Page 42 of Pining for You

We talked about toppings and sizes, then I hopped into my truck, carefully reversing out of the steep driveway, and continued farther down the road to give Chloe room to get out. Once she was heading back to the highway, I followed her until we got into town where I turned off at the road leading to the pizza place.

To my disappointment, by the time I arrived home with the pizza, Chloe had already showered and changed.

“How’d the job go today?” she asked, tipping her lips up to catch mine in a quick kiss, though she seemed more intent on taking the pizza off my hands.

I followed her into the kitchenette. “I had to teach them how to do an e-Transfer, but they got it done.”

“I saw the payment go through. Well done.”

I’d been able to help the client do the e-Transfer only because Chloe had taught me. One of the improvements she’d introduced when we’d taken over the Prunery’s management.

Even though I’d tried two more banks, I hadn’t been able to get a loan to buy out John and Molly. But Chloe, beautiful, brilliant Chloe, had put together a new plan and, using her family’s connections, approached one of the larger arborist firms in the city. With lots of help from Ellie, Josh, and a lawyer Ellie had recommended, we’d set up a plan that they’d buy out Pine Ridge Prunery’s equipment and client list, but keep the Port Paxton office, and all the employees, in place as a satellite office.

In a stroke of brilliant legal wrangling that I didn’t understand, she’d convinced them to sign an option to allow us to buy back the business in five years. We’d have to find a new building, since we couldn’t afford to buy the land and workshop, but we’d keep a majority of the equipment, and hopefully all our teams together, too. The five years gave me time to save up more money as well as time to take some business courses at the local college.

There’d been some hiccups in the initial transfer, especially when Chloe, the newly appointed office manager, took over the books. She’d discovered Molly hadn’t been reporting a lot of their income properly, which explained why the banks thought something was off with my initial business plan.

In better developments, we also discovered that Chloe’s working knowledge of what the guys went through, and what jobs could or could not be done, or which needed immediate attention, helped both with maintaining the teams’ confidence as well keeping the clients satisfied.

After we’d finished the pizza and were curled up on the couch together, she handed me a folded sheet of paper. “I found this under my door yesterday.”

I unfolded the sheet and read it. A notice of rental increase on her apartment. “Ten percent? I guess that’s not bad for these days. At least they’re not going to try to sell it to you as a condo or turf you out saying it needs repairs and then re-rent it for twice the price.”

“I can handle it now I have a steady job.”

I saw my opportunity, so I grabbed it. “Or you could give up your apartment, and move in with me.” I nodded toward the bedroom. “Most of your clothes are already here.”

As was her toothbrush, extra bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and make-up that had taken over my bathroom counter. And the standing unit I’d added over the toilet when I realized she needed more space for her toiletries.

Should I suggest that we split the rent? I didn’t need her to, but I knew she was determined to pay her own way and might take me offering to carry that load as an insult? Even knowing her six months now, practically living with her the last three, she could still be hard to read.

“We could split the rent,” she said slowly, as if she could hear my thoughts. “That way you could save money faster to buy out your share of the Prunery.”

“Our share,” I corrected her. “You’re part of the Prunery now, Chloe. If you want to be. The set up, the option to buy it out, was your idea.”

She caught her bottom lip between her teeth. “I like working in the office, being in charge.”

Able to see the books and ensure we weren’t going into debt, she didn’t say, but I heard. One day I hoped she’d get over that fear.

“Better than working for your father?”

Mike had been making noises about wanting to retire, and had mentioned he expected Chloe to take over the whole thing herself.

“Dad’s business is Dad’s baby. Not mine. I’ve already told him that if he wants to sell it to someone else, to go ahead.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“So you’ll move in with me? Permanently? Give up your place?”

She grabbed her purse from the side table and rummaged through the many pockets. When had she put it there? She normally kept it in the bedroom. “There it is!” she announced, holding up another envelope. “I wanted to check with you before I sent this.”

She handed it to me, her bottom lip once again caught between her teeth.

I will not be renewing my lease on the apartment as of… She included her move-out date as the end of this month, and left my address as her forwarding address.

“Guess you are sure.” As much as I wanted to propose, I knew marriage wasn’t on her card any time soon. Any mention of a proposal would probably send her flying as far away from me as she could get.

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