Chapter Seventeen

“Is that the rental agreement for the Poehler-Scott wedding?”

Mo glanced up at Lilly’s question. She’d been so focused on the paperwork in front of her she’d almost forgotten she was at work. Quickly slipping the papers under a folder on her desk, she shook her head. “No.”

Lilly squinted, causing her glasses to slip down her nose. She pushed them back up with a finger as she asked, “Then what is it?”

Good grief, somebody was in a nosy mood this morning. Mo grabbed another file from her inbox and held it out. “It’s nothing work related, but here’s the venue rental agreement you asked about. All signed and ready to be filed.”

Lilly rose from her desk and headed toward Mo. Pru gave a soft whistle when Lilly passed her desk, whispering under her breath, “You’re in trouble now, Mo.”

Nah. It wasn’t like Lilly was the boss or anything. Sure, Lil took point on most of their weddings, but that was just because she handled the majority of the client interaction. They were all equal partners in Mile High Happiness. Lilly couldn’t fire her.

But her friend could give Mo a stern talking to if she felt the need. And Lilly always felt the need.

Lilly held out her hand. Mo passed over the rental file, but when her friend simply tucked the folder under her arm and waited, she sighed.

“What?”

“Don’t what me, Moira Rossi.”

“I think she wants to know what ‘not work related’ stuff had you so preoccupied,” Pru said from the corner of her mouth.

See, this was the problem with working with your best friends. They didn’t let personal stuff drop the way normal coworkers would. Normally, Mo was all about sharing, but the whole August-Agatha situation was a bit complicated. More so since she and August were sleeping together.

Not that her friends knew about that little tidbit. If they did, she’d be in for the mother of all sit-downs. She knew what they would both say, and none of it would be anything she wanted to hear. But since Lilly could out-stubborn anyone, she sighed and pulled the paperwork she’d been studying from under the folder she’d placed over it.

“It’s just some loan paperwork I’m going over.”

Lilly’s eyes widened in surprise. “Loan? What do you need a loan for?”

“It’s not for me.”

Pru stood up from her desk and headed over to Mo’s. Now both her friends were standing in front of her, concerned expressions on their faces. Oops, she hadn’t meant to worry them. Better explain so they didn’t start freaking out. Pru could be a worrier, and Lilly liked to solve problems. Neither of which Mo needed at the moment.

“Agatha is thinking of buying a small plot of land on the edge of town and setting up a grow house on it.”

“Grow house?” Pru wrinkled her nose. “Agatha’s getting into the marijuana business?”

Mo burst out laughing. Even though those kind of grow houses were legal in Colorado, the thought of sweet old Agatha running a weed empire was the funniest thing she’d ever heard. Once she got her chuckles under control, she clarified, “No. A grow house for flowers. Her grandson August wants to buy some land far away from the city to start his own flower farm. He wants Agatha to sell the shop and come live by him.”

“Oh no.” Pru placed a hand over her heart. “But we love Agatha. We’d miss her so much.”

Lilly nodded in agreement. “And she’s one of our best vendors. We’ve never had any issues with her.”

Mo agreed with them both. If Agatha left, it would devastate her, and not just because they would lose a fantastic vendor. Plus she knew Agatha didn’t want to leave. August knew his grandmother didn’t want to leave. The stubborn man was just being pigheaded about everything.

Lilly leaned over the desk to peek at the loan agreement on Mo’s desk. “So Agatha is applying for a loan to buy a plot of land so August can have a flower farm in the city?”

Mo nodded. “Yup. This way August can still grow his flowers and he can directly supply to the shop so the profit margin will be greater, since she won’t have to go through other growers anymore. Win-win.”

Her confident glow dimmed as she glanced at the skeptical expressions on her friends’ faces. What? This was a great idea. She’d been so excited when she thought of it, she’d texted Agatha right away, and she’d agreed with Mo. Unfortunately, Agatha didn’t have enough money to purchase the amount of land needed. Mo had offered as much help as she could, but Agatha refused, insisting on calling her bank for a business loan instead.

“Moira,” Lilly said.

