“Which part?” I murmured.
“The part where he dangles getting back together as an option.”
“You still love him, then?”
Grace shook her head. “No. That’s not it. I just want to be a good mom for Piper. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. Trying to make him stay won’t solve that. He’s good at guilt, though. You know?”
“I’ll bet. You sure Piper’s okay?”
“She’s okay.” She sounded like she was reassuring herself as well as me. “I should call, right?”
“You should.”
Grace straightened and went to get her phone from the table, taking it over to the couch. “Leave the dishes,” she called out.
Fat chance. I washed our dishes, and once there was nothing left to clean in the kitchen, I hesitated in the doorway to the living room until Grace waved me over just as she was finishing up. She’d put Piper on speaker phone, probably because holding the phone against her cheek hurt too much. Piper’s little voice was my favorite.
“Bye, Mommy. Wuv you. See you a-morrow!”
“See you tomorrow. Love you, too.”
Grace put her phone down and burst into tears. “Sorry! I never cry.”
“I know.” I began laughing, which had to be the most terrible response ever, but she ended up joining me.
“It’s going to be okay,” I reassured her.
She nodded. “I know.”
And then I did something completely stupid. I sat down next to her on the couch, scooped her up, and put her in my lap.At the time, it hadn’t felt like an overstep. Mostly because she instantly melted against me, and there were no confusing romantic feelings in play, on her part or mine.
In fact, all she’d said was, “I’m like a Great Dane pretending to be a lap dog.”
I’d shushed her and rubbed her back until she’d fallen asleep against my neck.
But she had said one other thing. A throw-away comment that would come back to haunt me. “This never happened.”
I didn’t realize how true those words would come to be.
Chapter 7 – Grace
Jessica had been right about one thing. Flowers United seemed highly interested in gobbling me up. Their initial email inquiry was followed by two phone calls, and now I had Phil standing in my shop. There was no chance of the two of us falling in love, Hallmark-style, however. He looked more lawyerly than any lawyer I’d ever seen, and the first thing he did when he walked in was frown at Piper before checking his gold watch, as if the concept of seeing a child outside of school was inconceivable. It was only seven a.m. for crying out loud.
I gestured to the table and chairs where we did bridal consults. “Have a seat.”
Phil nodded. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, I’ll try not to take up too much of your time.” He glanced over at Piper again before sitting. She was loudly digging through the crayon and marker box she kept at her own little table, but once she found what she was looking for, she sat quietly and did her thing.
“Are you ready for us to exchange information so we can give you a formal offer?” Phil asked. “We’d both sign a confidentiality agreement, of course. I have it here if you’re ready.”
Right to the point. I could respect that. Unfortunately, my mind was not made up at all. In fact, it had been at war since the first email from them. Part of me was dying to see a future I’d never considered for myself. The other part wanted to make it all go away so I could continue on as I always had. You picked a career. You worked hard. Forever. The End.
“I’m sorry. I’m still not sure what to think.”
Phil frowned.
“I have been doing some research. I know they talked about the possibility of buying all the assets, acquiring the lease, and I would just… go off into the sunset. But then they mentioned there’s also the possibility of keeping me on for a set number of years to manage the store. And you would offer me more in that case, but there would be claw-back clauses in place if sales dropped below a certain level. Is that right?”
Phil ran his finger along the edge of the table. “Yes, those are two possibilities. And in that case, you’re right, we would make you two different offers. But that’s after you show us your sales numbers since opening, your management software, your distribution agreements, and your tax returns. We would need to see everything. And that takes time to sort through. Which is why the sooner we start this the better.” His hand closed in a fist, and he tapped the table with it.
