The Caterer

Chapter 42

A LICE’S DAD ARRIVED AFTER Tabby took the twins to school. They loaded her father’s Tacoma with the few boxes that held all her earthly belongings. Before she left, she put a note for Annie on her pillow under the panda bear, apologizing for missing her basketball game and leaving without telling her. She reiterated she loved her and hoped, maybe, they could see each other soon.

They loaded her boxes onto a flat dolly and started for the apartment. The door was open, her mother talking to Suzi in one of the bedrooms. The walls were now a pale peach on the top, a chair rail dividing it from the clay red on the bottom which contrasted lighter hardwood floors. Olive shelves in the kitchenette matched the tabletop on the new four-person table, the space expanded to allow full-size appliances. Two men slipped the plastic off a lighter green couch, contrasting armchairs still in the truck.

“Maryanne,” her father called. She came out of the bedroom with Suzi who asked what Alice thought .

“It’s lovely.” She forced a smile. It all made her feel so very alone. Her mother hugged her, Alice resisting the urge to cry.

“Come see your bedroom.” She put an arm around Alice and walked with her into the bedroom to the left. The hardwood carried throughout the apartment, the walls a light sage color. A rolled-up carpet leaned against the closet door. “How are you holding up?”

Alice shook her head. “I’m not going to apologize, Mom. She has to get over things sometime.”

“Is Mr. Clare still coming this weekend?”

“I don’t think Mr. Clare and I are together anymore.” Her chin shook.

“Do you want me to stay tonight?”

“No.” She had to make it on her own someday. Alice stacked her boxes from Tabby’s on the new twin bed in the guestroom to deal with later. She didn’t need to be in the apartment while her mother directed the furniture placement and final touches with Suzi. Being idle with nothing to do but think about what she’d lost would drive her batty. So she went to the bakery and lost herself in prepping for her dad’s birthday, hoping to use it as a thank-you for all he’d done for her. In tiny ways she paid homage to his foraging roots, wildflowers in the salad, wild honey in the vinaigrette, and dessert from locally sourced berries.

Needing to not think, Alice contacted Harry, the one person who wouldn’t make her talk about what was going on. Harry agreed to meet at a bar in Georgetown. Alice got through what she needed to do, leaving enough time to shower and change. She walked to her apartment realizing she had been hiding away since her ex left. It was time to get back out there and make friends, create a life for herself outside her family. Her mother and Suzi set up everything—new towels in the bathroom, dishes on the shelves in the kitchen. The movers laid out the rest of the furniture. It was an apartment ready for a magazine, which might be why it felt so hollow. She went to get ready for the night. Don’t think, just keep moving. She found a short black-and-white dress she had not worn in forever and the only pair of heels she owned.

Harry waited, several shots already on the table. Alice slid into the other tall chair and shot one back.

“You’re looking mighty nice, Lil. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I get why you never told Tabby about the sale.” It was the easiest thing to focus on.

“She found out about you and Macon?”

“Yeah, and she’s pissed.” She downed the second shot.

“Salut to making your own way.” He downed his shot.

“I need to get drunk tonight.” Get drunk, forget all she lost, and figure out a way to deal with things tomorrow.

“Then you called the right guy.” He kissed her cheek and went to get drinks from the bar. Alice pushed her thumbs into her eyes and sniffed back her tears. She would survive this. She had to.

#

DELANY WAITED IN HIS financial manager’s office, taking deep breaths to stay calm. The man came in, asking how he was. Delany showed him the printout, wanting to know how the repeat charges could happen. The man apologized but had only been instructed to ensure that account stayed at $50,000. If Delany wanted him to monitor it for odd activity, he would be more than happy to do so, but Delany never asked him to do that. It was how things had been since he set up the account after deciding to stay in Helene’s life. Something else in his life he let run on autopilot while he played and never bothered to look at after he retired.

“Do I have any recourse?” he asked.

