The Magnolia Sisters (Magnolia Sisters #1) - Michelle Major Page 0,98
invest any additional revenue into a full-blown marketing campaign for the following summer season.
She had a plan for attracting new shops to downtown and was in talks with several potential restaurant owners. She still needed to convince Carrie to open up the gallery as a painting studio, offering classes and hosting parties with Carrie as the main instructor. They needed money and she was hustling to think of any way to get it. But she could imagine it...everything...her future...a life she never thought existed for her but now felt like the most natural fit.
As expected, not everyone supported her new path in life. The tense phone call she’d had with her mother was a perfect example. Melissa apparently hadn’t appreciated the text Avery sent with the photos of her and Niall.
“Why are you doing this?” her mother had demanded when Avery accepted her call.
Avery tried to explain that she needed to understand her past to move forward, but her mom hadn’t seemed convinced.
“The part I don’t understand,” her mother had said, impatience clear in every syllable, “is why you aren’t moving on. If you don’t want to come back to San Francisco that’s your choice. But some tiny dot on the North Carolina map isn’t for you, sweetheart. I raised you to want more.”
“I want to be happy,” Avery answered without thinking, only to be met with silence on the other end of the line.
Her mother had hung up shortly after. Maybe she was so far removed from a time when she’d felt happy that she’d lost sight of its value. But Avery had seen it in her mother’s young eyes in the photo with Niall. She’d been happy, if only for a short period.
“I got an extra,” she said, holding up the brown bag as she led him to a table. “Would you like some?”
“I have an offer on the downtown buildings,” he said instead of answering.
Avery gripped the edges of the ladder-back chair she’d just slipped into. “You told me it would take months or possibly years.” She swallowed against the emotions bubbling up in her throat. “That a buyer for the downtown property was a long shot at best, and that selling the ranch would be the smarter option.”
He leaned forward. “Has your sister agreed to put it on the market?”
“Careful, Jacob.” She raised a brow. “You’re drooling at the prospect.”
“I’m not denying I want the listing.” He shrugged. “Any real estate agent would. That land is a virtual gold mine. We could subdivide—”
Avery turned when a throat cleared behind her. Shae, the high schooler who worked part-time for Meredith stood behind her. “Hey, Shae. Shouldn’t you be in school?” She felt her cheeks grow warm. “It’s nice to see you, of course, but—”
“I have a free period and it’s open campus for seniors,” the girl said, frowning between the Realtor and Avery. “Is Meredith selling the rescue?”
Several people at tables nearby turned to look at them. Shae didn’t have much of an inside voice. “No,” Avery said, trying for a convincing smile. Then she looked at Jacob. “No,” she repeated with more force before returning her gaze to Shae. “You know how much the animals mean to Meredith.”
The girl nodded but didn’t look convinced. “It’s a good job, too. Meredith gives me time off when I have a big test or during final-exam week.”
“She appreciates everything you do.”
“Yeah.” Shae hugged her arms across her middle. “I just wanted to see how Spot and the kittens were doing.”
“We’re in the middle of a meeting,” Jacob told the girl, his impatience clear.
Avery stared at the man, trying to remember what she’d liked about him when they first met. Probably the fact that she’d been desperate to unload her inheritance and he’d seemed like her best chance to make that happen.
“The kittens are growing every day.” Avery smiled at Shae, hoping the girl didn’t associate her with the brusque Realtor. “While Spot is shrinking.”
Jacob tapped his pen on the table—tap, tap, tap—some sort of Realtor Morse code that clearly conveyed his annoyance without him having to say a thing.