Big Daddy Sinatra 3: The Best of My Love (The Sinatras of Jericho County) by Mallory Monroe Read Free Book Online Page A

He
stopped walking and looked at his son.   “You sure?” he asked him.
    In
truth, Brent didn’t want to broach the subject at all.   But he nodded.   “I’m sure,” he said. “Go to your
meeting.   It can wait.”

 
    Matt
Dellum looked at his watch again and then twirled another forkful of
spaghetti.   “Not very punctual people,
are they?” He ate vigorously.
    “She’s
usually on time, from what I’ve heard about her around town,” Steve Greene, his
property manager, responded.   He was not
eating at all.   “These townspeople,
however, doesn’t view her husband the same.   He was probably late for his own Baptism, is the way they put it.”
    “But
she’s the one who owns the Inn, right?” Matt twirled another forkful of pasta.
“She’s the one we have to convince?”
    “Her
husband actually owns it,” Steve said.   “He acquired it just before they got married, so it’s rightfully
his.   But she runs it.   She’s the force behind it.   From what I’m hearing he turned the whole
shebang over to her.”
    They
were in the Marymount Restaurant on Jericho’s south side, at a booth near the
window, and were waiting for Charles and Jenay Sinatra to finally arrive.   Both Sinatras were very late.   “So tell me everything I need to know about
this woman,” Matt said.   “About this . .
.”   He looked down at a sheet of paper
beside his plate.   “This Jenay Sinatra.”
    Steve
opened his folder.   “She got her start a
little later in life than most,” he said.   “She was like thirty before she decided to go to some vocational school
in Boston.   She ended up with a
certificate in hotel management.   Sinatra
met her when she was at that school, found her attractive, and asked her to run
his newly acquired Bed and Breakfast.”
    “The
Jericho Inn?”
    “The
Jericho Inn.   Although everybody around
here just calls it the Inn.   And she’s
run it well.   According to everybody I
talked to, she exceeded their expectations.”
    “What
about her race?” Matt asked.   “Is that a
factor around here?”
    “It
used to be when Charles first brought her to town.   Mainly because she supplanted other local
women who were a part of his life, and they didn’t like that.   Why couldn’t he find a good white girl, that
was how they felt about it when she first came to town.   But now?   No.   Her race doesn’t appear to be
a factor at all.   She’s one of them now.”
    Matt
didn’t like to hear that.   “That could be
problematic,” he said, “if she and her husband turn down our offer.”
    Steve
didn’t follow that logic.   “What do you
mean?”
    “We’re
going to need local government to agree to our plans.”
    “Hell
that’s practically done,” Steve said.   “We’ve paid off almost every councilperson in town.”
    “But
they can only vote in committee to bring the measure up for a citywide
vote.   If this Jenay is against what
we’re trying to do, then she and her husband may be able to turn the town
against those plans too, and the citywide vote will fail.”
    “Her
husband isn’t going to turn anybody against anything around here,” Steve
said.   “He’s universally hated around
here.   They even call him Big Daddy as a
way to show their disdain.”
    Matt
didn’t get it.   “How is calling somebody
Big Daddy disdainful?”
    “The
same way Uncle Aaron isn’t a term of endearment either.   He’s like Big Brother trying to control their
lives because he owns half the town and therefore employs a lot of their family
members.   But he shows no mercy.   Most people says he’s meaner than a junkyard
dog.   The only people who seem to love
him are his wife and kids.   And from what
I hear they really love him.   Unconditionally.”
    “So
what is this Charles Sinatra some old curmudgeon?” Matt asked.   “Some old geezer?”
    “Hell
no.   That’s the thing.   He’s younger than you are.”   Matt had just turned