But where she came from … where I came from? Maybe.” The back and forth motion of his head as he shakes it causes a few stands of hair to fall over his forehead. “I swear, getting her to leave the old neighborhood is like pulling teeth.”
I know he’s being serious, but I can’t help the chuckle that skips up my throat. “You make it sound like she’s being held hostage.”
“In a way she is, but she doesn’t see it.”
“I don’t understand, and I don’t know why you’d want her out of Ryder East. Yes, it has its problems, but the people there are lovely.”
“Most aren’t.”
“You’ve been away a long time. It’s not like that anymore.”
Before he can argue, his phone rings. “It’s my foundation manager.” He swipes the phone and puts it to his ear. “Hey, Carlton.”
He cuts his eyes to me as he listens. The hair on my arms stands at attention, and not in a good way.
“Carlton, I’m going to put you on speaker.” His blunt finger punches the button. “Can you repeat what you just said?”
“Sure.” The guy’s voice comes through the speaker. “We couldn’t approve the grant because the application was incomplete.”
“That’s not true,” shoots from my mouth before I even know I’ve spoken.
“Who’s that?”
“That’s Tiger Lyons, Carlton. She filled out the application.”
“I’m sorry, but it is true, Ms. Lyons. There were key elements missing.”
Fiery heat stings my skin as it spreads up my neck to my face. “I swear it was complete.”
Cash holds the phone closer to his mouth. “Are you sure, Carlton?”
“Yeah. I don’t know what happened between when you finished it, Ms. Lyons, and when we received it, but it wasn’t complete. I reached out to the city more than once, but no one got back to me.”
“Why wasn’t I notified, Carlton?” Cash asks. “Surely you knew the application came from my hometown?”
“Cash, I was only following your instructions.” Even through my misery, I can hear the tight irritation in his voice. “You said you didn’t want to be bothered with the day-to-day running of the foundation. However, I did send you an email because it was from Ryder. I never heard back from you.”
All the color bleeds from Cash’s face, and he looks as embarrassed and miserable as I feel.
He takes the phone off speaker and puts it to his ear. “You’re right. Sorry.”
My thoughts are bouncing around my head. What could’ve happened? An ugly and dark suspicion begins to worm its way to the front of my mind.
“See ya, man.” Cash disconnects and gives me a commiserative look.
“That application was complete. I checked it three times before I turned it in to City Hall. I had Maggie check it too.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
I jump to my feet and begin to pace. “The hell it doesn’t matter. My reputation is on the line.”
“You don’t have to worry about your reputation. I’m getting involved and taking responsibility for making this happen. I’m giving you the money. Tell me where you want me to send it, and I’ll get this ball rolling.”
His open, smiling face should’ve caused little ballerinas to prance around my belly, but instead it makes me sick. An old familiar anger and helplessness washes over me. Just like Brad, he’s going to take this away from me.
“Send it to hell. Where you can go, too, Cash King.”
Fifteen
Cash
I stare into Tiger’s furious eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong?” She stops pacing and jabs her finger my direction. “I’ll tell you what’s wrong. This is my baby, and you swoop in and want to rub some money on it and take a project I’ve been working on for months away from me.”
“What?” I shake my head because I can’t have heard her correctly. “I don’t want to take anything away from you. I’m trying to help. To do more than take up space in this world.”
Her glare is lethal. I guess she doesn’t like me using her own words against her. “Well, I don’t want your money.”
“You were going to take money from my foundation.”
“This is different.”
“How?”
“It just is.”
“What difference does it make if it comes from the foundation or out of my pocket? Unless my money’s not good enough for you.”
She stares at me. “I thought we settled this. I’ve never thought anything about you was less than. The opposite, in fact. So, can we move past that, or at the very least, can you deal with your issues in private?”
“Wow, Kitty Cat, don’t hold back.” I also want to know what she means