed hard. “There’s one more thing.”
“What?” She glared at me, and I braced myself for the reaction I assumed was coming.
“You can’t live in your apartment while they’re doing repairs.”
Twenty
Maggie
Iwouldn’tadmititto anyone, but staying at my mom’s place during the renovations was pretty nice.
It wasn’t until I stayed there that I realized how loud my apartment could be. Even when I wasn’t working, I could hear noise from the bar downstairs or people chatting in the streets. The building was old, the pipes made noise when the water ran, and sometimes the floor shook when the heat was running. Wind from the lake was constantly shaking the windows.
Mom’s house was old, too, but it was quiet. The only sounds I ever heard were the neighbours opening their garage doors or rolling their garbage cans out to the curb. My first night there, I slept better than I had in the years since I’d moved out.
I had packed up a week’s worth of clothes, my guitar, and a few other items to bring with me to Mom’s place. We had announced that The Sea Glass would be closed for two weeks. Caleb was fairly certain we’d only need one, but he figured it was better to reopen early rather than late. And truth be told, that week off was the first real vacation I’d had in years. Aside from the occasional weekend trip to visit Alison or other friends nearby, I hadn’t left Marble Beach all that much.
