Page 60 of Love in Bloom

“I say we roll down the hill,” Parker suggested, patting his full belly.

“I have a better idea,” Mrs. Hart said. “Jackson, take my car keys. You can bring it back later.” Jackson bent down and gave her a quick kiss. “Thanks, Gram, you really are the best.” Miller saw her pull out her phone and type as they backed out of the driveway.Huh, look at that. Mrs. H texts.

August

MillerandRicasatat a cafe table outside of Mom’s Deli, soaking up the midday sun. Miller loosened his silk tie. It was hot and humid, and an accurate reflection of his mood. He still stewed about the intervention last weekend. What made it worse was they were right. Isolating himself wasn’t the solution. And lunch with Rica seemed like a good place to start. They both needed to eat and since she was a pseudo-colleague, it might help his reputation at work. He’d noticed people steering clear of him and whispering in his vicinity.

He’d hoped lunch with Rica would pull him out of his foul mood, but her work complaints just dragged him further into it. She rented office space from AAS and per her contract she had access to the copier, internet, conference room, reception, everything an AAS employee had access to. Several times in the last few weeks, she’d reserved the conference room for client meetings, but when the time had come, someone else was using it with a legal client, so she had to have her meeting at the table in her office. “To some clients, a messy desk indicates a messy mind, and that’s not a good look for a financial planner,” she said, shaking a few potato chips out of her bag. And lately, William Anderson had complained about her copier use, too.

“The man is penny wise and pound foolish, if you ask me,” Rica observed. Miller agreed. It looked like he wasn’t the only one unhappy with the partners at AAS. “Hopefully things will change once you’re partner.” She looked at him over her raspberry French soda.

“I wouldn’t count on it. The family tends to stick together.”

“But once you’re one of them, they’ll have to listen, right?” She shook her drink and the ice cubes redistributed the cream.

“What do you mean ‘one of them’?” Miller used air quotes. Rica leaned forward.

“You don’t need to play dumb with me. Everyone in the office knows you and Michelle are dating.”

“We’re not,” he argued, sighing heavily.Well, that explains why the other associates have been acting weird. They think I’m sleeping with Princess.

“Does she know that?” Miller didn’t appreciate the way the corner of her mouth tilted up. This wasn’t funny.

“I took her out to dinner once last fall when she’d first moved back. We’ve grabbed lunch a few times, like you and I do. Occasionally, we’ve walked to the bakery for a mid-afternoon sugar fix. But there’s been nothing after-hours unless it was a work event. How could she misconstrue that?”

“I don’t know. Doesn’t sound like dating to me,” she agreed. “Unless we’ve time traveled back five hundred years.”

“Yeah, well this isn’t Game of Thrones.” Miller wiped his mouth and tossed the crumpled napkin on the table.

“Either way, I’d watch your back,” Rica suggested. “If anyone says anything, I’ll correct them. And if I hear anything, I’ll let you know.”

“Thanks. Good to know I have an ally in this.” He gave her a tight smile and stood to leave. Friday could not come soon enough.

“Oh,good,you’reallhere,” Gus said, looking around the table. Miller, Jackson, Croix, and Parker looked back at him. Gus set aReservedsign on the table. “Come with me. This won’t take long.” The men exchanged looks. This was odd behavior, even from Gus. “Come on, come on, come on,” he urged. “I’m not getting any younger, and Nelie won’t keep an eye on your table forever.” He gestured for them to follow him. They didn’t have much choice.

Two blocks later, he ushered them into an abandoned storefront on Main Street. But it wasn’t entirely abandoned. Under a single fluorescent bulb stood Emily, London, Rica, and Mrs. Hart. “You’re late,” Mrs. Hart said to Gus.

“Boys were slow to get moving,” he complained.

“This is a weird surprise,” Jackson said and walked over to give his grandmother a quick peck on the cheek and Emily a longer kiss on the lips. “I thought you had wedding stuff to do,” he said, tucking Emily into his side.

“We do, but your grandmother insisted we stop here first.”

“What’s up, Gus?” Jackson asked.

Gus held his arms open wide and did a slow circle. “What do you think?”

“Of what?” Parker asked.

Miller thought he heard Croix mumble, “It smells funky,” under his breath, and Miller agreed with him. It was musty and dusty. A fire hazard in the making. The men exchanged worried looks. Gus wasn’t a spring chicken. Maybe he was sick.

Gus walked over to the large picture window in the back. “You’ve got a magnificent view of the Poplar River, and this door here is the back entrance. There’s a parking lot for eight cars back there. It’s usable, but you’d want to dump a load of crushed gravel by next spring and resurface it in a few years. And over here, this leads to the second floor.” He hustled over and climbed the stairs. Everyone followed him.

Another large window on the backside, but nothing else. It was bare and dusty, just like the first floor, and shaped the same, a long rectangle with the short sides parallel to the street and river. Gus started back down the stairs and stopped at the bottom. “Lots of room for storage, too.”

“Store what?” Croix asked above him from the stairs.

“Your files, boy. There’s plenty of room for whatever you want. Build-out wouldn’t be too much for several offices, a meeting room, bathroom, storage area.” Gus pointed to his imaginary rooms. “Think of the possibilities!” He looked up at the group, grinning. No one said anything. They looked at each other to see if anyone understood what was going on. Miller shrugged his shoulders, and Croix shrugged back at him. London and Rica left the stairs and went to stand by Mrs. Hart, clearly the saner of the two elders since she had remained on the first floor.

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