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She tilts her head. “I can’t believe you need to ask that.”
Oh. Right.
I change the subject as quickly as I can. “Hey, I wanted to let you know the guys and I, now that we know we have neighborhood support, have a name for our joint campaign.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “Great. Let’s hear it.”
“What do you think of ‘Operation Don’t Tear Down Our Dreams to Build Your Skyscraper’?”
She wrinkles her nose. “It gets right to the point. Although it’s… kind of long.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. But we’re moving in the right direction, Livvy. The party showed us that the community wants us around. We’ve won one of the biggest battles.”
She nods. “It feels so good. We got way more support than I hoped for.”
It hasn’t been easy, hashing through options for saving our respective businesses. There’ve been plenty of times we all wanted to throttle each other, stemming from Weston’s initial thoughts of just ignoring it, to spreading rumors and false claims about the developer—Enzo’s idea—to my lame approach of going to a community meeting for the sole purpose of beating the shit out of the developer’s representatives.
Through all the ridiculous ideas we guys brought to the table, Livvy has been the voice of reason. Our North Star. To put it simply, without her, we’d be pretty much fucked. Thank goodness she’s on our team and doesn’t completely hate us for trying to buy her business for our own expansion. If this whole developer threat hadn’t happened along, I can’t imagine what kind of relationship we’d have with her. Would it be spoiled forever as we tried to convince her to sell out to us? Would she hate our fucking guts?
Instead, we’re collaborating, not to mention growing on each other, as evidenced by the ‘fun’ we’ve been having.
“I know this has been hard on you,” I say.
I’m pretty sure it’s relief that washes over her face, and for a moment, she’s choked up. “It is. It really is, Owen. You have no idea.”
I take her hand. “Don’t say that Liv. I’ve been through the ringer. I could tell you stories…”
She tilts her head. “Really? Like what? I thought all you guys had it so easy. Like anything you want comes your way.”
I’m dumbfounded. “Livvy, everyone has challenges. Not a single person walking down the street hasn’t been kicked in the teeth once or twice. Or more.”
She nods. “I know. You’re right. Everyone has shit happen to them. What about you?”
Ugh. I wasn’t planning on talking about my life story today… or ever. But here we are.
“My… dad split when I was a kid. Just took off. Mom had to work all the time, so I was basically on my own.”
“Wow,” she says.
“Yup. Those were hard times. But anyway, know I’m on your side. I want Pawsh Pets to succeed as much as I want EastSide to.”
“I feel so lucky, not to be slogging through this by myself. I can’t tell you how much it means that you guys have my back. Even if you are carnivores.”
“You got me there. But hey, both parties bring something to the table the other needs. It’s a win-win, baby.”
She gives me a sly look. “I had fun last night,” she says quietly.
Yes, she did.
“There’s more where that came from,” I say.
25
LIVVY
“You knowhow I have a sixth sense about these things.”
I look up from my paperwork at Jewel. Although I love her, this is one of those times I’d really like to strangle her.
