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“Good.” She rubbed my arm. “If anyone can figure out how to make a business work in this spot of New Burlington, it’s you.”
Nodding, I guided my mom to a small group of city leaders gathered around the charcuterie board at the end of the long bar. She knew a few of them, and quickly lost herself in conversation, catching up on town gossip and the latest about mutual friends.
And for the first time that night, my thoughts were free to turn to Anya. She hadn’t shown up, even though I’d taken the time to drop off an invite earlier in the week at The Green Frog.Not that you expected her to take you up on it.I pulled my phone from my pocket, a little hopeful that I was wrong. Nope, I wasn’t. There was no text, no word from her. Nothing at all. Yes, I didn’t deserve her showing up for me given the way I treated her. But I was surprised how much that hurt. Although she clearly wanted nothing to do with me, it stung and made me realize how much I missed her.
Maybe it all was for the best.
After all, Mom had a point. It was hard to run a small business. Rent, labor, inflation... most of that was on the side of the business owner. And this bourbon bar-slash-bookstore was a labor of love. Why not use the opportunity in Miami to fund it?
Besides, Anya was probably right too. Whatever happened between us was a stolen moment in time, and the sooner I realized that the better off I’d be.
The better offwe’dbe.
Even if I have missed her more than any other woman before.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
ANYA
“These sales figures are impressive,” Gwen said, putting the printed spreadsheet on the table between us. “We haven’t had numbers like this in a long time.”
“It seems like our moment of internet fame was the catapult needed to really jump-start new customers.” I took a sip of the coffee she offered me when I arrived. Today was a good day for Gwen. She looked well-rested and happy.
“I don’t pretend to understand viral videos, but I think it’s more than that. I think a lot of the success has to do with you.”
I nearly choked on my tea. “With me?”
“Absolutely.” She bit into one of the chocolate sandwich cookies she’d also placed on a plate. “I knew hiring you was going to be a great decision, but over the last few months, you’ve really proven to me that it was more inspired than I could have imagined.”
“Thank you, that’s really kind of you,” I said, feeling a blush hit my cheeks. Despite a lower salary than my job at Second City, managing The Green Frog had unexpectedly become the most successful job I’d ever had. The spreadsheet only proved what I hadn’t wanted to admit to myself.
I’m good at this.
“Going over the latest sales figures was only one of the reasons why I wanted you to come over.” Gwen leaned across the Formica table and took my hand. “If you haven’t noticed, I’m getting old. My kids don’t want the store.”
“I sensed that,” I said, mostly to fill space in the conversation.
