“I do not zone—” Okay, at family stuff, she did totally zone out. But regardless, she was not looking for career advice. “It doesn’t matter whether I do or not. Was there something else?”
“Your boss is quite handsome.”
“Good talk, Grandma.” Rebecca swung the door back open and walked out. It was time for Grandma to go micromanage someone else’s life.
“Rebecca Allison Scott, you get back here.”
Clarissa poked her head out of her office across the way, and Rebecca looked from her to Grandma. One looked amused, the other murderous. But she would not allow either woman to wreck her life. She was doing a pretty good job wrecking it all on her own.
“Jay,” she called out.
He rounded the corner and she motioned for him to come back into the office.
“Winnie’s chatting with Dorothy. Do you want her, too?” he asked.
Rebecca shook her head and closed the door after Jay walked in, smiling sweetly at Clarissa before she did so. She turned and looked from Jay to Grandma.
“Look, you can rip up that contract right now if this is how it’s going to be. Grandma, while we’re in this office, I will call you Mrs. Scott. I will speak with you in a professional manner, and I expect you to do the same. I will not talk about my job performance skills, my love life, or anything not related to Winnie’s wedding. Are we clear?”
Jay bit back a grin. “Mrs. Scott, she’s absolutely right. Working with family is always tricky. If you two can’t work this out, I’m afraid you’ll need to find another wedding planning service.”
There was a long pause, and then Grandma stood a little taller. “Understood. I will see you on Thursday when we meet with the potential photographers.”
Jay walked out first, and Grandma clung to Rebecca’s arm, whispering. “That was magnificent. See, you’re taking my advice already. The way he looked at you with such awe, Rebecca. Be careful. Workplace relationships are full of pitfalls. Though, you could do worse.”
“Thanks, Grandma.”
Rebecca walked her and Winnie out to Winnie’s car, mentally creating a list of demands for Ian, starting with getting him to buy her a bunch of groceries since he was constantly eating all her food. If he hadn’t proposed, none of this would have happened.
***
“You know, if I talked to my Grandma that way, she’d take me over her lap and swat my behind.”
Rebecca didn’t even look up from the linens she was counting. After she got through the stack, she put them back in the cupboards and turned to glare at Jay. “If it was up to me, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, because I would have told Grandma over the phone to find someone else to plan the wedding.”
“Yeah, well, Marlise is a softy. What can I say?”
“You can say, ‘Rebecca, you handled your grandmother with firmness and grace.’” Her shoulders dropped. “I was a tyrant, wasn’t I? I’ve been fighting her hold on me for so long, I’ve forgotten what it’s like to have a sweet grandma who bakes cookies and knits sweaters. My mom’s mom died when I was eight. She never questioned my assertiveness in business meetings.”
“Don’t beat yourself up about it. Some people are just experts at pushing buttons.”
Rebecca smiled. “And who pushes yours?”
“It depends on what kind of buttons we’re talking about.” And, he was shutting up now. Rebecca’s mouth had dropped open a little bit, obviously catching the flirtation in his tone.
Jay continued to fold, concentrating on the seams of the table cloth and not on Rebecca. Everyone else had left for the day, but they’d had a last minute appointment with a bride who wanted to look at swatches again after changing her color scheme. Jay suggested they take inventory in case they needed to order more tablecloths before the wedding. But the fact was, he was lingering. He should lock up and go home, even if there was nothing to go home to.
Bridger was at a birthday party tonight and wouldn’t be home until ten. It was the sleepover compromise Bridger and Shannon agreed on. And for once, Shannon had plans, too. She and another mom of a kid at the party were going out to dinner with their one free night.
“Lost in thought?”
He nodded. That was an understatement. They weren’t supposed to slide back into an easy friendship because it never ended up being easy. He shouldn’t want to spend any more time with her than he had to. This stupid hope inside of him had to die, but every time he looked at her, he wished he could have it all: friendship and love.
The beautiful golden brown color of her hair drew him in, her smile, her laugh, even her feistiness.
“Dorothy never got her tree up.” Rebecca motioned to the box in the corner of the storage room.
“We could surprise her.” Yes, he was asking for trouble with an invitation like that, but Rebecca was already up and trying to pull the box out of the room.
