Chapter 53 A Partner
A PARTNER
Landslide (Early Version) by Fleetwood Mac · Stranger by Secondhand Serenade
Natalie
“Bella, answer the door, please!” I would like very much to be able to take a shower, just one, without it being interrupted by someone else. There’s always something.
I get dressed quickly, slipping on a maxi dress, and walk out to see who’s here. My life has been a revolving door lately.
“Who’s he—” My words die in my throat when I see Holden by my front door. I wish I could be mad he won’t listen, but what I feel is relief instead. He’s not giving up on us. “What are you doing here?”
“I told him to come. You two need to talk. I’ll take Vero outside,” Bella says, holding her sister by the hand and walking outside, but not before Vero hugs Holden’s leg and he ruffles her unruly hair. I need to wash her hair, but that’s a problem for future Natalie.
“Were we parent-trapped?” I ask Holden, who slides his hands in his front pockets.
“No, I think you were. She flat-out told me last night you’d be home all day.”
That little girl.
“Don’t blame her. She could tell I was miserable.”
I roll my eyes. “Please.”
“Can I come in?”
“Sure. Come sit.” We walk to the living room, where he sits in the same spot as the last time he was here, taking care of my kid.
“We missed you at the game last night,” he says.
I was terrified of seeing him. I was afraid that if I did, I would break down in tears, pushing him away and being completely irrational, like a three-year-old. My emotions are all over the place, and I don’t know what to do. That’s not his problem, though. It’s mine.
“I, um, I was busy. I’m sorry. I’ll make the next one.”
He takes me in, hand on his chin, and eyes calling my bluff.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, sitting across from him.
“I have a proposal for you.”
“Holden…”
“You don’t even know what it is.”
“If it’s you offering me money, the answer is no.”
“Nope. I’m not giving you money. You made it abundantly clear it makes you uncomfortable.”
Heat rises up my neck and touches my cheeks. “Sorry.”
“No need.” He slides over a stack of papers I completely missed he was holding.
“What is this?”
“See for yourself.”
I pick them up, carefully reading the first few lines. Expansion Proposal by Holden Clay. I skim the following page, seeing clearly this is, indeed, a business plan. “I can’t accept this.”
“Why?”
“Well, for starters, there’s a conflict of interest here.”
“Which one?” he asks, acting naive.
“The one where your tongue was shoved down my throat just a few days ago.”
He all but chokes on his spit and coughs. “Natalie.”
“It’s true. We can’t go into business together. This is almost the same as giving me money.”
Holden shakes his head. “Read it.”
Fine, I say with my eyes and the exasperated huff I let out.
I turn the page and start reading the business proposal.
It talks about all the plans, how long it would take, and even the percentage of revenue the investor would get.
This is not selling a part of the store; it’s allowing Holden to invest in it to grow the florist side into more.
It has everything from timelines and graphs with three and five year plans. Sweet, but I still can’t accept it.
I’m ready to give him back the papers when a name catches my eyes. It lists the investor, and it’s not Holden. Holden just wrote the proposal.
“What is this?” I ask.
“A business proposal from an investor.”
“Gerald Clay? Jerry? Your father? You asked your father to give me money?”
“This is where you’re very mistaken. I take no joy in telling you that you’re in the wrong, I want that to be clear.
” His smirk is a little infuriating. He’s a little cocky right now, and I realize I’m looking at Businessman Holden Clay.
“He came to me with the idea of investing in your business. Apparently, he has a shit ton of money and wanted to help. I told him you wouldn’t take money, and he said he wanted to invest instead. ”
“Why? Because we have sex?”
“It’s more than sex. Don’t downplay us.” There’s hurt behind his tone, and I regret it immediately.
“I’m sorry. That was wrong.”
God, Natalie, there’s no reason for you to be mean right now or to shut him out. You trust him. You know this. Show him you do.
“That’s not even why.”
“Then why?”
“Have I ever told you about how much my mom loved flowers?”
“Mhm.”
“Her dream of opening a flower shop started before I knew about it, and apparently, Jerry, um, my dad, had promised her one day she could have it, but she never did. Your shop was the location they wanted. It used to be—”
“A flower and edible arrangements store. It was there forever, and it had so many owners through the years. I know; I grew up here too.”
“Then you know how special that spot is. He said that for a while, he used to drive and just park across from the door so he could see what it had become. He said he was so happy flowers were a part of the place.”
“That’s sweet.”
“Yeah, and now, he wants to invest. He said this is the perfect opportunity because you have a few weeks to think about plans before you open the store again.”
“I can’t go into business with him. He’s your dad!”
“So? I took everything he was offering and laid it out for you there. Call a lawyer and look it over. I think it’s a great offer, and it solves some of your problems, especially getting some cash flow now, but also, being able to hire more people later on.”
This is too good to be true. “I can’t accept this.”
“Don’t answer right now, please.” He stands. “Think it over. You have his number. Give him a call.”
He walks past me towards the door, and I don’t turn. I keep my gaze locked on the papers in my hands.
“See you soon, Beauty.” He leaves, not letting me say anything else. I stay in my spot, feeling like the papers weigh a ton as I read every line and take all the information in. It’s Saturday, so it’s not like I can call anyone really to talk about this, except maybe Jerry.
I get up to grab my phone near the window sill and call him. I stare outside my window, my heart beating faster at the sight. Holden is pushing Vero on the wooden swing while they laugh together. He fits in so well with us. I would be a dummy not to see it.
“Hello?” the voice on the other line answers. It sounds just like Holden’s—eerily so.
“Hi, this is Natalie Bradshaw?”
“Hello young lady. I was awaiting your call.”
“Um, really? How so?”
“Why don’t I tell you in person? I have a feeling we have lots to talk about, and none regarding the work on the shop, right?”
