He stopped. Sent a pleading look to her mother.
This was not good.
Her father took a deep breath. “We’ve decided to retire and sell the business.”
Silence descended upon the room. After a few seconds, Kady reminded herself to breathe. “What?” she finally spluttered.
Her mother reached over and covered Kady’s hand with hers. “We’re tired, Kady. It’s time for a change.”
She studied her parents, who were sitting side by side. They were in their late fifties, kind of young to retire, but they’d worked all her life with few vacations. She regarded them in that light now and noticed fine lines on her mother’s face and circles under her father’s eyes, his dark brown hair graying. Just as they’d admitted, they did indeed seem worn-out.
So many questions filled her head, Kady didn’t know where to start. “How long have you felt like this?”
“Six months,” her mother answered, as her father responded simultaneously, “A year.”
She sank back in her chair. “Wow.”
Will opened a notebook by his side. Probably filled with numbers to satisfy the logical part of his brain. “As the family financial adviser, I need to bring you up to speed.” He rattled off figures that made Kady’s eyes go wide. Over the years, her parents had invested and saved up a considerable amount of money. More than Kady’d ever imagined.
“If you have so much money, why sell the shop?”
Her parents exchanged glances.
“It’s time,” her mother answered.
“But you know about my goals. I’ve already started to make inroads into the wedding market. With that income, I can upgrade the shop. And the florist convention is next week. I’m entered in the wedding-bouquet design category and this year I can beat the competition.”
“We appreciate your dedication,” her father said. “But we don’t have the energy to rebuild the business.”
“I do,” she protested. “I thought you were on board with my ideas.”
“We are...were,” her mother said. “But lately we’ve been talking about going away, and, well—”
“You don’t trust me with the shop.”
Another abrupt silence sucked the air out of the room. She knew her parents had questioned her commitment ever since she’d started full-time, but in the past year, Kady thought she’d worked hard to erase these doubts. Apparently not.
“Kady,” her brother said quietly, “we’ve talked about this and decided to take a vote. It’s the fair thing to do.”
Years ago, the ownership of the shop had been divided four ways, each member of the family holding an equal share. Kady already knew which way her parents would vote and assumed Will was on their side.
“Why bother?”
“Now, Kady,” her mother admonished. “Don’t be like this.”
“Be like what? Shocked that you’ve been talking about a major family decision and didn’t think to include me? Heartbroken over the fact that I love this place and now you want to take it away? I thought you believed in my vision.” She glared at her brother. “I brought you projections and a business plan. You agreed it was solid. And now you want to yank that out from under me, too?”
“I never said—”
She held up a hand to stop her brother and then faced her parents. “You still see me as the girl who makes mistakes, even though I’ve proven the opposite. No messing up orders. No losing keys to the delivery van. My mind is focused.” She stopped for a breath. Her dreams were evaporating right before her eyes. “Let me buy the shop. I can apply for a loan, work extra hours—”
“Kady—”
“Please give me a chance.” She hated begging but what other choice did she have? She could start her own business elsewhere, maybe, but she loved The Lavish Lily.
Tears pricked the backs of her eyelids. No. This couldn’t be happening.
“Maybe we could sort something out,” her mother said, clearly troubled by her emotional reaction. “Mark?”
Her father was scrutinizing her. She could see the indecision in his eyes. For the first time since the meeting had started, Kady felt hope.
“You guys can go on a trip or travel in a motor home or whatever you want. I’ll be right here, making money.”
Her father’s brow rose. He always brightened at the prospect of making money. “Our plans aren’t carved in stone.”
Buoyed by his positive reaction, Kady threw caution to the wind. “How about this—if I win first place in the bridal bouquet competition this year, you give me a real chance to build up a wedding clientele. I’ll run the shop. You don’t have to be involved at all.”
She bit the inside of her cheek, waiting.
“Kady, you’ve come in second place for three years now,” her mother responded. “What makes you think you’ll win this time?”
“I’ve been practicing all year.” And she had. She was tired of losing. She’d studied trends and questioned her friends about what kinds of flowers and styles they would choose for their own wedding bouquets. “After coming in runner-up for so long, I’m ready with a stand-out entry. I’ll knock Queen Jasmine off her throne for sure.”
Her parents didn’t seem convinced.
“This year the convention committee’s opened the event to the public,” Kady continued. “Brides-to-be from all over the area have been invited to come view the bouquets and centerpieces and other contest entries before announcing the winners. We couldn’t pay for that kind of exposure.”
“That is true,” her father agreed.
“And what are you going to do when Mom and Dad go on their vacation?” Will asked. “I can’t do deliveries or run the shop. I have my own business to worry about.”
Unease trickled down her spine. She hoped her next suggestion didn’t blow her case. “I could hire someone. Part-time? Then you wouldn’t have to worry about anything except enjoying your time together.”
Her mother stood. “Mark, let’s go in the back and talk about this.”
Together they walked to the workroom.
“I doubt this’ll happen, Kady,” Will said. “They’ve made up their minds.”
“Really? If that’s so, they wouldn’t have gone off to consider my proposal.”
“Kady, what are you thinking?”
“That I want to run this business, Will. Do you really believe I can’t do this?”
She
