Page 49 of Click of Fate

She tilts her head and slowly exhales. “When did the vision change?”

“Ray’s vision was never to franchise,” I tell her.

“Sweet Ray, bless his heart. But this will all be yours sooner than later, so it’s really aboutyourvision now.” Her smile is big and sweet, but I can see a hint of sour behind her eyes.

I shrug.

“You said you weren’t interested in growing. Fast-tracking. Building something bigger. That’s not you, Luke. It used to be, but now…”

She lets the thought dangle.

“You wanted to location hop—setting up facilities and only leaving when it was time to build the next one. Don’t you remember any of these plans?” Her voice is almost pleading. The problem is, that’s whatshewanted to do. Ray and I wanted to have a few locations, but never chains, and never something so big that we couldn’t handle it ourselves.

Leaning back in my desk chair, I shrug. “I remember talking about location hopping, but it was never the plan.”

She studies me for a moment, then looks away and lets out a small sigh.

“You seeing someone?” she asks, direct now.

I cross my arms again. “Sort of. It’s new. But, yeah.”

She studies me like I’ve become a case study. “So you’re not available. For business or otherwise.”

“I’m saying I’m good where I’m at,” I tell her. “Personally. Professionally.”

Claire looks around, eyes skating over my desk, the whiteboard on the wall, the bookshelf in the corner.

“Interesting,” she says at last, and it sounds like a challenge. “You used to dream bigger.”

I shrug. “Maybe I’m finally dreaming smarter.”

She doesn’t respond to that. Just shifts back into that polished posture.

“Well,” she says, stepping back toward the door, “if you change your mind… I’ll be around.”

She turns without waiting for a response and walks out like she owns the place.

I scrub my hands down my face and let out a groan.

What the fuck was that?

Pushing out of my chair, I leave my office. I catch sight of Maddie now in the breakroom, organizing snacks in a basket that sits on the counter.

“Was that Claire Mitchell?” Maddie calls out as I walk past the room. What the hell? How does she know Claire.

I pivot and turn back to the breakroom. Maddie is leaning her hip against the counter, a clipboard in one hand and a Sharpie tucked behind her ear.

I exhale. “Yeah.”

“She didn’t say hi.”

“She wasn’t exactly on a social call.”

Maddie raises an eyebrow and strides over. “She just pitched you, didn’t she?”

“She tried.”

Maddie folds her arms across her chest. “Let me guess. She has franchise plans, investor buzzwords, something about brand acceleration?”

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