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Chapter Nine
Kenneth enjoyed many outdoor activities, but sitting on a blanket wasn’t one of them. She’d been smiling from the moment he’d picked her up, and there was absolutely no way in hell he was going to spoil this for her.
“You make a mean ham and cheese sandwich,” he teased.
“Are you making fun of me?” she said, looking at him closely.
He shook his head. “If I were, I would’ve mentioned the fact that you cut the crust off,” he chuckled.
“There is a very good reason why I did that,” she said.
“Oh I can’t wait to hear this.”
“I am trying to watch how many carbs I eat a day. You really cut out a lot if you trim off the crust on your sandwich.”
He nodded. “Makes sense.”
“See? I knew you’d understand.”
He smiled and asked, “And what did you cut off the peanut butter chocolate cake? It was amazing, by the way.”
Shanda smirked. “Hasn’t anyone ever told you there are no calories in special-occasion cakes?”
“No. And what is the occasion?” he asked. It wasn’t his birthday, or hers.
“We’re having cake. Isn’t that special enough?” she said.
He laughed. “You have an interesting way of rationalizing it. Maybe you can put that in your business plan somehow.”
“Since you brought it up, I was hoping we could talk about Home Blown.”
Arching a brow, he asked, “You want to talk business?” He pretended to look around the open field, then back to her. “What did you do with Shanda?” he joked.
She gasped. “I wanted to talk about business on Friday but you kept distracting me.”
He leaned over and kissed her lightly. “Like this?” he asked. When he pulled back, her eyes were still closed and he gave her a tap on the nose with his finger. “It wasn’t that good,” he said.
Shanda opened her eyes and said, “But it was a good start. Why did you stop?”
“Because you want to talk business and I’m here to answer anything you ask.” This was what he’d hoped. Shanda was going to put Home Blown first.
“I’m not going to run Home Blown any longer,” she stated.
Now his mouth gaped opened. “You’re giving up? Why?” He’d thought for sure that with his guidance, she’d be motivated to invest more time and energy in it.
“Not giving up, just changing the plan. I know you were helping me to bring Home Blown to a wider market. You know that isn’t ever going to happen with me at the helm. I don’t have what it takes to do it. Honestly, I don’t want to either. My heart is in the back room where I can dream and create items that Home Blown needs to fill its shelves.”
“So you’re not selling. Good. What is your plan then?” he asked. She seemed to be nervous and was twisting her fingers into what looked like a knot. “Shanda, it’s your company. You don’t have to be afraid of what I think.”
She looked up at him, “I’m not afraid, it’s just I don’t know how to ask you.”
“After what we shared, I think you can ask me just about anything,” he said. He wanted her to feel comfortable with him.
“I need someone to manage my shop. To do the marketing and the sales. I have Brianna, but she is just graduating from high school. She has less experience than I do. I need someone like…like you.”
He gulped. Me? He ran a multibillion-dollar business and she wanted him to handle the direct sales in a shop in Hope Valley?
“Shanda, I said I’d help you, but you honestly can’t believe I’m the right person to run your shop.”
