by Tara Randel
The kitchen door flew open, and his mother, wearing a peach-colored dress, her cheeks red and hair slightly mussed, hurried to take her place at the table.
“I’m so sorry. Time got away from me.”
Logan slanted a glance in his father’s direction to catch a look of disapproval.
As she shook out her cloth napkin to place on her lap, she said, “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting. When Gayle Ann informed me that the dinner hour had been changed, I lost track of time.” She looked across the table at her husband. “Guild business.”
Gayle Ann waved a hand. “Don’t worry. Bonnie, I’d like you to meet Serena Stanhope.”
His mother’s eyes sparkled. “The owner of Blue Ridge Cottage?”
“Yes.”
“I love that little store. You have such treasures.”
“Thank you.”
Bonnie went on to talk about the meeting, but Logan kept his attention on Serena. Her shoulders were stiff, her smile forced. Clearly she was uncomfortable in this setting. It made him wonder if she was nervous because she was sitting in the Masterson dining room or if it was more.
“So tell me, Serena. How do you like living in Golden?” his father asked after the cook had served the chicken and vegetables and they’d all dug in.
“I love it here. Everyone is so gracious and the tourists are wonderful.”
“Blue Ridge Cottage is your first store?”
“Yes.”
“She started her business online,” Grandmother informed them.
“What made you decide to open a store?” his father continued.
“The company is growing. And I love to meet my customers in person.”
“Where did the name come from?” his mother asked.
Serena put down her fork and patted her lips with her napkin. “A special cottage.”
“Aunt Mary’s?” Grandmother asked, and Serena nodded. “Her aunt is the inspiration behind the business,” she added, as if possessing insider knowledge.
“In what way?” Logan asked.
“She encouraged my art,” Serena said before bringing a forkful of vegetables to her mouth.
Logan drank from his water glass. Eyed Serena over the rim. What was with all the abbreviated answers? Most of the business owners he knew loved to talk about their stores, but Serena grew increasingly uneasy. Not the best way to interest an investor.
“Is this cottage local?” his father asked.
“Outside of town. It’s a small place, set back in the woods.”
“Serena is quite the artist,” Grandmother told them. “She draws all the sketches for her products, right, dear?”
“Yes. This area is an artist’s dream.”
“I so wish I’d taken art lessons,” Logan’s mother said. She glanced at him and smiled. “Didn’t have much time while raising two active boys.”
Logan nodded her way. His mother wasn’t one to get nostalgic. Maybe because Reid was so noticeably missing?
“And your family?” his mother asked Serena.
“No one local.” She reached for her glass. “This meal is absolutely delicious. Makes me feel guilty that I don’t have more time to cook.”
When the conversation moved on to cooking shows, Logan didn’t miss the relief that crossed Serena’s face at the change of topic. There was definitely more to the woman than met the eye.
After Alveda had removed the plates, his grandmother pushed back her chair. “Why don’t we have dessert in the living room? Serena? Logan?”
Everyone rose. He followed the ladies, again checking Serena’s gait to make sure she was okay. She took the first chair she came to, stretching her foot out before her with a grimace, which told him it must still ache.
Grandmother picked up the Blue Ridge Cottage folder. “I’ve reviewed your proposal. Spoken to my advisers.”
Serena gripped the arms of the chair.
“I’m inclined to invest, but I still have a few questions. There are areas I’d like cleared up, for my peace of mind.”
Serena glanced from his grandmother to him. Swallowed. “And those would be?”
Grandmother flipped a few pages. “While all your expenses are clearly documented, there is one thing missing.”
Concern crossed Serena’s face. “Missing? I’m sure I included everything you need to make a decision.”
“The finances are as I expected.”
Serena bit her lower lip. “Then what is unclear?”
“The proposal is all very cut-and-dried. Why expansion? Why now? What’s missing is your passion.”
Before Serena could say a word, his father strolled into the room. He stood along the back wall to listen.
“I didn’t realize I needed to explain my passion for Blue Ridge Cottage.”
Grandmother lowered the folder to her lap. “Serena, I have invested in many different businesses. Anyone with a good accounting program can work the numbers.” She leaned forward. “When I visit you at the store, you’re so animated when it comes to your products.” She held up the folder. “I don’t get that feeling when I read this.”
A red flush spread across Serena’s cheeks. “Since this is my first foray into looking for investors, I didn’t think...” Serena swallowed. “I’m afraid I have to take full responsibility for not making my passion more clear.”
Logan had to admit, he was impressed with the way she handled herself. Grandmother could be a tough critic.
“It would be in everyone’s best interest if you reworked the proposal. Show me what really matters to you and your company.” His grandmother’s face was stern, her gaze never leaving Serena’s. He knew that look, the one that said, “I know you have it in you to do better.” The look that had pushed him to succeed more times than he could count. “You don’t want to give this proposal to other would-be investors knowing they will have the same impression.”
