“Oh, you know. I’m doing well. When is our next lunch date?”
She never just calls. There’s something up her sleeve, and right now, I don’t have time to figure it out. I click speakerphone and bring up my calendar to see when I have her scheduled for lunch.
“Okay, you are on my schedule for dinner this Friday. Does that still work for you, or do you need to reschedule?”
“This Friday, yes, that’s perfect. It’s on my calendar. See you then.”
Gram keeps her cards close to her chest until you are face-to-face with her. The entire world could burn to the ground, and she’d wait until you were in front of her to tell you. I’m going to forget about it for now.
“Okay, I love you, Gram, and we’ll talk then.”
She hangs up in the middle of me talking. Something is bothering her. If I had more time in my schedule, I would reschedule our lunch for tomorrow. But we have too much to do.
Logan and I look at each other, and I say, “That was weird.”
“Well, keep me in the loop. I’m sure she will tell you all about it on Friday. If she needs anything, I’m here too. I know she doesn’t like bothering me because I have a family, but I always have time for her.”
“I will. I’m going to the gym to blow off some steam and clear my head. I’ll be back later.”
“You’re all over the place today. Come back with a fresh outlook because we’re going to need it.”
“Head home too, I’m sure Theresa would like that,” I say, encouraging him to take a break.
When I’m all fired up, the gym allows me to work it out and reduce stress.
Logan points his finger at me. “And don’t get caught up between some chick’s legs. We’ve got work to do. Be back by seven.”
“See you later.” I ignore his last comment and walk out the door.
SEVEN
Kendall
Just as I pick up my phone, a text comes in from Dane. I wasn’t expecting to hear from him at all, even though I gave him my card. My gut pushed me to do it. Not knowing what the hell I was doing, I handed it over. Feeling conflicted, does he really want to get to know me, or is this part of his routine?
And then to just talk with the town’s building inspector and say, “I’ll be all set”, I don’t know what his angle is. I’m conflicted. The whole thing gets under my skin. His assuming I needed help is presumptuous and a big overstep in my eyes. Yet, if all goes well today, it’s him I need to thank. And I sigh hard, thinking about this entire situation I’ve gotten into over the past few days.
All I want to do is finish planning for my grand opening and build this business to support local workers and the community. I look around as I drive to the salon and realize that I’ve been in deep thought. I don’t even remember driving all this way. The salon is up ahead.
Thankfully, Blake, my general contractor, will be there with me. As a woman business owner, I find it difficult to deal withthe town, especially this building inspector. I’m close to filing a complaint with the town manager’s office. But since Dane stuck his neck out, maybe I don’t even have to worry about it.
I cross my fingers and hope that this meeting goes as planned and we get the final sign-offs. Then we’ll have time to finalize the soft opening celebration with my closest friends and loyal clients the night before. Hopefully, we will start getting reviews that will catapult us in the local market. Being the only spa in a thirty-mile radius, it far exceeds the local competition.
As I’m parking and swing my legs out of my SUV, Blake strolls out of the back entrance of the building. Looking good as usual, his dirty blond hair is in disarray in that ruggedly handsome way of his. He’s been working a lot of hours to finish everything for this morning’s inspection. An early morning for him starts at 6:30 a.m., so I’m guessing he’s been here since earlier than that today. I admire his dedication to his work and to this project. He knows how much this means to me. Approaching him, he glances over at me with his baby blue eyes.
“How was your weekend?” asks Blake.
My mind instantly goes to Friday night and how Miss Take-A-Risk met Dane in his hotel room. I don’t regret a second of it, but now that’s all I’m focused on. My core heats and my thighs rub together almost involuntarily.
I need to change the subject quickly to distract myself. “It was great. We had a girls’ night. How was your daughter’s game?”
“It was a close one, but they won.”
“She must have been excited.”
Blake is a single dad to his eight-year-old daughter, Olivia. She is his entire world and the only thing he talks about. I admire his work ethic and his commitment to his company and daughter. You don’t see that often enough.
“The entire team was cheering, and we went out for ice cream to celebrate.”
