He threw his hand in the air. "Who knows what she sells in the back of her store?"
Was he implying she had some sort of porn or sex-toy shop? "I've inspected the store, and I can assure you she sells lingerie. Nothing else."
From his expression, he didn't believe me.
"You're not to confront Angela or her daughter again. If you do, we're going to have a problem." My jaw was tight.
"I'm going to talk to Eve." He turned and walked away, and I let out a sigh of relief.
Inside, I locked the door and ensured the sign was flipped to Closed. Angela didn't need any more people coming inside to give her a hard time. She had enough to deal with: the damage and repairs.
I found Angela and Ayla in the break room.
Angela set the rickety table with paper plates, and Ayla poured water into paper cups.
"You got rid of him?" Angela asked as I set the box on the counter.
"For now. But he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who will let things go."
She let out a breath. "Tell me about it."
I wanted to ask her more questions about how often he'd hassled her, but I didn't want to talk about it in front of Ayla.
Angela plated the slices for her and Ayla, and I unwrapped my sub. They sat at the table, and I leaned against the cabinet.
Angela took a bite of her pizza. "I'm sorry I don't have another chair. Usually it's just Ayla and me here."
"It's not a problem." I took a big bite of the sub, loving the grilled onions.
Angela shifted slightly in her chair to face me. "How did the meeting with Eve go?"
"Good. I'm going to start inspecting the other businesses and get a crew or two together."
"I can't believe this is happening right before Christmas. Eve and Natasha bought the town wanting to revitalize it, and they can't afford to have any issues during their first holiday season."
It was nice she was worried about others when she was the one experiencing the worst of it. I wanted to get her store open as soon as possible. I just hoped that Bill didn't get his way.
The store meant a lot to her. It represented her independence. If the store failed, she'd take it hard. She wanted to be the one to support her daughter, and I could respect that.
"I'm going to plan a few pop-up shops at the local malls and sell my holiday product. They've been popular before, but I'm worried no one follows me online anymore."
"You never know. They might be waiting for you to do another one."
"I'll have to reach out through my old channels. I used to have a newsletter, and I have a few social-media accounts."
Ayla finished her slice and threw the plate in the garbage. "Can I go play?"
"Yes, just don't knock any of the racks over."
"Okay, Momma," Ayla said in a baby voice before she raced out of the room.
Angela rolled her eyes. "She only calls me Momma when she's trying to be cute. As if I'll give in to whatever she wants."
"You don't? I'm helpless against her pleading." I took the last bite of my sub.
Angela laughed. "It is adorable when she calls me Momma. I want her to stay little forever. But she's growing up more every day."
"You can't stop them from growing up."
