Chapter 16 – Dean
“They’ve sent an offer,” Grace told me in an urgent whisper. Her phone was in her lap, and she angled it towards me so I could see. Sure enough, there was an email at the top of her inbox from Flowers United with several attachments.
“On a Saturday at mid-day?” I glanced around the table where we were finishing lunch. The Mexican restaurant had treated us like royalty, seating us right away and taking a group picture for their wall. Since we’d made the reservation through the GoWithFriends app, we were basically celebrities sent to save their restaurant from obscurity.
I had turned off my business brain, not wanting to sit there and analyze their service, food, layout, or any of the other things I’d look at if they were a client of mine. But now that Grace had an answer from Flowers United, my business brain was back on high alert. That was a quick turnaround. Almost too quick. I figured they’d take a month at least to think it over and research her business, maybe even do a traffic survey. Their responsiveness could be good news or bad news.
Grace sighed. “Maybe they wanted to give me time to mull it over for the rest of the weekend.”
“Maybe. Have you looked at it? ”
“No. Not yet. Not here.” She put her phone away, and I tried to put it out of my mind. There was nothing we could do about it while surrounded by conversation and curious glances.
We’d driven separately, but Grace met me at my car after we walked out. “I texted Isaac to tell him it came in. He and Carmen are at a family party for her sister’s birthday. I don’t want to pull him away from that, but he said to keep him in the loop. Do you need to get home? Do you have time to look this over with me?” She gauged my reaction like I might be eager to get away from her. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“Of course I have time.”
“I’ll have to go pick up Piper first.”
“Well, in that case, no.” I bumped my shoulder with hers. “Having to hang out with Piper crosses the line.”
“Whatever.”
“Let me follow you to pick her up. I was kinda hoping for a glass of lemonade if there’s any left.”
Grace smiled. “I just checked with Lucy’s mom, and she said they’re still out on the front lawn. They haven’t left it since they started. She even brought their lunch out there.”
“A lot of traffic, then?”
“Not really. Only a handful of people came. Mostly kids with no money.”
“Well, let’s go make their day, then.” I had cash in my pockets and a baggie of coins I’d put in the console this morning. I figured seven-year-olds would appreciate a pile of quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies in a way no one else would.
I waited for Grace to pull her car out of the lot, and we waved to Jackson, Tessa, and Stella, who were watching us leave together. We’d hear about their speculation in the chat later. Now that they knew our history, I’m sure they were filling in blanks with all sorts of things. The truth was a bit stranger than any fiction they could ever come up with, though.
The first time I flirted with Grace, it felt like nothing more than a dare. She was a fun person to tease. But I’d quickly grown addicted to that wondering and wary look in her eyes. If she was picturing us together, why couldn’t I? What would that even look like? And then… I got all the payback I deserved and more, because the more I hinted at my interest, the more she pushed me away. I still wasn’t sure if she was committed to never dating anyone seriously ever again, or just committed to keeping me at a distance.
It was almost scarier to feel things shifting now. Her distance had never been fun, but it was familiar. Predictable.
I followed Grace to the neighborhood where Piper’s friend Lucy lived and pulled up behind her at the curb. The two girls hopped out of their folding chairs and ran at us with their arms waving. Lucy’s mom was sitting in a folding chair a little farther back, reading a book with her feet propped up on another chair. I liked her immediately because she didn’t look particularly relieved to be rid of Piper or put-out about having her most of the day. My mother never would have been that chill.
“Oh, it’s your mom.” Lucy skidded to a stop once she realized we weren’t lemonade customers and threw her arms around Piper, lifting her up off the ground in a tight hug. She was as blonde as Piper was dark-haired, but they were the exact same height. “Don’t leave yet!”
“I’ll try not to,” Piper stage whispered. Piper turned to look at Grace, her eyes a mix of innocence and mischief. “Do you want some lemonade, Mom?”
“Who’s that guy? Is that your dad?” Lucy asked, pointing at me.
“No, that’s Dean. I bet he has money on him. Dean, did you bring any money?”
“Piper, you shouldn’t ask that.” Grace threw me an apologetic look.
“It’s for sharity, Mom.”
“Yeah, it’s for sharity,” Lucy echoed. “And our lemonade is really good.”
“I’m always happy to help sharity.” I pulled a bunch of bills out of my front pocket, gaining me some serious side-eye from Grace. Then I pulled out the bag of coins I’d been keeping hidden from behind my back. “How much lemonade do you have left?”
Lucy and Piper exchanged secret smiles before Piper answered me. “A whole pitcher, but the ice is almost melted.”
“My favorite kind. I’ll take the whole thing.”
Amid their whoops, I plunked my money down on their little folding table along with the bag of coins. I picked up the pitcher and considered drinking straight from it, but that wouldn’t have been fair to Grace or kind to my shirt. It would need to be at least 110 degrees out before I’d consider dousing the front of me in lemonade. I took two cups from their stack and poured them full, handing one to Grace.
“Is it good?” Grace whispered to Lucy’s mom.
She smiled at us, not looking the least bit curious as to who I was or what I was doing with Grace. Or at least, she hid it well. “Oh yeah. It’s excellent. I helped with the measurements. We even strained out the seeds. I’m Molly, by the way.” She held out her hand to me, and I reached over and shook it.
“Dean.”
“How was the hike?” she asked.
Grace took a sip of the lemonade, giving us a thumbs up with her free hand.
“Was that for the hike or the lemonade?” she asked.
“Both. How did the breakfast go?”
Molly yawned. “So good. I think I’m doing a breakfast party for her every year from here on out. My husband cleaned up the kitchen, and all the loud, giggly girls were out of my house by ten-thirty.”
