“I’m not sure how to admit how foolish I’ve been.”
“You trusted your husband; that’s not foolish.”
“Thank you for that. I will say he was very good at conning people. He conned me for years.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry to dump this all on you. I haven’t been able to tell anyone.”
He took her hand. “We’re friends. In spite of everything that happened, I still care for you. You can trust me.”
Tears filled her eyes. “Thank you. I don’t deserve that.”
“You do. You didn’t deserve what your husband did. Are you in trouble?”
“I don’t think so. I’m helping the FBI in every way I can. I hope that will keep me safe. I have a great lawyer. Unfortunately, I’ve had to sell almost everything I had left to pay for him.”
He grimaced. “That bad?”
“Let’s put it this way. After what I’ve had to go through to clean up Paul’s financial mess, making sure you look good enough to get a line of credit will be duck soup.”
He laughed. “Okay, I’ll hold you to that.”
“Anyway, getting back to how I can help you. Not only am I familiar with design elements, but I have a degree in marketing. I haven’t been able to use it much because we kept moving, and now I know Paul didn’t want anyone to be able to trace him through me, so he made sure I was too busy to ever use it for myself, but I have lots of ideas and lots of skills. I’d love to try them out on you.”
“How?”
“Do you have a website?” she asked.
“No.”
“Social media accounts?”
“No.”
She grinned. “Brochures?”
“No?” He was sounding more doubtful by the moment.
“Then how are people supposed to learn about your business?”
He shrugged. “Word of mouth?”
“Yes, but you’ll need more than that. You’ll need me.”
He rubbed a hand down his face. “I’m pretty sure I can’t afford you.”
“Consider this pro bono work. You help me, and I’ll help you.”
“How am I supposed to help you?” he asked, looking doubtful.
She gestured down at her chair. “I can’t very well get around on my own, now can I?”
He laughed. “No, I suppose you can’t.”
“If I want to get my new marketing business off the ground, I’ll need a client to tell the world how wonderful my services are.”
“Consider that done.”
“Good. Do you have a sports coat and slacks?”
He scowled at her. “My father is a minister, remember. Even if I haven’t been to church in a while, I definitely do.”