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“You have a couple other options.” I find the relevant pages and slide them across to her. “You can open another store closer to the more affluent suburbs—or even one outside Kansas City, if you want. Alternatively, with improvements in shipping and online ordering, you could sell your products virtually anywhere.”
“What, like ship them out?”
“Orders come easy with digital stores these days. You give people in other cities, other states the chance to get their fix at the Sugar Bowl.”
“But what about logistics?”
“You’d use a local company to handle bulk shipping.” There are a few around, but I give the first one that comes to mind. “You could use PackRat Post. I’ve heard they’re reliable and ship—”
“No.” Her face instantly shutters.
“No to delivery or PackRat?”
She swallows and runs a fork through her potatoes that scratches the plate.
“It’s just the company, I mean. It’s silly, really, but…” Her sigh feels like it comes from her soul. “My ex’s family owns it. Actually, Liam’s basically in charge now, and it would just be awkward.”
I nod slowly, already hating this loser.
“Obviously, you can use any company you choose.” I try to keep my voice neutral, but the way she shrinks in her chair makes my heart drum.
What the fuck did Liam do to make her look like she wants to disappear through the floor?
“Did he hurt you, sweetheart? Did he fuck you over?”
Wincing, she waves a hand that shakes slightly.
“I mean, it was a long time ago. I guess he did, once, but I’m over him now.”
That doesn’t temper the anger shooting through my blood.
Clearly, whatever the fuck happened still weighs on her.
I take another sip of wine and make sure my voice is tame before asking, “What happened?”
“It’s a long story.” She picks at her plate again before she glances back up at me.
“Lucky you. We have all night.”
“And I feel kinda stupid,” she says, her voice burned. “I just believed in him a little too long and when it ended abruptly, I should have seen it coming.”
“When you love someone, you’re blind. The end can be like a shot to the face.”
“Oh, but I should have seen this coming.” She gives a small, sad smile. “He dragged his feet for a year, telling me I was the one. He had a ring. A wholeyear, Dexter. Nothing but false promises. And then he got distant. Cagey. I thought maybe he was cheating, but he was just getting cold feet. He decided he didn’t want a future with me…”
Cold feet?
Cold goddamned feet over the thought of marryingher?
“Was this man institutionalized?”
That earns me a bitter snort. “He wasn’t ready to ‘settle down’ with me. That’s what he told me. I wasn’t ambitious enough for him, apparently. I was pretty, but he needed more than that. He said he needed substance.”
Substance.
Right.
I could show him that by wrapping both hands around his scrawny neck and seeing how long his lungs still work.
