35. Will
CHAPTER 35
Will
I t was hard to let Millie go this morning after what we talked about.
She’s my girlfriend.
Like, my actual girlfriend.
You wouldn’t presume a twenty-nine year old male would be giddy about this, but I never thought it would happen. Sure, I’ve had the pleasure of kissing her more than most of her exes, but that’s all it’s ever been. It was a fun escape from our normal routines when I was in town.
Little by little, I fell in love with Millie.
Every time we’d be with each other, she’d give me small pieces of her.
A secret.
A want.
A wish.
And she became a part of me, even if I knew we would never be more than friends with kind of benefits.
So, to have these past few weeks escalate to this morning, I’m a bit shocked. But it’s good. And I’m not going to let work today ruin it for me .
Grandpa is meeting Kristie since she’s more settled in. I’m having Millie’s mom come over and bring Kristie around lunch time. I said she didn’t have to stay, but once I told her about Grandpa, she insisted. Not that she doesn’t believe I can handle it, but she said it’d be good to have a buffer there if needed.
And who am I to deny help?
Most of the time, I would. But if Millie can accept help for her store, I can learn to accept help from those around me.
And that means I need to do something that I’m uncomfortable with.
I decided to open the store late, since it’s not like we have a lot of people shopping anyway, and I skip out on morning coffee, which I will come to regret later.
After I lock the doors, I head out of the shop and walk to the left, which I’m glad is away from the flower shop. I don’t want to risk having Millie see me.
Ten minutes later, I’m standing outside the city center. When I walk through the door, I’m greeted by a lady at the front desk.
“Hi, do you have a meeting?”
“I do, my name is Will.”
She types on her computer for a moment before confirming that I am on time and will be seen in a moment.
I take a seat in a chair in the room, glad that I’m the only one here because I’m able to be alone with my thoughts for a moment. A lot has happened over the past few weeks, and sometimes when I stand still for too long, I panic. I don’t mean to, it’s my body’s natural way to process all the emotions I’m feeling.
It doesn’t take long for the door across the room to open and the man on the other side to greet me.
“Will, I thought it might be you when I saw your name on my calendar.”
I stand from the chair and walk over to shake his hand.
“Hi, Ted. ”
Last night before Millie came over to try and end things, I made an appointment to meet with her dad this morning.
“Come in, please, have a seat.” He holds the door open to let me pass by him, and I take a seat in the chair in front of his desk.
Mr. Rose walks around and sits, then grabs a pen, clicking it open.
“To be honest, I was surprised to see your name.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” I thread a palm through my hair. “Is this weird? It’s weird isn’t it?”
“Will, no, that’s not it. I figured you would have called me instead of going through the proper channels. You didn’t need to schedule a meeting in order to chat with me. I hope you know that.”
“I…honestly didn’t consider that,” I say, and we both laugh. “It’s been a crazy few weeks since I’ve been back, you know?” I lean back in the chair and cross one ankle over my knee.
Mr. Rose widens his eyes. “Yep, you and Millie, I know.”
“Is that okay?”
“That you’re with my daughter?” he asks, leaning forward in his chair.
“Yeah.”
“Will, you’re already like a son to me. Monica and I figured you two would be together one day anyway, especially since she’s always been one to sneak over to see you whenever you came back into town.”
My mouth opens to say something, anything, but he shakes his hand.
“Oh no, don’t try to deny it. It’s no surprise to us after all the times you both were surprisingly sick after family dinner but fine the next day.”
I palm my beard and laugh. “I thought we were hiding it well.”
Mr. Rose shakes his head. “No, but that’s okay. I’m happy for you.”
“Thank you. ”
“Now, let’s get to business. You’re interested in applying for the small business grant? Is that right?”
I dip my head.
“Okay, great, we do have a few other stores that have submitted applications, but this doesn’t mean that you won’t get any money. The way the grant works is in tiers, so depending on how you answer questions, the board that approves the grant money could disperse different amounts.”
“Okay, that makes sense. It’s important to me that if anything does happen, that it’s not…”
“Because of our relationship?” He finishes for me.
“Well, yeah.”
“I don’t have a say in what the board decides. I could always veto something they put on my desk, but I mostly give the stamp of approval. So, you would be in the hands of others that aren’t privy to our relationship. And if other people talk, so be it.” He shrugs like it’s no big deal.
“It’s a small town, people will talk.”
