Page 22 of The Undercover Billionaire's Baby

“No! No, you didn’t.” I was nearly shouting. I cleared my throat, tried a laugh, but it came out all crazy. I needed something to talk about. Some easy subject.

“I get it, I think,” said Brad. “You and your mom?—”

A volley of barking cut him off mid-thought. I’d never been happier to see stupid Wiener. He came charging toward us out of the woods, leash dragging behind him. Mrs. Schneiderman came puffing hot on his heels!

“Wiener! Bad Wiener. Oh, Lana. I’m sorry.”

“He’s fine,” I said, stooping to scratch his ears. Brad offered his hand to sniff and Wiener licked it.

“I meant for your store,” Mrs. Schneiderman said. “I saw the repairmen. If there’s anything I can do, pay for the damage…”

“It wasn’t Wiener,” I said. “The building’s just old.” I played with the dog some more, ruffling his fur. He thrust his big head at me, nosed at Brad’s jacket. Mrs. Schneiderman let out a sigh of relief.

“Still, if you need anything, I’m right next door. I can help you clean up when the workmen are gone?”

I mussed Wiener’s fur some more. He tried to lick me. “I’d love that,” I said. “We can make it a party.”

“They all love you,” said Brad, when Mrs. Schneiderman had moved on. “And they love your shop too, from what I’ve been hearing. You can leverage that to get back on your feet.”

I’d been watching the dog prance off, lost in my thoughts. Now I snapped to attention. “Leverage… what?”

“I mean, your shop is well-known. It’s loved. You need to remind people it’s part of their lives, a part they’d miss if it closed down. They’d all want to help if they knew you were struggling.”

I pressed my lips together, a sour taste in my mouth. “That’s not… that’s…”

“I don’t mean ask for money. But they all want to help. I’m sure they’d all volunteer, if you?—”

“I’m not asking for help.” I realized I was snapping and took a deep breath. “Sorry. It’s just, what I’m trying to say is, when Mom was in charge…” I trailed off, a lump rising thick in my throat. Brad reached for me again but didn’t quite touch me, and I felt like a heel for the way I’d been acting. It wasn’t his fault I’d been hiding for months, and now I was out again, it was all too much. Mom was part of this place, always had been. Seeing it without her, it hardly seemed real.

“When Mom was in charge,” I tried again, “the shop was a haven. People would drop in for advice. For a break. To find some peace in the thick of their day. Mom was the one people went to in need. She was there and her shop was there for the whole town. I can’t be— I can’t be…”

“You can’t be what?”

“The opposite of that. The one asking for help.” I flung my hands up, frustrated. “If I can’t be like she was, the shop’s just a bookshop. Just a place for the tourists to pick up their beach reads. So, no, I can’t leverage… whatever you said. I can’t use these people, the friends I grew up with.”

“I didn’t mean that,” said Brad. “I didn’t mean use them. I meant more like, community goes both ways, right? You give them that haven. They help you stay open. Everyone wins. You see what I’m saying?”

I didn’t know if I saw or not. It was all still too raw. All I could think was, the shop would change. It wouldn’t be Mom’s shop, not anymore. Better I keep doing things how she’d always done them. It had worked for her, right? It had… hadn’t it?

“I’ll give it some thought,” I said, with a wide, too-bright smile. “Now, Hidden Beach. Come on, I’ll show you.”

CHAPTER 9

SAM

“How do you know how to do all this stuff?”

I looked up from where I was sanding a floorboard, getting it to fit right so it would stop squeaking. Lana was standing over me with an armful of laundry, her pretty brows drawn into half a frown. I smiled up at her.

“What, home repairs?”

“No, running a business.” She tossed her laundry in the basket and leaned in the doorway. “You have so many ideas I can hardly keep up. Like you’ve done this a million times, like it’s all second nature.”

I hid a frown. I’d been afraid of this happening, my ease in the business sphere arousing suspicion. But it was second nature. It was my whole life. Rebuilding, rebranding, I did it every day. When I saw some little change that could save Lana money, or pull in new customers, what could I do?

“I was just worried…” Lana shifted foot to foot. “I’ve heard you up late at night, and I thought maybe… You’re not losing sleep over my problems, are you? Staying up late to research this stuff?”

I laughed. So that was it. She was worried, was all. And here, I’d been thinking my cover was blown. “I’m a night owl,” I said. “I’m always up late. And as far as my business sense, remember my dad? Remember I mentioned how pushy he gets? He drilled it all into me, how he ran his store. So, yeah, I know stuff, but I’m not losing sleep over it.”

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