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“You’ve barely needed my help with anything this morning,” Joanne observed, sipping her coffee and giving me a pointed look over the rim of her cup. “It’s too bad you’re not interested in managing the place. I think you’d be good at it.”
I could feel the corners of my mouth twitch as I looked up from the computer screen. It had been a pretty heavy-handed compliment, but I decided I could be gracious without rising to the bait. And it was nice to think that Joanne might be finally warming back up to me.
“Thanks, I appreciate that. I’d never be as good at running this place as you are, though.”
For a moment, I was tempted to leave it at that, hesitant to ruin the new, peaceful vibe between us. But I was going to broach the subject again at some point, so… no time like the present.
“There is one thing I’m gonna need your help with today, though.”
“Sure,” she said. “What’s up?”
“Well,” I tried to avoid wincing a little as I contemplated the best way to bring up what I knew was going to be a delicate subject.
I was pretty sure that part of the reason why Joanne had been so upset before was because of the way I had presented the idea of selling the shop. Too… blunt. Maybe I could at least avoid doingthatagain.
“I’m going to need some detailed income and expense reports, along with deposit slips and a few other things that I have written down somewhere here. Do you know anything about that sort of stuff?”
Her eyes narrowed for a split-second, and I had no doubt she’d guessed exactly why I might need that kind of information.
I’d been in touch with some people from the New York corporation who were interested in buying the shop, and they’d been eager—maybe a littletooeager, if I was being honest—and they’d asked for things that I hadn’t had a clue about.
I would have liked nothing better than to collect the reports they’d asked for on my own, but there was really no way around asking for help.
And unfortunately, Joanne was the only person who could help me.
“I maybe know about some of it.” She shrugged, then paused.
Even though I didn’t know her very well, it was easy to see that she was torn between speaking her mind and just answering the question.
She’d had the exact same look the week before at dinner. I wondered if Joanne would take the same course this time and let me in on what she wasreallythinking.
In a weird way, it was almost funny. Not because of the subject matter, or the obvious discomfort that she was having containing her emotions, but because of how intriguing it was to me.
I’d never met anyone like her before—so apparently carefree and enthusiastic and genuinely happy at first glance, but with a core of pure steel just below that bright, sunny exterior.
It made me want to know more about her, want to be around her. It made mecarewhen she wasn’t happy, especially when I seemed to be the direct cause of nearly all the unhappiness.
Back when I’d been with the Hawks, I had been acutely aware of my place in the order of things. There had been no question of my job or the chain of command at any time. And even though I was technically the boss at Patty’s Petals, it never really felt that way.
At all.
I didn’t lack self-confidence, but when it came to running a business, there was just so much that I didn’t know—didn’t even reallywantto know. It felt like I was always out of my element, always fumbling, always looking to Jo for help with the day-to-day problems that would arise.
And that wouldn’t necessarily bother metoomuch—I didn’t know what I didn’t know, after all—but for some reason, being around Joanne made me feel uncertain about… everything. Like I had something to prove, even though she was probably one of the most agreeable people I had ever met.
“You’ll probably have to go to the bank to get some of that information,” Joanne continued, finally. “I’ll take a look and get everything I can together, but I’m certain Henry didn’t keep copies of some of that stuff here in the shop. When do you need it by?”
“Well, there’s norush, really. But the sooner, the better.”
Chapter Nineteen - Brady
I looked back at the computer screen, the numbers from the previous week’s order making me remember another question I’d had. “Oh, there was one other thing I was wondering about.”
“Okay, sure.”
Joanne sounded a little more guarded than she had before, no doubt feeling cautious because of the subject at hand. It was exactly why I had hesitated to ask for help, but it really was unavoidable.
“Just some of these numbers on last week’s order—the supplies, in particular. Like, we haven’t received any huge shipment of flowers that I can see, but we’re getting tons of extra boxes and ribbons, all sorts of things. Is that normal?”
