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“Rachael.”
“What?” Elena scoffs. “That’s stupid. You deserve that grant way more than she does.”
“Yeah well.” I shrug. “The people in charge of the grant in A and Sons don’t seem to think so.”
“I don’t know what happened, but I suspect foul play,” Elana says.
“What do you think?” Dylan turns to Elena. “Maybe she paid someone off?”
“That doesn’t make any sense.” I shake my head. “Why would she go through all that trouble?”
“Well, you said the winner of the grant gets to cater the PR event they’re having in a few weeks. Just imagine the connections she’ll get from the event.”
“Still, I don’t think Rachael has enough money to pay anyone off.”
“Yeah, maybe you’re right.” Elena sighs. “I’m sorry, Kaylee. I know how much you put in to get that grant.”
I give her tight-lipped smile before turning back to my plate.
“You know.” Dad shifts in his seat. “I have some money put away, Dylan and Elena can also chip in. I’m sure you can use that to do the necessary expansions.”
“No, Dad. It’s fine, I have a plan already. You don’t need to worry.”
A blatant lie. I don’t have any plan whatsoever, but the one thing I know is that I’m not going to let my family come to my rescue like some helpless damsel. I have to do it on my own.
“Okay then.” Dad nods, clearing his throat.
“You know,” Mom continues. “I walked past the shop some days ago, and I had a chance to see the renovations. It looks really good, Kaylee.”
“It wasn’t all my idea,” I blurt out, “but thanks.”
“You should learn to accept compliments, Kaylee.” Dad laughs. “Whose idea was it if it wasn’t yours then?”
“No I—” I pause. “I mean I didn’t work on the rebranding alone. I had help from Ian.”
“Ian?” Dad’s forehead creases. “I thought he was a tech startup founder.”
“Yeah.” Dylan nods. “But he’s also something of a business strategist. I asked him to look into Kaylee’s shop, and he did.”
“Oh wow.” Dad takes in a forkful of salad. “That’s so nice of him.”
“Yeah it was.” Dylan folds his hands. “They’ve become quite close lately.”
My head snaps up and I turn to him. He has a playful smirk on his lips and he’s looking straight at me.
“Close? You and Ian?” Elena asks. “You mean—”
“It’s not like that.” I cut in. “Ian and I are just friends.”
“Oh good.” She pauses and adds, “I mean, no offense, Dylan, I know he’s your best friend, but I don’t think he’s boyfriend material.”
“No offense taken.” He shrugs. “Infact, I agree with you. He’s a traveller, and he doesn’t seem to want to be grounded anytime soon.”
“Thanks a lot for the input, Dylan, but we’ve already had this discussion. There’s nothing going on between me and Ian.”
“Wait. you’ve already had this discussion?” Mom asks. “What does that mean?”
“Yeah, Kaylee.” Dylan strokes his chin. “What does that mean?”
