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“How are you going to afford it?” Polly asked, biting into a rib. “Are you going to ask Mom and Dad for the startup money?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t want to risk their money or their retirement.”
Polly and Harriet looked at each other, and I felt my heart dropping. What were they going to say? Were they going to tell me how much of a bad idea it was? If they told me that, I knew I would be deflated.
“What is it?” I asked them, my impatience getting the best of me. “What are you guys thinking?”
“We’d like to open the store with you,” Harriet said, her eyes shining. “We’re all smart and good at different things, and together we can accomplish everything.”
“It’s your vision, of course,” Polly said quickly. “But we want to help. We want to do this together.”
“Are you guys kidding?” My eyes widened in surprise. “But you have your own careers.”
“But I can paint at the shop,” Harriet said. “And Polly can write. We can have back offices. Maybe we can also rent spaces to other artists and writers, build a real community.”
“Wow, that sounds like a great idea.” I stared at them. “But are you sure you want to be involved? Do you trust me to run this?”
“We trust you.” Harriet nodded. “You’re the best and brightest of all of us.”
“No, I’m not.” I laughed, though I was grateful to her for saying that. “So what do we do next?”
“You need to come up with a business plan,” Polly said. “I think they have a free class at the library.”
“I will sign up.” I grinned and funneled some potato salad into my mouth. I couldn’t believe how excited I was. Then I saw Travis walking into the backyard with a six-pack of beer in his hands, and my heart thudded. Could today go any better? “Hey, I’ll be right back.” I jumped up and hurried toward Travis. I didn’t care what my sisters thought. “Hey.” I grinned at him. “So you decided to come?”
“Hi, Chelsea.” He nodded and smiled. “I don’t pass up baby back ribs.” He nodded toward Max and the grill, and I laughed. He was such a good actor.
“How did your work go?”
“Fine.” He continued walking toward Max. “I have a case going to court next month, so I’m just going through the contracts my client signed.” He grinned. “I’m trying to settle before we get to court.”
“Oh cool, cool.” Boring. “I bet you must be a little tired.” I giggled. “After your little session this afternoon.”
“Hmmm.” He gazed at me for a few seconds and nodded. “I’m fine.”
“I’m still a little wet.” I bit down on my lower lip and leaned into him. “But you know how that goes.”
“Hey, Max.” Travis high-fived his friend and put the beer down on the table without answering me. “I can’t stay long, but I didn’t want to miss out on all this good food.” He looked over at me and smiled. “I didn’t want Chelsea hogging it all.”
“I wouldn’t do that.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “I’m still trying to keep my figure.”
“You have nothing to worry about,” Travis said as he smiled warmly at me. “You and your sisters are all gorgeous.”
“Why, thank you.” I beamed at him. He really did have the most gorgeous blue eyes. “In fact, you will never guess what my sisters and I just discussed.”
“Uhm, the new Barbie movie?” he asked, shrugging.
“No, silly.” I laughed. “We were talking about the store idea.”
“Hmm. Okay.” He grabbed a beer and offered it to me.
“No, thanks,” I said and watched as he opened it and took a long mouthful. “They think it’s a great idea.”
“Cool. Cool.” He nodded and looked at Max. “Have you spoken to Henry recently? He said that Bank of America contacted him about the loan for the property in Naples. I said we have to figure out the terms and ramifications if we go against the wishes of the county.”
“Yeah, he messaged me earlier.” Max nodded. “I haven’t read the contracts yet, though.”
“Yeah, you can do that tomorrow,” Travis said and undid the top button of his shirt. “It’s so hot today.”
