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“How are things going at the store?” she asked, and I deflated.

“I don’t know.” I sighed. “Hayden is so intriguing; she has this dream to make it easy for people to eat wherever they want to without worrying about allergies and preferences.”

“That’s a good thing!” she exclaimed, the light in her eyes twinkling defiantly. “So, are you two seeing eye to eye?”

“Absolutely not.”

I heard her sigh.

“Why not, Frankie?”

“Our store has been doing that for years already,” I argued. “Why does it have to change to fit a mold that it already fits?”

“With that logic,” she countered, shifting into a seated position, “there wouldn’t be many changes at all.”

“That’s not what I’m saying. Ivey’s is the blueprint. Why change something that already works perfectly?”

“To grow,” Mom said emphatically. “So that we can help more people. That’s the dream, honey. Helping people.”

“We’ve achieved the dream,” I said, but my words lacked the strength I’d had earlier. I didn’t want to argue with her. I didn’t want her to worry about anything. “And I’ll make sure it stays that way.”

Mom pursed her lips at me. “Don’t limit yourself when you still have so much left to experience,” she said seriously. “There’s so much out there; don’t tie yourself to a fleeting dream.”

Chapter sixteen

Unexpected But Not Unpleasant

Hayden

Iglaredatmyreflection in the mirror for what might have been the twelfth time in the last ten minutes. I fidgeted with my hair until the curls turned loose and wavy, but I didn’t really care about that.

I turned my attention back to my phone, at the green dial button under the number.

I’d decided to tell Frankie about the changes I wanted to make to the store. And I was going to pull out all the stops. But I had to call her first.

My thumb hovered over her phone number, my bottom lip between my teeth in apprehension. What if she ignored my call? Did she even have my number saved? God, what if she’d blocked me?

Focus, Hayden, I told myself, shaking off the sudden insecurity.

I was a business mogul, with over a hundred companies under my belt. I’d faced down the most arrogant and narcissistic people and won them over every time.

So, why did Frankie scare me so much?

“Fuck,” I breathed, my throat burning with frustration. Without allowing myself a chance to second guess my decision, I pressed the dial button and held my phone up to my ear.

The phone rang.

And rang.

And rang.

It rang until I was ready to launch the damn thing clear across the room. But the dial tone cut and Frankie’s voice echoed down the line.

“Hey, sorry just a sec,”she said, her voice strained. I resisted the urge to drop the phone like it had branded me. “I just, ugh… Joe! Could you come take a look at the generator please?”

I waited for her to finish whatever it was she was doing, my fingers tapping an anxious rhythm into the top of my kitchen counter.

“Whew, sorry about that,” she said, a little out of breath.