Page 55 of Temporarily in Love

She nodded, preoccupied with listening intently to her niece’s story. I found Sean Sullivan in the living room watching the Bulldogs game.

“Declan, come sit!” he called to me.

I sat on the couch next to him and set the wooden sign next to me while I opened my laptop. “I showed Lila first, but I wanted to get your blessing since you're the owner.”

“Ah, she’s the moneybags,” he joked and took a swig of his beer. A sense of pride coursed through me that he was drinking one of my brewery’s beers.

I opened the demo site where I had built out the website design. I pointed to my screen. “Okay, I updated the new logo everywhere and added the new photos. I wanted it to be a clean design, so it looks new and exciting for your customers.”

He shrugged. “Looks good to me.”

“You sure?”

He nodded. “If Lila’s good with it, I’m good with it. Between you and me, I think she’s vying for my job.”

I closed my laptop and put it on the coffee table. Brian walked into the living room with two beers and handed one to me. I couldn’t ask Sean what he meant about Lila and his job because Brian eyed the sign next to me and asked, “What’s that?”

“Oh!” I exclaimed. “Felix did the woodwork and painting for the logo.”

“Let’s see it,” Sean said.

I set down my beer and unwrapped the sign from the tissue paper. I had been impressed that Felix turned around the work so quickly, but I had asked him to make it a priority. Gemma probably said something too.

I held it up in front of me and showed Sean, then Brian. They both nodded their approval.

“It looks great!” Sean said.

I nodded. “Good. I know Lila had to sell you on the logo, but I think it’s really good, and it’ll help with the rebrand.”

“Pops, Lila’s gonna take your job, huh?” Brian joked.

I frowned. What were they talking about?

I grabbed my beer and took a swig.

“Maybe,” Sean said. He gave me a quizzical look. “If she stays.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Brian raised an eyebrow at me. “Maybe you can convince her to stay this time, bud.”

I shook my head. No. I wasn’t doing that. Lila had a life in California, a life she built up after going across the country to an amazing college. I wasn’t letting her sacrifice her career to come back to this town. To what, be a waitress?

Brian rolled his eyes. “Pops, he doesn’t know.”

“Know what?” I asked and eyed both of them suspiciously.

“I still want to sell,” Sean admitted.

My face fell. After all the work Lila had done for her family’s bar, her dad still wanted to sell it off?

“To my daughter, dummy,” he said.

I opened my mouth in surprise. “Oh.”

I wanted to ask what that meant, but then Kelly called us in for dinner.

Before we went in, Sean put a hand on my arm. “Declan, maybe you could get her to stay this time. She had a good reason to go before, and you’re a good man for letting her chase her dreams, but maybe it’s time for her to come home.”