Emmy walked into the kitchen, taking Jon’s attention from the story and Trinity. “Your breakfast is on the table.” Emmy set her bunny next to her plate, sat down, and dug into the scrambled eggs and toast with strawberry jam Jon made her.
He went to the coffeepot, poured Trinity a mug, and handed it to her. “I lost a ton of money on the deal. I wanted to focus on the one business I was running well. But I had a feeling about this start-up. The guys had the idea, the ingenuity, the drive, but they needed capital and someone who knew business to oversee the expansion from the ground up. They wanted to go with a well-known venture capital company. I convinced them to take a chance on me.” Pride lit his eyes.
“Let me guess, you made a killing.”
“It took a lot of sleepless nights, eighty-hour work weeks, and blood, sweat, and tears, but that one far exceeded my expectations.”
“Do you still own that company?”
He nodded. “Yes. We make custom packaging and cases for products.”
“Sounds interesting.”
“It can be.”
She wanted to know more. “What kind of cases do they make?”
“For instance, we work with a company that makes high-quality earbuds. We make the case customers can buy to hold and charge them.” He shrugged.
She couldn’t help but notice he kept a greater distance than they’d shared this whole weekend between them. He kept his answers to the information about what she asked and didn’t expand on it. She wondered why. “Do you not want to talk about this?”
“It’s fine. Why?”
“You seem standoffish all of a sudden.”
“I’m fine.” He didn’t seem fine.
“What’s the other business you kept?” She hoped her interest would show him that she cared about what he did and what mattered to him.
“It’s the one I’m most proud of actually.”
That made her smile. “Really? Why?”
“Because it helps the community.”
“I understand why that would make you feel good. Adria and I support the cities we’re in with Almost Homemade. You know we deliver to seniors. We also donate excess food to the local shelters and food banks near the stores. What does your business do?”
“It started as a single grocery store in an underserved community. The business was going under because of rising rents and, believe it or not, theft from the store because customers were too poor in the community to pay for their groceries. I had read an article about how people in communities like this were losing their local grocers and having to travel to larger cities to buy food, but it cost so much more, plus what they had to pay for gas or public transportation.”
“So you bought the store to help the community.” She loved that. It showed his big heart.
“I could have just bought it, but the man who owned it was the second-generation owner who was teaching his son to one day take over. It wasn’t their fault the store was going under. They managed it well and tried to keep food costs low for their customers. So I bought the building and lowered the store’s rent for a modest piece of the profits after I looked at their books, helped them negotiate better wholesale buying prices, added some security measures to cut down on theft, and basically helped turn things around for them.”
“That’s brilliant. And you allowed that man to keep the family business that meant so much to him.”
“He was very grateful. So were the locals. So I did it again. And again. And again.”
“How many store buildings do you own?”
“At last count? Twelve. I was thinking about buying the local grocery store here and expanding the chain to help out some of the more remote areas in Montana.”
“Are you going to do that?”
“I’m focusing on the ranch right now. Originally, my plan was to spend summers here with Emmy and go back to California during the school year so she could be with her mom, too. But when I talked to Steph about my idea, she said she wanted a change, too. Living here would be less expensive, she could do it on her own, be more independent from her family. Anyway, I asked the owner of the grocery store to give her the open manager position. She used to manage a clothing store. I figured a grocery store wasn’t much different.”
“And you could keep an eye on her.”
“That’s exactly why I didn’t buy the store. It’s still on the table, but a week before the move, I had an epiphany.”
“You didn’t want to be her boss and that closely linked to her on a regular basis.”
He smiled. “That’s right, smart girl.”
She waved her hand out toward the desk area he had set up in the living room during the renovations. “So what have you been working on? It looks like a bunch of grocery store stuff.”
“It’s similar, but something new. Just some ideas I have, but I’m not sure I’m going to do anything with them yet. I’m not sure if the owners of the business are open to my ideas.”
“Well, if your track record is any indication, they’d be crazy not to partner with you.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because it doesn’t seem to be about the money for you. You care about the people you work with and the service or product you deliver. What those businesses do matters more than how much you can make on them.”
He eyed her. “What matters to you, Trinity?”
“I believe in delivering a quality product sourced from local producers. I believe in working in cooperation with the community for the community’s benefit. That’s why Adria and I partnered with our soon-to-be sister-in-law for the eggs, chicken, and produce we use. It’s why we partnered with my brothers at Cedar Top Ranch for our beef. And why we buy our other ingredients from local vendors as well.”
He shook his head. “That’s all fantastic and why I admire the hell out of you and your business, but I’m asking what about me and what I do matters to you?”
She tilted her head and studied him. “I really don’t understand what you’re asking me.”
“Are you interested in me because I’m a rich businessman?”
This time she took a step back from him. “Are you serious?” She wanted to swear, but Emmy was right there pretending to feed her bunny jelly toast. “I’m interested in you because of who you are, not what you do or how much money you have. I’m insulted that you’d even think I care about—”
He closed the distance and kissed her, cutting off her words.
She tried to push him away, because he’d made her angry, but he held her against him, ended the kiss, and pressed his forehead to hers. Remorse, deep and true, filled his eyes. “I’m sorry. It was stupid to ask such a thing when I know none of that matters.”
“Why would you even think it?”
He said the one thing that made all the sense in the world. “Steph.”
She remembered him saying that he paid for her apartment. She wondered what else he paid for to keep Steph happy and off his back. None of her business.
Or was it now?
She took a breath before she spoke to let the last of her anger dissipate. “I’m not her.”
“I know that. I’m so damn happy you are nothing like her.”