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A slow, sexy grin lifted his perfect lips. “I will help to the best of my ability.”
She tapped one short nail against her glass. “Let me guess, Bonnie has no clue about the ins and outs of her own business.”
He shrugged. “Her late husband handled the business side of things while Bonnie handled the activity side of things. She can grow beauty from a weed. Bill always said it was a form of art.”
“How aware are you of your Bonnie’s situation regarding the business and property?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. She could see the new strain around his eyes and mouth. This told her exactly how much he cared about Bonnie. “The business and greenhouse have been in trouble for a while. As you see, Bonnie has a lot of land but no livestock, except for Betsy the cow, no horses, crops. It’s dried up. Bill cashed in the insurance and took out a second mortgage on the house to keep things afloat, all without Bonnie knowing.”
Parker sighed. “She honestly didn’t have a clue that the business was suffering? Didn’t the lack of sales click with her?” She’d seen it before in businesses like this. An owner extremely skilled in everything but the books.
Raven looked a bit uncomfortable. “Bill bluffed some purchases, Bonnie would fill the orders, then he’d deliver the arrangements to local nursing homes, the clinic, funerals, you name it.”
“To keep his wife in the dark? That’s a lot of trouble to go to.” The business was in worse shape than she initially thought. They must have lost hundreds of dollars on primed orders.
“He told me he hoped what he was doing would improve sales. People would see the arrangements and want to order from the farm.”
“But it didn’t drum up any real orders, apparently.”
“No, apparently not.”
“Her late husband sounds like he opened up to you about things.” She uncrossed her legs.
“He and I were friends, but he didn’t open up. I saw how things were going and I asked.”
She nodded and shifted her gaze to look over the land. “Without livestock and such, I’m assuming there are no employees. No landscapers even.” She noted how unkempt the flower beds were.
“Not anymore. Once the checks stopped cashing the few workers they had left to find work elsewhere. Bonnie handles everything herself, except for the few volunteers that help out when their schedules allow. The Watsons and a few neighbors. But they can only dedicate so much time because they have their own lives to tend to.”
“Volunteers are not sustainable.”
He gripped the arms of the chair. “Ms. Manley—”
“Parker.”
“Okay, Parker,” he said her name in such a way like he was trying it on for size. “You’re not from around here and our ways probably make no sense to city folk like you. People in Second Chance care about each other. They give until there’s nothing left to give.”
“Let me get this straight. Bonnie doesn’t have stable help, doesn’t have any clue how terrible business is and is on the verge of bankruptcy, and now she’s in the hospital. Can it get any worse?”
A pained expression crossed his features. “Yeah, it can. She’s racking up medical bills that she’ll never be able to pay.”
Parker swallowed against the lump in her throat. “She doesn’t have health insurance? No savings. No safety net. How can that be possible?”
He scrubbed his jaw. “Some people in this town live paycheck to paycheck, Ms. Man…I mean, Parker. They work hard and their health is their safety net.”
“There’s a lot of land here. Why didn’t they sell some if they weren’t going to farm it?”
“After Bill got sick, he seemed to not care about farming.”
Taking some time to gather her thoughts, she finally asked, “How long do you plan on sticking around and helping?”
Several expressions flicked over his face. “As long as I need to. Now tell me your plan for this place.”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“I am telling the truth.” She sighed.
