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  He did not sound like a Tai Chi teacher. “Do you have a business background?”

  He shrugged. “Some. Mostly I pick up things here and there.”

  Family money, she thought. Even if he chose not to work, he must have heard things when he was growing up. Learned at the dinner table or maybe he went to college and studied business.

  “I’ve tried original items,” she said. “We have several original fabrics for our cat beds. Some with the CK logo and others that are nicer than what’s usually available at the price point. I’d like to do more unique items but creative people are very annoying to work with.”

  “You’ll need a few things if you want to get into the pricey boutiques. They’re not going to be interested in what you have now.”

  Something she already knew and was working toward, but how had he figured it out? “Did you do research on my company?”

  “A little.” He grinned. “I do a mean internet search.”

  So he was checking up on her. Why? To figure out how much she was worth? What if he hadn’t inherited money? What if he’d stolen it from unsuspecting women he slept with?

  He studied her. “Whatever you’re thinking, stop.”

  “How do you know I’m thinking anything?”

  “You went from defensive to panicked. There’s no need. I’m not here to hurt you, Sophie.”

  “You don’t know me well enough to hurt me. Besides, I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

  “I have no doubt about that.” He looked around. “You need a marketing director. I might know someone.”

  She wanted to roll her eyes. “Really? Is he a client?”

  “A friend. Elliot Young. He was a senior vice president for Procter & Gamble, so I’m guessing he knows his stuff.”

  P&G? A senior VP? Suddenly, her day was looking up. “Is he in the area?”

  Dugan nodded. “He moved here about a year ago when his mom got sick. She passed away and he decided not to go back to what he’d been doing before. He’s been looking in Seattle, but hasn’t found the right job. I think he would be interested.” He lowered his voice. “Shall I give him your number?”

  “And my card. I’d love to talk to him.” She thought of how she and Dugan had met. “He’s not going to do Tai Chi in his office, is he?”

  “Probably not, but you’ll want to ask to be sure.” His lips twitched as she spoke, as if she’d amused him.

  “It’s a genuine question.”

  “If you say so.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Please don’t lecture me on anything Zen, I beg you. It’s not my thing.”

  “What is your thing?”

  “This. CK Industries. Work.”

  “What about play?”

  She looked at him. “Asking or inviting?”

  “Which would you prefer?”

  “I’m at work now.”

  “Then asking.”

  She considered her answer. “I suppose the whole work/life balance thing is important, but so is my company. I’m not afraid to say I’m ambitious. CK Industries doubled in sales every year for the first five years and since then our slowest year has been ten percent growth. There are so many markets to expand to and I’m more excited about what can happen here than about anything else.”

  His dark blue gaze seemed to be trying to stare inside her. “What about when you go home? Don’t you want something more?”

  “You mean like a man? I don’t know. I was married. It didn’t go well and once we were divorced, I never missed him. I don’t want to go through that again.”

  “You don’t have to be married to be a part of something.”

  “You’d be amazed at how many men don’t believe that.”

  “What about kids?” he asked.

  “I like children very much. From a distance. I’ve never wanted them for myself.” She waved her hand. “This is my child. This is my legacy, and please, don’t try to tell me that I don’t know what I’m missing.”

  “Sophie, you’ve grown a successful multimillion-dollar corporation from nothing, pretty much by yourself. You’re old enough to know what matters. If you don’t want kids, that’s your decision.”

  “I’m wary of your acceptance. Most guys want to convince me I won’t be fulfilled if I don’t have children.”

  “I’m not out to do that. I just wonder if you’re happy. Jumbo sticky notes aside.”

  “Who’s happy? What’s happy? This is you getting Zen, isn’t it? We talked about that.”

  “We did. My bad. Okay, how about this? Meet me at my place at seven. We’ll have dinner, then I’ll rock your world in all the ways that matter.”

  She liked the sound of that. “We’re talking sex, right? Because I’m not super-interested in looking at your shot glass collection.”

  “I don’t have a shot glass collection and yes, sex.”

  “It’s a fairly blunt invitation.”

  “I thought you’d appreciate me getting right to it. Saving time and all.”

  “I do. Will you tell me your last name?”

  He smiled. “After the sex. It will be something you can look forward to.”

  “I’d rather look forward to the orgasm. No offense.”

  “None taken.”

  * * *

  By her fifth day in the warehouse at CK Industries, Heather had been moved into inventory control where she’d learned how to confirm that what was delivered was, in fact, what had been ordered. She enjoyed the chance to learn something new and found all the CK products interesting. Now, as she reviewed the work she’d done combining the CK logo with stock art cat photos, she wondered if there was a way to expand what Sophie sold.

  She chose an image and imported it into her quilt pattern program. Once that was done, she blew up the picture.

  There were definite issues with the transfer, she thought. The program was very literal, overlaying a grid over the picture and assigning each square of the grid a color value. The size of the grid, and therefore the quilt squares, could be large or small. The smaller the grid, the more detailed the picture and the more complicated the quilt.

