“The shop is failing,” he says with a sigh, leaning against the wall and folding his arms across his chest. He tilts his head back and stares up at the ceiling light. “No matter what I do, I can’t dig myself out of this mess.”
“I could ask Gia. She knows almost everyone in the building. Someone might have a good idea to save your business.”
He tosses me a brief smile. “We’re in the wrong part of town. There’s not enough foot traffic, and our prices are too high.”
I frown. “Couldn’t you lower prices to…” He’s already shaking his head, so I drop my suggestion.
“That won’t work. We’re a mom-and-pop store, and we can’t afford to order big enough supplies to get the good deals that the bigger chains can. We lose money if we lower prices, and we don’t get customers because we can’t lower the prices any more than we have already. Basically, we’re bleeding money.”
His problems put mine in perspective. Running from an alpha seems significantly easier than saving a failing business. I chew my lip as I think, but I just learned how to use the stove without burning my dinner. This is beyond me. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
He shakes his head. “I’m just delaying the inevitable. Hugh was my dad.”
Was.
I wince.
There I was, bumbling into his store, demanding to see Hugh and worrying about my lack of water, and he was trying to keep his dead dad’s business afloat. His dad died, and he inherited a massive problem he’s trying to resolve, probably while still grieving.
“I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t know, and it was a long time coming.” His eyes sweep over the overflowing desk and dusty shelves. “He gave everything to keep this place going. I used to help out on the weekends and sometimes after school. Then I went to college, and I didn’t realize how bad things were getting. He probably should have closed it years ago, but he was proud.” He snorts. “I must get it from him because here I am trying to figure out how to keep a shop with no customers alive.”
I don’t know much—or anything—about business. “Could you move the shop to somewhere busier?” I suggest.
“We have too many debts here, and starting over means a big down-payment for a new space. I don’t have that kind of money, and running a hardware store was never what I wanted to do.” He releases a sigh so heavy, he must have the weight of the world on his shoulders. “Closing makes sense. There’s no reason not to close. Every time I walk in the front door and turn on the lights, I’m losing money, but…”
“But this was your dad’s shop, and you want to keep it alive for him?”
He nods. “It’s all we have left of him—Mom and me.”
“What does your mom think?”
He shrugs. “To do what makes me happy.”
“And what would make you happy?”
“Be a writer,” he says. “I majored in creative writing.”
I make a face. “Ah…”
He grins at me. “So you can see how well prepared I was to save a struggling business. My mom thinks I should close the shop and do what I want with my life, but she poured just as much time into this shop as Dad.”
“I’ll talk to Gia…” I meet his gaze. “Do you mind if I talk to her? She’s really smart, and I’m sure she’ll have a great idea about saving your shop.” But his expression is all the answer I need. “You don’t want me to tell anyone?”
“I’d rather you didn’t. Least of all to anyone from your building. They won’t have anywhere to go when they have more problems. I want to do what I can to save this place and anyone else who needs my help, and not have them worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
“Okay,” I say, unsure I believe him from his furrowed brow. “I’d better get back to cleaning.”
My head spins as I get to my feet.
“Hey! Are you okay?” Jack asks, catching me before I can fall.
I offer him a grateful smile. “Thanks. I just got up too fast.”
“You should go home. Rest.” He scans my face. “You look tired.”
Because I haven’t been sleeping and barely eating since I saw Archer on the other side of the street, feet from my apartment. “I’m okay.Really,” I add when it doesn’t look like he believes me. “I just got up too fast. That’s all.”
