Page 12 of Wishes on Wildflowers
“Could.” Basil shrugged. “If you all think it would work. I never claimed to be the brains of this outfit.”
“Oh, get real. Your grades through school were just as high as Alex’s and mine.”
He grimaced. “Not my thing.”
There had to be a reason he’d drifted and lacked confidence. If he’d only take down the façade and let someone in.
Peter took a deep breath. “Where do we go from here?”
Jasmine’s eyes locked with Nathan’s. The answer was simple. From here, they needed to go their separate ways as soon as possible. That meant Nathan needed a good plan, and she needed to follow it.
No way washe striking up even a friendship with Jasmine again. He wasn’t. No matter how adorable she looked in that flannel shirt open over a pink T-shirt, her hair pulled back into a ponytail. No matter how she tried to slide the public face of Bridgeview Backyards over to Basil, when anyone with two good eyes could see she’d be much harder to resist. Her sales efforts, that is. Not her, personally.
Nathan had told her he wasn’t interested, and he was going to stick to the party line. She was his client and related to his landlord. Once he got his business established, he’d start looking for a house of his own. Either way, he’d be able to avoid her once a few meetings were out of the way.
“What do other box programs charge?” asked Peter.
“They’re all certified organic, and we won’t be.” Basil parked his elbows on the table. “Doesn’t it take three years to get that certification? And if we keep adding yards, it’ll get confusing because they’ll all be at different stages.”
Peter shrugged. “It’s part of the record keeping. We’ll just say we’re in transition.”
Jasmine looked from one to the other. “Do we have a wide enough range of produce planned for this year to take subscribers into the fall?”
Nathan leaned back in his chair. They were on their way, and didn’t need him for the moment.
A sudden rainsquall pummeled the house. Had he closed his windows in the basement? The weather had been great earlier. He surged to his feet before remembering they were awning windows and wouldn’t let the rain in. Instead of resuming his seat, he walked across the living room and looked out on the street, where rivulets already streamed downhill.
At least over here, he didn’t have to look at Jasmine. Or, more to the point, avoid looking at her. He was over her, remember? He’d dated a dozen women since leaving Spokane eight years ago, several of them somewhat seriously.
His cell phone rang. Nathan strode over to the table and picked it up. An entrepreneur couldn’t afford to ignore calls. Not with the number of business owners he’d offered his services to this past week.
“Nathan Hamelin. How may I help you?” He turned back to the window where the sky was already brightening.
“Well, son, what’s this I hear about you being in Spokane and not coming to see your old man?”
Nathan pinched the bridge of his nose. Not a conversation he wanted Jasmine and her family to overhear, but he also didn’t want to get soaked to the skin finding privacy. “Hi, Pops.”
“Is it true?”
“Uh, yeah. A few days ago.” Or a couple of weeks. Should’ve known the local grapevine would still work fine,even though Pops and his fourth wife lived over on Elm, on the outskirts of Bridgeview.
“When was you gonna let me know?”
“Soon. I’ve been busy trying to start a business.”
“Where you staying?”
“With some old friends. You might remember the Santoros.”
Pops grumbled something Nathan couldn’t quite catch. “You come by, you hear? Shouldn’t have to find out my own kid is in town from the likes of Beulah Essery. Makenna says come for dinner.”
Nathan had forgotten the name of Pops’s latest. Thankfully, he hadn’t been invited to the wedding, which had taken place in Vegas a few years back. “Uh, I’m busy tonight.” If only he could claim that every night.
Honor your father and mother.Right. That’d be easier to do if they’d honored each other. What would it be like to have parents who stayed together, like Ray and Grace Santoro? Must be idyllic and peaceful.
“Brunch tomorrow then.”
That was easy. “I’ll be in church.”
