“But I still love the old one, and unfortunately, I’m a bit short on time.” I rolled my shoulders and proudly announced, “I’m actually working with Beckett, your grandson.”
“Really?” Celine asked.
A weird expression passed Isabeau’s face. “Piper,” she said slowly. “Right. You met the rest of our grandsons at Julian’s bar, isn’t that so?”
That was an odd thing to ask.
I nodded. “Yes. I met Beckett there so we could go through my marketing presentation.”
“That’s very accommodating of you.”
“I didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to pitch to him the second time. Long story short, I made a big faux pas when I first showed him my presentation. He looked tired and wasn’t paying attention, and I assumed that he’d been out partying or whatever and wasn’t taking me seriously.”
No idea why, but I couldn’t hide the truth from these two. Their auras were like a truth serum, and I just blurted it out. Probably because they knew my life story, which they’d asked for when putting together the ingredients for my perfumes.
Isabeau blinked. “Oh my, you jumped to the wrong conclusion altogether. He’s got?—”
I winced. “I know, I know. I’ve met his daughter.”
Celine’s smile lit up as if a light bulb went on. “That’s right. You met Charlotte when you went to the penthouse.”
“I… Y-yes!” I stammered. How did they know that? “I’m going to see her again tonight. I’m completing the budget proposal over the next few hours, and Beckett asked me to drop by and discuss everything, hopefully after he gets the little one to bed. He says he’s got a new routine that’s been working well.”Oh my God, there I go again.
“Well, then. I’ll be right back with your refill,” Celine said. She gave Isabeau a meaningful look before going to the back.
These two were always quirky, but they were especially weird today. Did I make a mistake by telling them that I was working with Beckett? I couldn’t think of a single reason to keep it quiet.
“So, you and Beckett didn’t hit it off right away, huh?” Isabeau asked.
I shook my head, ashamed. “I’m truly sorry about that. It was totally my fault, and I apologized profusely to him. Of course, after I heard that he has a daughter, I put two and two together. I’m not even sure why I assumed the worst in the first place.”
She scoffed. “My grandson does have a reputation for partying.Though I didn’t realize it was common knowledge in business circles.”
“It’s not.”
“How are your parents?” she asked out of nowhere.
“They’re fine. They love your soaps, and Mom adores the face cream I bought her last time.” I wondered if she remembered what I meant. I’d only bought it once.
Isabeau clapped. “Excellent. Should I make a package for them too? You bought the cream for your mom three months ago. She’s probably running out of it.”
“Oh, thank you! You’ve got an excellent memory.”
“Of course. I’m not that old, girl.”
“Oh no, I wasn’t implyingthat. And yes, please. I’ll take the cream for Mom.” Goodness, I didn’t want to get on their bad side.
“I knew collaborating with Grace would be a success,” Isabeau murmured.
“You don’t make the face cream?”
“No. Zachary’s fiancée, Grace, is the one behind it. We decided to collaborate a while ago, and we couldn’t be happier about it.”
I just loved that they kept everything within the family.
“Let me just pack everything up for you,” she said, grabbing a box from under the counter.
“Thank you.” They always did things so professionally here. Presentation was everything.
