CHAPTER17
Joseph opened the front door and smiled at Shona. “This is a nice surprise.” His smile disappeared when he saw the frown on her face. “What’s wrong?”
Adele ran down the hallway. “Shona! You should see the photos of Paris’ wedding on Facebook. There’s a picture of you and me with Louie.”
“Mabel said she was going to post them last night. I’ll have a look at them later. Did you have a good sleep after all the ice cream we ate?”
“I had a great sleep. Can you teach me how to quilt today?”
Shona shook her head. “I’d like to, but I have to work in my store. Would you mind if I spoke to your dad for a while?”
“I don’t mind. I’m drawing some more pictures for my book. Do you want to see them when I’m finished?”
“I’d love to.”
Joseph pointed toward the kitchen. “We can talk in there.” He didn’t know what had upset Shona. After they’d left Paris and Richard’s wedding, they’d gone to Betty’s Creamery and ordered the biggest ice creams on the menu. It was the perfect ending to an emotional day. Or so he’d thought.
Shona stood in the middle of the room looking a little lost. “I should’ve called before I came here.”
“Don't worry. You’re welcome anytime.” While Shona worked out how to say what was on her mind, he went through everything that might have upset her. The only thing he could think of was the money the trust had given to her business. But John had promised he wouldn't tell anyone where the funding had come from. And, if he couldn't trust John, there was no hope for anyone else.
“When I told Nate I'd received funding for my store from the Carol Hirshfield Trust, he did something I should’ve thought of. He looked on the Internet for any information about them.”
Joseph's heart pounded. She’d uncovered the one thing he didn't want her to know about. “I’m sorry I didn't tell you about the trust.”
Shona folded her arms across her chest. “Is it your trust or your father's?”
“It's mine. I started it in memory of my mom.”
“Why didn't you tell me about the money?”
Joseph pulled out a chair at the kitchen table. “Would you feel more comfortable sitting down and talking about it?”
“I’m too upset to sit down.”
He returned the chair to the table and ran his hand around the back of his neck. “I didn't tell you about the money because I was worried you wouldn't accept it.”
“You're right. I wouldn't have accepted it, but I would’ve been grateful that you'd offered it to me. I could have found the money somewhere else.”
“There aren't many organizations that can find twenty thousand dollars in a few weeks. You’d missed all the funding rounds you might have been able to use. Even the county can’t assess an application in two weeks.”
Shona threw her hands in the air. “So you got on your white horse and came to my rescue. But I didn't need to be rescued. I wanted to stand on my own feet and be responsible for whatever happened to my store.”
“You couldn't have opened your store without the money.”
Shona lifted her chin. “I would have found the money from somewhere else.”
Joseph sighed. “Fine. You would’ve found the money from somewhere else, and then what?”
“I would’ve opened my store exactly the way I did.”
“No, you wouldn't. Even if you'd found an organization to sponsor you, depositing the money into your bank account would have taken at least two weeks. That was two weeks you didn't have.”
“Penny knew I wanted to open my quilt store in that cottage. We’d had meetings about what I needed and how I wanted the store to look. She did everything she could to make it happen.”
Joseph leaned against the kitchen cabinets. “Only four of the cottages on Anchor Lane can be used for commercial premises. If you'd missed out on your cottage, there was only one other you could have used.”
“I already knew that.”
