Meant to Be Yours

by Susan Mallery

  Her lower lip trembled. “Odele knows where I am and she must have done research on the town because she wants to have the ceremony or whatever it is at Weddings Out of the Box!”

  Ah, so there was the problem.

  “You’re concerned Renee is going to be upset.”

  “Yes. I just got my baby girl back. We’re getting along and she’s letting me into her life and now this! She’s going to hate the idea. What a nightmare. Dogs running everywhere, me talking to them, the TV cameras.” Tears filled her eyes. “I tried to tell Odele we couldn’t, but she was insistent and then she had to go. She’s very determined and I don’t want to jeopardize my show, but if I have to choose, of course I want Renee to be happy.”

  Jasper knew the situation was more complicated than that. He also knew Verity really wanted to make her show a success and that Renee wanted that for her mother.

  “Has Odele booked the, ah, event?”

  “Not yet. She’s finalizing details before she calls. She said it would be a day to set up and a day to film. They’re talking midweek.”

  “Then that’s a good thing. Pallas gets more business without a lot of work and none of the scheduled weddings get impacted.”

  “You’re right. I hadn’t thought of that. I’m sure the production company is paying very well.” She brightened. “That will help. So all that’s left is for you to tell Renee what’s happening.”

  “Me?”

  “Please, Jasper. She won’t get mad at you.”

  He knew that Renee was more than capable of getting plenty angry at him, but that wasn’t Verity’s point. She didn’t want to have to fight with her daughter now, when things were going well between them.

  Damn, he thought grimly, seeing no way out of the situation. If he refused, he would upset Renee’s mother. If he said yes, he would upset Renee. Either way, he was screwed, because Renee wouldn’t like him upsetting her mother or herself so hey, no win for him.

  “I’ll do it.”

  “You will? Oh, thank you, Jasper.”

  “Uh-huh. In return, you’re going to tell her how great I am until she’s done wanting to back the car over me.”

  “I promise.”

  * * *

  PALLAS AND RENEE met weekly to discuss the upcoming weddings and share leads they had about future clients. While Renee generally enjoyed the breakneck pace of their days, she found herself looking forward to the last three weeks of January, when Weddings Out of the Box would shut down for vacation. She didn’t have any plans at the moment, but she was thinking somewhere quiet and peaceful with absolutely no brides or wedding parties or drama.

  As Pallas reviewed the schedule, Renee took a second to wonder if Jasper would be interested in joining her for some of that time—just the two of them with no distractions except the ones they came up with together.

  She had no idea if they were in a place where that was a question she could even ask. While he’d used the R word, she was less sure of their status. A relationship? But going away with him would be nice.

  “You have it all under control,” Pallas said, closing the calendar program. “We’re also getting more and more busy. I used to have one wedding a weekend and I had the occasional weekend with nothing. Now we have at least two weddings or we have a wedding party booking us Friday through Sunday. I need to get serious about hiring help.”

  “The work is very steady,” Renee said. “I would really like a couple of assistants on the days we have weddings. Someone to run and get things when we need extra thread or spot remover. I feel as if I’m forever racing back and forth across the property.”

  “Of course.” Pallas nodded. “That would be easy enough. Most of our weddings are on Saturdays, so I could look at hiring high school kids who want a job on weekends. Of course they would have to be willing to give up their Saturday nights.” She smiled. “Let me write up a job description. Once you agree I’ve captured what you’re looking for, we’ll post it and start interviews.”

  “That would be great.” Renee knew she could always rely on her vendors to pitch in, but she needed more help than that.

  “I think we need another wedding coordinator,” Pallas said. “There are just too many weddings, and business doesn’t seem to be slowing down seasonally anymore. I’ve been keeping track of your workdays and there are weeks you’re here sixty and seventy hours. You should have said something.”

  “It’s been a challenge, but you’ve been dealing with Ryan. I didn’t want to get in the way of that.”

  “I’ll admit taking on another full-time employee scares me, but it’s necessary. If things keep going the way they have been, you’re going to burn out. Worse, I could lose you.”

  Lose her? Renee wanted to blurt out that she had no plans to leave, but knew better than to say that. She loved working for Pallas, but she had to maintain a little bit of decorum. At least on the surface.

  “I would like to work a bit less,” she murmured. “But I know hiring someone is a big step.”

  “It is.” Pallas’s expression turned mischievous. “Which is why sharing the worry and pain is such a good idea. I’ve been thinking a lot about inviting you to be a partner in the business and I’d like to move ahead with that, if you’re still interested.”

  Renee’s heart thundered in her chest. “With everything happening, I’d completely forgotten about that possibility. But I’m interested. Very interested.”

  “Good. I’ve been talking with my lawyer.” Pallas wrinkled her nose. “I can’t believe I even have a business lawyer but I do. Anyway, she has come up with several ways to bring you into the business. First I’ll have a professional business evaluation done so we both know what the business is worth. Then we’ll discuss options. You can buy in outright or over time with a percentage of your salary going to the purchase. We’d detail the division of duties, so there are no misunderstandings.”