“Except for mine.”
“I like yours.” Molly pulled a chair closer to her and gestured for me to bring over the other one. “Two minutes, girls,” she hollered.
Grace plopped into the chair next to Molly and drained the rest of her lemonade. “This is really good. I would have made the powder stuff. ”
“Keep that in mind, because they’re already plotting to do this again in your neighborhood.”
Grace groaned. “I was afraid of that.”
“Don’t be afraid to tell them no. It’s okay for them to be disappointed. As long as it’s not by me.” She scrunched up her nose at Grace.
Grace rolled her eyes. “I know dad jokes are a thing, but that was definitely a mom joke.”
“That’s because it involved expectations and guilt, our lifelong companions.”
The two of them continued to tease each other, but I was hung up on yet another person saying it was okay to disappoint people. Was the universe trying to send me a message? And why was that the message?
After making plans for Lucy to come over and play the following week, we said our goodbyes, and I followed Grace and Piper back to their house.
Piper got out a unicorn puzzle and dumped it out on the kitchen table. We helped her find the side pieces while reading through the email from Flowers United together.
There was a long summary page, a contract for each offer, and the non-compete we’d asked for. The non-compete was basically their promise that having seen the inner-workings of Grace’s business, they would not take those details and use them anywhere in any business they currently owned or would buy within a fifty-mile radius of her flower shop over the next five years. I hadn’t liked putting a time limit on it, but that was standard.
It seemed sort of backwards, that in order to best protect Grace from getting run out of business, we had to show them more of her business, not less; but they never would have signed the non-compete otherwise. This way, if she turned them down, she wouldn’t be looking over her shoulder.
Of the two offers they’d made, one was a lump sum to take it over completely, keeping or terminating employees and changing operations at their discretion. If accepted, the transition would happen in July, contingent on sales staying consistent month-over-month until then. We’d have to nail down the definition of “consistent.” She’d need an actual threshold she was expected to reach in sales every month. I got that they didn’t want her to suddenly let the business lapse, but we would need clarity on their expectations.
I could feel Grace waiting on me to say something, anything, but I wasn’t reading through it the way she was. I had to take my time with each section and write down anything that stood out to me. Like a dentist pressing on enamel, I was looking for words with give. Cavity words, I called them. Half of negotiation was knowing what the other side was actually asking for.
The second offer they’d made was for Grace to stay on as the general manager, acting in the capacity she did now, with a yearly payout over the next three years. The three-year payout would be substantially more than their first offer, like adding on a salary to the cost of buying the business. At the end of three years, they’d cut ties, and she’d be free to walk away.
“What do you think?” Grace finally asked, running her hands through Piper’s hair. Her fingers got stuck in a sticky section and she apologized to Piper for tugging at it. “You need a bath, child.”
“Not yet.” Piper shook her head and opened her mouth in a deep yawn. She smelled like sweat and grass clippings. I’d forgotten what that was like, playing so hard that I stunk and I could barely keep my eyes open, and yet never wanting to do anything that would remedy either of those things.
I finished typing up my last thought and leaned back in my chair, stretching my legs out. “Money-wise, it’s fair.”
“I think so, too. What do you think about the second option?”
“Staying on for a couple of years and managing things is tempting to a lot of owners, especially if they’re really attached to their business. But it’s not a good idea.”
“What if you’re not as attached? ”
“In that case, it’s worse. If you’re itching to be free of something, tacking on three years is…awful.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m itching.” Grace crossed her arms, ready to fight the battle of the labels.
“I’m not judging, Grace. It’s just how you feel.”
“Why aren’t you judging? It’s literally what you do for a living.” Piper started to climb on the table to reach the top of the puzzle, and Grace gently pulled her back so she was kneeling in her chair again. The move was instinctive, a multi-tasking management system built into moms. If Grace ever dated again, the guy had better embrace that aspect of her with everything he had.
“People are allowed to change their minds about things. Being rigid is not necessarily a virtue. Sometimes it’s a vice. A lot of the businesses I see failing are failing because the owner hates what they’re doing.”
Grace studied me. “Okay, but is it always a bad idea? What if you love your business and you’re sad to let it go?”
“They’re asking you to manage, not consult. So, you’ll run everything, but you’re not the boss anymore. You’ll hear about the problems, but you won’t have any say in how to fix them. There will be policies and procedures you may not like. Your old customers may not like them either, but you won’t be able to do anything about it. And if you want time off, you’ll have to ask. Moving from an owner to an employee is a mindset shift not many people can handle.”
“Gotcha.”
“That’s not to say you shouldn’t consider it. Especially if you don’t like the being-in-charge aspect of running your business. It would give you three years to plan for something else. You still haven’t told me what that something else is, though, which makes it harder for me to give you advice. As your business consultant or as your friend.” I tapped the side of my knee against the side of hers. With her wearing shorts, I was blatantly reminded of how nice her legs were .
She tapped my knee right back, though her gaze stayed away from mine. “You just said it was a bad idea.”
“It’s a bad idea to not know what you’re getting into.”
“Okay, okay.” She put her hands in her hair and took in a few deep breaths. “So, setting that aside. You do think I should sell?”
“I think you have options. I would never tell you to sell unless this was a sinking ship and they were your lifeboat. That’s not the case here. It all comes down to you. As it should.” I turned in my chair so we were face to face. We’d never stopped our knees grazing each other, and I was blatantly lying to myself about it being a friend thing. Friends didn’t go out of their way to touch each other’s legs. I could see the swirls of blue and grey in her eyes and the touch of added red seeping into her skin because of our proximity. I wished I knew what she wanted from me. “Grace Romano, what do you want?”