“Right.”
“When can you meet?” he asks, and I still can’t believe we’re having this conversation. It’s not like we haven’t talked, but this is different.
“Does Monday work for you?”
“In the morning, I’m free. In the afternoon, I’m busy.” His dialysis. I forgot.
I don’t know if he knows I know, so I just say, “Morning is great. We can’t go to the store, so how about coffee at Ronnie’s?”
“Sounds good to me. See you then.”
While I was on the phone, Holden left, leaving the girls playing alone. Now, I have two days to read everything here, take notes, and try to figure out what on earth I am going to do.
Dropping off the girls at school was easy peasy.
This weekend, we didn’t do anything. We just stayed home, played board games, watched movies, and slept.
It’s been so long since it was just the three of us.
Bella, however, brought Holden up at least ten times, each one about something different, but I see what she’s doing.
She’s trying to show me how much he means to me.
I don’t have time to think about anything but this right now.
And then, tomorrow is the anniversary of the day that changed everything. That’s heavy on my mind too.
Manny, Gus, and I sat down yesterday to talk about the plan, and we all agreed it’s a good one. They were highly impressed by it, and I’m not going to lie, so was I. After I removed the emotional attachment, I can see how I would be a dummy not to take it, but I want to talk to Jerry first.
Jerry, who walks into Ronnie’s, looking for me. The minute he sees me, his face lights up.
“Good morning,” he says, taking a seat across from me.
“Hi. Thank you for meeting me here.” Ronnie’s is already humming with its usual morning rhythm—silverware clinking against plates, low conversations folding into one another. I cradle my mug in my hands, more for comfort than the caffeine.
Jerry looks different than I’ve seen him before. Maybe…nervous?
“Can I get you anything?” the waitress asks him.
“Coffee and toast please,” he says quickly then smiles. She leaves us with a weighted pause, the one where we know why we’re here and there’s no point in circling it.
“So,” I say finally, setting my mug down, “I went over the plan Holden brought over.”
His eyebrows lift, hopeful but restrained. “Yeah?”
“I’m impressed,” I admit. “More than impressed, actually.”
Jerry exhales, like he’s been holding his breath since he walked in. “Good. That’s…good.”
I lean back slightly, studying him. There’s a faint crease between his grey and brown brows as his hands rest flat on the table, palms down, grounding himself. “You and your son put a lot of thought into this.”
“We did,” he says. “Every number, every projection. Holden’s better with spreadsheets than I’ll ever be. He knows his stuff. I was a business owner for a long time, but the eye he has for putting plans onto paper, it’s outstanding.”
“That much is obvious.” I hesitate then add, “It’s solid. Conservative where it needs to be, ambitious where it counts. It’s perfect.”
His smile fades into something more serious. “But.”
I sigh. “But.”
I look around the diner, at the familiar red booths and the waitress refilling coffee like she’s done a thousand times before. I’m stalling, and I know it. “You know this would mean a lot of trust on my end.”
“I do,” he says softly. “I wouldn’t be sitting here if I didn’t.”
I meet his eyes. “Tell me again why this matters so much to you.”
He doesn’t answer right away. Instead, he glances toward the window, watching a woman walk past carrying a bouquet wrapped in brown paper.
“How much do you know about me and Brenda?”
Do I tell him I know everything? That I’ve learned his story through Holden these past few months? Do I betray Holden’s trust?
“The silence tells me everything I need to know, and that’s okay. I’m glad he had someone to talk to,” he says.
My chest tightens.
“If you know everything, then you know I've been given a second chance at life I didn’t deserve. I almost wasted it, not attending the lifesaving treatment I needed. Reconciling with Holden has brought a lot of perspective.”
The waitress interrupts us, bringing his coffee and two pieces of toast. “Anything else?”
“No, thank you, darlin’,” he says.
I take a sip of my coffee, letting it warm me up, waiting for him to continue.
“Brenda always liked flowers. She used to talk about them and about how she wanted a flower shop all the time,” he continues.
“Said flowers made people feel something, even on their worst days. Weddings, funerals, birthdays—life’s biggest moments, you know?
” He lets out a breath that sounds almost like a laugh.
“I, of course, never listened enough to do something about it, and now, it’s too late. ”
I stay silent, afraid if I interrupt, he’ll stop.
“This shop. It’s not just an investment to me. It’s a way to do something I always should’ve done: honor her.”
My throat feels thick. I glance down at the table, tracing the edge of a sugar packet with my finger.
“I’m afraid,” I admit. “Because if this goes wrong, it’s not just numbers on a page. It’s a business and people on the line. If Holden and I don’t work out, are you going to pull funding? It’s a lot of moving pieces all jumbled up together.”
He nods immediately, understanding. “That’s why we should work with lawyers who can make sure all ts are crossed and the is are dotted.”
“Holden said you wanted the suite where the shop is.”
He shakes his head. “No.” He chuckles. “I thought it was terribly bad looking, but Brenda saw the possibility in it. What you’ve done to the place is incredible, beyond what we could’ve done. I just want to see it grow. For her.”
I sit with that for a moment, the weight of the past week pressing in; my girls, the anniversary looming, the steady ache of wanting something to finally work. Holden. This feeling, deep in my gut, that maybe this is the leap I’ve been standing at the edge of.
I look back up at him. “This is a Hail Mary, Jerry.”
His eyes don’t waver. “I heard.”
I take a breath, long and steady. “And I think…it might be the one I’ve been waiting for.”
Genuine relief washes over his face. “You mean—”
“I’m in,” I say, heart pounding. “We’ll do it. Together.”
His happy nod tells me everything his words don’t have to, but he adds, “Good. Now, let’s eat so we can go talk business.”