  She paused, drumming her fingers on the table. “What else? Oh, the profits. Right now they would be shared based on a percentage of ownership, but also a division of labor. That means if you buy in 50 percent, then obviously you’d get 50 percent of the profits. But if you have to buy in over time, then you’d get your percentage and an added amount because you’re working more than me.”

  She frowned. “I hope that makes sense. The legal stuff and the accounting rules do not come easily to me. Oh, and if we move forward with this, I’m granting you 5 percent ownership as soon as we sign the paperwork, so you’d own that right away, regardless of how we move forward.” She leaned toward Renee. “What do you think?”

  Renee’s head was spinning. Not only was there was lot of information to take in, she also couldn’t believe this was really happening.

  Pallas trusted her with her business. Pallas wanted them to be fifty-fifty partners! The concept was so impossibly wonderful that she couldn’t take it in.

  “I’m excited,” she managed to say. “Yes, of course I’m interested. It’s a wonderful opportunity.”

  “I’m glad you think so. You’ll need to get a lawyer to look over everything. Nick says I can’t recommend one because it would be a conflict of interest.” She sighed. “He’s such a guy. I’d say ask Wynn for a name. I’m sure she uses someone and I don’t think she and I use the same person, so that would work.”

  “I’ll text her today,” Renee promised.

  “And I’ll get going on both job descriptions. For the part-time person and the full-time wedding coordinator. I really liked the hiring service I used when I found you, so I want to go with them again.”

  As they weren’t yet partners, Renee was fairly sure Pallas was sharing rather than asking her opinion.

  “What do you think about opening the place up to midweek events?” Pallas asked unexpectedly. “Not more weddings. I’m not sure any of us could handle that, but other types of gatherings might be interesting.�
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  “Like corporate events,” Renee said eagerly. “That’s what I’ve been thinking about. Meetings or seminars. We have the space. If all we had to do was set up tables and chairs, that would be easy. Almost no work for us but some income.”

  Pallas nodded. “That’s what I was thinking, too. We’d only need a couple of caterers to work with. They provide their own servers, they do the cleanup afterward, so we’re left with logistics and putting away whatever supplies we had to get out. I know our janitorial service would like more hours. We could find out if they would do the setup and takedown.”

  “We’d have to get a cut of the catering,” Renee told her. “Because that’s where all the money is. I suppose we could set up different menus so everything flows through us. Oh, what about themed events? We have the decorations from all the weddings. Depending on the type of business, we could offer different packages. It would add an interesting element to the event.”

  “A Star Trek–themed corporate getaway?” Pallas asked with a laugh. “I like it. You know, I was playing with this idea right around the time Nick and I got together. Then we fell in love and got married and I got pregnant and what is it they say? Life happens. I’m so glad you want to be a part of this.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Anybody home?”

  Renee turned toward the open doorway. “That sounds like Jasper.”

  She got up and called his name. Seconds later, he came into view.

  “You’re not in your office,” he said. “But your car is in the parking lot. I was starting to think you’d been abducted by aliens.” He lightly kissed her, then waved at Pallas. “Am I interrupting?”

  “We were just finishing up,” Pallas told him. “Are you here to steal her away for a few hours?” Her voice was teasing.

  Renee immediately thought that why yes, she could make the time, but before she could say that, Jasper looked at her. The second she saw the combination of regret and concern in his eyes, she knew he hadn’t shown up to ask for a little naked time.

  “What? I can see it’s something, so just spit it out.” She wanted to ask what her mother had done now, only she knew whatever it was Verity couldn’t be involved. Since arriving in Happily Inc, her mother had been sweet and helpful and just plain—

  “It’s about your mom.”

  “Is she okay?”

  “She’s fine.” Jasper looked past her to Pallas. “This is kind of about you, too. Her producer has come up with a really fun idea to promote the show.”

  Renee couldn’t imagine what that had to do with her or Pallas. Unless...

  “Did she find out about the giraffes?”

  “What? No. It’s a giant dog wedding.”

  Renee turned to Pallas who looked as confused as she felt.

  “I don’t know what that is,” Pallas admitted. “How many dogs does it take to be a giant dog wedding?”

  “That was my question,” he admitted. “I guess we’ll find out when they get here. Odele, that’s her producer, thinks it will be entertaining and visual and give them something to promote that will get attention on social media.”

  “Because ‘we have a woman who talks to animals’ isn’t enough of a grabber?” Renee shook her head. “Sorry. I don’t know the business and if my mom’s excited then it’s great that they’re—” The pieces came together.

  “Oh, no,” she breathed. “They want to have the giant dog wedding here, don’t they?”

  “That’s kind of the point of me stopping by. Your mom said things were good between the two of you and she didn’t want to mess that up, so she sent me instead.” He flashed her a smile. “This would be a good time to say don’t kill the messenger.”

