by Alexa Davis
“Sure, sure,” I told him happily, indicating towards my office door. “Come on, catch me up. Let me know what I’ve missed out on while I’ve been away.”
As we walked, he slipped into another conversation entirely, talking about one of the women that he found attractive in the office. As soon as he insisted that he wasn’t interested in screwing up his job for her, I half turned him out. I didn’t need to listen to any of this. I needed to get my head back in the game. His attraction to some chick wouldn’t help me do that.
“So,” he said the moment the door shut behind him. “How was the trip? What were you going to see, a coffee shop or something?”
This was the first time he’d ever asked me anything about what I was doing, so I couldn’t help myself from wanting to tell him everything…maybe a little too much. “It’s Boffees, books and coffee. I know it sounds pretty small, and it might not make me a huge return, but I really want to invest.”
“Yeah? How come?” he asked curiously.
“Honestly, I think the owner, Annie, has the determination to drive it forwards—”
“You like her,” he jumped in, hitting the nail right on the head. “I thought this whole thing sounded a little weird. You’re a shrewd businessman with his head firmly in the game. That’s how you make so much money. I knew there had to be some deep reason for your interest in some small shop in Florence…a small town in the middle of nowhere.”
“It isn’t just that…” I tried, but it was written across my face. Garrett’s raised eyebrows proved that he could see right through me. “Okay, okay, I admit it. I do have feelings for Annie that maybe I shouldn’t, but I do want to invest in her for other reasons, too.”
“So, what does she look like?” I couldn’t help myself as he asked this. This was the closest thing that we’d had to a brotherly conversation in years. Over time, as Garrett’s behavior deteriorated, I had felt like I was more of a parent to a reckless teen than anything else, so this was a really welcome change. “Is she mega hot?”
“She’s gorgeous,” I admitted, smiling to myself. “A natural beauty.”
“So, the sort you’d want for a wife rather than a screw?” he said callously, turning my feelings into something a lot more distasteful.
“Sure,” I shrugged, not wanting to rock the boat. “She’s lovely.”
“You need to be careful,” he told me seriously. “You don’t want to start falling for clients – that can lead to trouble.”
I wanted to scold him for acting like he knew something about business when he’d only just started working for me, but I didn’t because there really wasn’t any point. “Okay, so ask me all these questions you have for me?”
“Yeah, so I was looking at this…”
***
“Hi, Harry,” I said to my advisor as he sat opposite me. “So, what do you have for me?”
“I actually really wanted to see you to discuss your trip to Florence.” He didn’t look happy, but I wasn’t about to let that stop me. I’d made my choice, and I wanted to go with it now. I had my reasons, and even if no one else understood it, I did. “Did anything progress with the Boffees deal?”
“Well, Annie didn’t agree to anything yet,” I replied honestly, folding my hands on the table in front of me. This was what I did to make myself look more serious, more businesslike. I’d started it when I was just beginning, in the hope that it would cause people to take me more seriously, and now it was a habit I couldn’t get out of. “But she’s coming up this weekend to see the company.”
I might have had a big, beaming smile on my face, but Harry was definitely not looking impressed. “And, did you explain all of the details to her?”
“She read over the contract,” I nodded slowly. “And, she certainly seemed to understand it all. This isn’t some small town girl we’re dealing with here; she’s an astute businesswoman.” I wanted him to understand that this wasn’t just me being starry-eyed here; Annie knew what she was talking about. Without meeting her, people just couldn’t seem to get that.
“Okay, because she will be losing a lot of the business with this deal. You will effectively have creative control, so you’ll be able to change everything…or the person in charge of her account will, anyway. I just want her to understand that.”
I gulped at that, my head and heart in total conflict with one another. Realistically, this was the only way I could invest in Boffees; I had to make it profitable for me and the business, but it didn’t feel right to take so much of what Annie had worked so hard for.
Then again, any investor would do the same…so better that it was me, right? At least if my company was in control, I could keep an eye on what was going on. I might not have done it for every other investment because I couldn’t be everywhere at once, but with this one, I would have to make sure that I did. Even if it did seem like favoritism…
“Right, okay,” I drawled slowly. “Can you just explain everything to me, so I understand when I see her on Friday?” I had read through all of the information before I handed it to her, but only really briefly because I’d been in a hurry at the time. Now, though, I needed to know it all because a big part of me thought it might be advisable to tell Annie beforehand.
Maybe this whole investment plan was a bad idea. I wanted to help Annie. I wanted to expand her business in a big way. I just wasn’t sure that this was going to achieve that. The last thing I wanted was to make things harder for them both.
While he went through it all, my brain zipped back and forth with indecision. I had no idea what I was going to do on Friday when Annie came up, but I hoped that I would be able to make that choice before she arrived. I didn’t want to screw things up.
God, this would be so much easier if we were just dating. I made a bit of a bad move bringing business into things between us, but then again, we wouldn’t have met at all if that hadn’t been the case. If Roy hadn’t called me, nothing would have taken me down to Florence.
“Anyway,” Harry jumped in before I could get too lost in my thoughts. “How is Garrett getting on? Is he working well?”
