“It was a movie theater in Oxford. Artsy, indie stuff. Used to be an old cotton warehouse. It’s gone now, but it was downtown, kind of in The Gin’s parking lot. Neither of us were really into indie movies, so it gave us somewhere to go to talk. Their cafe used to have the best cheesecake.” He smiled a little at the memory.
“So you waited.”
“I did. I waited for hours, past closing time, but she didn’t come. I got worried that her husband had stopped her. He’d never been violent before, but… I drove to Wishful. Went by her house. And I saw them in the front window. She looked nervous, so serious. I thought, for sure, she was telling him then, that she’d just been delayed somehow. And I was ready to run in and get her out, be her get away driver. But he didn’t look angry. He looked…shocked. And then happy. And then he was kissing her, holding her, and they were laughing.” Gerald’s voice trailed off. His mouth tightened as his attention focused on his steak. “She made her choice, and it wasn’t me. I couldn’t stay at Ole Miss after that.”
Norah’s heart hurt for him. To love someone so out of reach and think you had a shot, only to have it taken away. “I don’t blame you. Do you know what happened to her?”
He shook his head. “I moved on. Met my wife, built a life.”
“Got divorced?”
Gerald glanced at her in surprise.
“No wedding ring.”
He flexed his left hand and looked at it for a moment, before turning his attention back to her. “About ten years now.”
“She stuck with you, that first love.”
“First loves are like that.” Shoving away his half-eaten steak, he said, “How about you tell me what else that busy brain of yours has come up with since we last talked?”
Realizing the subject of the personal was closed, she complied. “I have an investment opportunity for you. Something that will, I think, fit with your desire to build something that lasts, leave your mark in ways that are more personal than how you initially grew your company.”
“I’m listening.”
They talked business for more than an hour, with Norah giving him a more far more detailed description of her plan to promote rural tourism in Wishful than the sketch she’d given him in their last conversation, breaking things down into logical phases. He asked good questions, made some suggestions that had her revising some of those phases in accordance with potential areas of investment by Peyton Consolidated. Unlike the hurried presentation she’d given the City Council, this was shaping up to be a legitimate enterprise.
“So you’ve piggy backed on the concepts we used for the urban renewal we’ve done and adapted it for a rural market. That’s a smart tactic for sliding the concept by me.”
“You wouldn’t have offered me a job if I wasn’t smart.”
He flashed a smile that had her, for a moment, seeing the young man he used to be. “True enough. You’ve snagged my interest, Norah. I love the idea. In fact, I’ve got some contacts in another little town a couple hours away. Balenmore. We have a ski lodge near there, and it happens they’ve done a lot on the rural tourism front. I think they’d be good people to talk to. Can you stay a few more days? Make the trip up?”
“Of course.” Rather than the victory boogie she wanted to make, Norah took a big bite of her chocolate mousse.
“I’ll make the arrangements.”
She finished her dessert while he typed out a message on his phone, presumably to his assistant. When the man decided to move on something, he didn’t waste time.
“I should be able to let you know the details by morning in time for you to check out here.”
“Perfect. Will you tell me something?”
“What do you want to know?”
“Does this woman you loved have something to do with why you’re considering my plan?”
“I’m considering your plan because I think it’s a good investment. And because you’re damned good at persuasion, which is why I want you to run my marketing department. I haven’t given up hope of wooing you.” The smile he shot her was calculated to be disarming.
She didn’t miss his sidestep. “I’m good, but you didn’t get to be CEO of a billion dollar corporation by being easily led. There are other investments, other places you could do this that would bring you more profit.”
“Your point?”
“You wanted to make things better for her back then. I think you still want to make things better for her, in case she’s still there.”
He said nothing for a long moment. “You have a romantic’s heart, Miss Burke. I hope life lets you keep it.”
Chapter 20