The glass was empty. Leaving the balcony, she walked back to the kitchen and set it next to the sink. The loan application lay on the counter where she’d left it. For now she would put it away in the desk. But she hadn’t given up on finding a way to help her proud, stubborn husband. She could only hope that, with time and healing, he might allow her to be a true partner to him.

What would Kate have done? But she wasn’t Kate. She wasn’t tough or wise. She didn’t know how to bond with her stepdaughter or understand the man she loved—or even throw a proper party. She had never felt more inadequate in her life.

With the documents in hand, she walked down the hall to Burke’s study. Even before she opened the door, she knew what would happen. Brianna wouldn’t be home for hours, and the contents of the desk were drawing her like a magnet. If she opened the drawer to put the application away, she’d be helpless to turn aside. There would be no way she could leave the room without reading one more heart-crushing letter.

But first she would look at the loan application. If she was to deal intelligently with this crisis, she would need to know how much Burke hoped to borrow and on what terms.

She sank into the chair, switched on the lamp, and spread the papers on the desk.

Allison had taken out a small business loan to upgrade her gallery—a loan that had to be paid off when she sold the gallery to marry Burke. The experience helped her understand the complex document she was looking at now.

Burke had been very thorough. He’d listed all the improvements he wanted to make on the American Heartland. There would be a new, revolving stage with multiple levels, along with sound and lighting to support spectacular productions. Additional seating would accommodate more customers, and luxurious dressing rooms would bring in more demanding talent. A new flashing marquee would be visible even from a distance, and there would also be money set aside for publicity.

Knowing Burke, he would have researched every item and even gotten some bids. Still, the amount of money needed to make the old theater a showplace was staggering. No wonder Garrett was pushing to sell out to the Mob.

The next few pages contained a breakdown of projected revenue, expenses, and proposed loan repayment schedules. The bottom line: the theater would have to run at near capacity to make the monthly payments, which would start in three months, hopefully after the remodeling was done and the American Heartland was open for the spring season.