“I do that when I’m mad at them. Or frustrated. I’m both now.” She glanced down at her bowl. “Not very reverent of me, I know. But right now they’re driving me crazy. Actually, they always drove me a little nuts.”
“How so?”
“Because Don spent so much time away from home, Madge mostly raised me. When I was in elementary and middle school, she was volunteer of the year—every year. And then in high school she worked as the school secretary.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“No. I just wish Don would have been home more. I think Madge resented him for leaving all the parenting to her. So I tried to make sure I wasn’t too much trouble.” An unexpected lump formed in her throat. “Anyhoo, that’s the past, and now that Don’s retired, they’ve been spending a lot of time together and next to none with me. It’s like they don’t want me to be a part of their lives anymore. Or they don’t want to be a part of mine.” She started to tear at the chunk of bread in her hands.
“Hey.” He took the bread from her. “At least she called you.”
“True. And I’ll call her back, like I always do. Tomorrow. Or maybe Sunday. I’m feeling a little petty.”
Rusty shook his head. “Can’t imagine you bein’ petty about anythin’.”
“I can be cutthroat when I need to, especially when it comes to business.”
“How’s that goin’?” he asked, wiping the last of his soup with another slice of bread.
Harper sat back in her seat. “I wish I could say good, but that’s not true. And if things don’t get better—” Uh-oh. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud.
His brow furrowed. “You won’t be in any trouble, will you?”
“No, nothing like that.” She put her hands in her lap to keep from mutilating another piece of bread. Should she tell him about her long-term plan? He was so easy to talk to, and she’d already confided things about her family that she hadn’t with anyone else, including the Lattes. Part of that was due to her busy schedule. The other part was that she didn’t want to talk about how messed up her business and her family were right now. Madge had always kept her personal problems under wraps, and Harper naturally followed suit.
But for some reason she was okay with telling Rusty. “I want to close my office and open up a new one in Maple Falls,” she said. “Specifically, in #6, the building next to Price’s Hardware.”
His concerned expression disappeared. “Downtown can always use new businesses.”
“That’s what gave me the idea. That and I spend a lot of time in Maple Falls anyway. Might as well work here too. I asked about renting part of the building, but the owner wants to sell, and his price is high. Too high, I think, but with the revitalization that’s already happened on Main Street, he believes he can get what he’s asking.”
“Can he?”
“In my case, yes. I’m willing to give him an offer, but I also have personal reasons attached, so spending a little extra is acceptable. Back in the spring I was ready to buy it,then the real-estate market slowed down, and I lost some clients.” She clasped her hands together in a tight fist. She hadn’t meant to let that detail slip.
“Business goes up and down. I’ve had some slow times myself.”
“Exactly. I’ll be okay.” She relaxed her hands and lifted her chin. “Things will pick up soon.”
He rubbed his chin. “Any way I can help out?”
She chuckled. “Not unless you want to buy a house.”
“Afraid I don’t, sorry.”
“I wasn’t being serious anyway.” She waved her hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I just have to work a little harder, that’s all.”
“Seems like you’re already workin’ hard.”
She couldn’t deny that. “You know how it is. I’m sure you’ve had to burn the midnight oil a time or two.”
“Once,” he said. “Three years ago. Percy was out sick for almost a week, and Senior had gone on vacation to visit an old friend in Oklahoma, so it was just me tryin’ to get everythin’ done. Told myself I’d never let that happen again. Hired Hank the next week. I work to live, not the other way around.”
“What about the GTO? Isn’t that work?”
He grinned, his slightly crooked teeth shining through that thick mountain-man beard of his. “That ain’t work. That’s fun. What do you do for fun?”
Lately, nothing.But she couldn’t very well tell him that. “Hang out with my friends. Go shopping. Um...”
