“Yes, exactly. And then she comes up with ways to make it better, something that sounds like she put in a ton of effort on, and gets told to butt out,” Jane reiterates, as if I forgot how much of an asshole I was.
I haven’t, by the way. Fully aware.
“I didn’t.” I start to defend myself but stop short. I kind of did tell her to butt out.
“What was her plan? What was going to get you to expand?” Archer asks, handing Viv an egg roll.
Reaching forward, I grab the tablet that she left at the shop that I put on the coffee table and flip it open, typing in the code Birdie gave me months ago when we let Rorause it to watch a show at the shop. The thought of that simple gesture brings another round of tears to my eyes.
“She left this behind,” I say and hand it over to Chris.
Inside is more than just the listing she found, but the entire laid-out business plan with projections and prices and timelines.
If I were able to do this, I would be well in the black by the end of summer and be able to hire some help as well.
It’s a brilliant plan, just not one I can execute yet.
Chris blows out a breath and hands it across the coffee table to Archer. “Looks like a great plan.”
“It is a great plan,” I admit. “It’s fucking brilliant. I just have zero credit to get it started.”
Archer looks over the plans, humming at certain parts and lifting his brows, impressed at others. I know she’s a brilliant, brilliant woman. Which is probably why she left me in the first place.
I know that needing space is a gateway to a breakup, but my heart physically aches at the thought of actually letting her go. I can’t do it. I can’t let her leave me and take Rora with her. I can’t let them run out of my life like the last seven months never even happened.
They are my family. The three of us are a unit now, and I’m not letting them go.
“Okay, we can make this happen,” Archer says, confusing me.
“What do you mean? I have no credit.”
“We can figure that part out, but I know for a fact that I have an empty storage container that you could use as a startup warehouse. It’s just for storage anyway, so you can start there,” Archer says, nodding his head. “I know about half a dozen contractors that are sick to death of the people we’re working with not getting their supplies on time. If I get your name out there, we can have clients rolling in in no time, Derek. But it’s hard work, you have to be on time, and you have to get after these suppliers to get the products as soon as possible. It’s what keeps the contractors happy.”
“Okay,” I say, my brows furrowing and my heart hammering in my chest. There it is, on the outer edges of my mind. The tendril of hope.
“As for investors,” Jane starts, smiling softly. “I happen to like investing in my friends.”
Chapter Thirty
“I just want to give up sometimes. Like, how is it that no matter what life throws at me, I still have to keep pushing through knowing that there are harder things still to come?” – Quinn
ELIZABETH
It’s raining. Which means it’s the perfect wallowing weather.
One of Rora’s favorite movies is playing on the TV, and she’s sitting next to me, perfectly content and cozy as she watches and munches on her small bowl of popcorn. I’m doing everything I can to distract her from the fact that Derek is nowhere to be seen, especially since he was supposed to come over tonight and she knew it.
The scene from the store flashes through my mind over and over again, and my brain loves to tell me where I went wrong. How I should have eased him into the idea, how I should have prepared him for the conversation, how Ishould have shown him the plan and let him sit on it, and how I should have given him time to process.
I was excited, though. The ideas I had would make the store and the Fowler name flourish. I’ve already contacted contractors, asking if this is something needed, and they assured me it is.
I can’t bring myself to feel sorry. I can’t sit here and berate myself for trying to help the man I love. Maybe I didn’t know fully about his financial situation. How could I? He’s never shared that with me, and I wasn’t expecting him to.
I assumed that he was on the light side of earnings. Never did I think about his father’s medical expenses or the amount of expenses he carries alone.
I sigh and grab a blanket, tucking it around both Rora and me, and she giggles, burrowing deeper into the couch.
The lock turns in the door, and my sister comes in, shaking out her raincoat before slipping it off. “Whew! It’s coming down out there. It’s also freezing, so I feel like my eyelashes are frozen.”
