Sophie taps her fingers against the counter, thoughtful. “And if you refuse?”
“Then he’ll increase the offer.”
We all know it.
It’s a game to him. He’s playing the long con, waiting to see when I’ll cave.
Maeve suddenly chimes in, her little voice breaking through the tension. “Are we mad at the coffee man?”
Olivia laughs, reaching over to ruffle her daughter’s curls. “Very, very mad.”
Maeve gasps dramatically. “Oh no! Should I put him in time-out?”
Sophie snorts into her tea. “Please do.”
A reluctant smile tugs at the corner of my lips.
But I don’t feel like smiling. Not really.
Because Mum is still looking at the crumpled letter in my hands, the sadness lingering in her expression and for the first time since this all started, I see it—she’s tired.
She doesn’t want to fight anymore and that?
That pisses me off more than anything.
Ben Ashcroft thinks he can come back after fifteen years and take everything from us? Thinks he can wear us down just enough to make us walk away?
He has no idea who he’s dealing with.
I straighten my spine, lifting my chin. “He can take his pathetic offer and shove it.”
I glance at my mum. “You deserve more.”
Sophie claps her hands together. “Agreed.”
Mum sighs, shaking her head at all of us. “At least finish your food before you start declaring war.”
“Auntie Mei, I finished my food!” Maeve declares, beaming up at her.
Mum laughs, cupping Maeve’s cheek fondly. “Then you’re the only one with any sense around here.”
Maeve nods proudly and goes back to drawing tulips on her charity cards.
Tulips. The symbol of hope. The flower for Parkinson’s awareness.
My gaze drifts back to my mum, to the way she watches us all with quiet warmth, to the way her hands have worn over the years from decades of working this shop.
She thinks we might have to let it go.
That we might lose.
I turn back to the letter, fingers tightening around it.
No.
Not if I have anything to say about it.
Tomorrow, I’m going to march into Ben Ashcroft’s office and make it very, very clear.
