“I’m a well-rounded woman,” she said with a smile, fetching the extra chair in the corner of his office and pulling it up next to his desk. “Show me what’s wrong with these numbers.”
Roan handed her the book, slightly surprised that he was willing to do so.
If Conrad had suggested he let Abigail look at the tavern’s numbers, he would have laughed at him, but suddenly, the idea of her helping him with it didn’t seem odd at all. In fact, it felt completely normal.
“I think I see at least one issue,” she said after a few moments of staring at the numbers. “You are still paying the baker for more loaves of bread than we purchase. We reduced our order when I started baking some, but it looks as if the price hasn’t gone down since then.”
He looked at her in a new light. She hadn’t even looked at it for five minutes, and she’d already seen an issue that he had overlooked for some time.
“And I’m sure there are some other things we can cut back on if that’s an issue,” she said, leaning closer to the page in front of her to study it. “I know there are otherthings in the kitchen that we could buy less of since I’ve started doing some of our own preserving.”
Roan could hardly keep the emotion out of his voice as he said, “Thank you.”
Abigail looked up from the notebook and smiled at him, and Roan could scarcely breathe. “Of course. It’s in my best interest to make sure the tavern does well,” she teased.
Roan’s mouth opened to say something, but then he closed it.
She was dangerous. One smile from her had him ready to do anything to see that smile again.
He needed to guard his heart, because if he didn’t watch it, he was going to fall head over heels for her. He needed her to run the tavern—he couldn’t lose her because he decided to be silly and let his heart get involved.
That wouldn’t help anyone.
He just had to convince his heart that leaving her alone was the better option, because right now, it was treacherously close to doing anything for her.
He sighed and looked down at Beastie, who was looking at him in disapproval. Love was not for him. It was for those who weren’t trying to run a successful business. He needed all his wits about him to make sure that he didn’tlose his tavern, and falling for Abigail was a distraction he could not afford.
Women in general were far too easy to lose one’s head around. He’d gone to drastic measures to keep his brother from losing his heart—he should be willing to do the same to protect his own.
The argument felt hollow, but it was the best he could do at the moment as he thought of his brother and the woman he had loved—perhaps still loved. Roan wasn’t sure. He had distanced himself from the situation after Thea had appeared in the Northlands, ten years after Nathaniel had left her behind in Riyel.
Neither of them knew that Roan had taken their letters, and he was no longer sure if it had been the right decision. He’d thought it was the right thing at the time, or he wouldn’t have done it.
There was no sense in regretting it now. It was over. It didn’t matter if he wasn’t sure it was the right thing anymore.
His brother had gotten over his broken heart far more quickly than he would have without Roan’s intervention, and that was the whole point of why he had done it.
Love wasn’t worth it.
The only things he could count on were his never-ending pile of work and Beastie.
He didn’t need a woman interfering with all the things he had to do, even if she smelled like flowers, smiled like sunshine, and had a knack for fixing his problems.
Chapter eight
Abigail
AbigailwatchedasRoanshut down before her eyes. The smile on his face disappeared, and his mouth closed as he looked down at Beastie.
What had changed his mind? She’d thought for a moment that she would see the Roan she knew was hiding in there somewhere, but he was gone again.
She bit back her sigh of frustration. She had a couple more days to get him to come out of his shell before they caught back up to time, if she was right…and oh, how she hoped she was right.
She didn’t want to think about the alternative.
“Enjoy your dinner,” she said as she got up from her seat and left his office. Beastie came padding after her, andAbigail let her out, following her into the dusk. She had been working hard today, and a moment to enjoy what was left of the sunset felt like a necessary reward.
She had organized the pantry today, so she wasn’t lying when she’d told Roan there were a few things they could stop purchasing. From what she’d seen of the records, the tavern was not doing well financially, which explained some of why Roan was so taciturn and unforgiving. If all he did was worry about the state of the tavern, it wouldn’t leave him much time for anything else.
