“I already know it will.”
“Tea’s ready,” Joyce called.
“I need to talk them into their own Facebook page,” he said with a wink. “Which means I might need another logo.” He gave Joyce a nod. “We’ll be right there.”
“Are you saying you want to buy them a logo? From me?”
Lucas nodded. “Yes. If they want to do this, I’ll invest in them and get them started. I might even keep them under the Prime umbrella. Make them part of my empire. Then I could do the heavy lifting. I’d give them a decent cut, obviously.”
“That’s very generous of you. Seems like a lot of work.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, but I see potential. You’d do it, right? The logo, I mean?”
“I’d be happy to. I have to finish Stacy’s designs first.”
“Definitely. We don’t even know if they’ll want to do this again.”
“Frankie,” Beryl called out. “How many sugars do you take?”
“Am I having tea?” Frankie asked. She wasn’t really in the mood. She liked tea, but it was the middle of summer.Icedtea would have been better.
“We made you a cup,” Joyce said.
“We did,” Beryl said. “Come on, now, love. You need to keep your strength up. You’re working hard on something, I can tell.”
Frankie just smiled and got out of her chair. She knew when she was outnumbered.
Chapter Seven
“Okay, I just need to say this. It’s pretty obvious you are not in a good mood.” Harper snuck a look at Mitch, who was driving them to the pet rescue. She wasn’t sure how he’d react to her stating the obvious.
He sighed. “No, I’m not. I’m sorry. It’s nothing to do with you or going to look at dogs. It’s everything going on with Ruthie.”
“Oh, no. What’s wrong? Is she sick?”
“No, nothing like that. Her mother—”
“Addison?”
“Right. She told my attorney that Kyle hadabductedRuthie.”
Harper stared in disbelief. “What? That’s insane.”
His hands gripped the wheel so tightly his knuckles were white. “I can only guess that it’s a ploy for money or something. She hasn’t made any requests of me, Kyle, or the attorney yet, though. Her silence could be because she’s getting her own lawyer and doing it that way.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“I’m livid. I believe Kyle one hundred percent that Addison kicked him out and told him to take Ruthie. She’s up to something. Addison knows I’m his father, knows I have money, and wants to get whatever she can out of this deal.”
“Do you think she’ll make a public issue out of this?”
Mitch shook his head, eyes on the road. “I don’t know. But it wouldn’t surprise me. She’s trying to get famous. Isn’t that the whole point of being an influencer?”
“Yes. Unfortunately.”
“I’ll handle it, whatever happens. I don’t want this to ruin our day.” He shot her a quick smile.
She felt for him. This was such an awful situation. “You know I’ll help in whatever way I can. Just say the word. I’m here.”
