“I’m sorry. I’ve been less than professional, and anyway, I’m sorry.” He ran a hand through his hair. He still hadn’t cut it, and today he was sporting some jaw-defining scruff I didn’t hate.
“It’s fine.” It wasn’t fine. I needed a way to fix this. After all, he was going out of his way to help me, and I’d just turned up my nose at his flirting. “Um, whether I go to the wedding kind of depends on how this all shakes out, doesn’t it?”
“Plan to go, Grace.”
“Okay, I will. But do you understand why it makes me uncomfortable to have you throw money at me?”
“Yes. It was an overstep.”
“Okay, yeah. What’s next then? For the business?” Nothing felt fixed, but Dean took my cue to move on and we were back to talking about tax returns and profit margins.
My brother Isaac still did my bookkeeping, even though he’d stepped away from the day-to-day running of the floral shop. Which meant filling him in on the situation. Honestly, I should have included him from the start.
Dean and I made a plan to meet at Isaac and Carmen’s house at eight to go over the books. He texted Carmen, and she was more than happy to keep Piper occupied for us.
I left with my heart both heavier and lighter. I owed Dean so much, but I couldn’t seem to give him the one thing he really wanted: the unguarded, fun version of me. Maybe it was too much to ask.
Chapter 10 – Dean
I really needed to stop flirting with Grace. Or, at Grace. I could be professional under just about any circumstance, except the one where I had the opportunity to get an eye roll and a laugh from Miss Cranky-Pants. And yet she still looked at me like she had no idea why I would do such a thing.
Maybe karma was just piling it on today, because my mother called as I was headed back to my office. She launched right in. No hello, how-are-you, or even a you-never-call-me. Well, that last one she couldn’t claim. I called her regularly. I just made it brief.
“Dean, you haven’t gotten back to me about the charity gala at the Arizona Biltmore. It will be embarrassing for me if you don’t call your date and ask her to attend with you at least a week before the event. Seating arrangements need to be made, so you must decide soon. Are you asking out Blaire or not?”
I pulled up the calendar I shared with Connie to see if she’d added a conflict to my schedule like I’d asked. Ah, a haircut with Luis. Good to know Connie hadn’t lost her sense of humor. Also, she was dead to me.
“I have a can’t-miss appointment that evening, Mom.”
“You do not. What is it?”
“A haircut. You haven’t seen me. I’m practically Tarzan. I’m going to start wearing a loincloth to work.”
“That look is in fashion, I hear. Call Blaire. She’s such a dear friend, and it would mean the world to me if the son I’m always talking about did not snub her.”
“So, she’s expecting my call?”
“Well, she’s notnotexpecting it.”
“What if I told you I was seeing someone?”
“Are you?”
“No.” I pulled my cell away so I could sigh properly like the pathetic sop I was. I put the phone back to my ear. “Okay, I’ll call her. Will we be sitting by you? I mean, she is your dear friend.”
“Yes, of course you’ll be sitting by me. I really am grateful. I hope you know that.”
“I do, Mom.”
I appreciated the genuine gratitude in her voice. Beyond all her ‘dear friends,’ my mom didn’t have a lot of people in her life. Instead of parents, she had a large inheritance. My grandparents had died in a boating accident when she was twenty-five. All she had left was a brother in Alaska who embraced the hermit lifestyle, and well, me. Mom hadn’t remarried, and while she and my dad were on good terms most of the time, they had completely separate lives.
My dad was the life of any party. He was the warmest, most giving, kindest person I knew. He collected people because they naturally gravitated to him. That included Grace and Isaac, who treated him like a second dad, even though he’d only dated their mom for less than a year more than a decade ago.
I’d often wondered if that difference in personality had led to my parents’ divorce. Dad’s aura was a lot to compete with, and bless her, my mother still tried to keep up. She liked to be seen as philanthropic, and if that was what made her happy, Icouldn’t help tagging along when she asked. I wasn’t team anybody. I just wanted to be a good son.
“No pressure, but I think you’ll like Blaire. You’re both at the perfect age to start a life together, and she’s just as busy as you. She works for a tech firm.”
“Great. Schedule our wedding.”