“He is, actually,” I smiled at him proudly. “Now that he’s started working here, he’s doing amazingly. Better than I actually expected him to. He’s taken on a very creative role in the marketing department, and he’s taking it very seriously.”
“Well that’s good.” Harry didn’t look convinced, but that didn’t matter. It would take some time for Garrett to prove himself, and now that I’d seen what he could do, I would be behind him all the way. “Let’s just hope it stays that way. Anyway, I have to go, just…keep me updated with Garrett and Boffees, too.”
“I will,” I grinned and shook his hand. “Thanks again, Harry. See you later.”
After he left, I glanced down at that family picture on my desk again, wondering if Dad would have been proud of how far I’d come with regards to Garrett. This was what he wanted on his death bed after all, for me to do what he never could.
Garrett didn’t turn into a nightmare until he hit his mid-teens, when his hormones properly kicked in, and he seemed to make it his life’s mission to make Dad’s life hell. He would stay out late, drink too much, vandalize, and generally act out. He was brought home by the cops on more than one occasion, driving my dad to distraction.
I’d expected him to start behaving himself when Dad got sick, which he did a little bit, but not enough. Most of the responsibility of looking after Dad fell on my shoulders, which was okay. More than a little exhausting, but at least he wasn’t throwing his idiotic behavior in Dad’s face anymore. For a long time, I thought he had some sort of grudge against our father, and that it was all about that. But once Dad passed and Garrett carried on acting like an idiot, I had to assume that it was just the way he was.
But not anymore – now things were starting to look up.
Well, Dad, I thought smilingly in my mind. I’ve done it. I’ve got Garrett working. He finally seems to be putting his past behind him and
growing up. I hope I’ve done you proud! I hope this is what you wanted for him because he really seems to be blossoming. And Mom… I didn’t want to leave my mom out, but I wasn’t really sure how to communicate with her when I didn’t really know her. I…I hope that you are proud of me, too.
It was horrible to not really remember the woman that gave birth to me, but that was my life. She got sick and died…there wasn’t anything that could be done about it; it was just one of those things.
If my parents were still here, I imagined that I would be talking to Dad about the company, discussing Garrett’s change with him, and Annie with Mom.
I liked to picture her as the sort of woman who would know what to do in a heartbeat. She would be able to tell me whether or not I should even consider investing in Annie’s company with the terms on offer. If I thought about it properly, I imagined her telling me that it was time to worry about settling down, rather than worrying about making more money, and that Annie was the perfect girl to do it with. She would probably be angling for grandkids, and she’d assume that this was the closest I’d ever gotten. She would probably adore Rae, too…
Of course, this was all in my head. Mom could have been totally different in reality, but since I would never get the chance to know for sure, the imaginary picture that I had of her in my mind was all I knew.
Anyway, I eventually shook my head and snapped back into action, while carefully placing the picture back down on my desk. It was time to get back to work. I still had a lot to do.
Chapter Eighteen
Annie – Monday
I decided to shut the shop up early on the Monday for two reasons. One, Nancy had plans with her new guy, which I was more than happy to accommodate, and two, because the place was dead. It was cold and rainy, not the ideal weather to be out and about in, which meant nothing was happening.
I wanted to do something else. I felt like I needed a change of scenery.
“Shall we go and see Grandma?” I asked Rae, the idea just popping into my mind. I liked to see my mom as much as possible, which was easier ever since she’d moved to Glenada to be nearer to me, but it just wasn’t always possible. I was always so busy, which was why this was the perfect chance.
Luckily for me, she was very sociable, so she had her own life, so it didn’t matter too much that I wasn’t around too much.
“Yeah, I wanna see Grandma!” Rae exclaimed excitedly. “Do you think she’ll have any candy?”
“She always does,” I smiled happily. “Come on, let’s go into the car. I’ll call Grandma on the way.”
As I locked the door behind me, I felt a heavy weight lift from my shoulders. I wasn’t sure how deeply I would discuss everything with Mom, but it would be nice to get at least some advice from the one person who truly had my best interests at heart. Talking to her was always the answer…
***
“Hey, Mom, the garden looks great,” I called through the front door to her home. It was one of the saddest times of my life last year when my dad passed away, but I was glad to have some family nearer. “You’ve been working hard.”
As she came out into the hallway, and Rae dove into her arms, I was taken back a little bit by how good she looked. Of course, the sadness was still behind her eyes, that wasn’t going anywhere now that Dad was no longer around, but the lifestyle of Oregon clearly suited her.
“Hey, you two, it’s good to see you,” she smiled. “It’s been so long. How have you been?”
Even though she wasn’t trying to make me feel guilty, I did all the same. “I know, I’m sorry. It’s just been so crazy at the shop.”
“Oh, I know. I’m just happy to see you.” She put Rae down, who instantly raced into the kitchen to try to find something to eat, and pulled me in for a loving hug. Instantly, she made me feel much better, in the way that only a mother could. “Would you like a drink?”
“We better go into the kitchen anyway, if you want anything left!”
