AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Fine. I know. You keep reminding me. But you can’t tell me that hearing his name over and over doesn’t affect you.”
“Of course, I can’t. Because itdoesaffect me, but not how you’re thinking. I’m doing a great job of moving on. Iwantto move on. But he keeps popping up as a constant reminder of why I hate myself. And why Ineedhim out of my life. For my own sanity.”
“Willow—”
“Nope. Moving on, remember?”
Sara gives me a “you’re kidding me” look before nodding. “Yep, I remember. You’re doing a great job,” she says with a smile, not even bothering to hide the sarcasm in her tone.
I’m about to respond when my phone rings, breaking the tension in the room. Though I’m still in a mood when I answer.
“Audrey’s Gifts and Homeware, can I help you?” I say with a slight edge, less upbeat than usual.
“Hi…hi. I’m calling from Raven’s Boutique in California, and we’d love to talk to you about your products.”
Dammit, Jesse. “One moment, I’ll pass you on to the right person.”
After pressing mute, I turn to Sara with what I’m sure is a deranged grin. “I need you to deal with this. She says she’s from a shop in California. This is definitely Jesse’s doing, and I don’t want to bite her head off.”
“He’s just trying to make amends.”
“Why are you on his side? Helied.”
“Toprotectyou. I kind of admire him for that. Plus, he loves you and you clearly lo…like him.”
“If I felt anything for him, it’s past tense. I can’t be with him if I want to get through this.”
“Okay, fine. Give me the phone.”
I hand it over and walk away so I don’t have to listen to their conversation. I don’t want to know. I can’t. Hearing his name is breaking me.
I spend time tidying up our shelves and rearranging the displays until Sara comes running over, almost bursting with excitement as she interrupts my thoughts.
“They want to stock your jewelry,” she blurts, her eyes flashing to the necklace I have around my neck, the very necklace that Jesse posted about. “They want you to create designs to put in all of their stores.”
“What?” She’s talking so quickly I’m momentarily confused. “Who does?”
“Raven’s Boutique. They’re in locations all over California. Their flagship store in Los Angeles just won some big award, and they’re talking about opening a store in New York. This is huge, Willow. Huge.”
“That seems like a scam. I don’t even have any of my designs for sale.”
“It’s not a scam. I looked them up while she was talking, and—”
“Still, there’ll be some kind of catch. Like they’ll pay me for the designs but take all profit from the sales.”
“Again, no. She said she’ll pay upfront for the designs, plus an advance, and then you’ll get a percentage of sales once they hit the stores based on an agreed sale price.”
“I don’t know—”
“Willow! Stop being stubborn and think about this. If she was calling because she’d been visiting and saw the jewelry we had on display, you wouldn’t be questioning it.”
“Exactly. I wouldn’t be questioning it because it would mean we had pieces to sell and she genuinely liked my designs. But she’s going by a stupid social media post by hockey’s hottest player.”
Sara’s lips pull into a smirk but she tries to hide it. “Hottest player, huh? What about Cam Hardy?”
Okay, she got me. Everyone in the US knows Boston’s center is a god, even if they have no clue about hockey, like me. But Jesse…
“Point is, this has nothing to do with us or our products and everything to do with him. It’s a no.”
