Page 11 of Until You

“I’m not saying it is. But don’t you want more? Friends outside of work? A boyfriend—a husband?”

Lanie shot her a wry grin. “I doubt my future husband will appreciate me having a boyfriend.”

“You know what I mean. Don’t you want to settle down and have a family of your own?”

“That was always your dream, not mine, Britt.” She’d seen how marriage worked, with her parents’ constant bickering and resentment. No thanks.

“Okay,” Britt conceded. “I’ll cop to that. But there are all kinds of families. It doesn’t necessarily mean kids and a minivan. I can’t see you driving one of those. But don’t let your own experiences sway you. I love my parents and I want to have what they had. Just because your parents didn’t get along doesn’t mean—”

“Britt, stop. Please don’t psychoanalyze me like I’m one of your marketing research studies. You want me to leave my work checked at the door, but that means you have to, too.” She picked up her phone. “See? I haven’t looked at it once.”

But then she noticed she had six missed calls from Stephanie. All within fifteen minutes. “Shit.”

“What?”

Lanie was already calling her assistant back when she saw the young woman hurrying across the restaurant toward them. Lanie’s heart beat against her chest. In the five years she’d worked with Steph, she’d never seen her look so panicked.

Lanie stood just as Stephanie reached their table. “What? What happened?”

Stephanie took several deep lungfuls of air, trying to catch her breath. “Oh my God, that yoga teacher is full of shit. She claimed I’d be able to run a ten-minute mile if I increased my core strength.”

“A ten-minute mile’s not that great. You need a new yoga place,” Britt said, finishing off her glass. “I want another one of these.” She looked up at Steph. “You should totally go to my studio in Blue Springs. There’s this grandma that teaches some of my classes, and you should see the things she can do with her ass.”

Lanie’s eyes flew open. “Okay! No more drinks for you. I think I’m scarred for life now. Can we focus?” She turned to her assistant. “What happened?”

“We got served.”

Lanie shook her head. “What does that mean?”

“This.” Stephanie handed her the tri-folded set of papers that Lanie had just noticed in her hand.

Lanie opened the papers and quickly scanned their contents.

“The man who brought it said we have to shut down all work. It looks like it says we can’t open at all.”

“No,” Lanie said, still looking over the papers. “It’s a temporary injunction. It says we violated a term of the lease, only it’s not the leasing agency who’s suing. It’s some corporation.” She looked up at Stephanie. “I bet it’s that art store around the corner. They got all pissy because they think we’re going to sell art supplies.”

Britt shook her head in confusion. “Why would they think you’re an art supply store?”

“Because the working name for the store is Broad Strokes.” She pushed out a sigh. “I need to call corporate right away.” She glanced back at her cousin. “Oh, crap. I can’t leave you here like this.”

“Like what?” Britt asked, taking a drink from Lanie’s half-empty glass. “Alone? It’s not like this is the first time you’ve skipped out on me.”

Lanie sat down beside her. “Britt, they’re shutting down my store. I have to deal with this.”

“Because your job is your life, Lanie, but jobs are cold, fickle bitches. It will bite you in the ass in the end.”

“Which will look really good if you go to your cousin’s yoga class,” Steph said.

Lanie shot her a glare. “Not helping.” Her stomach was twisted into knots. She knew she was about to find out how much of a cold bitch her new VP actually was. “Randy’s office is close to here, right? How about we walk you there?”

Britt gave her a belligerent look. “I haven’t gotten my Italian Wedding Soup yet. I’m pretty sure it’s bad luck to skip out on wedding soup when you’re getting married.”

“Then we’ll get it to go.”

“No!” Britt pointed her finger at Lanie. “I’m finishing my lunch.”

“I can’t just leave you here.”

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