The office emptied, leaving Shelby and Gray utterly alone. Only the quiet hum of the air conditioner broke the silence. She brushed back a tendril that had escaped her bun. Her hands were shaking. She folded her arms across her chest. “Is this where you admit to manipulating Gram into giving you half her bookshop?”
“I don’t want her store, Shelby. Who do you take me for?”
“You don’t want me to answer that.”
“Fair enough. But I had no idea she was planning this and no desire to come back here at all, much less permanently.”
“Fine, then sign your half over to me and you can be on your way.”
He dragged his gaze from hers. Paced the length of the table.
She felt the ridiculous need to scuttle around the other direction just to keep the table between them. But he pivoted and returned to where he was standing before. “You’ll need some help around the store until you find a replacement for your grandma.”
“I’m perfectly capable of hiring my own staff, thank you.”
“I want to help.”
“I don’t need your help.”
His stare was unwavering. “So you’re up to speed on the software for the POS system, the bookkeeping, the financials?”
Heat flooded her face. She fought the urge to squirm under his steady gaze. Drat him for being good at such things. And for knowing she darn well wasn’t. “That’s none of your concern.”
His head tilted back a degree. He pocketed his hands. “I want to make you a proposal.”
“You’re very good at those—not so much on the follow-through though.”
Hurt flared in his eyes, there and gone.
She shouldn’t have said that. It wasn’t as if he’d technically proposed. They’d been too young for that. But they’d promised their hearts to each other. That counted for something.
He offered a nod. “We’ll call it an offer then. I’ll stick around long enough to do a financial audit. That’ll need to be done before you find a new bookkeeper anyway.”
“Can’t I just hire a CPA for that?”
“Sure, if you want to pay for it. I’m willing and able to do it for free. And I can step into your grandma’s position immediately as I’m already proficient in Shopify. I helped her set it up.”
Gram hadn’t mentioned that. That would solve one problem—one big problem. But the last thing Shelby wanted was to be stuck for days on end with Grayson Briggs. “Don’t you have a job back in Riverbend Gap? A life?”
“I can make arrangements. I’m due time off.”
“Why would you do this? You hate Grandville.”
He smirked. “It’s more that Grandville hates me, isn’t it?”
“Semantics. Answer my question.”
He took his time. “Why do you think your grandma did this?”
“That’s a question, not an answer.”
“All right, I’ll answer it then. She wanted us to put the past to rest. I think it must’ve meant an awful lot for her to have done this. She loved you and she knew what the bookstore means to you. It wasn’t her intention to take it away from you—even a piece of it.”
“And yet she did.”
“That brings us back to my offer.” His gaze sharpened on her. “If you allow me to stick around and help out for a couple weeks—that shouldbe long enough to get things squared away and hire a replacement—I’ll sign over the 49 percent.”
Shelby’s lips parted. She snapped them back together. “Why would you do that? Isn’t this your dream—owning a business?”
