Know Me Well (Wishful 3)

Mitch grinned. “Full house, buddy boy.”

“Shit. Next hand, Campbell.”

“Keep dreaming. I’m hot tonight.” Mitch gathered up his chips. “Anyway, if I know Norah, she’s also thinking that since you’d be just starting out, you might cut everybody a break on pricing, while you build your reputation as a contractor. Nothing undercut, mind you, but she’ll capitalize on your sense of fairness.”

“I’d expect nothing less from her.” Liam had worked with Norah enough back in the spring that he’d learned she knew how to work people to get the best results.

“So you gonna do it?” Judd asked.

It was an option. A good one, with long-term viability and the kind of parameters that would allow him to build a business as he saw fit rather than fitting into somebody else’s box. And that would put him in a position to start thinking about other areas of his life. Like what he was going to do about Riley.

“Thinking about it. She’s not lookin’ for an answer until I’m done with repairs on the pharmacy.” He finished off his chicken and washed it down with some Shinerbock. “Meanwhile, my more immediate priority is lightening y’all’s wallets. Deal me in.”

Chapter 9

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to call your line of credit due, Mrs. Lazore.” Riley braced herself for the inevitable blow up from the third grade teacher, who’d made her elementary school life hell.

“Young lady, I have had this line of credit with the pharmacy for fifteen years. I’ve never been late with a payment, never had a single complaint from Molly Montgomery. What is the meaning of this?”

“Yes ma’am, I understand. But as you might have heard, the pharmacy flooded a couple of weeks ago. Repairs are going to be costly, so I’m sure you understand why I’m doing this.”

“That’s what insurance is for,” the woman insisted.

And thank God for it. As Molly owned the building, her property insurance was dealing with the physical damage from the flood. But Riley still had the headache of trying to get her stock covered on her business policy, which wasn’t going well. And even if they agreed to pay the claim, there was still the deductible, which was considerable. Plus the bi-monthly drug invoice was due next week, including the non-returnable chemo drugs she’d ordered for Karen Albert, who’d died Wednesday from the ovarian cancer she’d been fighting for a year. Her supplier didn’t care about the grief of losing a long-time customer. They just wanted their $6,000 on time.

“Mrs. Lazore, I apologize if you’re upset about this, but I’m running a business. Lines of credit are a courtesy, not a requirement, and at this time, that courtesy is not available. Consider this notice. I’ll be expecting your payment by the first of next week.”

Riley hung up the phone on the older woman’s sputtering complaints. Probably not the most professional response, but she just couldn’t take it anymore. In the wake of realizing she probably wouldn’t be able to make payroll, she’d made more than two dozen similar calls in the last week. Nobody had taken the news well. And almost all of them had made the same inference—what had she done in the year she’d owned the pharmacy to screw up everything Molly had built?

When her cell phone rang, she didn’t even lift her head from the desk as she picked up.

“It’s time for your weekend sanity check.”

Autumn’s voice came over the line and left Riley with such a yearning for a hug, she almost cried. No shock. She’d been fighting tears for a week and a half, as everything she’d worked for threatened to implode. As Autumn was away at a rare conference, she hadn’t been around to update.

“We’re sorry, that cuckoo has flown the coop. Please try again in another lifetime.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Walgreens opened last week. With half my stock ruined, people had no choice but to go there.”

“They’ll come back, Riley.”

“What if they don’t?” This was her fear. They were a national chain. By dint of sheer volume, they could offer greater discounts than she could. With the economy being so strained, she wouldn’t even blame people for trying to save a buck. She of all people understood the need for that.

“Molly will help.”

Riley knew she would, in a heartbeat. But Riley couldn’t ask. She couldn’t bear to admit how much she was struggling. Molly had sold her the business in good faith because she believed Riley could handle the responsibility of running it. Riley couldn’t tell her she was in over her head. There was simply no other option than to find some kind of miracle to fix this.

“Molly has her hands full dealing with the insurance company.”

Autumn was silent for so long, Riley knew she was biting her tongue.

“How are things going with your mom?”

Because that was a better topic? Riley sighed. “It’s going…okay, I guess. She’s stuck with the job at McSweeney’s for a little over three weeks.”

“You sound awfully skeptical about that.”