Page 33 of Sterling Fight

“Now, cowboy,” Cadence chides, her mouth falling open as if to explain, but Ford is quick to cover her lips with his hand. She chuckles beneath his palm.

Ford stands. “Who wants to play catch?” After a quick hand-rub over Cadence’s belly and a kiss to her head, he’s off to wrangle the kids old enough to toss a ball.

Couple goals whispers through my head.

Wait? What? I don’t have couple goals. I don’t plan to be a couple. I’m party of one. Numero uno. Only me.

Then I glance back at Judd, who, like me, was just watching Ford interact with Cadence. Slowly, he glances back at me and then lowers his eyes.

“Anyway, I’d like to grow my brand.”

“What would that look like?” Clay asks.

“Merchandise. Notepads. Stickers. Pens. Office supplies to start.” I wave around me. Dream big, my dad would say. “But I’m a one-woman show, so I’m looking for help.”

“Like what?” Judd asks, his eyes trained on me again, like he’s fully invested in learning more.

“I’ve accepted I can’t grow alone. I need suppliers and purchasing. Pricing and marketing. Production alone is daunting. So, a large-scale greeting card company is interested in buying my brand.”

As exciting as it should sound, my gut sours at the thought. I’ve worked so hard to develop Quirky Girl Calendars, but I have so much more I want to do with her. As I’ve said, I need help.

“What does that mean for you?” Judd asks.

I shrug as the sourness begins to burn a little. “Greetings Ambassador said they’d keep me on as a designer, after they purchase existing designs. Essentially, they’ll own my brand, but I’ll get to keep working on it.”

“Your basic mergers and acquisitions,” Judd states, his tone matter of fact. His gaze lowers to his plate and he tosses his napkin on it before glancing up at Clay. “Do we use Greetings Ambassador?”

Clay scoffs. “They’re kind of a conglomerate in the greeting card industry. We appreciate the little guys. Or gals.” Clay winks.

For some reason, I feel like I need to defend myself and the possible purchase of my little company, but my voice is small when I say, “They promised to still honor the Quirky Girl Calendar vision.”

The truth is they could decide after purchasing that they hate my existing designs or my future ideas, and I’d be screwed. I couldn’t continue to create Quirky Girl products. I’d have to start all over again at square one.

I worked for a large paper production company before branching out on my own to design my calendars and finding my niche with the specialty dates. I’ve always loved calendars, having five at any given time, hanging in my home-office back in my apartment. For twelve years, I’ve been on my own, designing and creating, scrambling and fixating, and I just want a little relief. Some help.

Greetings Ambassador could be a big break. They could really elevate and elaborate on what I’ve started.

The idea is thrilling while throat-choking.

Judd and Clay exchange a look before Clay asks, “Is the sale a done deal?”

“I have a meeting in mid-June. Calendars are cyclical, every pun intended, and they’d like to get me so I can be in their fall release for the December-January market which is one of the hottest times for new calendar purchases.”

There are two times in a year that calendars sell the most: the end of a year and late-third quarter when students return to schools. I’ll miss the closer date due to the lateness of our appointment, but there’s hope to meet Greetings Ambassador’s fall lineup.

“They’re old school. The meeting is in New York.” I wiggle in my seat, sounding bougie about the location.

“Would you need to move to New York?” Judd’s voice sounds strained.

“No. Most of my work is remote, so despite the daunting meeting in the big city, I can still work from my home in Knoxville.”

The table goes quiet.

Oops.

“Are you moving to Knoxville?” Clay asks Judd

“No.” His answer comes a bit too adamant.