Page 79 of Already Home

Jenna turned to find Violet studying her.

“What?” Jenna asked.

“Is everything all right with the store?” Violet soundedconcerned.

“Of course. I just want to make a few more changes.”

Violet tensed.

Jenna touched her arm. “I was going to ask you to stay a fewminutes later today so we could talk about it, but I don’t want you to suffer.Everything is fine. In fact it’s wonderful. You’re doing a terrific job. I lovethe girls you hired to work part-time.”

“Okay. Good.” Violet’s expression relaxed.

“It’s me. I’m not loving taking care of all the details.Ordering, managing the supplies. I really want to spend more time with theclasses. I was wondering if you would be willing to manage the store. I couldeither give you a raise or cut you in for a percentage of the profits.”

Violet’s voice caught while she was answering. “I’d lovehandling things for you.”

“I was really hoping you’d say that. Let’s talk more afterwork.”

“Absolutely.”

A half dozen or so customers arrived together, interruptingtheir discussion. Each had a question about a different class. At one pointJenna looked up to see her mother discussing Bundt pans with one woman andSerenity demonstrating a Swiss-made cheese grater to another. She wasn’t exactlysure when they’d arrived, but she was grateful for the help. Finally abouteleven-thirty, there was a brief lull.

“You’re doing well,” Beth said. “It’s a Monday morning andyou’re still crowded.”

“I know. It’s so good, it’s almost scary.” She led her mothertoward the kitchen. “I’m making Violet the manager of the store. We’re going totalk details tonight after work. I want more time to focus on the classes.”

“What a great idea. Violet is organized and experienced.”

“I’m organized,” Jenna said with a laugh.

“True, but running a store is new for you. I’m glad you’rehaving fun.”

“I am. I thought I’d made a huge mistake when I rented thestore, but I didn’t.” She was about to mention her date with Ellington when thedoor opened and Dragon strolled in. “Check it out,” she said, pointing.

Beth turned in time to see Dragon and Serenity embrace.

“Who is that?” Beth asked, sounding slightly shocked.

“One of my brothers. He’s a corporate lawyer. I’m not sure it’spossible for him to be more different than his parents.”

“Really?” Beth eyed him. “Come on. You can introduce us.”

* * *

Violet wrapped a set of pots in the generic gift wrapthey had in back. As she cut and folded and taped, she found it tough to keepfrom breaking into a happy little dance. As it was, she settled on grinning likean idiot.

Her promotion probably wouldn’t mean all that much to a lot ofpeople, but to her it was confirmation that she’d made the right choice to takethe job. Her gut was in working order—something always good to know.

She was delighted that Jenna was pleased with her work andexcited by the opportunity the store represented. She had lots of ideas aboutways to advertise the store and different promotions to bring in customers. Overthe next few days she would come up with a plan and share it with Jenna.

So far, Tiffany and Kayla, their college help, had both workedout. If all went well, they would also need to hire a full-time person.

She carried the wrapped package back to the customer, thenturned and bumped into a tall, dark-haired man.

“Sorry,” she said automatically, stepping back.

“No problem.”

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