Couldn’t I go back out there and keep ogling Grayden instead? Keep making a fool of myself, because he had one hundred percent noticed me staring, both the other night and just now?
No. I was an adult. A mom and a business owner who had a lot of people relying on her. The last thing I needed was to get any further into Grayden’s drama.
Shit. I had a lot of people relying on me.
The reality was that running a small business was more expensive and stressful than I’d ever imagined before I took this place over. The cost of ingredients kept climbing, the old building needed repairs. Add to that the challenge of fairly compensating my employees and making my student loan payments every month.
Meanwhile, Ollie kept growing like a weed, shooting out of his clothes and shoes at an alarming rate. And Danny hadn’t bothered to make a child support payment for the last six months.
All of my friends and family had been stepping up since the divorce to help care for Ollie. Nobody knew how tough things were getting for me financially.
I didn’t want them to know. This wasmymess to handle.
But there was something I’d been putting off for a while now, and it was time to tackle it. I pulled up a new document on my computer and started typing.
HOUSE FOR RENT, mixed-use zoning, perfect for commercial and/or residential. Lots of potential!
Potential, meaningNeeds a shit-ton of work. But I preferred to look on the bright side.
I added a few more details and printed it out. The people of Silver Ridge were still an analog bunch, and they’d be far more likely to see a notice on my bulletin board than a rental listing on some website.
Then I made myself busy doing other things for an hour until I glanced out and confirmed Grayden was gone.
Phew.
I carried the rental notice to the bulletin board and pinned it front and center. I snipped the little tabs so they stuck out, practically begging people to grab one. Maybe not a solution to all my problems, but a step in the right direction.
Things would work out. They always did, one way or another. You just had to keep moving forward and believe that somewhere up ahead, there was a silver lining waiting.
EIGHT
Grayden
I’d been backin Silver Ridge less than a week, but from the glares I’d been getting, it seemed like every last person in town knew who I was on sight. And had very strong opinions about my presence here.
Actually, the hostility was comfortable in some ways. I knew what to do with people who hated me. I’d had plenty of practice.
My baby sister, though? Hell, Grace was determined to smother me with love and acceptance. Something I craved but wasn’t all that comfortable with yet.
My phone buzzed. Probably my sister, because who the hell else texted me this early in the morning? Callum was more an afternoon/evening guy.
Grace
Morning! How’s today going for you? Another beautiful blue-sky day in Hart County, riiiight?
I blinked at her message. That was a lot of cheerfulness to spring on a guy before he’d had caffeine.
With my lips creeping into a smile, I wrote my response.
Me
Don’t sprain anything with that optimism. Since when are you all sunshine and daisies and frigging rainbows? That was always Cal
Hey, I can do sunshine! I’ve learned a thing or two from Piper over the years. And Callum is NOT the sunshine of the O’Neal family, he’s way too annoying
I shifted, glancing up from my phone screen because of Grace’s mention of Piper. I was on Main, right across the street from Silver Linings. Which Piper apparently owned.
I’d been catching up on alotof developments in the last few days.
