Zach,
Please keep me posted on your progress with the two business owners in Austin. Mr. Woodbury needs frequent updates. This is a big project. Communication is key.
P.S. We’ll be having a conversation about your storytelling in the office and how it’s impacting morale when you return.
I rolled my eyes and closed the email tab on my browser. The only thing impacting morale in the office was Ryan and his shitty management style.
Jonah was still in his room getting ready, so I did a quick search on my laptop about the two businesses still remaining on the strip on Apricot Lane.
Two names popped up.
The first was Senna Camden. She owned a business called Lily Living, which appeared to primarily focus on women’s fashion, as well as a bit of home décor. She’d owned the retail space for four years and had no partnerships. She was the sole owner and had not started the shop somewhere else—which suggested to me that she had a personal stake invested in this spot.
The second name was Edith Ford. Her story appeared much the same on paper. She owned the space next to Lily Living, a jewelry store called Something New. She’d only owned it for a year.
One would be easier to push out than the other.
Jonah called out from his room that he only needed another five minutes. I fished my phone out of my pocket and called the driver my company had hired for the duration of my stay in Austin. His name was Robert. He drove a black Land Rover, rocked a graying goatee, and insisted I call him Bob.
He answered the phone with a thick Texan accent. “Bob here.”
“Hey, man. It’s Zach. Can you be at the hotel in twenty?”
“Sure thing. Meet me downstairs. Want me to stop and grab something on my way? Coffee? Breakfast?”
“No thank you. We’re all right.”
“See you soon,” Bob said before ending the call.
He was the definition of an accommodating guy. It made sense that he was on the company’s payroll. He was probably used to driving around guys who were the real deal—the high rollers I aspired to be.
Sure, I made a good living—an exceptional living really—but I was nowhere near the likes of Simon Woodbury and the men he associated with. The men who were in charge of Woodbury mall and all developments of that capacity.
One day, I would be sitting in those meeting rooms. I’d be making the decisions, not swindling people out of their homes and businesses. Someone else could do the dirty work. I would earn my place on the top floor one way or another.
Who knew? I might even pull off this gig and find myself moving up to the higher floors upon my return to Orlando.
I closed my laptop and leaned back in my seat, a smug smile stretching my lips. Ryan would just hate that. And I’d pay a lot of fucking money to be in the room when he found out I was being promoted above him.
The little snake.
“What are you smirking about?” Jonah asked as he emerged from his room, raking his fingers through his still wet, copper-blond hair.
“How pissed Ryan would be if I got this deal closed and landed a promotion along the way.”
Jonah grinned. “How pissed he would be if you closed the deal? Man, give yourself a little credit. You’ve closed every deal the company has ever handed you. This one won’t be any different. Hopefully, Ryan is preparing for the undeniable reality that is about to fall on his narrow little shoulders.”
I chuckled. Ryan did have narrow shoulders. Jonah had met him once when I brought him along to a work function a few months ago. Technically speaking, my “plus one” was intended for a significant other or a date, but there had been no lady friend in the picture, and Jonah was a crowd pleasing sort of guy, so I brought him with me for comic relief. My coworkers at Woodbury loved his company at our table, and even though he stuck out like a sore thumb as the hippie he was in a room full of suits, he fit right in.
Everyone clicked with him except Ryan, which was secretly what both Jonah and I had been hoping for. It was fun to push my boss a bit every now and again. It kept him on his toes.
I stood up and grabbed my prescription Ray Bans from their case on the side table by the sofa. I left my glasses in the case and slid the sunglasses on my nose. “Ready?”
Jonah grabbed his notebook and nodded.
We met Bob down at the Land Rover outside the front doors. He was standing with the back door open, and he greeted us with a polite nod. He was wearing a black suit that was a bit too big for him, with a dark red shirt underneath. His tie had a wrinkle in it, which triggered my OCD, and I resisted the urge to reach out and pull it straight.
He’d think me a psychopath, and I wouldn’t blame him. No grown man straightened out the tie of a stranger just because it irked him.
Jonah and I slid into the back seat. Bob closed the door behind us and walked around the hood of the Rover to slide into the driver’s seat. Within moments, we were pulling out onto the main drag outside the hotel.
Jonah looked over his shoulder as we took the corner to steal a glance at the pool on the outside of the property. “Dude,” he said. “Check out the chicks in there. I know where I’ll be tomorrow morning.”
“I’m sure they would love to be swept away by your words of poetry, Jonah.”
“You bet your ass they would.”
“Is that the sort of inspiration you were hoping to find in Austin? Boobs?”
Jonah shrugged. “They can’t hurt, right? What man isn’t inspired by boobs? And back dimples. Fucking back dimples man. Gets me every time.”
I snorted.
“What? You disagree?”
I shook my head. “No. Not even a little bit.”
“That’s what I thought,” Jonah said defensively, clutching his notebook tightly under his arm.
As we drew closer to the mall, Jonah asked Bob to pull over to the curb outside a trendy-looking cafe. The outside patio was massive and shaded with yellow umbrellas. Jonah slid out of the car and paused to lean back inside the vehicle. “I’m good to spend the day here, man. Call me when you’re done, and we can head back to the hotel?”