“Did Millie tell you that?”
I chuckle, thinking back to when we first got caught kissing. I suppose she did.
“It’s possible.”
“Willow Pines is small, but we are supportive, Will. We want you to succeed. We want you to be here. And you’ve been a part of this town for decades. Your grandpa even longer. I’m proud of you for coming here, for asking for help.”
“Thanks Ted.”
“How is your grandpa? Is there anything I can do to help?”
“I, um, maybe?” I fidget with the thread in my jacket. “I don’t know what to do next. Do you have any resources that could help me?”
He hums. For some reason, that small yes takes a huge weight off my shoulder.
“Yep, of course. I’ll contact Tammy, she runs a center in the city. We have a great relationship with them. I wish we had somewhere close by, but unfortunately, we don’t have the best facilities.”
“The city is fine. It’s not too far.”
“You used to come back a few times a month, didn’t you?” he asks.
“Yeah, the drive isn’t bad.” I’d drive longer if it meant Grandpa could be in a reliable place.
“Great, and she can talk about finances and all that stuff. Do me a favor though, and don’t worry about it yet, okay? Not until you have to. Focus on the shop. It sounds like your grandpa is doing well enough for right now, right?”
“He is.”
“Okay, great, she can help you with next steps, and I’m sure they will do some check ups every few months. I’ll have Lilly at the front desk print you out a grant application form if you want to get that filled out before you leave.”
“Okay, that sounds good. Thank you. Seriously.”
We both stand, and he comes around the desk. He surprises me by pulling me into a hug. The Rose family has always been there for me, in different capacities, throughout the years. From family trips, to help with homework, to letting me crash when I accidentally stayed over too late.
“Call me next time,” Ted says after we pull apart.
I chuckle. “Yeah, okay. You got it.”
He tells Lilly at the front desk to print me the papers before he goes into his office for his next call. I sit in a chair in the waiting room and spend the next ten minutes filling out the application. There are a few questions that require a longer response, but for the most part it asks basic questions. And for all the financial questions, thankfully I kept the information on my phone. That makes it easy to fill in how much money I need and how I would use it.
On my way out of the center, I receive an email from Tammy letting me know she received information from Mr. Rose and that she will be in contact within the next week.
It might not work out in the end, but at least I’m trying. I’m trying to make it work for myself, and for Millie. I want to give us an honest shot, otherwise I don’t deserve to be with her.
There’s still a little while before Kristie comes to the shop to meet Grandpa. This gives me a little while to talk to him and hopefully prepare him for meeting her.
When I get back to the store, I’m surprised it’s open and Grandpa is inside behind the counter.
“Oh, Will, you’re back.” Grandpa’s eyes twinkle from behind the register.
“Hi, Grandpa. What are you doing? I wasn’t going to open the store until later.”
“Oh, I know, but I figured I’d come in here and check if any inventory needed to be organized.”
“Oh, okay,” I say while shrugging off my jacket.
“And I wanted to talk about what’s been happening, and apologize for the state of the store.”
I’m about to respond, but he holds his hand out to stop me.
“No, don’t make excuses for me. I saw the stack of bills that you organized and the statements of debt,” he says, laughing to himself. “I wanted everything to appear perfect, so I convinced myself it was. And when you seemed excited to be here, to take over the store, I forgot to mention the debt or the loan.”
“I wish you would have found a way to talk to me about it, Grandpa. I would have found a way to work through it.” Or at least, I’d like to envision I would have found a way.
“My memory, it uh, seems to be going a little faster than I’d like.”
“I know.”
We sit in silence for a few beats.
“But um, I met with Mr. Rose, and I might have a shot at a grant.” I glance at Grandpa, his eyes are glossed over. No one tells you how hard it is to be around someone who is losing their memories. How quickly they can shift from remembering all the little details about you to forgetting your name.
And I can tell Grandpa is trying to remember what we were talking about because he would have been thrilled at the possibility of the grant.
“Hi, Grandpa,” I say to him.
He shakes his head for a moment to almost shake himself out of that state and looks at me with a grin. “Ah, Will, how long have you been there? I almost have the register counted.”
“Not long. I’m going to go to the back for a moment? Okay?” The tears are ready to drop, and I need to show him everything is okay. Everything needs to be okay.
He nods and turns back to face the register.
When I get into the back room and shut myself in a closet, I break.