“That’s smart.”
“It’s going to cost, but I’m willing to pay more to get it done right.”
Theo nodded. “You’re going to do fine, Kendra. I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing when I took over for Ralph, and I took a few business classes in college. It was a steep learning curve.”
I hoped I wasn’t going to fuck this up. Consulting experts was my way to safeguard against making any disastrous decisions. I hoped.
Theo told me about her rough first few weeks and I cringed.
“I still hate accounting, which is why I outsource that. My biggest piece of advice for anyone wanting to start a business is to figure out what you don’t have a talent for and then pay someone else to do that. Even if you do have a talent for something, if it’s something you dread, outsource.”
“Yeah, I’m definitely not going to be doing accounting stuff. I’m not that great at math.” My math grades had always been my lowest in school.
“No one gives a fuck about that. Ralph didn’t even graduate high school and he ran a successful business for decades. It’s all about your drive and your passion.”
Theo’s voice was forceful, as if she’d argued with people before about something like this.
“I absolutely believe that,” I said. “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be doing this.”
Theo held her bottle up and I tapped it with my drink.
“Cheers,” Theo said.
Eventually Mia came back and wanted Theo to do more flips, but this time she said no.
“Mommy said we’re leaving,” Mia said after she’d run over to see her parents. “The baby makes her sooooo tired.”
“Creating another person is a lot of work,” Theo said, getting to her feet.
I didn’t want her to leave, but we couldn’t hang out in the shade forever.
“You want to come over for dinner next week?” I asked.
“Sure. Tuesday?”
I nodded and she tossed her bottle in one of the boxes marked for recycling. Amanda was going to clean up in bottle return fees from this day when she hit the redemption center.
“Drop by the shop if you want. You know, as a friend.”
“I will,” I said. “And maybe I’ll bring you coffee and maybe I won’t.”
Theo gave me a brief smile before walking away. “You’re welcome either way.”
I slid back into my chair because I had no choice. Theo’s smile undid me every time.
“Bye Mia,” I called, and the little girl turned and waved at me.
I went back to the table with my friends and said I was going to head out. Things were winding down a little bit and quite a few people had gone home already.
It took a while to make my goodbyes to my friends and then to Amanda, who was chilling in a chair with her daughter Ellie sitting next to her.
I gave her a hug and she thanked me for coming.
“Thanks for inviting me. I had a great time,” I said.
“We might have to make it an annual thing, don’t you think?” Amanda said and Ellie groaned.
“Let’s just get through today and then we’ll think about next year after we’ve cleaned up.”
Amanda had already washed and dried my bowl and it was waiting for me in the kitchen, so I grabbed it and headed back to my car.
Just after I walked into my house, my mom called.
“You look much brighter today, and you definitely got some sun. Did you forget your sunscreen?”
I laughed. “I did put it on, but maybe not as well as I could have.”
Mom shook her head and tutted at me as if I was still a child.
“I had a good day,” I said, and told her about the barbecue.
“I’m proud of you for going by yourself,” she said.
“It wasn’t that big of a deal, but thanks.”
I didn’t tell her about making up with Theo, and quickly segued into talking about business stuff. Dad came on and showed me another one of his paintings and said he’d get framed and bring to me. This man seemed determined to decorate every wall of my house and I wasn’t upset about it.
“Thanks, Dad. That’s really special.”
“Oh, I almost forgot that I digitized those pictures you wanted from Memma, so you should be able to find them on the family drive,” Mom said. One of her major projects had been collecting hundreds of family pictures and putting them all in one central location so anyone in the family could have access to them. I wanted to take one entire wall in the living room and make a collage of family photos, especially Memma. She’d been a total babe in her younger years and had some small parts in theater and dance productions.
I was going to need some help with figuring out the layout, since I wanted to get everything done at once. Maybe Theo could come over and help me measure. She’d definitely be better at it than me.