“Sure. Let me know if you wander off somewhere else.”
“Will do. Good luck!”
“Thanks, you too,” I said, nodding for him to hop to it.
Jonah closed the door, and Bob pulled away. I caught him looking at me in the rearview mirror, and the corners of his eyes crinkled with a smile. “So, what do you think of Austin so far?”
I adjusted my sunglasses on my nose. “So far so good. It’s a beautiful city. I didn’t anticipate all the modern architecture along with the small-town vibes. Makes sense that the company wants to get into development here.”
“The big mall, right?”
“Right.”
He nodded and didn’t say anything.
I caught myself smiling. “You’re not a fan of the new mall?”
Bob shrugged, looked both ways, and turned right at a busy intersection. “It doesn’t really affect me or my day-to-day existence. But my wife had a few choice words to say about it when the proposal first started.”
“What sort of words?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better me.
Bob chuckled. “Well, the plans started what, three years ago? She was all up in arms about it. Some of her favorite local shops were in the building they tore down for the first phase of the mall. There were some great places to eat, too. All locally owned, private businesses. And now they’re gone.”
“It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there.”
Bob shook his head. “Nah, it’s a man-eat-man world. But I suppose that’s just the way it is, right? Shit rolls downhill.”
“You get it, Bob.”
Bob dropped me off on Apricot Lane at nine o’clock in the morning. It was a beautiful place, much more so than I expected based on the blueprints I’d been given by Ryan.
The street was maybe three quarters of a mile long. One side was flanked with cute little shops with a heritage sort of look
to them. The siding of the whole strip of shops was shingles, and each store was a different color—pastel blue, yellow, pale pink, purple, and green. It had the feel of a small town.
A ghost town.
Every shop was empty save for four. Two were the ones I was here to see. The other two had sold out within the last thirty days, knowing they were in for a fight they could not possibly win.
Senna and Edith would come to realize that soon as well, if I had anything to say about it.
I faced the Woodbury Mall, a masterpiece of modern architecture. All sharp lines, big windows, and stark white walls. It was the polar opposite of the original shops on the street, and it represented the future. Progress. Change. Profits.
A hell of a lot of profits.
Chapter 8
Senna
I had my hands full with an overflowing box of new merchandise when the bell above my shop door chimed.
“Hi, I’ll be right with you!” I called as I balanced the box on my hip and struggled to pull the back door closed behind me.
Then I shuffled out, squeezed between two racks of clothes, and stopped in my tracks outside the changing rooms when I looked up at the customer. He was tall. That was the first thing I noticed.
Really tall.
And well dressed. He had a dark suit on, but I couldn’t tell if it was black or a really dark shade of gray. The shirt underneath was the same color and so was the tie. The only pop of color was his pocket square, which had swirling shades of blue running through it. His shoes were dark brown, and a watch flashed at his wrist as he flicked his hand upward to take his sunglasses off and hook them in the collar of his shirt.
I frowned and put the box down. He watched me as I wiped my hands on my jeans and then planted my fists on my hips. “Let me guess. You’re here to talk to me about selling my store, right?”
He smiled.
Good lord. Who walks around looking like this guy? It’s obscene. Unnatural.
His teeth were bright white and perfectly straight. His jaw was sharp, defined, and lined in short, dark-brown stubble that faded up into his hair, which was immaculately slicked back on top and buzzed shorter on the sides. His eyes were dark. He was too far away for me to make out what color they were, and I hated that I wanted to know.
No. Needed to know.
“Good morning. Ms. Camden, I presume?”
I bent down and tore through the tape on the top of the box. I flipped open the flaps and started pulling out plastic-covered hangers heavy with new clothes. “That’s me. And you are?”
He moved farther into my store. The heels of his shoes struck the hardwood floors, and he came to a stop about three feet away from me. He gazed around my shop, and I learned that his eyes were green. And not just your standard green.
They were very green, almost unnatural, like the color of mint leaves.
The tall, handsome stranger extended a hand. “My name is Zach. It’s nice to meet you.”
I arched an eyebrow and stared down at his hand. Then I looked back up at him and stared into those green eyes. “I would say it was nice to meet you as well, but if I’m being honest, it’s actually not.”
He surprised me by laughing. The sound was full of genuine humor. I hadn’t offended him like I wanted to. Instead, it seemed that I had amused him. “I had a sneaking suspicion that you would be a bit—abrasive.”
“Abrasive?” I asked sharply.
He shrugged. “Is there a different word you would prefer?”
“How about pissed off?”
He chuckled again, but he nodded. “I understand. I don’t envy your position. Not even a little bit.”
“And yet, here you are in all your glory to convince me to sell my business.”
“Here I am.”
I scowled and returned to unpacking my box of new merchandise. The dresses inside were long and flowy and came in cream, dusty rose, and lilac. Paired with some dainty gold jewelry, they would be beautiful. Maybe I would put them on the mannequins in my window and steal some necklaces from Edith’s shop to complete the look.