  Turning something like a simple design into a quilt was relatively easy but the more complex the original picture or pattern, the more difficult the translation. Heather saw that she would have to do some work on the shading to make the cat recognizable. There was also the issue of making the quilt. Offering custom quilts was possible but she knew the cost would be very high and out of reach for most people. But a kit was something different. The program she used generated a pattern. Then it was just a matter of having the right number of squares for the different colors of fabric to put in the kit. It would still be pricey but not cost prohibitive.

  Or so she thought. Heather didn’t have any experience in creating quilt kits. She had used the program to make a few patterns. She liked to quilt. It was something she and her mom had done together, when Heather had been young. They’d taken scrap fabrics and had created something beautiful. She couldn’t remember when they’d stopped doing that together, but it had been a long time ago. These days Heather didn’t have the time to do much of anything but work. But one day, she thought wistfully. One day she would like to have a quilting room with cubbies filled with beautiful fabric. And a dog. She chuckled softly, making a mental note not to mention a dog to Sophie. She didn’t think the owner of Clandestine Kitty would approve.

  Chapter Nine

  Kristine blew kisses at the retreating SUV. “Bye! I’ll miss you.”

  All three boys had their arms out the windows as they waved at her. There was no wave from Jaxsen. They weren’t speaking much yet. Not a surprise, given their last fight. Two days ago he’d asked if she was ready to be done being selfish and she’d told him he was a jerk and that had been it.

  Things would be better when they got
home, she told herself. A week was a long time to be apart. They would miss each other and that would help the situation. Not that either of them was willing to bend on the subject, she thought as she hurried to her own SUV and headed for the waterfront. She wouldn’t let him spend her inheritance on a tent trailer and he seemed unwilling to understand why she wanted to keep the money for herself. A problem for another time, she told herself.

  She found a parking spot at the far end of the lot. Water’s Edge Park overlooked Blackberry Bay. Dozens of boats were moored at the marina, and even more were out on the Sound.

  It was a beautiful Saturday morning and she hadn’t wanted to miss the rush of sales that always came when the tasting rooms opened. Normally, she would have manned the cart herself, but she’d wanted to see the boys off, so had asked Amber to help. She would have preferred to leave Heather in charge, but Heather was working at the winery, so wasn’t available.

  “Finally,” Amber said when she spotted Kristine. “It’s been really busy. You never said it would be so busy. Plus, the card reader’s not working right.”

  Kristine glanced at the little square attached to a cell phone and saw the screen was blank. When she pushed the home button, nothing happened. She pressed a button on the top and the phone came to life. “Amber, the phone has to be turned on.”

  “You never said that.”

  Kristine pressed her lips together, telling herself not to engage. It wasn’t worth it. Still, she couldn’t help saying, “With most pieces of equipment, if you want them to work, you need to make sure they’re on.”

  Amber sighed. “Am I done here?”

  “You are. Thank you so much for your help.”

  Amber held out her hand. “I was here two hours. But I had to travel from my house to the cart so you should pay me for three.”

  Kristine knew that Amber had probably eaten close to an hour’s wages in cookies, but again, not a winning topic. She passed over forty-five dollars.

  Amber stuffed the money in her jeans pocket. “You’re not going to give me any cookies?”

  “Didn’t you already eat several?”

  “Fine. Keep your stupid cookies. My God, you wouldn’t want to part with one. They’re not gold, you know.”

  The rant was familiar. Kristine waited it out, knowing that Amber would wind down eventually. Before that happened, a car parked and two couples got out and started for the cart.

  “There you are!” a woman said with a laugh. “We’ve been looking for you all morning. Someone said you’d be by the inn but you’re not and I told Ralph I was not leaving the island without your cookies.”

  “Here I am,” Kristine said cheerfully.

  The man next to her pulled out his wallet. “I wish you’d ship your cookies. It would make my life easier.”

  “I’m working on it,” Kristine said, hoping that was the truth and not just wishful thinking on her part.

  “I’m leaving,” Amber announced.

  “Thanks again.” Kristine ignored the pointed stare and turned to her customers. “What are you in the mood for today?”

  She sold them three dozen cookies and spent the next hour selling the rest of her stock. By eleven, the cart was empty. She hooked it up to her SUV and towed it back to the house. She spent an hour rearranging the freezer in the basement to give herself maximum storage space. Ruth was going to let her use her extra freezer, as well. Kristine planned to be at Costco first thing in the morning to load up on ingredients. Then she would start the great Spring Break bake-off. But first...

  At exactly twelve thirty she parked in front of what had been the Blackberry Island Bakery. The big front window was dirty, but that was easy to fix. She liked how the space was positioned on a relatively busy street. There was plenty of parking and lots of foot traffic. There were two tasting rooms across the street and a couple of breakfast places down the block. Locationwise, it was a win for her.

