Ah, it was good to be back here. Bradys was lit up like a Christmas tree, with its vintage signs. They covered almost every available bit of wall surface and illuminated the interior, which was crammed full of tables and chairs, pool tables, dartboardsguy heaven. Every corner had a TV, and when the place had been open all of them were always tuned in to a smorgasbord of sporting events.
A lonely silk ficus tree lurked forlornly in a corner, covered with dust. Supposedly one of Bradys girlfriends had put it there one time, trying in vain to class the place up.
Excuse me, Julie?
She popped up from behind the bar, a pair of yellow rubber gloves on her hands. Looking startled, she stared at Tony for several seconds of charged silence. She had the most amazing amber eyes. Hed never seen eyes that color before. She reminded him of a golden fawn or an unspoiled woodland nymph.
Yes? she finally said. Her low, sexy voice sent shivers down his spine and a rush of blood through his veins.
Tony shook himself out of his daze. How could he be attracted to this woman when his pain over losing Daralee was still so fresh? It was just hormones playing a nasty trick on him. Hi, Im Tony Veracruz. I work at the fire station across the street, and we were just wonderingare you going to keep Bradys? We saw that you removed the For Sale sign.
She cocked her head to one side. Do you want to buy it?
Believe me, weve talked about it. But the price tag is a bit high for us working stiffs. We just really miss the placeand Brady. He was a great guy. It was terrible losing him so suddenly. Youre his niece?
Thats right. Julie Polk. She extended her hand across the bars polished surface, realized she still had gloves on, removed the right one hurriedly and tried again.
Tony took her hand, and rather than shake it as he would a mans, he squeezed it. It was a lovely little hand, with perfectly manicured nails polished a pearly pink. Tonys stomach gave a peculiar swoop.
Julies mask of detached politeness slipped and a flicker of awareness passed over her face. So she felt it, too?
The teenage girl, whod come to lean against the bar resting her chin on her folded arms, cleared her throat.
Julie extracted her hand from Tonys. This is my sister, Belinda. I heard her talking to someone, so I assume youve already met.
I did have the pleasure, though she didnt volunteer her name. Its a beautiful name, too. Hed almost named his daughter Belinda, so he wasnt deliberately laying it on thick.
Belinda blushed furiously. Though her hair and eyes were darker, she looked much like her sisterwhich meant she was probably already breaking hearts in all directions.
So your mother is the new owner of Bradys? Tony asked Julie.
Yes. She and Brady owned it together, but shes been more of a silent partner. They werent very close.
Thats too bad. Its sad when families drift apart. He was thinking about his own family. Due to his parents multiple marriages, Tony had lots of stepsiblings and half siblings, some of whom hed lost touch with. So your mother has decided not to sell?
Frankly Mom really doesnt care. Shes asked me to deal with it for her. Julie put the second rubber glove back on and resumed her task, which appeared to be counting beer mugs and entering the tally on a clipboard. She gave him a nice view of her denim-clad bottom in the process, which Tony fully enjoyeduntil he realized Belinda was smirking at him. He diverted his gaze to the picture of the naked lady above the bar.
But you are going to reopen? Tony persisted.
It would be a shame for the business to leave the family after weve owned it for three generations.
That sounded promising. Yeah, theres a lot of history here. Who are you gonna get to run the place? Brady had a guy working for him, Alonzo. Hed be a great manager.
You dont think I could run Bradys? she asked, challenging. She put the clipboard down and devoted her full attention to their conversation.
Well, youre Tony stopped himself before he misstepped. Some women had accused him before of being a male chauvinist pig. But it wasnt because he didnt think women deserved equal rights or that they werent as smart and capable as men. The opposite was more like it. He thought women should be treated better than men. And he didnt think any woman as beautiful and refined as Julie Polk should have to sling beer and deal with groping, drunk customers.
Im what?
Too pretty to work at a joint like this.
Her gaze fell, her long lashes casting shadows on her smooth cheeks. Thanks, but I dont have the resources to hire someone else to run the place. And since Im currently between assignments, as they say, Im the logical one to take on the job.