Serena squirmed in her seat. Alveda chose that moment to enter, carrying a tray of dessert plates.
Logan had dealt with his family his entire life. These types of conversations were commonplace and he could handle the grilling. He might be investigating her, but the panic on her face proved she was in over her head. For reasons he didn’t want to examine, he found himself sticking up for her. “I think we can give Serena the benefit of the doubt.”
“Indeed.” Grandmother ratcheted down the tension by smiling. She took a bite of cake and then said, “Why don’t you fix this and a few other pertinent details I’ve flagged and resubmit it to me.”
“I will.” Serena glanced at everyone in the room. Her plate rested on her lap, the food untouched. “I appreciate you giving me a second chance.”
They all rose, setting the dessert plates on the coffee table. Grandmother carried the folder to Serena. “My pleasure, dear.”
Logan observed his father silently leaving the room. Then his grandmother snagged his attention. “Logan, would you mind walking Serena to her car?”
“Of course, Grandmother.”
“And I’ll be by the store next week. That beginner’s drawing class you advertised has caught my fancy.”
“Thanks again, Mrs. M.”
His grandmother gently touched Serena’s cheek. “Always, my dear.”
Clutching the file to her chest, Serena began an unsteady path to the front door. He opened it for her, following her onto the wide veranda. The temperature had dropped, the mid-September air just a touch cooler as they ventured outside. The wind picked up, carrying a discernible hint of autumn. Crickets hummed their nightly serenade as darkness fell quickly around them.
“I’m so embarrassed,” Serena said in a voice so low he barely heard her. “I thought I’d done a complete job.”
He had to admit, he had reservations about her sketchy past, but the misery on her face tugged at his heart. It l
ooked like she truly regretted her mistake. She’d come across as a very capable businesswoman, so her error had to sting.
“Hey, no one is perfect. At least Grandmother didn’t outright dismiss your proposal.”
“I guess.” She looked up at him. “Thanks. You didn’t have to defend me.”
“You were already having a rough day. Bruised ankle and all.”
“More like bruised ego.” She shook her head, her hair brushing her shoulders.
“It’s your business. It’s personal and, let’s face it, most owners want to control all aspects.”
She averted her eyes.
“Chalk this up to a rookie mistake. Thankfully it was my grandmother who read it first. You can make adjustments and go from there.”
“I don’t know...”
He gently took her by the shoulders to face him. “My grandmother likes you. She’s in your corner, otherwise she would have outright dismissed your proposal instead of pointing out the problems.”
“I suppose.”
“Get Heidi to help you this time.”
She nodded. Moved away. “I should be going.”
He took her elbow to help her down the wide steps. Their footsteps, Serena’s unsteady, crunched over the tiny pebbles of the circular driveway. Once at her vehicle, he opened the door for her.
“Here’s an idea,” he said after she tossed the folder onto the passenger seat. “Be honest about your love for the store and you won’t have a thing to worry about.”
She met his gaze. His chest tightened at the sadness reflected in the blue depths of her eyes. The rising moon highlighted her creamy skin, her delicate cheekbones. Her gracefully curved lips. If she wasn’t a case he was working on, he’d be seriously tempted to ask her out.
“Good night,” she said, slipping behind the wheel.
As she drove away, he was conscious of the prickly awareness he’d tried to dismiss ever since he’d met her. There was something about her he couldn’t ignore. An energy that drew him to her despite his good intentions to keep it purely professional between them. His instincts, however, told him she was going to be nothing but trouble.
CHAPTER FIVE
“YOU LOOK LIKE someone stole your dog,” Heidi remarked. It was Monday and Heidi had turned up to find Serena behind the counter on a tall stool, hands cupping her face as she stared at her laptop. Colored pencils were scattered around, but the open sketch pad in front of her was nearly empty. Moments before she’d been doodling until her thoughts became too overwhelming to create anything worthwhile.
Quickly tapping the computer pad to remove the image on the screen, she said, “I messed up.”
Heidi’s eyebrows rose. “I doubt that.”
Serena pushed back from the countertop. Today she’d put on a cheery yellow dress, but it did nothing to lift her spirits. Her ankle still ached, keeping her from the morning run that always calmed her nerves. “Really. I should have had you look at the finished proposal. I’ve never put one together before and Mrs. M. picked up on it. Said my passion was missing.”
“In a business proposal?” Heidi held out a hand. “Let me see.”
She hesitated, but then reached under the counter and handed the papers over to Heidi. After reading the proposal, Heidi glanced at her. “It is rather dry, and that’s coming from an accountant. Although...”
“What?”
“You didn’t use the suspense category like I told you to.”
“I thought it sounded fake, so I left it out.”
“No, it’s real.”
“It’s okay to record money in that account if I needed it for emergencies?”
“Sure. It’s better if you’re more specific, but it still works.”
Heidi flipped through the pages again. “Would you designate the category for business or personal reasons?” She pointed to a different numbered account.
