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“You don’t know him,” Frankie pointed out, “so technically you’d be assaulting a stranger. It’s a sad story, I agree, but I don’t understand how you can cry over a stranger.”
“I don’t understand how you can be so hard-hearted.” Eva blinked back the tears. “And after a few hours together, Mitzy didn’t feel like a stranger.”
Frankie dropped her fork. “A few hours? Delivering that cake was supposed to take no more than forty minutes. How long were you there?”
“I didn’t really check the time.” Eva looked vague. “It was probably closer to four hours by the time we’d had tea and I’d taken her dog for a walk.”
“Four hours?” Paige blinked. “You could have charged her for that time, Ev.”
“It wouldn’t have seemed right after she made me such a delicious tea. It’s not as if it made me late for another job. We don’t have any other jobs. And she was interesting.” Eva paused. “She reminded me of Grandma.”
Hearing the wobble in her voice, Paige gave her hand a squeeze. “It’s fine, Ev. It’s not as if we’re exactly busy doing other things.”
“It’s not the time that bothers me,” Frankie said, “it’s the fact that these people were strangers. They could have been knife-wielding psychopaths. Do you have no sense of self-preservation or caution?” Frankie shook her head and Eva looked at her patiently.
“In my experience most people are pretty nice.”
“Then your experience is limited.” Frankie retrieved her fork and stabbed it into her pasta. “I hope your faith in human nature is never shaken.”
“So do I, because that would be truly horrible.” Eva took a sip of her drink. “By the way, Mitzy’s grandson—the one I met today, not the one who never leaves his apartment—is CEO of a private bank on Wall Street so I gave him our card.”
Paige stared at her. “Seriously?”
Frankie reached for more garlic bread. “She tells us this after she’s given us Mitzy’s life history.” She took a bite and glanced at Eva. “You didn’t maybe think that would be the information that would interest us most?”
“Everything about humans interests me. I don’t know if I ever told you that the woman in the room next to my grandma was—”
“Ev—” Paige interrupted her “—you were telling us about Mitzy’s grandson. The rich one who owns a bank. You gave him our card, and—?”
“And nothing. He took it and put it in his wallet.”
“Did he say he might call? Can you call him? Follow up?”
“No. I didn’t ask for his number and I don’t know the name of the company. Don’t look at me like that.” Eva’s rounded cheeks were tinted pink. “I hate asking for business. I am not a salesperson. What if they say yes because they feel pressured? Or worse, what if they say no? That would be so awkward for both of us.”
“I’ve had one hundred and four ‘awkwards’ over the past two weeks,” Paige said wearily. “I’m an expert. Did you find out anything about him?”
“He’s allergic to strawberries and he was the first person in his family to go to college. He’s very successful. Mitzy is so proud of him. And he wished us luck.”
“Luck.” Paige felt a rush of despair. Was she the only one who was worried about their fledgling business?
Maybe these things did take time but they didn’t have time.
“I had no idea it would be this hard. The internet is full of tales of success, people who started businesses while at college, got crowdfunding and sold their company for billions of dollars. I can’t even persuade people to pick up the phone and talk to me.”
“I’ve already told you, you should talk to my Jake.” Maria put more garlic bread in the center of the table. “Ask him to make some introductions. He knows everyone worth knowing in Manhattan. Paige, eat something. You will fade to nothing, girl.”
Maria walked away to serve a customer and Paige stared at her plate.
She was not going to reach out to Jake.
She was never, ever going to make herself vulnerable around him again.
“I still have a few people to call and I’m making a new list tomorrow. I’m going to widen the net.”
“Maria has a point. Jake could reel you in a big fish with one cast of his rod.” Frankie looked at her strangely. “Why not ask? You’re not afraid to call any of those strangers on your list. Why not Jake, who you’ve known forever?”
“Because—” She groped for an excuse that would sound believable. “Because this is our company.”