More power to you, then. Tony grinned. Bradys was coming back! The guys at the station would be over the moon. And dont worry, he added, youve got lots of friends in the neighborhood wholl help you out. So when are you planning to reopen?
Oh, Id say itll take a few weeks to refurbish the place, work out the menus.
Menus? Brady had served microwave nachos, popcorn and beer nuts. You didnt need a menu for the basics. Youre going to change Bradys?
Bradys is not going to be Bradys. And a big smile spread across her face, dispelling the polite, almost icy mask shed been wearing and transforming her into an angel. Tony was so entranced with how she looked he almost missed what she said next. Its going to be Belindas.
BelindasBar? he asked warily.
Belindas is going to be the coolest tearoom in all of Dallas.
Julie gathered that sexy Tony Veracruz was not happy with her announcement. He stared, his jaw hanging open, for several seconds as he processed her news.
Lord, he was gorgeous. Those well-defined cheekbones, that smooth olive skin and brown eyes a girl could drown in. Funny, shed always thought her ex-fiancé, with his aristocratic clean-cut blond handsomeness, was the best-looking guy around. But Tonys earthier looks struck a chord deep inside her.
When hed said she was pretty, the compliment had given her heart palpitations. But how silly was that? He probably told a half-dozen women a day they were pretty.
Did you say? Tonys voice trailed off.
Yes, isnt it great? Im turning Bradys into a tearoom.
On Jefferson Street?
The perfect place, dont you think? Oak Cliff is in the middle of a renaissance. I see revitalization all around us. The historic district is right across the street. Those mansions in Kessler Park are only a mile away. Then theres the Bishop Arts districtlots of sophisticated restaurants and bars going in there. She was using all the same arguments she had used to convince her parents to okay this venture, though truthfully they hadnt cared much what she did with Bradys so long as it brought in some cash.
The moment shed seen the place, despite its coat of grime, the thought had flashed into her mind: Julie Polk, owner and manager of the classiest tearoom in town. Wouldnt Trey be surprised? When shed given him back his ring, hed told her she would never make anything of herself without his help. But she was going to show him and his whole family how wrong they were.
Besides, she also wanted to transform Bradys into Belindas for herself. After her disastrous broken engagement, she needed something she could call her own; something no one could take away from her.
She resumed counting beer mugs. They were nice, heavy glass ones, and she could use them as iced-tea glasses. Almost everything else would have to go, though. Shed been doing a quick-and-dirty inventory since she and Belinda had arrived this morning, and the results were depressing.
But Bradys is a neighborhood institution, Tony argued. You cant close it for good.
I dont really have a choice, she said practically. I know absolutely nothing about running a bar. I do, however, know a great deal about managing a tearoom. Shed spent a year as manager of Lochinvars, the oh-so-tony tearoom inside Bailey-Davidsons, the upscale department store owned by her ex-fiancés family.
Belindas was going to be much cooler than Lochinvars, which had been around for fifty years and attracted mostly older matrons. Belindas was going to bring in the younger women, the rich hipsters who frequented Hatties and Caribe in Bishop Artsthe ones who knew Oak Cliff was the cool place to be, the ones who thought Deep Ellum was just a bit too grungy and Highland Park too stuffy.
But Bradys is a gold mine, Tony argued, following her along his side of the bar as she moved to count the next shelf of glasses. Its packed most nights with hard-drinking men and women who buy lots of beer.
What a charming picture. Anyway, Ive looked at the books. The place might have been crowded, but the customers werent spending enough money. Bradys profits were way down. Theres almost no money in the accounts either.
That didnt surprise Tony. Brady spent it as fast as he could make it. He was a soft touch. He gave money away to any hard-luck story that came his way. He even hosted free Thanksgiving dinners for the homeless.
He did? Julie was surprised. According to her mother, Brady had never done anything that didnt directly benefit Brady. That sounds so nice.
You didnt know him?
Not really. Anyway, the point is, the books dont lie. Shed been taking classes at community college with an eye toward a degree in business management. She knew a bit about accounting. Bradys was barely breaking even.
