Alina spent the time organizing a meeting of the tenants, including her stepmother. It was the first time in Alina’s life that her stepmother sided with her about anything. But when her stepmother learned the size of the bonus for moving out early, she was all for it. The catch was they all had to agre
e to move early in order to receive the bonus.
There were heated discussions, but in the end Mr. Merryweather, who was like a grandfather to her, and Mr. Jackson, a talented musician, were the firm holdouts. However, when Alina pleaded with them and told them she had a plan, they said they trusted her. In the end, the plan was a go on her end. However, she hadn’t heard back from Graham.
Day two dragged on.
As Thursday evening settled in, blanketing the world in darkness, there still was no word from Graham. Thank goodness for the glow of twinkle lights. They buoyed Alina’s spirits. Miracles didn’t always happen overnight. Sometimes they took time. However, it didn’t make the wait any easier.
Alina had worked the breakfast shift that day as well as coordinated an afternoon Christmas party. Now she was home, pacing the floor. She’d checked her phone off and on all day. It looked like he wasn’t even going to have the decency to phone her and turn down her proposal. She groaned in frustration.
Knock-knock.
How was she going to tell the people she cared about that their last chance to save the building was gone? Defeat weighed heavy on her. Now she was out of options. And she had no idea how to tell any of them, not after she’d pleaded with them to give her plan a chance.
Knock-knock.
“Coming.” Alina drew in a steadying breath before heading for the door. She glanced through the peephole but couldn’t see the person’s face, just part of a shoulder.
“Who’s there?”
“Graham.”
Graham? At this hour? What did it mean?
She unlocked the door and swung it open. “What are you doing here?”
His eyes momentarily widened. “Not exactly the greeting I was expecting.”
“Sorry. I just didn’t expect to see you. Here. Now. This evening.” Oh, she was rambling and making a fool of herself.
“Can I come in?”
Heat swirled in her chest. If she’d have known he was coming to visit, she would have cleaned up. As it was, her dinner dishes were stacked in the sink and her party planning papers for the café were scattered over the couch and coffee table. But what choice did she have?
She backed up, pulling the door wide open. “Sure. Come on in.”
When he stepped into her living room, it suddenly seemed to shrink. Oh, my, this guy is tall. Her mouth went dry.
She closed the door and then rushed over to the couch and started to collect her papers into a pile. She would sort them out later.
“I... I was working,” she said, not wanting him to think she was always this messy.
“I’m sorry for just dropping by. I just out at a business dinner when I realized I left your phone number at the office.”
“Oh.” She gestured to the two armchairs across from the couch. “Please have a seat.”
Still wearing his coat, he moved to the armchair and perched on the edge. He obviously didn’t intend to stay long.
Just then her cat entered the room and sauntered straight up to Graham. Prince jumped up on the arm of the chair and stared at Graham, who stared back at him.
“Is he friendly?” he asked.
“Oh, yes. Prince loves everyone.”
Graham reached out to pet him. Prince hissed and ran away.
“Prince,” she called. The cat kept walking. “Prince, come here.” His ears didn’t even twitch as he disappeared down the hallway to the bedroom. He always did have selective hearing. If it was time to eat, he heard everything, otherwise he was likely to ignore her admonishments. Alina turned back to Graham. “I’m so sorry. He never acts like that. He really is a nice cat. I swear.”