Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 116455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
The gossip in this town was ridiculous. “Yes. He did. But I—” I clamped my lips together.
She narrowed her eyes. “But you’re still trying to make it work?” Her eyes widened. “You are. You still want your promotion.”
“That’s not why!” I shut my teeth with a clack. The stupidest thing I could do in this situation was to spill my secret directly to the biggest gossip in Honeybridge, the one person who wouldn’t hesitate to use it to sabotage my relationship with Flynn. “I care about Flynn, okay? I want him to be happy.” I nodded firmly, hoping that would put an end to the conversation.
But my mother was not simply political arm candy. She was the brilliant strategist who’d helped elevate my father from a poor, ambitious unknown attorney into a state senator being considered for governor. And now that she’d gotten this idea in her head, I could practically see the wheels of her brain turning.
“That’s why you met with Hayden Lewis,” she accused. When my mouth fell open in surprise, she waved a hand airily. “Oh, darling. Fabienne Lewis and I are on the library board together. Of course I asked her exactly which properties you and Hayden discussed. I couldn’t imagine why you were looking into commercial property, but now I see. Flynn Honeycutt is making demands.”
“No. He isn’t.” I rolled my eyes heavenward. “Look. This needs to stay between us, Mother. And when I say us, I do not mean you, me, and the entire Botanical Society. I do not mean you, me, and Aunt Louise. No one, and I mean no one, can know about my meeting with Hayden, especially Flynn. Okay?”
“For heaven’s sake, why? Is it because you’re dating a potential client? Is that…” She lowered her voice and widened her eyes. “…taboo?”
I snorted. “No. At least, I don’t believe so. I don’t think the rest of the world would think so either, but Flynn…” I sighed and reached out a finger to touch a single velvety rose petal. “Flynn would take it the wrong way.” I felt my lips pull up into a wry, affectionate smile. “He usually does.”
My mother blinked, then sat down on a wrought-iron bench and set her shears beside her, still frowning. After a moment, she shook her head. “I don’t understand, Jonathan. I’m trying, but I don’t.”
“Flynn’s not making demands, Mother. I wish he would. But he’s determined to be self-reliant. Everything he has, he’s achieved for himself. Expanding Honeybridge Mead, restoring the Tavern, learning to run a business… even keeping his family together. He’s had no one to help him, except maybe Pop. Still, when I came to him with Fortress’s offer, he rejected it, even though it’s exactly what his business needs. He said he was committed to keeping the manufacturing in Honeybridge. He cares more about his business, his family legacy, than he does about himself. And he cares about this town.”
My mother pressed her lips together but remained quiet.
“So I came up with an idea that would let him have both. The distribution with Fortress, which will give him enough money for him to travel and expand and help his family, and the ability to keep the meadery in town. I want him to have choices, you know? To know someone has his back. I want him to have…” My voice came out clogged with emotion, despite my best efforts. “…whatever he wants most.” And I want that to be me.
“Oh, my darling.” Mother’s eyes were round and shining with some emotion I’d never seen in her before. “You… you really do care about him, don’t you?”
I nodded once.
“But if you and he are together for the long haul…”
My mouth twisted up. “I don’t think Flynn’s ready to commit to that.”
“Yes, but once he is,” she insisted, and I had to smile at her assumption that the world would always spin exactly the way a Wellbridge wanted it to. “Would you move here? Would you give up your job?”
“Of course not,” I said immediately. “I’m about to get promoted.”
She nodded in agreement. “So, then?”
I rubbed my chin and let myself think about it. A future where Flynn had agreed to the Fortress contract and fallen head over heels for me… what would that even look like, practically speaking?
I rubbed my chin. “I couldn’t move here full-time, no. The hours are long—longer once I make vice president—and I can’t work from home. It’s a competitive industry, and I need to be in the office so I can stay in the loop. Plus, I need to travel. A lot.”
“Is it possible Flynn would leave with you, then?” Mother asked. “Follow you to New York?”
I shook my head instantly. “Not a chance. Hell, I can barely get the man to take a vacation. He’d never leave his family or Honeybridge.”