Bottom line: Elise was in love with the boss and she didn’t care who knew it. She gave Deirdre a wave as they passed her. Deirdre grinned, nodded and continued down.
* * *
The next day, Elise got a letter and a big check in the mail. The envelope was creased, smudged and forwarded from her burned-down apartment on Central Street.
It wasn’t from Biff. It was from her long-gone, struggling-artist ex-boyfriend, Sean. When she opened the envelope, she found a two-page handwritten letter and a check for twenty thousand dollars inside.
Her hands shaking only a little, she read,
Dear Elise,
I’m guessing you never expected to hear from me again—let alone for me to do the right thing and return the money you so generously invested in me. The hard truth is, I never planned to contact you again and I certainly never intended to give you back your money.
But it’s been a long road for me. I have learned much about what’s right and what isn’t. And I have met someone special. Her name is Fiona. Fiona says that to walk in peace with the universe and realize my full potential as an artist, I must find a way to right every wrong I have perpetrated.
And let me tell you, Elise. That is a tall order...
A laugh burst from Elise right then. She was standing at the little built-in desk just off the kitchen area where Deirdre always left the mail. “Jed!” she called, and headed for the office where he’d remained while she’d walked the main floor during one of her five-minute breaks.
She found him leaning over her desk, studying the manuscript file she’d left open when she got up for her walk.
He rose to his height when she entered and she waved the check at him. “I just got a check for twenty thousand dollars and a letter from my ex-boyfriend, Sean. You have to read this...” Laughing, she went to him and held up the letter so they could read it together.
“Sean is a real piece of work,” he said once they’d both reached the end.
“I sure knew how to pick ’em, didn’t I?”
He sent her a wry glance. “At least you used the past tense when you said that.”
“Of course I did. Because present company is definitely excluded—in fact, I think you must bring me good luck. If this check doesn’t bounce, I’ve got my money back from Sean. And what I lent Biff is supposedly in the mail.” She waved the letter. “Did you read the part where Sean says Fiona gave him the money to send to me?”
“Yeah, I noticed that.”
She held up the check again. The account was in Sean’s name and the signature was Sean’s. “I really hope Fiona knows what she’s doing. I kind of feel sorry for her.”
“Don’t.” It was a command.
“But—”
“I mean it, Elise. He owes you the money. How he got it to give it back to you isn’t your problem. Plus, he says right in that letter that Fiona is ‘a very wealthy woman.’”
“Right.” She read from the letter. “‘Fiona is a very wealthy woman and she’s offered to support my art and help me get solid with the universe.’”
“Translation—Fiona is supporting him and also paying his debts, which is Fiona’s choice, Elise, and not—”
“—my problem. I know, I heard you the first time.” She thought it over a little more and then shrugged. “So okay, then. Fiona’s on her own with Sean. Sunday, I’ll put this check in the bank and in a week to ten days, I’ll know if it’s good or not.”
He tipped up her chin and kissed the end of her nose. “That’s my girl.”
* * *
Saturday, the check from Biff arrived. And Sunday, Elise stopped off at the bank and deposited both checks.
After the bank, she went to her sister-in-law Addie’s baby shower at Clara’s house. Addie Kenwright Bravo had married Elise’s brother James just last March. At the time of the wedding, Addie was already pregnant with the baby of her best friend, Brandon Hall, through artificial insemination. Brandon had died of cancer at the end of January. So technically, James was not the baby’s father. But everyone in the Bravo family knew that James loved that unborn child as his own.
And they all loved Addie. She was small and spunky, independent and big-hearted, and today she was wearing a yellow dress printed with daisies. She looked like a walking ray of sunshine—or maybe a waddling one. A month from her due date, Addie seemed ready to pop.
They played baby-shower games: “baby sketch artist,” “baby items in a bag” and “don’t say baby.” There was lunch and cake and champagne for anyone who wanted it. Addie opened a huge pile of baby gifts.
Later, Jody pulled Elise into a free corner of the kitchen and asked how she was doing.
“Terrific,” Elise replied with enthusiasm. “Jed’s an amazing guy and I’m happy, Jody. Really happy. I almost can’t believe it. Two and a half months ago, my world was a total disaster. My love life was nonexistent, just like my bank balance. Now I have money in the bank and the greatest guy in the world thinks I’m the hottest thing around.”
Jody beamed. “I saw you two at the wedding. Anyone could see he’s crazy about you.”
“It’s mutual, believe me.”
“You do have that glow.”
“And I can’t thank you and Clara enough. You put me to work, kept me busy and focused and made sure I didn’t starve during the worst of it. And Nell... Don’t tell her I said so. She thinks she knows everything. But I owe her large.”
Jody put up a hand like a witness swearing an oath. “I will never say a word to her.”
Elise laughed. “Whew.”
“So, you’ll be staying on as Jed’s assistant, then?”
“God, no. I hate typing.”
“But you’re so good at it and Jed pays big money, right?”
