Faith and Lies (Vera Reid, Reid Family Book #2)

Part 32

Tom stared at the Donation Center with a smile. It was amazing how quickly things could come together if money was not an issue. The walls had been painted, floors had been redone, new furniture had been installed and the donation closet was fully stocked. Around the corner, a small food pantry had been set up so that people could walk in and "shop", similar to how they might in a regular supermarket.

There was still so much work to be done but in a couple of months, the center would be inaugurated and the migrant community would have somewhere to go in times of crisis. It was something that had been on his mind every day since she'd brought him here, something he'd been planning every day since he'd been away.

"Mr. Dane." He turned, facing a man with a clipboard holding out a pen. "Your signature?"

"Thank you." Tom said, handing him the forms back and turning to a woman who was coordinating most of the renovation. "I have to head out in a bit. What else are we missing?"

"I can email you the final inventory list later today. Sorry, there's just still so much to go over." She said, looking down at her papers with a sigh.

"That's fine. Just try to get it to me asap, I need to get Mr. Bard to sign off so we can make the purchase." Tom said with a smile.

"That man... his generosity never ceases to surprise me." She replied, looking up at Tom. "Any chance we'll get to meet him soon?"

"Maybe." Tom said, "He's a very private person."

"Well it would be great if he could at least make it to the gala." She said with a nod.

"I'll try. Do you have the receipts?" Tom asked and she nodded, extending a neat stack to him. The woman had been managing the donation center for almost six years now and she had expressed time and time again how very grateful they were at their new benefactor's generosity, especially when the gala was announced. It was the type of event that high society was always throwing- a fancy dinner party, dancing including, at a high end hotel ball room, where each ticket was a cool $500 or you could buy a table for $3500, and all the proceeds went to charity. In this case, the donation center along with a handful of local nonprofits.

So far, they had sold at least 75% of their tickets and he was quite please when he went over the guest lists except... except there was one name he wanted to see more than any and it had yet to make an appearance. In reality, he'd been surprised to see that none of the Reids had purchased their tickets yet and so he wondered if maybe they had just not heard of it yet.

"Here." Tom said, scribbling a few names on a piece of paper before tearing it off and handing it to her. "I need you to send invitations to these people."

"Yes, sir." She said, glancing at the list, her eyes briefly flickering as she recognized the names. "Actually, I believe they were sent invites already. I know two of the Reid girls."

"Really? Me too." Tom said, "So I know they wouldn't like to be left out of this."

"Are you sure?" She asked, "Vera hasn't come around in a while and Romy doesn't usually attend these things."

"Here." He said, reaching over and scribbling a couple of more names. "Send them invites too. Try again, They'll come around."

"Okay. I'll send these out. Hope you're right." She replied.

"The place is looking great. I'll be around in a couple of days." Tom said, packing up a few things into briefcase. "In the meantime, let me know if anything else comes up."

"Yes sir!" She said, prying a smile from Tom as he walked out of the building.

It was warm. Too warm, a sure sign that summer was coming. How was it was May again? He smiled at the thought. May. Her birthday was coming up and he already knew what the perfect gift would be. He owed it to her, he owed her everything, including his life. How could he explain that to her? He hadn't missed how she'd looked at him... disgust, hate... but also, pain. That was what kept him up all night, tossing and turning.