Okay, so maybe the place isnt a gold mine. Yet. But with the right management skills He looked pointedly at Julie.
Ive done the research. The demographics are changing. A more upscale establishment on this street will be cutting-edge. Belindas should be extremely profitable, even with the investments Ill have to make to refurbish the place. Julie was counting on some quick profits. Clever Belinda, with her perfect SAT scores, was going to attend an Ivy League university. And since the Davidsons had withdrawn their pledge to finance Belindas education, it was up to Julie to figure out how to pay the staggering tuition by next fall, only a year away.
Even though Belinda was certain to get some sort of scholarship, there would still be huge expenses. And her parents couldnt contribute anything. They could barely take care of their own bills.
The real-estate agent had told Julie it could take months or even years to sell Bradys for a fair price. And all the mortgages and liens Brady had on the building would eat up the proceeds from any purchase.
Opening the tearoom was a much better idea. She could sell everythingand there were some collectibles tucked in and around Bradys, like the cigar-store Indian and the vintage pinball machines and neon signs. With the proceeds and her own little nest egg, she could transform this place into a posh yet cozy oasis that would provide her and her family with income for years to come.
Eventually, she would have to pay off Bradys creditors. Fortunately, however, theyd been willing to work out terms when shed explained she wanted to get the place back in business.
Julie had done the math. She really could manage this.
You cant do this, Tony said. Please, Julie, Im begging you. Youll be destroying a piece of Oak Cliff history.
Julie stopped counting beer mugs. She kept losing track, and who could blame her when this gorgeous man was distracting her? She wondered exactly what hed be willing to do to get her to change her mind, then immediately banished the thought. Shed broken her engagement less than a month ago. She was still reeling over her fiancés betrayal and the astounding realization that he and his whole family had expected her to brush his indiscretion under the rug. She had no business letting sexy Tony Veracruz heat up her blood.
Mr. Veracruz, look around you.
He did. Yeah?
This place is a dump. Its a dive, a blight on a neighborhood thats trying to come back. Im going to improve it, beautify it, make it a showplace Oak Cliff can be proud of.
Well, Ill admit Bradys could use a good scrubbing.
What it could use is a nuclear explosion. Thats what it would take to get the dirt off these floors. Everything reeks of stale beer and cigarette smoke.
You could clean the place up, Tony tried again. Wed help you.
Im sorry, Tony. And truly she was. Bradys had probably been the sort of place where some people felt they belonged. Like Cheers, only grittier. Finding a place to fit in, to belong, was important, and she should know. Shed been trying to figure out where she fit her whole life.
Not in Pleasant Grove, the blue-collar suburb where shed grown up in a housing project. Shed always known there was something better for her out in the world and shed thought shed found her place working at Bailey-Davidsons. Shed devoted nine years of her life to itwatching, studying, improving herself, moving up the department-store career ladder, slowly accumulating college credits so that she would eventually qualify for higher management positions.
She loved that store. She loved being around the beautiful clothes, the delicate bone china, the designer bed linensoh, how she loved the linens department.
Most of all, shed loved being around all those well-educated, refined, soft-spoken people. And when Trey Davidson had noticed her, accepted her, when his friends had welcomed her into their circleeven though she couldnt claim an Ivy League affiliation or a single drop of blue bloodshed thought shed found her place. Up-and-coming Bailey-Davidsons executive and wife to the stores heir apparent.
A dream come true.
Except the dream had turned into the proverbial nightmare, and Julie had once again found herself afloat in a strange sea in which she didnt belong, wondering what she would do with her life.
Belindas could be her place. Her creation, her universe. She could surround herself with beautiful things, fine foods and people who appreciated the same things she did.
Tony Veracruz, she guessed, would not be one of those people. Which was a pity. Let Marcel at the Bailey-Davidsons salon cut Tonys hair, then put him in an Armani suit, and hed fit right in at any office in any glass high-rise in the city. But Julie suspected that sort of life didnt appeal to him. She could tell he liked himself the way he was and liked where he was in life.
Which was fine. That was part of his appeal, actuallythe fact that he was obviously so comfortable in his skin.
His gorgeous skin.