Page 59 of Not in the Plan

She swallowed, not ready to have the whole “I’m proud of you” badge stripped away the second he looked at her delinquent bills. “She did, but I haven’t had a chance to gather everything yet.”

With the way his head bowed and the empathetic look he gave her, he probably read right through those words.

She tugged at her sleeves. “Um… I’m sort of behind on paying, and I just don’t want you to think?—”

“Hey, we don’t worry about that kind of stuff. Late bills and things happen all the time, even with my clients. I’m gonna be honest here. The company should’ve known they didn’t seal the floors properly. I don’t want to make you feel bad, but the framing isn’t up to standard. You might be eligible for some reimbursement since they didn’t hold up their end of the contract.”

Her home, herdream, wasn’t built with the love it deserved. The environment she’d created, the family community, didn’t deserve shoddy framework and leaky floors. But this might be exactly what she needed to climb out of her debt hole.

“You said they ended up charging more than double, right?”

She nodded.

“Did they give a reason?”

She bit her lip. The main guy on the crew word spewed every time they talked about the job, and by the end of their conversations she was normally dizzy and regretting she asked in the first place. “I think they just said unforeseen issues.”

He stroked his chin. “Did they run into mold? Wiring? Termites?”

“No, nothing like that.”

“Did you have a lawyer look at any of this?”

She shook her head. She’d looked for a lawyer to review the contracts at the time, but the fee was too much. Googling all the words she didn’t know, along with searching online for similar contracts, lasted days. But not hiring a lawyer was a dumb decision. Stacked on top of more dumb decisions. She lowered her chin. “No… I did it all on my own.”

He bent over and caught her gaze. “It’s really impressive what you’ve done.”

She shoved her hands in her apron to keep from hugging him.

“Listen, I’d still like to look if you don’t mind. We’ll keep the money stuff between us.”

She nodded. Even though she told Mack about owing money, Mack had no idea the sheer amount of debt she was drowning under. “I appreciate it. I’ll get everything and?—”

“Hey, maybe you should stop ringing up all the orders and focus on making drinks,” a woman towards the end of the line shouted out at a drowning Ben, who death-glared at Charlie.

“Oh no. Looks like that lady is trying out to be a guest manager today.” She giggled. “I’ve gotta go help Ben.”

Andrew dug his keys from his pocket. “Sounds good. I’ll be back this afternoon.”

The next hour flew by as more customers filled the space. When the rush turned into a trickle, and the conversations quieted, Ben slid over her daily Americano.

“What did Daddy McHottie have to say?”

Everything. Gave her the hope she needed that her dream wasn’t a failure. Provided a splintered view of what a real dad should be like. Cracked the two-ton stress block she’d been drudging around for months with his fatherly jackhammer. “He was just looking at the work me and Mack did.”

“Cool.” Ben stirred his drink. “So… tonight’s date night, huh? Know where you’re taking her?”

A date.The words swirled like a cotton candy cloud. She’d have to say it in her mind at least twenty more times before the word sunk in. “Nueve’s, probably.”

“Ah, say hi to mi tía. You gotta get the arroz con dulce. She brought a sample over to Abuelita’s a few weeks ago. So good.”

“You need to tell your aunt to test more recipes. She used to hook you up. Which hooked me up. I’m dying for some authentic Puerto Rican food right now.”

“Right? Hopefully, in the fall when the tourist season thins out, she’ll whip something up.” He set his drink on the counter and moved to restock.

Charlie grabbed the towel and sanitizing spray and wiped the counter. Was the dress she decided on the right one? The color was tricky, but she loved it so much. Should she wear the vanilla or pear perfume tonight? Or layer it?Gah!

Her phone rattled in her pocket.

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