Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Hadley
My only saving grace about getting Tanner to The Story Jar is that I can walk. Sure, it’s a mile, but he seemed to enjoy it, and he fell asleep the minute we got inside the bookstore.
“Who’s this?” Vera asks, moving away from the counter, unboxing what I’m guessing is a new book. “Did you get a cat?”
I glance at the stroller, wondering why she thought it was a cat. “No, I’m doing a favor for a friend.” I point at the stroller. “It’s a baby.”
“Oh…” She steps back. “I’m not really good with babies.”
“He’s asleep if you want to take a peek.”
She shakes her head and goes back to unpacking the boxes. “Nope, that’s okay. Pete might smell the baby on me and get jealous.”
“How is Pete?”
“Kidney stone.” She cringes. “It’s so hard to see him in pain. He’s on a muscle relaxer with the hopes that he passes it without a lot of agony.”
I frown. “I’m sorry.”
“Thanks.” She wipes tears from her eyes. “He’s just been through so much. I know he misses Mae too.”
I walk around the counter, leaving Tanner asleep in the stroller, so I can comfort her. She turns into me, clinging to me and crying.
As if I needed another reason to make sure this store stays open so Vera and Pete do not end up on the streets.
The bell over the door rings.
“Afternoon.” Whit eyes me over Vera’s shoulder, then locks in on the stroller.
I’d rather comfort Vera about Pete and my grandma than have the conversation I have to have with Whit. He’s going to think I’m being irresponsible and crazy, but there are literally no other options.
“Hi, Whit.” Vera pulls back and wipes her tears. “You two go. I’ll hold down the fort, but the baby goes with.”
“Baby?” Whit says, eyebrows raised, and walks toward the hallway. “Can’t wait to hear this one.”
I scramble from behind the counter and wheel Tanner down the hallway and into Grandma’s office, but there’s not a ton of room in here.
Whit is at my grandma’s desk, sipping his drink. “I need to make this fast. Brea has an appointment today, and I have to get the kids from school.”
I sit on the same chair from the other day. “I want the store.”
He huffs, and his expression says he doesn’t agree with my decision. “The letter’s what did it?”
I nod. “And this place is all her. I don’t want to let it go. I know it can be a success.”
“Anything I can say to sway you the other way?”
I’m not surprised. Whit’s rational. He’s calculated.
He never decides anything without weighing the pros and cons and doing a risk/reward evaluation.
He would never dream of taking on a failing bookstore.
He also wouldn’t agree to marry a man and be his nanny for a year to get said bookstore.
We’re different, but at least with him, he’ll understand why I need to do this, unlike Sloane or our mom.
“Nope.”
“Okay, so explain the baby.” He nods at Tanner.
“Promise no judging?”
He arches an eyebrow. “No.”
I sit up straighter and cross my legs. “Okay, well, that is Easton Bailey’s baby, and I’m his new nanny—”
“You think the nanny job is going to help you afford this place?”
I shake my head, and his eyebrows rise higher up his forehead.
“I’m going to be his nanny in exchange for him being my husband.”
His eyes roll so far behind his head you’d think they were marbles. I’m surprised they come back around. “Hadley.” He says my name with exhaustion.
“We’re friends. It’s going to work and be completely fine.”
“He’s a public figure, Hadley. Why couldn’t you choose some quiet accountant who holes himself up in his office and doesn’t have a social media platform?”
“Because I don’t know anyone like that. I’m telling you, Whit, it’s fine. It’s like an I scratch your back and you scratch mine kinda thing.”
“Except that you know him because you scratch more than each other’s backs, right?”
My cheeks heat. “Well… not anymore.”
I’m not sure how true that is, but if we do sleep together, it might make it really confusing while we’re playing house, so maybe we should take it off the table. The problem is I really like sleeping with Easton. He’s amazing in bed, and he isn’t at all what people think he is.
“And what did Honor say about this?”
“What does Honor have to do with my decision?”
“She’s your yin. I figured I could trust her to talk you out of this.”
I shrug. “Sorry.”
“I give you about two weeks. But… this is your choice. No one can know it’s fake, though. Grandma’s lawyer and Mom especially. Is he ready for her?”
I don’t know if Easton is, but I’m not.
Whit has brought up a point I hadn’t thought of. What will my mom think about this? Will I have to bring Easton to family obligations with Tanner? If it ever gets leaked, it’s going to cause another set of problems. How did I not consider this when I thought of Easton as my only option?
Oh that’s right, the whole desperation thing.
“It will be fine.” I wave off his concern.
“It always is in your world.”
Easton is charismatic and flirtatious. My mom will love him, and he’ll win the room over as he always does. We just have to play the part really well.
Whit stands from the desk, securing his messenger bag across his body, but he digs out a manila folder and places it on the table. “Here are some papers you should look at from the last year’s financials. I’ll come by tomorrow, and I can answer any questions you have about them.”
“Thanks, Whit.”
He sits down again on the edge of the chair and locks his eyes on me. “Why do you actually want this store, Had?”
“Because it was Grandma’s. This is where we grew up. And someone has to keep Pete alive.”
He sighs. “That’s not what I asked.”
“I’m not sure what kind of answer you’re looking for.”
“You do, you just don’t want to tell me. Why is this place so important to you?”
I bite my lip and stare at the framed picture of the first day The Story Jar opened that hangs above the small bookcase.
If I can’t be vulnerable with Whit, there’s no one else I can be, so I might as well confess.
“Because she believed I could do this, and I don’t know what I’ll think of myself if I prove her wrong.”
Whit looks at me for a long moment and slowly nods, rising from the chair again.
I think he gets it now.
He opens his arms, and I stand, walking into them. “Be careful, Hadley.”
“Oh.” I playfully punch him in the arm when I pull away. “You know I always have it under control.”
He glances at the baby stroller. As if Tanner knows I’m lying too, he whimpers.
“At least I know you’ll give it your all.” He shifts his vision to the manila folder. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He peeks in the stroller. “Cute kid.”
“Well, his dad is Easton Bailey. Of course he’s cute.”
Whit inhales and smiles hesitantly. “This is going to be fun.”
“Tell Brea and the kids I said hi,” I say in a rush before he shuts the door.
I peek my head into the stroller and see Tanner’s sweet hazel eyes staring back at me. “He’s right. You are the cutest.” I pluck him out and hold him carefully. “How about I read you a book?”
He doesn’t answer, of course, but his small hand reaches for my hair.
Sitting back in the chair, I snuggle him into me and grab the first book I see, The Pigeon Has Feelings Too.
“You know what, Tanner? I actually like it when people don’t believe in me. I like to surprise them when I succeed. Never let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do.”
He smiles at me, his hands reaching for the book.
“I take that as you agree.”
Then I read him a book. I so have this.