But who could work ten hours a day for two hundred days nonstop? She’d be exhausted.
And there was Grammy to think about and her sisters and the inn.
But if she did this, her career would be set. If Pippa Grandon used Gia’s kites in her wedding, it would shoot her to the stars.
“When is the wedding?”
“Not until next June.”
A year away. Gia’s mind churned, trying to find a way to make it happen, but she couldn’t see it and she wasn’t about to promise something she wasn’t sure she could deliver. “Miss Grandon, while the offer is flattering, and I’m so tempted to say yes, it would take me a minimum of eight months to hand make a hundred kites.”
“Honey, delegate. Hire people to help.”
Were there parts of the process she could delegate? Gia paused to consider it, saw her disappointed mentor shake his bald head in her mind’s eye.
“Don’t say no.” Pippa’s voice took on a cajoling tone and she shook her head. “This is your opportunity of a lifetime.”
“I appreciate the offer so much, but my grandmother is in the hospital and I promised my sisters I’d help them get the inn back on its feet—”
“Please, please, please say yes.” Pippa bounced on her toes and pressed her palms together in front of her heart. “You can hire someone to help them with the house on the deposit money I give you. You could hire nurses for your grandmother.”
Gia wanted to shout, Yes, yes, I’ll do it! and then figure out how to make it happen later. Just the idea of creating wedding kites stirred her creativity and she itched to do it. “I’ll need to think about it.”
“What’s to think about? You’ll make a boatload of money and get massive publicity for your kites. You’ll become the kitemaker to the stars!”
But Gia had never been about status or lots of money. That was Madison’s thing. Gia cared about quality and craftsmanship. She wanted to put out only the best products whether she made tons of money or not.
Pippa turned to her bodyguard. “What do you think, Bruno?”
Bruno grunted.
“See? Even Bruno thinks you should do it. Please, please, please with sugar on top.” Pippa hopped around the room. “If you say yes, I’ll buy all these other kites and gift them to my friends.”
Her bank account was so close to empty it was scary, and they did need money to get the inn out of debt. To have ready cash from the sale of her inventory, well, Gia just couldn’t dismiss that out of hand.
“Can I think about it?”
Pippa pooched out her bottom lip in a pout. “All right, but only because I really like you and this is a supercute house. But I don’t get tripped up in go-nowhere projects. Let me know by six P.M. tonight or the deal’s off.”
The woman might come off as a flibbertigibbet, but she was a tough negotiator.
“All right.” Gia nodded. “I’ll let you know by six.”
“Just understand me, I really want this and I’m accustomed to getting what I want.”
“I hear you.”
“Okay then, hugs.” Pippa held out her arms.
Gia hugged the young woman, but it was like hugging air. Pippa floated away just as quickly as she’d rushed into Gia’s embrace.
Pippa held out her hand. “Give me your phone so I can put my number in it.”
Gia complied, and Pippa punched in her cell number and gave the phone back to her.
“Ciao.” She bounced out of the room humming “Let’s Go Fly a Kite.”
Bruno followed close at her heels, leaving them with one last parting grunt.
Chapter Fifteen
Gia
ROCK THE NEEDLE: The process of bringing the needle back to the surface of all the quilt layers by using a rocking motion.
GIA STARED AT her phone. She had the cell number of one of the hottest young celebrities in the country. How had that happened?
Mike shook his head and let out a long audible exhale.
She shot him a glance. “What?”
“You’re seriously thinking of not doing this?”
“You think I should?”
“It’s not my place to tell you what to do.”
“But you’d do it?”
“I would. But you have to figure out what you really want.”
“I want to finish the wedding quilt.”
“No, your grandmother wanted you to finish the wedding quilt.”
“Same thing.” She lifted and dropped her shoulder hard. The tone in his voice and the look in his eyes stirred weird feelings inside her.
“Is it?”
She cocked her head and studied him, her pretend fiancé. He seemed angry with her. She nibbled a thumbnail and folded the