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)
I nodded numbly, even though I wanted to argue. I wanted to tell Will that I was trying to get those things resolved, that I really was doing better, that I didn’t have time for credit counseling or whatever. That it would be too late if I had to wait to apply again until some undetermined future date.
But the look on Will’s face told me it wouldn’t matter. The decision had been made, and no amount of arguing, or begging, or pleading would get me what I wanted.
It just wasn’t in the cards for me, no matter how good Luca may have felt about my odds.
“Thank you for your time,” I said, standing and shaking Will’s hand before turning and leaving the too-bright, too-open glass office.
I needed to get out of there before I embarrassed myself by crying or falling to my knees and actually begging for the money.
Neither of which would be a good look.
Neither of which would solve any of my problems.
So, just like Luca had said, the worst Will could say was no. He’d said it, and I had somehow managed to make it through the moment without having an outburst.
Luca had been wrong about one thing, though. He’d said I would be no worse off than I was before, but it wasn’t true.
Sure, nothing had really changed—no plans had been made or altered—but that little bit of hope that had started to bloom inside me had officially died, and I hadn’t been prepared for just how desperate and alone that would make me feel.
Chapter Eighteen - Brady
I hadn’t spent much time at the flower shop over the weekend—as little as possible, really—and the distance had helped to clear my head a little.
At first, I’d wanted nothing more than to clear the air with Joanne, to somehow prove that I wasn’t the bad guy. But as the days passed, so had the urgency I’d felt to defend myself.
I’d barely even seen Joanne at work after our disastrous dinner, and the few times we had been in the same room, the shop had been busy enough that it would have been weird to bring up the drama from that night.
And now, well… almost a week had passed, and the timing just wasn’t right anymore.
Besides, when we had opened the shop together that morning, Joanne had brought coffee and bagels for the two of us. If she wanted to make a peace offering and move on, I was definitely okay with that—preferred it, really, rather than diving into feelings and emotions and drawn-out apologies.
Still, it felt like there was something that remained unsaid between the two of us, and it had been weighing on my mind more and more with each passing day.
I turned to face Joanne, who was just a couple of feet away in the cramped office and mid-bite into her bagel. And then it hit me.
The thing that had been left unsaid was an apology. I might not want to rehash all of my feelings—I might not have much else to say at all on the subject, really—but Joanne had clearly been beyond just upset, and I knew it was because of me. She had made that fact perfectly clear at dinner the week before. And for that, even though it hadn’t been intentional, I owed her an apology. I’d never intended to upset her, and I never wanted it to happen again.
I just wasn’t sure how to say all of that.
“I just wanted to say I’m sorry,” I blurted out, earning a surprised look from Jo as she struggled to swallow a large bite of bagel.
Damn, that’ll be my luck. I’ve shocked her by being nice, and now she’s gonna choke to death.
Joanne didn’t choke, though, thank God. She did make a pained expression, but I wasn’t sure if it was the quantity of bagel that she’d just swallowed or the subject matter at hand that had caused the look to cross her face. I just hoped she’d understand, that she’d accept the apology, and that we could both move on.
“You’re… sorry?” Joanne asked, furrowing her brow once she was able to speak again. “For what? We haven’t even opened for the day yet… what could you have done?”
I did my best to stifle a grin, because even though this wasn’t the moment for it, I couldn’t help but notice how cute she was when she was confused and concerned. Then again, Joanne looked cute every time I saw her, so I shouldn’t have been surprised that the woman could even make confusion look sexy.
“For the other day…” I continued, trying to focus on just getting the apology out there without stopping to daydream about Joanne. “Last week, I mean… at dinner?”
She snorted, then rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty sure I’m the one who should be apologizing for that. And I am sorry. I just…”