Page 81 of Desired Hearts
“How are you not wearing gloves?” I asked. Though he did have on a hat, his bare hands were making me feel cold as we walked.
“Why do you think I’m holding your hand?” he asked. “Forgot mine at the job.”
His company was renovating a wing of the local middle school about ten minutes away.
“Sorry to drag you around town but I’ve been meaning to tell you all week. Look.”
I pointed to the building, its “for lease” sign prominent in the window.
“For years I’ve imagined it as an art studio.”
Parker let go of my hand, walked up the steps to the front porch, and peered inside. That he was taking it so seriously was only one of the reasons I loved him.
Loved him.
Admitting it to myself had been scary at first, but for the past few days, every time I looked at him, every time he texted or called, I knew it was true.
“Looks like a decent space,” he said. “Can’t say I’ve ever been inside.”
“I have. There’s a front showroom and the others have been converted to office space. I always imagined the front room being a place to have classes that you could see right through the window.”
“Delaney—”
“Before we freeze to death, let’s head to lunch while we talk.”
Parker took my hand again. “Tell me more. What do you envision?”
I talked the whole way down the block. When we got to The Big Easy, the owner greeted us at the hostess stand. Even though Maggie was also the executive chef, she could be found front of house at least half the time. Everyone knew her and loved her.
“Y’all look like popsicles,” she said, grabbing two menus.
“I still can’t believe you left Louisiana for this weather,” I said as she escorted us to a table. It was decorated to look like the inside of a New Orleans eatery, with a few more beads, Maggie admitted, than you’d usually find hanging around outside of Carnival season. The theming was fun, but what made The Big Easy a Cedar Falls staple was the food. And live jazz some nights of the week too.
“You’ll do crazy things for family,” she said. “Besides, we get back a lot. Here you go,” she said as we took off our coats. “Drinks?”
“I’ll have an iced tea, unsweetened, please.”
“Sounds good. Same,” Parker said as Maggie walked away.
“So anyway, I know it sounds nuts. But Pia is doing a little digging, market research and such. My parents would absolutely kill me if they even got a whiff of this but… I wanted to see what you thought.”
Parker sat back in his seat, crossed his arms, and was quiet what felt like an hour. His opinion shouldn’t matter so much, but I respected him, a lot. So it did matter. Especially since I couldn’t talk to my parents yet. Normally with an important decision like this, I’d have already run it by them.
“Do you remember what you asked me when I tossed out the idea of a log cabin building business?”
I thought about it for a second. “I don’t.”
“You asked what was stopping me from starting my own company. So I’ll ask you the same. Except, take your parents out of the equation. They love you and want to see you succeed, but the decision is yours. Not theirs.”
I started to talk but he added, “And take college out too. Actually, everything that happened in the past, it’s over. Looking forward and not back. What’s stopping you?”
I thought about it as the waiter brought our drinks and handed us the menus, though I didn’t need mine.
“Money,” I said.
“There’s business loans for that.”
“And if it doesn’t work?”