  A car pulled up behind her and a well-dressed woman got out. Stacey Creasey handled most of the business leasing on the island.

  “I was surprised to get your call,” Stacey said. “Outgrowing the cart business?”

  Kristine nodded. “I sell to the tasting rooms and the wineries already, plus the cart. It’s getting to be a little much for my kitchen to handle.”

  Stacey nodded. “I can understand that. Let’s go inside and check things out.”

  She unlocked the front door and pushed it open, then stepped back for Kristine to go first. Kristine’s stomach lurched, whether with excitement or terror, she couldn’t tell. She told herself she was just looking, not buying, and to keep an open mind, then she crossed the threshold and studied the café.

  The big front window let in a lot of light. There was a large open area that had been filled with tables and chairs. A counter separated the eating area from the workspace the servers had used. Behind that was the kitchen.

  Kristine glanced around and realized she wasn’t exactly sure what she was looking for. Square footage, she supposed. Was it enough for her purposes? Also, what renovations would she have to make? She wanted a display case and maybe a couple of bistro tables and chairs, but in her business model, she wanted customers to come, make a purchase and then leave. She didn’t need all this front-of-store space. She would need a counter and it was possible the one in place could work, if it was just moved closer to the window.

  She headed for the kitchen. The big industrial ovens were still in place and there were miles of counter space and lots of storage. She would have room to do her baking and to set up a shipping station. The previous tenant hadn’t modified the original bakery kitchen all that much. There was a gap where the drop-in stove had been and there was a huge refrigerator.

  “Does the equipment work?” she asked Stacey.

  “It’s supposed to. If you’re interested, I’ll check with the landlord to make sure he has confirmed that.”

  Kristine nodded, then got out her phone and started taking pictures. She’d brought a measuring tape and paper to make detailed notes. If the ovens worked, she wouldn’t have to buy them and that would be a huge savings. She would use the existing counters and storage and the refrigerator in place. She would need a stove and knew about a couple of used ones for sale in Seattle.

  She saw a small office and two bathrooms in the back and took pictures of all of them, then returned to the front of the store. This was where most of the modifications would have to be, she thought. Replacing the flooring, fresh paint, moving the counter up and putting in a display case. She’d seen a couple for sale, and would have to check them out to see if they would work. Good-quality used was her preference. She would be working on a shoestring budget.

  “What does Jaxsen think about all this?” Stacey asked. “Is he excited?”

  The downside of island life, Kristine thought. Everyone knew everyone else’s business. “We’re still working on the numbers.” Which was almost the truth. She was working out the numbers and he knew nothing about her plans. She’d mentioned the space being available a couple of times but doubted he’d paid enough attention to think she might be serious.

  “How much is the lease?” she asked, mentally crossing her fingers that it wasn’t too much.

  “There’s the three-year price and the five-year price,” Stacey said, pulling a sheet of paper out of her bag and passing it over. “You’d be responsible for your own utilities, of course. Proof of insurance is required. The list of everything that’s provided is there.”

  Kristine thought about what else she should ask. “What about parking?”

  “You have three designated spots in the back.”

  She made a note of that, then said as casually as she could, “This would be my business. I would be the person on the lease.”

  Stacey nodded. “I assumed as much. Jaxsen’s busy with his own career.”

  So he wouldn
’t have to sign the lease. That was a relief. Not that she would have expected that in this day and age, but still. Nice to know.

  She gave the area one last look. “Thanks for showing me this. I need to run the numbers and look at my budget. I’ll get back to you.”

  “No problem. I want to tell you there are six people interested in the building, but you know how it is on the island. We don’t rush into things.”

  They walked outside. Kristine thanked her and retreated to her SUV where she sat for a long time as possibilities swirled in her head.

  Could she do it? Was she willing to take the chance? She’d always said her dream was to have a retail store and she wasn’t going to find anything better than this on the island. The lease payment made her swallow hard, but there was no getting around that.

  She decided she would do what she’d said. Run the numbers. She would contact Jerry, the contractor they’d used before, and get a bid from him. And she would do some research on how to ship cookies and brownies. There had to be YouTube videos along with information from the post office on shipping rates. Once she was armed with all the information she could make an informed decision. As for Jaxsen and his opinion on the whole thing, well, she would deal with that if and when she got that far. Maybe he would surprise her. Maybe he would be excited and want to help. Or more likely, she thought as she drove home, she was going to test her marriage in a way it had never been tested before.

  * * *

  Heather stared at the balance on the cable bill and told herself not to panic. It was always the same amount but this month it was nearly a hundred dollars higher. She checked the previous balance and saw that her payment had posted like it always did, so what had happened? There hadn’t been any notice of a rate hike—besides, they wouldn’t raise it by that much, would they?

  She clicked the button for more details and went through the bill, page by page. On page three she saw where the extra charges had come from. Annoyance morphed into anger as she grabbed her laptop and walked into the living room.