“Money isn’t everything—and yeah, it’s easy for me to say, now I’m no longer destitute. I also happen to mean it. I am not typing one more word than I absolutely have to. Why doesn’t anyone seem to understand that just because a person’s good at something doesn’t mean they’re dying to spend their life doing it? As soon as this book is done, so am I.” She lowered her voice to a confidential whisper. “But if it all works out the way I’m hoping, I will be staying on with Jed.”
Jody’s smile was soft. “I love seeing you happy. And it’s about time.” She held up her empty champagne flute. “Don’t move. I’m filling up my glass and then I have something to propose to you.”
Right on cue, Clara stepped up with a tray of full ones. “More champagne, little sister?”
“You’re a lifesaver.” Jody switched out her empty flute for a full one and they chatted with Clara for a few minutes—about how great the party was, and how big Clara’s one-year-old, Kiera, had grown.
Then Clara moved off to share the bubbly with her other guests and Elise picked up her conversation with Jody where they’d left off. “What kind of proposal?”
“First, are you still thinking of opening Bravo Catering again?”
“I am opening Bravo Catering again. That was always the plan. It was just that for a few really bleak months there I had no clue how I would ever make it happen.”
“Would you consider maybe going into partnership with me?”
Elise got the loveliest rising feeling in her chest. “Bloom and Bravo Catering, together?”
“Well, I mean before the fire, we did several weddings together, right? That went so well. And I liked working with you when you were filling in at Bloom, too. I think we make a great team. So I was wondering, what if we formally combined forces? We could still keep both companies, and look for a new, larger location, a shop where we would each have our own store, but adjoining, you know? Two separate entrances, one for Bravo Catering and one for Bloom, but we would design the space so the two shops kind of flow together. Food and flowers. I think i
t could be great.”
Elise waved her hand in front of her face. “Jody. I think I’m going to cry.”
“Good tears?”
“The best kind.” Elise grabbed her sister and gave her a hug.
Jody hugged her right back, then took her by the shoulders to look in her eyes. “So you’ll consider it?”
“Consider it? I love it. I’m in. And I’ll have the money for it, no problem, thanks to Jed. But I’m working with him dawn to dusk on the book until he finishes the manuscript. I only have Sundays off and I need at least one day a week to run errands and decompress a little.”
“I know. I get that.”
“He’s ahead of schedule, so maybe he’ll be done early—sometime in October, if we get lucky. His deadline, though, is November first. I can’t commit to anything until then. But I promise, Jody, from the first of November, I’m your partner.”
Jody squealed in delight—and then clapped her hand over her mouth and shook her head, blushing. “Okay. I’m excited. Tell me, does it show?”
“Me, too. I really wasn’t looking forward to being completely on my own.”
“I know. I always envied you and Tracy, to have each other to count on. Now, we’ll have each other. I’m so thrilled you said yes.”
* * *
Elise got back home at a little after five.
She found Jed out on the catio with Wigs. “How are my guys?”
Jed patted the spot beside him on the sofa. She took it. He wrapped an arm around her and she snuggled close, resting her head on the hard bulge of his shoulder. He rubbed his scruffy chin against her hair and asked, “So how was Addie’s baby shower?”
“You would have loved it,” she teased.
A low, disbelieving sound rumbled up from his big chest. “Did you play those silly girly games—‘pin the tail on the baby’? ‘Bobbing for nipples’?”
“How do you even know about baby-shower games?”
“I’m a writer. I have to know a little bit about everything—plus, I went to a coed shower once, back when I was married to Carrie. The experience was one I would prefer never to repeat.”
“Oh, you poor man.” She patted his cheek.
“You need to kiss me and make it all better, wipe the memory of that terrible time from my conscious mind.”
“I’m on it.” And she kissed him, slowly and with a lot of tongue. “How’s that?”
“I think I might be all right now.”
“I’m so glad.”
“But maybe you should kiss me once more, just to be sure.”
With a happy laugh, she cradled his face and pressed her lips to his. When she lifted away, he tried to grab her close again. But she could not wait another minute to tell him about her conversation with Jody. She pushed at his chest. “I have news.”
“About...?”
“I had a long talk with Jody.”
He grinned. “You should see your face. Apparently, Jody had something really good to tell you.”
“She did. She had an offer for me.”
His arms loosened around her. “What kind of offer?”
She sat back against the cushions. “It’s like this. As soon as the book is done, Jody and I are going into partnership together. We’ll get a new space and combine her flower shop with my catering business.” She kicked off her sandals and drew her legs up yoga-style. “It’s a stroke of genius, perfect for both of us.” A gleeful little laugh escaped her. “Jody suggested it and, well, I couldn’t say yes fast enough. Not only will we do weddings together the way we were doing before I had to close down, we each get foot traffic from the other.
“I’m thinking I’ll have a bakery area—great coffee and pastries, you know? I’ll be open the same hours as Bloom. People come in to buy flowers and they can get a coffee and a muffin. Or they come for coffee and get tempted by Bloom. I can’t wait to...” Her voice trailed off as the expression on his face finally registered.
