Her mother frowned. “You invited me.”
“I know. You’re right.” Anne nodded. She didn’t want to mention that she’d invited her mom to a lot of things through the years—from high school science fairs to a simple coffee date—but it was always questionable as to whether she would be able to fit it into her schedule. Instead, she motioned around the room. “So, what do you think?”
Bianca took it in with a careful eye. “It’s very nice.”
Not exactly the ringing endorsement Anne had been hoping for, but she’d take it.
“It is,” Anne agreed. “And as of two days ago, it’s fifty percent mine.”
Bianca turned back to face her, those newly shaped eyebrows bobbing up ever so slightly. “Really?”
Here we go, Anne thought.
“Yes, really. I quit Kellynch, last week. I’m now co-owner of Eufloria.”
“Is that so.” Bianca looked around the room again, her gaze more astute this time. “Well, if you—”
“I’m not looking for your opinion, Mom,” Anne continued. “But I wanted you to know.”
A moment passed before her mother nodded. “All right. Fine. I just didn’t realize this was something you were looking to do.”
“Neither did I,” Anne said. “But I’ve spent the past month helping Sophie open this place, and it’s been more fulfilling than anything else I’ve ever done. I’ve loved it. And I know you want me to go back to finance, to get some high-paying job that will look good on a résumé, but that was never me, Mom. It never will be.”
A few people walked by, laughing and crowding the small space they had carved out in the center of the room, but neither Anne nor Bianca moved.
“I never wanted you to work in finance,” her mother said, looking slightly offended.
Anne’s eyebrows knitted together. “But the MBA—”
“You’re brilliant, Anne,” Bianca continued. “But you didn’t know what to do with it. And I didn’t know how to help. I wasn’t here where I should have been; I didn’t know how to be a mom like you needed.” She sighed. “And let’s face it, I’m terrible at math.”
Anne couldn’t help but smile.
“I gave you the advice I was capable of giving: Go to school and be selfish.” She paused. “Was it bad advice?”
“No,” Anne admitted, looking around the shop again. “I probably should have started following it earlier.”
Bianca smiled.
“There’s something else,” Anne said, pausing to let out a shaky breath. “My business partner is Freddie Wentworth’s sister.”
She tried to temper the flush in her cheeks, the nervous way she tapped her foot and darted her eyes around the room, waiting for her mother’s response.
Bianca watched her, gauging every movement, then her lips turned up in a smile. “You’re still in love with him, aren’t you?”
Anne sighed. “Mom—”
“Is he here?”
“Mom—”
“I just want to say hi.”
“He’s not here, Mom.” A sharp ache hit her chest with the words.
“Well, that’s too bad,” Bianca said, looking around the room again with a new glint in her eye. “Because this is definitely worth showing off.”
A bit of the tension that had been building in Anne’s shoulders released. “Thanks.”
