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“What Randy doesn’t know is that there’s a stipulation to the will. If we don’t grow the business within the fiscal year and open the Ridgefield location on time, then the board takes over. We only have a few months left. I don’t give two shits about my dad’s approval, but Randy still does and I don’t want him to come to the realization that our old man cared more for his company than his sons.”
“In my personal experience, I have found that the line between business and family is a tricky one.”
“You seem to have it figured out.”
Frank chuckled and put the knitting down. “Son, I put my family through hell. Two bankruptcies, and even lost the family home.”
Wes didn’t know what to say. His fiancée hadn’t even managed a long-distance relationship with him, while Blanche had stuck it out through two bankruptcies and they were still madly in love.
“What happened?” Wes asked.
“I was a mom-and-pop minnow who got gobbled up by the big sharks. All it took was a chain store opening in my county and we were out of business in under a year.”
Is that how Summer viewed him? As the shark waiting for a vulnerable moment to attack? It wouldn’t be surprising, since that was how he’d acted from the first time they’d met.
“I should have tightened the belt, but instead I tried to compete and doubled down on equipment and lost,” Frank went on. “I imagine that Summer feels like she’s going to relive that moment again. She’s so afraid to fail financially.”
“She knows how to put on a brave face and put up a good fight.”
A knowing smile crossed Frank’s face, and Wes wanted to ask him what he was seeing that Wes was clearly missing. “Summer is usually the peacemaker. Funny that.”
Yeah, funny that.
“Well, she has it in for me,” he said with a smile of his own.
“Then maybe you should ask her why. You might be surprised at what she says.” Frank’s voice lowered. “Did she tell you that her shop once belonged to her grandmother, then Blanche, and now it’s Summer’s?”
“I think I learned that somewhere along the way.”
“That’s three generations of devotion. Three generations of determination. And three generations of pressure to make it a success.”
Wes could relate to that. But he had a billion-dollar net to catch him if he fell. Financially, Summer had herself.
“If the shop closes, she wouldn’t look at it like a learning experience, she’d look at it like she’d failed her grandmother and her mother. There’s a lot going on in her mind and her life—hardships that she rarely shares. It might be nice for her to get some of it off her chest with someone she isn’t afraid to piss off.”
“Are you suggesting that I offer to become her verbal punching bag?” The thought of that wasn’t as unappealing as it should be.
“Maybe start with being her friend,” Frank said.
“I imagine I’m the last person Summer would want to be friends with.” Although earlier that evening they’d been friendly. More than friendly. And he wasn’t just talking about that kiss. They’d exchanged secrets that felt more intimate than sex.
God, sex. Instead of sleeping on the couch he could have been making love to Summer in her bed. Only he’d walked away. More like ran, because he’d been scared of the emotions she’d stirred up inside him.
And why was he thinking about sex with Summer when he was sitting three feet from her father? Because she made him lose all common sense.
“May I ask you something?”
“Shoot,” Wes said. After years of raising capital, running companies, and being interviewed, there weren’t many questions that could stump him.
“How do you feel about my daughter?”
His pulse thundered because he was, indeed, stumped. How did he feel about Summer? When they were arguing she drove him nuts, but when they were still, sharing space and stories, she evoked feelings he hadn’t felt since his grandmother was alive.
He didn’t mind going toe to toe with her, but got angry when other people did. She was bad for business, but he couldn’t imagine her anywhere else than behind the counter at her bookstore.
“My honest answer is that it’s complicated.”
“Well, before you go any further, you might want to figure it out, because Summer is exactly what she seems—a hopeless romantic who believes in true love and sees the good in people. She loves with all her heart and isn’t afraid to be vulnerable. But she’s had the rug pulled out from under her so many times that I fear once more and she’ll lose that part of herself.”