AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She wrapped her arms around her middle. “I hope so. I could really use something right now.”
She mentioned needing a steady income, and I wondered if her business wasn’t doing well. “What’s going on that’s making you worry?”
“Spring and summer are our busy months. We can barely keep up with the weddings scheduled, but then it slows down, moving from fall into winter. We’re trying to partner with a Christmas tree farm to offer holiday weddings, but the owners are dragging their feet.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, in full business mode now.
“Well, at first the owner, Lori, was interested. She wants to expand the business, including the gift shop, but her sons—well, one of them—seem to have put a stop to the idea. I can understand their concerns. We’d be holding an event on the property that requires parking and guests to be present during their busy season. But it’s an additional income stream for them too.”
“You’d increase your weddings during your slow season.”
“Exactly, and we lose a fair number of couples to your resort. They want to work with me, but they want the one-stop resort more.”
I knew we were in competition, but I hadn’t thought about the direct effect on her business. I’d only been worried about my bottom line. “That wasn’t my intention. I never wanted to make things harder for you.”
Gia shrugged and looked out over the water. “It’s business. If you treated me differently, I wouldn’t respect you.”
I didn’t like that my choices affected her business. I guess on some level, I knew I was taking business from her, but I thought she was doing fine. Her brothers never mentioned that she was struggling. “Do your brothers know?”
“Know what?” Gia asked, focusing on me.
“That you struggle sometimes.” I was pleased she’d confided in me when I suspected she viewed being vulnerable as a weakness.
She shook her head. “I’d never mention my business to my family. They’d tell me to quit and work for them.”
“Would they?” I couldn’t see her brothers doing that. They seemed to respect her tenacity.
“My father takes every opportunity to tell me to work for him. He thinks it’s just a phase. That people don’t want to pay for someone to plan parties.”
“He hasn’t changed his position over the years?”
“To be honest, I avoid him and talking about the business. I can’t remember the last time I went to a Sunday dinner.”
“You think he doesn’t respect you and what you’re doing?”
She laughed without any humor. “You could say that.”
I wondered if that was true. Was Mr. G. so shortsighted that he couldn’t see how he was hurting his daughter? I’d been invited to Sunday dinner tonight, and I was hoping to convince Gia to go with me, but now I was doubting my intentions.
Would she be mad at me for asking her or that I went without her? I wasn’t sure what to do. I’d been so confident that she’d go, even if we couldn’t talk about our relationship. I hadn’t realized the extent of her fallout with her father. I didn’t want to push her, especially if her father was only going to hurt her. Maybe Mr. G. didn’t see how his words had already hurt his daughter.
When we disembarked the boat, we walked through town, stopping to get ice cream and buy fudge to eat later. When we walked past the shop Petals, Gia dragged me inside.
“Is Lily here?” Gia asked the clerk.
“She’s in the back,” the girl at the counter said. “Let me get her.”
A few seconds later, a blonde woman came out with a huge smile and a hug for Gia. “What are you doing here on a Sunday?”
Gia flicked a hand in my direction. “We went to brunch and took the boat tour.”
Lily’s eyes widened when she saw me. “You went to brunch with Silas Sharpe?”
I leaned over to shake her hand. “The one and only. Why do I get the impression that people are surprised to see me with Gia?”
Lily’s lips twitched. “I mean, you’re kind of enemy number one around here.”
“Lily,” Gia chided, as if she was embarrassed.
