My Spy 6: Private Eye

Bougie

Ryan looked ill while he dotted the I's and crossed the T's. He fought me on accepting the sum jointly but I told him I never wanted to fight about money. What's mine was his and if he too was going to be starting up his own business he needed to be financially secure to do so.

I kept mum about getting paperwork together to buy Sweeney's and told Horace the first thing I was going to go out and purchase was our forever home. The winery could wait. I also accepted part ownership in my grandmother's North Carolina beach house and apparently I was to receive a key that opens an old garage my grandfather had held onto on his old property in Hollis. Their old house had been turned into a Bed & Breakfast years ago but apparently, my grandparents still owned the land the B&B rented from them. It seemed to be a nice little side income Tilly was receiving, so I told Ryan we could discuss what to do with it later.

After getting everything signed off, I left the office on a high. I was now a financially independent married woman about to buy her first house. I pushed the "unemployed" that was currently attached to my name away from my mind and focused on the positive.

"What now my husband?" I ask Ryan as we drop back into my car. He swiped the keys from my hand as we crossed into the lobby and I didn't fight him on it. He fits comfortably in the driver seat, sliding his hands on the sleek steering wheel and I add, "You kinda want to drive it right?"

"I drove around Austin's Audi," Ryan reminds me but I continue to smirk at him, "Yes, but I have the upgraded fancy stuff." I poke around on the navigation screen and then look back to Austin, "But really what now? We don't have a home to go to or a job expecting us. Not sure what address I should be punching in."

"You know Hollis like the back of your hand, why do you even use that?" Ryan mocks while looking over to me.

"Because I paid for it, now don't distract me. Where are we goin'? What are we doin' now?" I ask, pulling my fingers away from the G.P.S.

"Are you talkin' big picture, like what are we doing with our life? Or immediate, like where are we goin' for lunch?"

I look to him, "Let's start with lunch and we can get deep and meaningful while we eat."

He sighs before saying, "Are you ready to face the town? Anywhere we go now is going to have someone you know inside. Or do we need to drive to Oxford and find a spot along the way?" I mull over my options and realize I don't want anyone to ruin my good mood. If I find my mother inside a restaurant or LulaBelle Anders I'm going to instantly go sour.

"Let's drive on toward Oxford. I know of a nice place where we can order champagne for lunch and no one will judge us," I tell Ryan and he looks reluctant. "Ryan I was just paid out, I want to celebrate my independence from my mother." That gets him to crack a smirk and he finally pushes the button to start the car. He puts it in reverse and then says, "I guess I should see how fast I can get this thing goin' on the highway."

******

When we pull up to Bottega Louie, Ryan gives me the side eye. I wave him over to the valet and as we are climbing out Ryan says, "I don't think we are dressed for a place like this."

"And when we order the most expensive champagne they won't care," I giddily say back to him while sliding my arm through his. We take our jeans and casual shirts up the thinly carpeted stairs and the doorman shows us through to the hostess. Ryan looks up at the ornately painted high ceilings and then runs his eyes over the very French decor.

"I didn't know Oxford had a place like this," he says while staring at an ornate gold frame holding a massive landscape painting inside.

"It's a nod to the failed French colonization in Mississippi," I reply while wondering if the frame is just making a cheap painting look worthy of the Louvre or if it's actually a pricey antique hanging on the wainscoted walls.