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“Oh God, no!”
He was both happy and shocked by her firm response. “Then what did you mean?” Because I’m totally lost.
“I need someone like you to guide me through the process. You know what I need.”
She gave him a warning look when he smiled and said, “Still talking business here.”
He nodded and she continued. “I don’t want to hire someone who has no business experience, or rips me off. You know I’m…naïve about certain things.”
“I’d be happy to help you find the right person. It needs to be someone who knows your product as well as understands your goals. So what is your goal Shanda?” He knew it was different than his. She had shown him different didn’t mean wrong or bad. At least not anymore.
“I told you my sister DeeDee got married right?” He nodded. “Well someday I will have a nephew or a niece running around. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Home Blown became something generations of the Morris family could enjoy?”
“You’re not worried that in the tech world of today they might not want to be spending hours in the back room blowing glass?” he asked. It sure as hell wouldn’t be how he spent his free time. Then again, he wasn’t into art unless it was to buy and resell. To him, the only value in it was what he could sell it for. Things needed to be old and rare. Her’s weren’t either.
“I guess I’ll worry about that once one of us has children,” Shanda shrugged. “But I have to have a goal, and that is better than the one I had before.”
“And what was that?” he asked.
“Get out of the red,” she sighed. “Now I want to expand and make Home Blown a household name.”
Kenneth laughed. “You might want to change the name of the shop.”
“Why?”
“They might have expectations of something that you don’t sell.” He winked at her and she blushed. “Exactly.”
“Oh, Granddad. What were you thinking when you named it?” She shook her head. “And don’t you even say what I think you’re thinking,” she warned.
He tried to look innocent, but that definitely was what came to mind. Granddad was one lucky man. “So how do you feel about changing the name?” he asked, trying to take the focus off him.
“I think I’ll need to talk to Granddad about that. But he stopped by the shop yesterday and I really think he’ll be okay with whatever I decide to do. Kenneth, it was so nice. I mean, I had been so stressed about disappointing him all this time that I forgot how loving and supportive he is. He might love Home Blown, but not as much as he loves me,” she said smiling. When she reached over and placed her hand over his, he almost pulled back, but didn’t. She said, “You’re a good man too. He’d like you Kenneth.”
Was this panic setting in? Because he felt his stomach turn and his breath catch in his throat. This was getting dangerously serious. She had no clue who he really was. He wasn’t a good man. He was driven and greedy, and thought only about himself. If he wasn’t careful, she might end up saying the L word, and that’s the last thing he needed.
“Speaking of meetings, I hear you spoke to my mother.” If anyone was going to set Shanda straight as to what an asshole Kenneth was, it was her.
“Oh yes, I can’t believe I forgot to mention that. I tried to decline, because I had wanted to speak to you first, but she informed me that you were already aware of the invitation.”
“I am.” It was after the fact, but at least someone had told him.
“Kenneth, I am beginning to see a pattern. First Krissy and Billy invite me, and now your mother too. Are they all trying to get you married off or something? Because I see a conspiracy and you’re the target,” she joked.
He laughed. “If Billy heard you put him in the same sentence as my mother, he’d die. She is a wonderful woman, but if you think I’m business-minded, you’re going to be shocked when you meet her.”
“Really? She didn’t sound like that over the phone.”
Kenneth said, “And that is what the spider does to the fly.”
She asked, “Are you just saying that so I’ll be scared and back out of meeting your parents tomorrow?”
“Would it work? Because I can come up with some really good shit,” he teased.
“Kenneth Heart, you’re horrible. I think it was a very nice gesture of your mother to reach out to me. I honestly didn’t think your family even knew I existed. Well, besides the brother I met at the auction. What was his name?”
“Jerry. You can’t attend something like that without people talking. Because you were a new face there, the rumors started to fly,” he explained. And I didn’t shut them down.
“Oh, so you didn’t mention me to them?” she asked. He shook his head. “I can’t go tomorrow.”
