Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
At least Henry had been present. That was a lot more than could be said for my real father.
Chapter Two - Joanne
“Jo?”
Naomi’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. She’d followed me back to the office and was leaning against the open doorway. I blinked hard to keep the tears I could feel welling up from actually spilling over.
“I don’t know, Naomi. I’m sure it will get easier… sometime. But I don’t know when. I wish I did.”
“Have you at least heard anything from Arlo about when Will might be coming to take over?”
“Brady, not Will,” I corrected her. “You should probably learn the guy’s name since he’s going to be our boss soon.”
I thought back over my recent meeting with Arlo, Henry’s long-time accountant and the man who also happened to be the executor of his will. However, I couldn’t think of anything he’d said that might have indicated when the status quo might be changing.
“But no,” I continued, answering Naomi. “I haven’t heard when Brady might get here. Arlo came in last week to go over some paperwork, but he didn’t mention anything.”
Brady was a football player in the National Football League—something I knew nothing about. He wouldn’t be back to take care of his inheritance until his contract allowed—and all that Arlo had been able to say was that it would probably be sometime soon. Until then, I was the de facto manager, and Naomi’s position was basically the same as it had always been, just with a few extra duties to help me get by.
If Brady wanted to change things when he came on board, that would be his prerogative. Otherwise, it was my job to make sure things kept chugging along just the way they had been for years.
Naomi frowned. “I wish we knew when he’d get here. I hate not knowing. I can’t even remember what he looks like from the funeral.”
If I was being honest, I couldn’t remember, either.
That day—that entire week, actually—had been a complete blur, and not just because I had cried more during that time than I had in the rest of my twenty-six years combined. And while I’d seen Brady in passing at the funeral and briefly paid my respects, focusing on my future boss had literally been the last thing on my mind.
“Well, I don’t know how all that sports stuff works or how long it’ll take Brady to get here, but what I do know is that we can’t stress about things that we don’t have any control over. All that we can do is keep our heads down and do the jobs we were hired to do. I think it’s what Henry would’ve wanted.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Naomi’s tone and expression told me that she wasn’t too sure, though.
And I wasn’t so sure, either, but it’s what I’d told myself every day since the heart attack that had taken my boss so unexpectedly. We could only worry about the things we could control, and the best way to honor our boss was to keep his shop running just the way he had done for nearly a decade.
It was the right thing to do. It was what I wanted to do. I loved Patty’s Petals.
“Do you think you’ll stay on after Brady gets here?” Naomi asked, nibbling at her lip. “Do you think he’ll want us to stay?”
I waited to respond until I finished counting the small stack of money from the register, then turned to fully face Naomi. I wanted to say something that would make the younger woman feel safe and secure, but I was also mindful of the need to keep Naomi’s expectations at a realistic level.
At the end of the day, I was just as uncertain as Naomi was.
“I hope so,” I said, finally. “This place is like home to me, and I love it. I want the shop to keep doing well—I want him to do well, so I hope everything works out. I think Henry would’ve wanted me to make sure Brady gets off on the right foot when he takes over, so I plan on making it as easy for him as possible. As much as Henry felt like a father to me, he actually was Brady’s dad, so we have to respect that he’s gonna be going through a rough time, too.”
“Yeah, I hadn’t really thought of it like that.” Naomi winced a little. “As hard as it is on us, he’s gotta be going through hell.” Then, with a sigh, “I hope he lets both of us stay, though. I’m sure I’d find something else eventually, but this place is the best thing I’ve got going right now.”
I nodded. “Me, too.”
Aside from my always-optimistic mother, my job at the flower shop—and, by extension, my friendships with Naomi and Henry—had been the only bright spots in my life for a while.