“So how did you know I was here to offer you a deal?”
I didn’t bother looking up at him as I continued to unpack the box and hang the dresses on a metal rack I’d wheeled out from the back earlier this morning. “You all have a certain look about you.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, you know? Suits, flashy watches, overpriced sunglasses.” I shrugged. “A look.”
“Maybe I just like clothes.”
“Maybe, but we both know that’s not the case. You’re here to tell me why I should sell out so Woodbury can build its stupid parking lot.”
“Perhaps I am.”
“Well, too bad for you, I’m closing for the day.”
He paused and took a breath. “You just opened. I watched you put your sign out front.”
“And?”
He frowned. “Hardly seems a smart move for a struggling business owner to make.”
I scoffed. “You don’t get to dictate whether I’m open or closed. And you sure as hell don’t get to stand here and infer that my business is struggling.”
“Isn’t it?”
I glared at him. “You can go now.”
Zach slid his hands into his pants pockets. He looked around the shop one more time and then nodded. “Very well. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to come in here and insult you. It’s a nice shop you have here. I imagine this would be a very successful operation if the mall hadn’t gone in across the way.”
“Yes, it would be, but I still make ends meet. Not that it’s any of your business.”
“You’re right. It’s not. I’ll be on my way. Maybe today isn’t the right day for us to chat about your options.”
“No day is the right day,” I shot back.
He looked right at me for the first time since he came into the shop. The smile that stretched his cheeks made something inside me start to burn and glow like the embers of a dying fire. Then he put his sunglasses back on. “We’ll see.”
He was arrogant. Damn him.
He put his back toward me and wove through the racks of clothes to make his way to the front door. When he was a couple feet away, the door blew open, and Lily’s laughter bubbled up into the air.
She wasn’t supposed to be here until four o’clock. It was only ten after nine.
I hurried to the front door and found Lily smiling up at Zach, who pointed a finger at the bow in her hair and asked, “Where on earth can I find one of those?”
Lily blinked up at him. “My bow?”
Zach nodded. “Yes. I’ve been looking for one like it all over the place.”
Lily paused. “My momma bought it for me.”
“Lily,” I called. “Come over here please.”
She scurried over and threw her arms around my legs. I patted her back as Michelle came hurrying through the door. Her cheeks were flushed, and her gray hair had come loose from its low bun. She looked around wildly until she saw me. “Senna, I’m so sorry. I know I just picked her up, but I have a family emergency.”
“Oh,” I said lamely. “Don’t worry about it. She can stay with me in the shop today. Let me know if you need something and if you need more time off. I hope everyone is okay.”
“Thank you,” Michelle said. I’ll let you know.” She turned around and bumped right into Zach, who apologized and opened the door for her.
The little bell on my shop door had seen more action in these last few minutes than it had all week.
The door fell closed again. Zach was still in my shop for some bizarre reason.
Lily looked up at me. “Who is he?”
I stroked her hair. “A businessman, sweetie.”
“He likes my bow.”
“It’s a nice bow,” I told her.
Lily shot a look at Zach. “Who are you buying the bow for? Do you have a daughter?”
Zach shook his head. “Nope.”
Lily frowned and looked up at me. I sh
rugged. Then she looked back at the development shark, who stood in front of my door with a pleasant smile plastered on his perfect lips. Lily rubbed her lips together thoughtfully. “A little sister?”
“Nope,” Zach said.
“Who is the bow for then?” Lily asked, confusion written plainly on her creased forehead.
Zach adjusted the cufflinks on his sleeves and winked at her. “For me, of course.”
Lily burst out laughing. Zach chuckled too, and then he dipped his head to me. “Have a good rest of your day, Ms. Camden. I’m sure we will see each other soon.”
I wanted to say “I hope not,” but I didn’t want to be rude in front of Lily. She was in a phase where she copied almost everything I did, so I just smiled and waved him off.
He left without another word. When the door closed behind him, Lily peered up at me. “He’s funny.”
“In his own way, I guess he is.” I patted her back and then cupped her cheeks in my hands as she gazed up at me. “Do you want to help Momma unpack new dresses?”
“Yes!” Lily cried enthusiastically.
She loved unpacking boxes. She loved being in the shop in general. She hid under the sales racks and behind the counter and played with her dolls in the fitting room. As an only child, she was very good at entertaining herself, and when she was bored, she’d sit with me behind the register or go next door to visit Edith, who always loved the company of my little girl on a slow day.
Lily and I crouched down to rummage through the box. Under the first batch of dresses that I’d already unpacked was another style with thin straps and a belt around the waist. They were knee length with a frilly skirt and sweetheart neckline. They had a real southern vibe to them, and Lily gasped in adoration as she pulled the first color out of the box—red with little white flowers on them with yellow centers.
“Pretty,” she cooed.
The other colors were black with the same colored flowers and then royal blue. Lily liked each color better than the last, and by the time they were all unwrapped from the plastic, she’d hooked each color by the hanger over her neck and walked around like a miniature fashion model.
Good Luck Charm: A Single Mother Romance Page 5