replied. “But a million dollars won’t bring world peace or end poverty or cure cancer.”
“What about a personal dream? One that only you would have. Not a charitable idea or hope, but something that seemed impossible for you to attain before.”
She stared at the ticket as if mesmerized before putting out a hand to ward off temptation. “You should donate the money to charity if you don’t want it for yourself. A million dollars might not cure cancer, but it would help fund more research.”
What kind of bad girl, are you? her inner voice mocked. Whoever heard of an altruistic bad girl?
“What are you afraid of?” Owen said.
Now those were fighting words, as far as Skye was concerned. Fear was not an emotion she allowed in her vocabulary. “Nothing!”
“And you expect me to believe that you couldn’t do a thing with an extra million dollars?”
“ Extra suggests I had another million stockpiled someplace,” she noted dryly. “Which is definitely not the case.”
“You could start a college fund for your daughter. Or start a 401K retirement fund for yourself.”
“I’m only twenty-five and Toni is only four.”
“It’s never too soon to start planning for the future.”
“I’m more a dreamer than a planner.”
“Exactly.” Owen pounced on her words. “So dream big.” He spread his hands wide. “You could buy whatever you wanted just about. A huge house. New cars. Stocks and bonds.”
“Or the Tivoli Theater.”
“Or the Tivoli . . .” Owen paused as her words sank in. “The theater? You want to buy the theater? It’s been closed for years now.”
“I know. I live right above it, remember? And I got to take a look around when I first rented the apartment. The real estate agent let me in for a peek. It’s incredible inside. Tattered and bruised after being neglected. But, Owen, those walls talked to me.”
“It was one of the first theaters built for ‘talkies.’ ”
Noting the fondness in his voice, she said, “Why don’t you buy it, Owen?”
“I’ve got enough on my hands running the funeral home. I don’t need another business. But you could buy it.”
“I’m not a businessperson.”
“You’ve got passion and drive and a big dream. You can learn the rest.”
“No way.”
“You don’t think so?”
“I’m not practical.”
“Who says you have to be?”
Skye frowned. “I thought business owners had to be practical.”
“Depends.”
“You’re practical.”
“Yet here I am, handing over a million-dollar lottery ticket to you to buy the Tivoli Theater.”
He had her there. “Sounds pretty crazy,” she admitted.
“Anything wrong with that?”
“You are definitely asking the wrong person. I’m not exactly the traditional type.”
“Which is why you can dream big. You’re always talking about karma. You bought the ticket. It’s karma that you be the winner.”
“It seems more likely that you’ve earned the good karma by doing such good deeds, like paying off my speeding tickets.”
“You’d do the same for me.”
“Yeah, I would,” Skye agreed. “The difference is that you’d never have a bunch of unpaid tickets.”
“Are you gonna hold that against me?”
“Of course not.”
“Then take the ticket. It’s yours. Please.” His voice softened. “It’s really what I want.”
“Maybe you should sleep on it . . .”
“Skye, I haven’t reached the ripe old age of seventy-three without knowing that I want. And I want you to have this. Karma and I want you to have this. So take it and make an old man happy.” He pressed the card into her hand.
“If you should change your mind . . .”
“I won’t.”
“But if you should . . .”
“I won’t. ”
She’d never heard him speak so emphatically.
“The Tivoli Theater needs you,” he added with a twinkle in his light blue eyes. When she’d first met him, his eyes reminded her of Santa’s, in a poster she’d seen as a kid. They were the sort of eyes that drew
“What about a personal dream? One that only you would have. Not a charitable idea or hope, but something that seemed impossible for you to attain before.”
She stared at the ticket as if mesmerized before putting out a hand to ward off temptation. “You should donate the money to charity if you don’t want it for yourself. A million dollars might not cure cancer, but it would help fund more research.”
What kind of bad girl, are you? her inner voice mocked. Whoever heard of an altruistic bad girl?
“What are you afraid of?” Owen said.
Now those were fighting words, as far as Skye was concerned. Fear was not an emotion she allowed in her vocabulary. “Nothing!”
“And you expect me to believe that you couldn’t do a thing with an extra million dollars?”
“ Extra suggests I had another million stockpiled someplace,” she noted dryly. “Which is definitely not the case.”
“You could start a college fund for your daughter. Or start a 401K retirement fund for yourself.”
“I’m only twenty-five and Toni is only four.”
“It’s never too soon to start planning for the future.”
“I’m more a dreamer than a planner.”
“Exactly.” Owen pounced on her words. “So dream big.” He spread his hands wide. “You could buy whatever you wanted just about. A huge house. New cars. Stocks and bonds.”
“Or the Tivoli Theater.”
“Or the Tivoli . . .” Owen paused as her words sank in. “The theater? You want to buy the theater? It’s been closed for years now.”
“I know. I live right above it, remember? And I got to take a look around when I first rented the apartment. The real estate agent let me in for a peek. It’s incredible inside. Tattered and bruised after being neglected. But, Owen, those walls talked to me.”
“It was one of the first theaters built for ‘talkies.’ ”
Noting the fondness in his voice, she said, “Why don’t you buy it, Owen?”
“I’ve got enough on my hands running the funeral home. I don’t need another business. But you could buy it.”
“I’m not a businessperson.”
“You’ve got passion and drive and a big dream. You can learn the rest.”
“No way.”
“You don’t think so?”
“I’m not practical.”
“Who says you have to be?”
Skye frowned. “I thought business owners had to be practical.”
“Depends.”
“You’re practical.”
“Yet here I am, handing over a million-dollar lottery ticket to you to buy the Tivoli Theater.”
He had her there. “Sounds pretty crazy,” she admitted.
“Anything wrong with that?”
“You are definitely asking the wrong person. I’m not exactly the traditional type.”
“Which is why you can dream big. You’re always talking about karma. You bought the ticket. It’s karma that you be the winner.”
“It seems more likely that you’ve earned the good karma by doing such good deeds, like paying off my speeding tickets.”
“You’d do the same for me.”
“Yeah, I would,” Skye agreed. “The difference is that you’d never have a bunch of unpaid tickets.”
“Are you gonna hold that against me?”
“Of course not.”
“Then take the ticket. It’s yours. Please.” His voice softened. “It’s really what I want.”
“Maybe you should sleep on it . . .”
“Skye, I haven’t reached the ripe old age of seventy-three without knowing that I want. And I want you to have this. Karma and I want you to have this. So take it and make an old man happy.” He pressed the card into her hand.
“If you should change your mind . . .”
“I won’t.”
“But if you should . . .”
“I won’t. ”
She’d never heard him speak so emphatically.
“The Tivoli Theater needs you,” he added with a twinkle in his light blue eyes. When she’d first met him, his eyes reminded her of Santa’s, in a poster she’d seen as a kid. They were the sort of eyes that drew
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