As we sat at the dining table, with Rae happily playing with Mom’s cat, I started to fill her in on everything that had been happening since I last saw her – most importantly, the possible investment.
“So, you know how long I’ve wanted to expand, and I really think that Boffees could do well in other places, too, but I’m really starting to wonder how much I’m willing to sacrifice to make that happen, you know? It’s all a little overwhelming now, to be honest, happening much quicker, and not quite in the way that I imagined it would.”
She held my hands for a moment and looked loving at me. “You know that I’m proud of you, whatever you do, right? Your dad was, too. The fact that you’ve come from nothing, that you opened your store despite what happened…well, that’s something to be very happy about.
“I don’t know what you should do next. I always worked for other people rather than running anything myself, but I do know that you should follow your heart. You are a smart girl, very astute, and you’ll make the right decision.”
“Thank you, Mom,” I smiled at her, my eyes blurry with happy tears. “That means a lot.”
Of course, there was a lot that she wasn’t saying with that statement, but it didn’t need to be vocalized. We both knew what I’d been through, what I’d overcome; what I always wanted to do was keep on moving forwards.
“So, tell me about you, Mom. How is life here?”
“It’s good,” she smiled at me, allowing me to change the subject. “My friends from the knitting club are planning a trip soon, so I might be away for a week or so.”
“That sounds nice,” I replied, pleased for her. “You should have a lot of fun.”
She went on to tell me some of the gossip from the town, about people I barely knew or didn’t know at all, but I listened happily regardless. I was happy to be her rock, in the same way that she’d been for me. I smiled and nodded along, even when I didn’t know what she going on about really.
“So, Rae,” she eventually turned her attention back to my daughter. “How are you? What have you been up to?”
“I helped Mommy in the shop!” she exclaimed happily. “And, Nancy took me to the park the other day, that was really fun. And, Justin came to our house for a date with Mommy, but he got called away so he couldn’t say bye.”
Even though that wasn’t the case, I felt my face heat up regardless. In Rae’s babble of chatter, she’d managed to burst out something that I wasn’t discussing on purpose. I knew that Mom was keen for me to move on and find happiness again, which was the reason I would have kept any dating from her before it got serious. Not that there had been any dating, or that there was any here for that matter…not really. Just one minor mishap.
“It wasn’t a date,” I insisted, maybe a little too quickly. “Justin is the man who might be investing in the company.” Urgh, that sounded seedy to say aloud, like I was being tricked and used.
“Tell me all about him,” Mom asked me, but it wasn’t me who answered.
“He’s tall,” Rae jumped in. “And, he plays lots of games with me. I like him, he’s fun.”
Mom didn’t break eye contact with me the entire time, and I honestly found it a real struggle to keep my emotions from my face. The last thing I wanted was for her to know that I’d had a crazy one-night stand with the man who I wanted to give me money! So I talked quickly about this business side of things, instead.
“We’re actually going up to Portland over the weekend so I can see the investment company, see if it’s for me.”
“What about Rae?” I could tell there was a look in her eye, but I didn’t want to acknowledge that. It could lead to so many awkward questions.
“She’s coming with me. Nancy, too, hopefully!” I still hadn’t asked her about it yet, it had totally slipped my mind. I would get to it tomorrow.
“Well, why doesn’t Rae come here to stay?” Mom asked me, giving me a totally different option. “She’s only stayed here once since I’ve lived here. I would love to have her.”
“Yes, Mo
m, I want to stay with Grandma!” Rae practically screamed. “I would love that!”
It did mean that I didn’t have to drag Nancy away from her life, but the thought of going to Portland alone filled me with an odd fear. It was almost too date-like, and I was doing everything I could to stay away from that line.
“Okay, if that’s what you want,” I told her with a smile. “I’m sure you’ll have lots of fun.”
I decided to leave it a little longer before making the solid decision to leave her there because it wasn’t that long ago that she was excited about a vacation, so I would see how she felt come Friday.
“Maybe you can find me some pictures of my daddy?” she asked my mom, shaking me from my thoughts. “Mom can’t find any at home.”
“Erm…yeah,” Mom’s face went deadly pale and her eyes met mine. “I’ll see what I can do; now why don’t you go and see if there’s anything good on the television.”
I was freaking out as Rae left the room, panicking about how big this was becoming. I had feared that she wouldn’t let this drop, but I hadn’t realized quite how insistent she would be.
“Oh God, I’m sorry, Mom. She asked me the other day and I told her he’s in Heaven. That’s when she started on about the pictures. If I thought she would bring it up to you, I would have warned you in advance.”
“Hey, don’t worry, it’s okay,” she did her best to reassure me. “I know this must be hard for you, and it had to come up eventually. Maybe I wasn’t quite expecting it now, but there you go. Rae always has been too switched on for her own good.”
“Yeah, I don’t know how long I can keep putting her off for,” I admitted. “It’s quite scary, really.” I tried to imagine her face when she learned everything about the man who’s helped create her, but it didn’t feel right. She was too little to fully get it.
“Maybe it’s time to just be honest. I think she’ll understand more than you’re giving her credit for.”