  Renee wanted to scream. This was so unfair. She and Pallas were in the middle of negotiating her joining the business. Talk about an off-putting twist in their relationship.

  “It would be midweek,” he added. “Odele said the show will cover all the expenses and make sure the property is back to normal by close of business on Thursday. Apparently they’re willing to pay a premium for the use of the space.”

  Pallas looked at Renee. “Premiums are always nice.”

  “You’re saying you can be bought?”

  Pallas grinned. “When it comes to the business, money nearly always talks.” She turned to Jasper. “I guess I need to speak with Verity’s producer.”

  He pulled a business card out of his shirt pocket. “I happen to have her number right here.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  RENEE AND JASPER left Pallas to call Odele and work out the details of the giant dog wedding.

  When they reached her office, Jasper stepped in front of her to keep her from going inside.

  “You need a break,” he told her. “Let’s go walk around for a half hour or so to clear your head.”

  She thought of all she had to do and all that had happened in the past hour. “I’d like that. I’m kind of reeling from too much input.”

  She collected her handbag, then led the way outside. She expected him to turn toward the Riverwalk but he went in the opposite direction. As she didn’t have a particular destination in mind, she went along without saying anything.

  “How are things with you?” she asked.

  “Good. The book is progressing. Today was all about murder and gross bodies.”

  She laughed. “So an easy day.”

  “Yeah. None of that hard emotional stuff or dealing with Mandy’s life. Give me a good dismemberment scene and I’m a happy guy.”

  “You’re a weird guy.”

  “Maybe, but I’m okay with that.”

  He surprised her by taking her hand in his. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d walked down a street, holding a guy’s hand. Probably when she was with Turner, she thought wistfully. So many years ago. She didn’t miss him at all, but sometimes the what-ifs of the situation were difficult to handle.

  “Pallas wants to talk about me becoming a partner in the business,” she said.

  “That’s great. Do you want to be a partner?”

  “Very much. I like the business and I have some ideas about how we could grow things. It’s a lot of responsibility and I’d have to buy in with a lump sum or over time. I have some savings, but I doubt it’s close to enough, so I guess it will be over time.”

  “I have money.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure you have more than all of us, but that isn’t relevant to the conversation.”

  “I could—”

  “No.”

  “But I don’t need it for—”

  She glared at him. “No. Jasper, stop. There’s no way you can just give me money to buy into Pallas’s business without making things weird between us. Not only would it change things, it would completely freak me out. So just no.”

  He studied her for several seconds. “Fine. I will respect your wishes on this topic.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Even though you’re wrong.”

  She made a low noise in her throat. “Boys are stupid.”

  “Liar. You can’t get enough of me. Now no more talk of business.” He pointed across the street. “See that building there? We’re going inside. It’s a magical place, so there will be no fighting.”

  Across the street was a very unassuming structure. It was plain with big windows and large glass doors. The sign out front read Happily Inc Public Library.

  “I don’t understand. It’s just the library.”

  “Not just the library,” he told her. “When I was a kid, my dad worked a lot of hours. Our house got lonely so I would spend afternoons in the library, reading everything I could. The librarians watched out for me, made recommendations.” He smiled. “Brought me cookies. Come on.”

  He tugged her along as he crossed the street. They went inside.

 
She looked around and saw thousands of books in rows of shelves. There were posters on the wall and signs pointing to various sections. It was, well, a library. But when she turned to Jasper, she realized he saw something completely different. His gaze was slightly unfocused as if instead of books, he saw journeys and possibilities.

  He winked at her. “Let’s go explore. I want to start in travel. It’s over here.”

  He went directly to the travel section. This was not his first time here, she thought, wondering if the seeds of his writing career had been sown long before he’d realized.

  He showed her an old book on Egypt, pointing out the sketched pictures and the original binding. There were coffee table-sized books of maps and books with shiny new photographs of different parts of the world.

  At the end of the aisle, they went in different directions. She found herself in front of cookbooks from around the world. One published in the 1950s showed a sketch of a woman wearing high heels, pearls and an apron, as if that was the expectation.

  “I would so fail at that,” she murmured softly, flipping through the pages and finding an entire section of gelatin mold recipes.

  Someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and saw Jasper standing very close. He leaned in and kissed her on the lips—a sweet kiss that unexpectedly made her eyes burn.

  “Score!” he whispered. “I always wanted to kiss a girl in the library. It’s been a fantasy of mine since I was fifteen and had a thing for a girl named Bambi.”

  “Seriously? Bambi?”

  “I swear. She was so hot and she never noticed me.”

  “That’s her loss.”

  “I like to think so.”

  Then he was gone, continuing his library exploration. Renee hugged the cookbook to her chest. Jasper was surprising in so many ways. She’d thought he would be brooding and quiet and a little scary, albeit good in bed. Except for that last one, he was nothing she’d imagined. Not that she was complaining. She really liked the funny, slightly quirky, affectionate man she’d come to know. He was a down-to-his-bones good guy and someone she was lucky to have in her life.