“That would be a question for a lawyer. ”

He left, wanting to tell Alice she was right and that he was sorry, and that if she gave him time, he’d find a way to make it up to her. He stopped by the bakery midmorning, Carver telling him Alice took the day off to move home. Delany ordered a London Fog to go. Before he left, he sat at a stool in the window and called Jonas to ensure he knew he was not getting The Cora.

“Does Bobbie know about this?”

“This isn’t Bobbie’s decision. It’s a Macon hotel, it’s my choice.”

“You’ll regret this.” He hung up on him. Add it to the list. Bobbie called again, Delany ignoring the call. He needed something solid but had isolated the one person who made him feel like he could make it without those he grew up with. Unsure what else to do, feeling like if he stayed still he’d shatter, Delany drove until he found an empty basketball court. He got a ball from the trunk and shot. It was a rhythm that kept him sane. Yet, he hadn’t played since he decided to retire, barely had a ball in his hand in the last year. He left his tie and dress shirt on the bench and turned his mind off.

Since he was twelve his life had been about one thing. His mother encouraged his philanthropic work to keep him grounded, to remember life outside the game. Macon came almost by accident. He’d been talking to the owner of another team who ran a holding company during an All-Star weekend. The man asked why Delany didn’t invest in the opportunities he saw around him, not via a loan or a partner but by acquisitions. It would give him more money, the flexibility to be generous, and let him have a part in businesses he agreed with. The man walked him through the process of starting Macon, the business taking on a life of its own.

He never imagined working in an office. Never imagined being a dad either. Since retiring, a lot happened that he never imagined. Agreeing to come in full-time might have started to keep the board chair happy, but now he found himself with a daughter whose curiosity he only wanted to cultivate, businesses that only had the chance to grow, and a woman he was crazy about who loved his little girl. He never would have set it up this way, but the life he’d fallen into was remarkable.

Delany always knew someday the lights and fame were going to fade. Someday he was going to become that guy who used to hoop. Instead of being there to transition to this next phase together, Bobbie was trying to undermine him. Delany’s question was why. He went home, Alice’s comment about Bobbie’s screwups lingering. He sat on the couch with his laptop and a glass of bourbon not sure what he was looking for, but something that told him just how big of a sucker he was. Logging in, he went to Bobbie’s phone backup from Tabby’s second app. While the data loaded, Delany tried to think of a possible explanation for Bobbie’s actions, something that could be cleared up.

He clicked on the email icon, seeing one from Jonas after Delany’s call that morning.

Delany just called. I’m out of The Cora?! I am tired of getting the runaround from you. Can you deliver on what we agreed on or not? How can I trust you’ll get the hotel when you cannot even do this? My investors are getting impatient.

Bobbie: I am handling it. Let me get rid of Gibson. You will be in The Cora, own it by the end of next year. Give me time. I have money tied up in this too.

He did a search for Tabby Black, finding an email exchange between Harry and Bobbie discussing not telling Tabby about the sale. Don’t let her guard her hand, Bobbie wrote. He told Harry to keep Moe in line. H e can’t sell his shares. Then the Monday before the merger: Bulldog on board, keep TB in dark.

Over the course of an hour Delany found hundreds of emails showing how Bobbie had undercut Macon deals, gone against his stated preferences, or worked to use Delany and his company to further his own pocketbook. There were emails of Bobbie telling others to not bother Delany with ideas Bobbie then came in and claimed as his own. He used intimidation, the threat of lawsuits, or saying the person owed Macon because of what Delany had done for them. It was the opposite of what Delany believed. Unsure he wanted the answer, he clicked on the backup of Bobbie’s texts. Bobbie and Nadia hated each other, and yet had been communicating almost nonstop since Olive’s wedding about the caterer and how to get Delany away from her. Nadia let out her full anger after the weekend in NYC. Both seeming at a loss at how to get him back in line.

Delany sat back. His best friend of twenty years played him. All those warnings not to trust outsiders—all the while he’d been the plant in the locker room. Delany called the head of the finance department who agreed to come in before the office opened. Delany needed to know how deep things went. Looking at the screen, Delany realized he had lost almost everyone he thought he could trust.