AllFreeNovel
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She finishes chewing a forkful of the pasta salad, shaking her head. “No, I’m looking at forecasts for next year and my brain can’t handle any more numbers. It’s… well, enough about here.” She picks up a piece of the fried chicken and bites into it, the juice dripping down her chin. “Oh.”
She pulls the chicken away, looking for a napkin, so I wipe her chin with the clean napkin in my hand.
“Thank you.” Her eyes cast down to her plate.
“You’re welcome. I have to say I’m glad the chicken isn’t dry.”
She laughs. “Definitely not dry.”
“So, tell me more. What’s it like to have a family empire?”
We both look out the window at the stacks of lumber, a few workers talking and pointing at different areas of the yard.
“I have no idea how my mom does it. It’s been in our family for a long time. After my great-grandpa died, my grandpa took it over, but… you probably don’t know this, but my grandparents died in a snowmobile accident, so my mom took over the company when she was pretty young. My great-grandma taught her everything she needed to know.”
“I saw the pictures down in the lobby. You’ll be up there one day.”
She scoffs and moves her pasta salad around her plate with her fork. “I guess.”
“You don’t like the pasta salad?” I eye her plate.
“Oh no, I love it. It’s just talking about taking over this company sort of ruins my appetite. Like, if something happened to my mom, I’m not sure I could step up the way she did. She was built for this and I’m just not sure I am.”
“Why do you say that?”
She shrugs. “I think everyone thinks that because I look like my mom, my personality must be like hers too, but I’m not like her.”
“How are you different?” I take another bite of my chicken.
She leans back and rests her forearms on the arms of the chair, linking her hands together where they meet in the middle. “I don’t know how to explain it. She’s in her element here and I don’t think I’m in mine, but I made promises and after… I went to school for business and everyone, even Sawyer, thinks this is where I belong.”
My eyebrows slam down. “Sawyer… that your ex?”
She glances toward the door. “Yeah.”
“Who cares what he thought? Go back to high school before there was any pressure to figure out your whole life. What did you love to do then?”
She laughs. “That’s pointless. It doesn’t change what I do here.”
“Humor me.”
She stares out the window for a second and I don’t think she’s going to answer. “I loved art class.”
I nod. “Your dad’s a tattoo artist.”
She nods. “I never really put that together actually. Are you suggesting I got that from him?”
I shrug. “I don’t know, maybe. But what if you take some classes or just draw on your own free time?”
“I’m so busy. I don’t know. I answered, so how about you?”
“I was busy trying to survive, going from shelter to shelter when I was in high school. I had no idea where I would end up. I just wanted to get to eighteen, so I couldn’t be thrown in the system.”
She frowns then bites into a strawberry. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me. I know we have our rule regarding talking about the past.”
“Maybe it’s unrealistic of us to assume we can live together and not talk about this stuff.” I bite into my chicken.
“Probably. I find myself curious about your life.”
