Hell yeah, like tell him she’d be buying the agency, but she’d keep that gem for later. ‘Yeah, why?’
‘This appointment I have in ninety minutes is with my dad.’
He looked uncomfortable, but before she could say anything he rushed on. ‘You could come with me if you want.’ He shrugged, like her acceptance of his invitation meant little. ‘But I have to warn you, it’s my first time seeing him since …’
He trailed off and the devastation in his eyes had her wrapping her arms around him in a second. ‘I’d love to come with you,’ she murmured, pressing a kiss to the soft skin beneath his ear. ‘I’ll wait in the car so I’m there if you need me.’
In response, he hugged her tighter and she blinked away tears. This man had come to mean more to her in a week than any guy before.
How could she ruin this when she told him the truth?
CHAPTER
40
‘I can’t believe I’m doing this,’ Heidi said as she stepped out of Roger’s office alongside Rayne. Their appointment with the town’s lawyer to get the paperwork signed had taken all of fifteen minutes, making her the proud owner of The Knick Knack Shop.
‘Believe it, Miss Business Owner of the Year.’ Rayne slung an arm over her shoulders and pulled her in for a quick hug. ‘I’m so happy for you.’
She leaned into her friend for a moment, her head spinning with how fast this had happened, but she was thrilled nonetheless. ‘Thank you. For everything.’
Rayne eased away and, glimpsing the tears in her eyes, slugged her on the arm. ‘Hey, you’re paying for the privilege, so it’s not like I’ve given you anything.’
‘You’ve given me more than you can possibly know,’ Heidi said, blinking rapidly. ‘Do you have any idea what it’s like to be in someone’s shadow your entire life, to not be recognised for doing anything, to be under-appreciated?’
The moment the ridiculous questions left her mouth, she clapped a hand over it. ‘I’m so sorry, Rayne. That was stupid and thoughtless.’
‘It’s okay.’ Rayne touched her arm, her smile understanding. ‘Bert was a good guy but I could see early on you guys didn’t have much of a spark.’
‘Why didn’t you say something?’
‘Because I had no business saying anything to you about marriage when mine was such a shambles.’
‘It wouldn’t have stopped me anyway. Bert was comfortable and that’s what I wanted at the time.’
‘Young and foolish, huh?’
‘You said it.’
They bumped shoulders and Rayne said, ‘How about a celebratory drink? The pub?’
Heidi wanted to talk to her friend about something other than business and the last place she wanted to do it was the pub, where the walls had ears.
‘Actually, I took the liberty of buying a bottle of champers earlier and it’s in the fridge at the shop.’
‘Perfect.’
A short stroll later, they were ensconced in the back room of The Knick Knack Shop, her pride and joy, raising mismatched coffee mugs—one with a winking koala on the front, the other a startling fuchsia with a giant chip on the rim—filled with expensive champagne.
‘To us,’ Rayne said.
‘To lifelong friendships,’ Heidi added, gently clinking her mug against Rayne’s before taking a healthy slug of champers.
Now that the time had come to ask her friend’s advice, she wasn’t so sure she wanted to divulge her private business.
‘What’s up, Heids? I know you’re happy about the shop but you’ve been a little off since we walked into Roger’s office.’
‘Is it that obvious?’