“If it’s for personal reasons, place it here.”
Serena nodded, glad Heidi hadn’t waited for a reply. She wasn’t entirely sure how to answer that question.
So there were other ways of documenting money that went directly to her, especially since she was the owner of the company, but the dollar amounts were above normal operating expenses. How did she explain it? Oh, did I forget to mention that when I was a teenager I helped my father swindle decent hardworking families out of their money, so now I’m anonymously paying them back? Yeah, that would go over well.
Keeping her mouth shut, she picked up a dark blue pencil and shaded in a section of the waterfall she’d been sketching. Honestly, she wished she was there right now, in the depths of the forest, away from what might ruin her life if the truth was revealed.
What her father had done was horrible, but at the time, Serena was still grieving her mother and she’d gone along with him. Initially, he told her that she was simply helping him with his job. Every daughter would want to help out her dad.
She was just thankful to see her father reengage in life after suffering through the depression that had paralyzed him after her mother died. But as she got older, she realized the company he represented didn’t exist. That he had set up a scam and every dime went straight into the Stanhope family coffers.
At first she’d wondered why they changed their last name so often. As she got older, she kept detailed records in a notebook of the money they received and where it had come from, not asking the whys and wherefores. In retrospect, she should have been curious, asked more questions, but she’d been young and so happy to have her father back to his old self, none of it sank in right away. By the time she figured out the reality, she was his accomplice.
Heidi flipped through the proposal. “From a quick glance, it looks like everything is in order. Want me to go over this with a fine-tooth comb before you resubmit?”
“Would you mind?”
“It’s what I do.”
While Heidi went to the small office, Serena dropped the pencil and tapped the laptop again. Senior pictures from Golden High School filled the screen. After some of the comments Logan had made at the Oktoberfest meeting, she’d searched online to find the old yearbook. He’d been on multiple sports teams, captain of the baseball team senior year, involved in student government, crowned prom king. He was smart. Involved. Going places. The exact kind of guy who would never understand her shadowy past.
She shook her head and let out a glum sigh.
Her father’s fake business had lasted about five years, until Serena entered high school. Shortly after, her father had an angina attack, and the money they’d made went to medical bills. Even though the condition was more of a scare, it was serious enough for him to take stock of his life. They settled down, and he got a job selling insurance and, much to her surprise, held on to it.
Eventually, she went to college, working her way through school by securing grants and loans while holding down multiple jobs. By then her dad had moved to Florida and they never spoke of that period of their life again.
But she never forgot. Even while her father battled his heart issues, she’d promised herself she would find a way to repay the people they’d swindled. She pledged to do it, but never told her father, worried about how her decision might affect his health. Then her father turned over a new leaf and she was just grateful he’d walked away from his schemes.
A few years later, when she was going through their storage unit, she came across the book she’d used to keep track of the names of all their marks and how much these people had sent to the fake companies. She’d sunk to the concrete floor, her heart racing and tears slipping from her eyes. Right there, she’d renewed her promise to pay them back. She was still working at it today, putting away a certain amount each month to go toward the refund program. So far she’d anonymously reimbursed ten people out of the twenty-five they’d scammed. Paying them back might increase the odds of lookin
g guilty if law enforcement ever found out, but she couldn’t live with herself unless she tried.
Tonight she planned to check another person off her list. She’d started with the ones they owed the most money to and had worked her way down. So far she hadn’t been caught, but she had no idea how long her luck would hold out.
“Here you go,” Heidi said as she walked back into the store proper holding out the papers with sticky notes on them. “Log in to the program and fix the places I highlighted. Add your personal story and I think Mrs. M. will be happy.”
Serena tapped the computer to get rid of the image. “Thanks. I’m sorry I didn’t have you take a look first.”
“I get it, but next time know that I’m on your team. I would never do anything behind your back and would point out any issues.”
“I know.” Serena quickly looked over the notes. “That’s it? Just the one area of concern?”
Heidi shifted her weight.
“What?”
“Are you investing money elsewhere?”
Oh, no. “Why would you ask?”
“There are large amounts that come out of your savings every once in a while.”
“That goes to family members who need money.” They weren’t her family, but Heidi didn’t need to know that.
“Huh. You never talk about family.”
Knowing the only surefire way to get Heidi off her trail, Serena said, “I could say the same about you.”
With a humph, Heidi spun on her heel and returned to the office. Serena held back a smile. Heidi was nearly as tight-lipped about her family as Serena.
“It’s none of my business,” Heidi called over her shoulder as she walked back to the office.
Serena’s head jerked up. She hurried after Heidi. “What is none of your business?”
Heidi’s fingers flew over the calculator. “What you do with your money.”
“It’s nothing nefarious,” Serena assured her friend. Not now, anyway.
Heidi twisted around in the office chair. “And I get how important the store is to you. When something belongs to you, it’s hard to let others in.”