Page 95 of Capture The Moment

“I don’t know. Maybe because you guys are getting old and it’s bound to happen eventually.”

“Well, eventually isn’t today,” Finn said, shooting his brother a scowl.

Harper kept her mouth shut, but instead of feeling uncomfortable with Liam’s suggestion, she felt oddly thrilled by it. But Finn was right. Eventually wasn’t today, so she shoved the idea out of her head and concentrated on the real reason for the meeting.

“As you know, I’ve been thinking about us having a storefront for quite some time. And recently, I’ve been looking at one in downtown Brandon in that plaza with the hardware store. You guys know the one.”

Connor and Liam both nodded.

“So, I met with the realtor, got some numbers together, and wanted you guys to weigh in on it.”

“Why didn’t you tell us about this before now?” Connor asked somewhat accusatorially. Of Finn’s brothers, he was the unpredictable and sometimes combative one, the one who seemed to enjoy challenging his older brother.

“Like I said, I wanted to do my homework first,” Finn replied calmly.

“What does this have to do with McKayla?” Liam asked. And then, turning toward her, he added, “No offense.”

“None taken,” she replied.

“Well, if we’re going to have a store, we’ll need someone to work the front desk, and since McKayla happens to be looking for a job, it might work out for all of us.”

The guys nodded again, and Harper shot Finn a grateful smile.

“I figure we’ll have to work with her for a while to teach her about the business, but eventually, she’ll be able to manage the place on her own.”

“Which would free us up to get more work done,” Liam finished.

“Exactly,” Finn said.

“When is all this supposed to happen?” Connor asked.

“It can happen immediately if you guys are on board,” Finn replied. And then, glancing at Harper on his right, he added, “Harper’s been helping me out with this because she knows the realtor personally. I’ve also asked her to start taking pictures of some of our landscaping jobs so we can frame them and place them around the store.”

“Sounds like you have the whole thing planned out,” Connor said. And that time, there was no mistaking the edge to his voice.

“You got a problem with it, you tell me,” Finn said. “That’s why we’re here.”

“I think it sounds excellent,” Liam said, looking between his brothers. One could always count on Liam to neutralize the tension between Finn and Connor.

“I’d like to take a day or two to think about it,” Connor said.

“No problem. I’ve got all the details right here,” Finn said, handing Connor a folder.

“Great. We done here?” Connor asked.

“I guess so, unless you guys have any questions.”

They both shook their heads, and then Connor immediately stood up. “Got somewhere I need to be,” he said and quickly said his goodbyes.

After he’d left, Finn said, “What about you, McKayla? Do you have any questions?”

Sitting up straighter in her chair, she said, “Can you give me an overview of what my responsibilities would be?”

Harper did a silent fist pump. Her sister looked and sounded professional sitting there in her conservative dress pants and blouse. You’d never know she’d been fired for getting naked on a conference room table!

“Sure. You’d be answering calls, scheduling appointments, generating invoices, processing payments, and basically making sure we all have our shit together.”

Everyone laughed, and McKayla looked more relaxed than she had since they’d arrived. Harper smiled sweetly at Finn, who seemed to sense that her sister was nervous and wanted to put her at ease.