Page 125 of When Morning Comes Around

Jo nodded happily. “I can’t wait. And you have to be relieved that the divorce came through without any hitches.”

“You have no idea.”

Jo laughed. “You’re right, I don’t. It was very quick and straightforward for me – William and I were always separate financial entities.”

“You were a wise woman.”

“More like he was a wily man. And the business? Did the sale go through smoothly?”

“It did; I was worried at first – I didn’t think that the guys would be able to afford it. I wanted it to be a fair deal for them and for me. Dom and I agreed that I should only accept an offer that left me with more money than if I’d taken the house in the settlement instead.”

Jo smiled. “That makes sense to me.”

“It was smart, but I was worried that it would be too much for the guys to pull together.”

“But they managed it?”

She nodded. “They did; they managed to find an investor who wanted to go in with them. Whoever it is, he just wants to be a silent partner.”

“You don’t know who it is?”

Sadie shrugged. “I have no idea. Apparently, he didn’t want his identity disclosed. He was looking for a passive investment – he’ll take a percentage of the profits every year, and that’s it.” She smiled. “Whoever he is, I wish I could hug him – not just for my own sake, but because he did a good thing. I’m glad the team that helped me build the business can now call it their own.”

Jo grinned. “I love that. I’m happy for you, Sadie.”

“Thanks – I’m happy for me, too!”

When they got back to the house, there was quite a crowd there already. She loved seeing her dad flitting around talking to everyone. He’d really come into his own over the last few months. She never would have imagined him selling the garden center, but he’d been right – as usual – it was the right move for him.

She stored the desserts in the fridge – toffee for her dad and Jake, Bailey’s for Dom and herself, and a whole selection of goodies for everyone.

After she’d greeted everyone, she finally made it to Dom, who was manning the grill.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and dropped a kiss on her lips. “Hi.”

She tightened her arm around his waist. “Hi.”

“Is this everyone, do you think?”

She looked around. “Everyone except Jake and Josh – have you heard anything from them?”

“Yeah, they’re on their way.”

“And Tino – I don’t know if he’ll make it, but he said that he’ll try to stop in.” She smiled over at Taryn, who was talking to Terry. Dalton and Cal were talking beside them.

She laughed. “The big man convention’s here.”

Dom chuckled. “I’m glad those two were with me that first day in the grocery store – you might not have noticed me otherwise.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “There’s no way I would have missed you – you might have been three big men together, but you were the good-looking one – the one with the kind eyes.”

He opened his mouth to speak but then pointed toward the kitchen door instead and said, “Here they are, Josh and Jake.”

Sadie grinned. She couldn’t be more thrilled that Josh had decided to move here. He’d come to visit when her dad was selling the garden center – her dad had wanted him to help pack up the house.

He and Jake had hit it off right away, and since Josh’s job was remote these days, it had been an easy decision for him to stick around.

“I’ll go and get them a drink,” she told Dom.

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