“I used to, mostly to run errands before I was old enough to drive.”
“When I was a kid, I cycled all over, too, with friends or alone. That feeling of pure freedom… You never forget it.”
“I never had much time to ride for the fun of it.”
Her childhood sounded rough. His hadn’t been a picnic, either. “Maybe your parents can talk some sense into your grandma.”
Vi snorted. “I wouldn’t hold my breath. My father lives on the Big Island in Hawaii with—let’s call her a free spirit—he left my mother for. They’ve been there sixteen years now and are into surfing and partying. I have no idea how they survive, but I think she has money. We only talk on holidays and birthdays. My mother lives in Houston and does hair and nails when she’s not out partying.”
“They’re both that way, huh?”
“Like they’re barely old enough to drink, only in their fifties.” Her expression was pure disgust. “You should know that Gran is the most stubborn person I know. Once she makes up her mind… Well, unless a decision causes harm to someone, she rarely changes it.”
“Grandpop is the same way. Even he calls himself a stubborn cuss. That doesn’t bode well for their marriage.”
“What about your parents? Maybe they can talk sense into Malcom, even if he is bullheaded.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice. It won’t happen. My dad passed away after a freak accident when I was ten. Almost did my mother in.” Since then, she’d all but forgotten Blake and Whitney. “Dad’s parents, Grandpop and Grandmom, stepped up and helped out.” If they hadn’t, Blake and his sister would’ve been in a world of hurt.
“I’m so sorry. What happened to your mom?”
“Five years later, she finally came alive again. She’d been a secretary at Port Simms Elementary and got tired of the job, so Grandpop hired her to run his front office. She was happy enough there and finally started dating. A whole string of boyfriends, until she met someone she wanted to marry.
“They relocated to Sedona. The marriage failed and she moved on to someone else. A few months ago, she went through her second divorce. As you can imagine, she’s pretty messed up. Right now, she’s at an ashram in India, trying to find herself.” He snorted in doubt. “I texted her, but she took a vow of silence and isn’t supposed to speak or communicate with the world. When she’s allowed to get in touch, I’ll update her. She’ll want to know about Grandpop and will worry about her share of the inheritance.”
“I don’t blame her. My Gran shouldn’t get a penny of that money.”
Knowing Vi sided with him was a relief. “We’re agreed on that. Hey, what was with them bragging about us?”
“I was so embarrassed. It’s the kind of thing people do about their kids and grandkids. But in front of us and to someone we just met? Gran has never done that. Not to my face.”
“Grandpop has, but not like tonight. Go figure, right?”
“With no parents to help us with this situation, we’re on our own here. What are we going to do?”
At the moment, Blake had no idea. “Anything and everything we can to stop this wedding.”
“Or at least delay it till they come to their senses. They both need time to be sure this is what they want.” Vi yawned, covering her mouth with her hand. “We need a game plan, but right now I’m too tired to think about that.”
“I’m pretty wiped out myself. I have a lot on my plate right now. Opening the second store and other things, like finding someone to interview future employees and put them through an orientation.”
“There are people who do that sort of thing, you know.”
“I hired one, but she quit last night. She wanted—I don’t need to get into that. You wouldn’t know of anyone familiar with conducting interviews or training new employees to get them upto speed, would you? Maybe one of the people laid off at your company?”
Vi shook her head. “Not that I can think of, but if someone comes to mind I’ll let you know. Why don’t you hire a recruitment firm to do the work for you? My company uses Ace Recruitment, and most of the time it works out.”
“I probably will, but I’d still want the candidate to go through a second interview with me and make sure they have decent people skills and the smarts to hire employees and lead them through orientation. Once I find that person, my life will be a whole lot easier.” He shrugged. “A real pain, but that’s the way I operate.”
“Apparently, it didn’t work with the person you hired for the job.”
May as well tell her. “I made the mistake of hiring the woman I’m seeing—make thatwasseeing. We split up last night, and she quit.”
Her disapproving, pursed lips showed what she thought of that. “Sounds messy. I’m sorry you broke up.”
“Hey, it’s not your problem. I knew I shouldn’t hire her, but she really wanted the job. She left a pile of unopened employment applications instead of doing the work I hired her for, so good riddance. At least I have some people to interview. It’s all good. I’ll contact that recruiter company first thing tomorrow—if they’re open Saturdays. I don’t want to wait long for us to get together again. What about Sunday afternoon? You free? I’ll text the deets.”
“You’d better believe I’ll be there. Time is one thing we don’t have.”