He didn’t look the least bit pleased to be hearing all this.
Chapter Eleven
You’re not going into business with your sister, Jed thought but somehow had the presence of mind not to say. I need you right here, working for me.
This was bad. He should have had this out with her before she managed to go off and make a deal with Jody. But he’d thought he had more time—weeks yet—to create a workable plan, to come up with an offer so tempting she’d realize there was no way she could refuse.
What offer is that, exactly? mocked a knowing voice in his mind. And what if she still refuses, no matter what you offer her?
She’d never given him the slightest indication that she might change her mind and continue as his assistant after the book was done—except for that time on the plane to New York. But then he’d only thought she might stay on; he’d heard what he wanted to hear. She’d meant she would stay with him, not that she would keep typing his books.
And if he was any other man he would be telling himself he had to learn to accept her position on this.
But he wasn’t just any guy. He had a certain process that worked for him and she was a big part of that process. She was not a cog in a wheel, easily replaceable.
Without her, the damn wheel didn’t turn.
Well, you are going to need to replace her. Get over it and move on. The voice of reason in his head was calm. Logical. Right.
And he refused to listen to it.
That year after Anna left had been pure hell. He needed to find a way not to go through that again.
And if there was no way, if she was leaving no matter what once he finished McCannon’s Fall, he damn well didn’t want to know that now.
Now, the book had to come first. Having to accept her leaving would only mess with his mind and slow down his writing. That couldn’t happen.
He would get to the end of the damn book and then find a way to convince Elise to keep working with him—so what if she had plans to work with her sister? Plans change.
And she was looking at him strangely now. “Jed. What is it?” She put her soft hand on his. “What’s wrong?”
He ordered his expression to relax, even managed to form what for him passed as a smile. “Not a thing.”
“But you seemed so—”
“There’s nothing,” he lied, turning his hand over, clasping her fingers, giving them a reassuring squeeze. “So. You and Jody, huh?”
She looked so serious now—because she knew him better than anyone ever had before. She knew exactly what was bothering him, which her next words made painfully clear. “You said the day you hired me that if it worked out with me, you weren’t going to like it when I left. I get that, I do. And I don’t want to leave you—it’s just the job. Long-term, it’s not for me.”
“I understand. Don’t worry. Everything’s fine.”
She wanted badly to believe him. He could see it in those big dark eyes of hers. “You’re sure?”
“Of course.”
* * *
Elise didn’t believe him.
He definitely had something on his mind that he wasn’t sharing. But she’d asked and encouraged—and then prodded him for good measure. He didn’t want to get into it, whatever it was.
Well, okay. She would leave it alone until he was ready to talk about it.
They went inside, had some dinner and watched a movie in the media room downstairs. He took her to bed and made smoking hot love to her.
That week, the book moved along at lightning speed. Jed was really on a roll. At the rate he was writing, they could be finished by the end of the month—a month ahead of his final deadline. That would give him weeks to go through it and clean it up before sending it on to New York. He was pleased at his progress and he said so.
And when the wor
kday was through, he was his usual sexy, gruff self. By Friday, she’d all but forgotten that something had been bothering him Sunday night.
A week and a day after Addie’s baby shower, Elise checked her bank balance online and found that both Sean’s and Biff’s checks had cleared. Her nest egg was growing by leaps and bounds. She called Jody and they agreed that Jody would keep her eye out for a workable location to lease—or to buy.
That week passed and the one after that. Jed was on the home stretch with McCannon’s Fall, writing faster and better than ever, he said.
On the last Tuesday in September, Jody called during Elise’s lunch break. She had news. The art gallery next to Bloom was closing immediately due to a family emergency. The gallery owner had three months left on her lease, but she wanted out now. Jody had already talked to the agent for the building. He said they would let the gallery owner out of the lease if Elise qualified to take it over. Elise could sign a contract for two years with an option to renew for another two. The agent also said Elise and Jody could open up the wall between the two shops as long as Elise signed a rider agreeing to make all the changes according to code and have the work properly inspected and approved—and to pay a nonrefundable deposit to rebuild the wall at the end of her tenancy.
Jody offered, “I’ll pay to fix the wall for us if you put down the nonrefundable deposit.”
“Sounds great to me. I’ve been through the gallery a couple of times. It’s a nice space. I’ll need to measure it, but I’m pretty sure I can put my kitchen in the back and a little bakery area with a counter and café tables in front.”
At the rate Jed was writing, the rough draft could be done within the week. He typed his own rewrites, so he wouldn’t need her for that. Maybe she would get lucky and be able to start working for herself again next month.
But even if he needed her right up until November first, getting the shop next to Bloom for Bravo Catering was as good as it was going to get. Jody wouldn’t have to shut down and reopen elsewhere and possibly lose customers in the process. They could build on what Jody already had.
“So are you saying we’re going for it?” Jody asked.
Ms. Bravo and the Boss Page 15