Uh oh. She was using her warning tone. The one she used when Mo did something wrong, like borrowing her clothes without asking. But the joke was on Lilly, because Mo hadn’t done anything wrong. And she couldn’t borrow any clothing now that the women didn’t live together.

Though she might still have Lilly’s green silk top in the back of her closet from that time she borrowed it and accidentally forgot to return it.

She blinked up innocently at Lilly. “What?”

“Why is your name on this loan application?”

“What?” Pru exclaimed, grabbing the paper off the desk. “Mo, you’re co-signing for Agatha’s loan?”

Nosy friends. She grabbed the paper back, shoving it into a folder and stashing it in her desk drawer.

“Yes. Agatha couldn’t get the loan on her own.” And since the sweet older woman wouldn’t directly ask for help, Mo insisted on co-signing for her. “Agatha’s credit history isn’t as good as the bank wanted, and the shop’s profit margins aren’t quite as high as they would like, I guess, but that’s why this plan will work so well. Once August has his flower farm up and running, she’ll get her flowers at cost from him.”

“And he agreed to this?” Lilly arched a brow.

Mo shifted in her seat. “Technically, he doesn’t know about this plan, but—”

“Moira!” Pru gasped.

Great, and now both her friends were scolding her. They were only two years older than her, but sometimes they acted more like big sisters than peers. Annoying big sisters who thought they knew everything.

“Look.” She pointed to her friends. “August knows I’m trying to come up with a plan to convince him and Agatha to stay.”

Lilly shook her head, sighing heavily. “Convince, Mo. Not take over.”

She wasn’t taking over. Not entirely. It was Agatha’s plan to take out the loan; she just offered to help by co-signing. Besides, he promised to be open to her suggestions. She’d admit applying for a loan was a bit more than a suggestion, but it was what Agatha wanted. Mo was simply doing as her friend wished.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Pru asked. “If Agatha defaults on the loan, you’re responsible for paying it back.”

“I know.” She scowled at her so-called friend. “And of course I want to do this. I don’t believe Agatha would ever dump me with the bill.” The sweet woman didn’t even want Mo to risk her financial future by co-signing in the first place, but dammit, if she could help a friend, she would.

At least Pru had the decency to look ashamed.

“I’m sorry, Mo.” Pru came around the desk and grasped Mo’s hand in hers. “Simon is teething and kept me up all night. I’m not running on all cylinders right now.”

Aw, she couldn’t stay mad at her friend. She stood and wrapped Pru in a tight embrace. “It’s okay. I forgive you. Because I’m awesome like that.”

“Yes, you are.” Pru laughed. “So when do you hear back from the bank?”

She pulled away, glancing back and forth between her friends as she answered. “Once I finish filling this out, I’m going to give it back to Agatha for a final pass. Then she’ll turn it in to the loan office, and hopefully, the bank approves it. I know all loans are a risk, but I trust Agatha and her business sense.”

“Yeah, but do you trust August?” Lilly asked.

More than her friends knew. She was coming to trust August a whole lot more than she should, honestly. He’d mentioned time and again that this thing with them wouldn’t go any deeper than it currently was. But in her heart, she just knew there was a connection between them. Why else would he have shared his painful past with her so freely the other night?

He didn’t do that with people. She could tell by the look of surprise on his face after the words poured from his mouth. Her blood still boiled at the image of sweet little ten-year-old August being shuffled back and forth between homes. Had he even had a room, or had his parents just shoved him wherever was convenient for three days out of the week?

She shouldn’t judge. She had no idea what being in the middle of a divorce was like and, while her parents had never officially gotten married, they’d been together her entire life. What did she know about being a kid caught in between two homes? Maybe that was normal. Still, even if it was normal, that didn’t make it right. Not when it clearly had a lasting impact on August and his view of the world. Of relationships.

“You guys,” she addressed her friends, “I appreciate that you worry about me, but I’ve got this. I know what I’m doing, Agatha knows what she’s doing, and August will be…” She highly doubted he’d be fine with her proposed plan, but… “He’ll come to see the logic of a plan where everyone gets what they want.”

Mostly what they wanted, anyhow.

Pru and Lilly didn’t look convinced. Then again, her friends did tread on the overcautious side of life most days. Thank God they had her or they’d never have any fun.

“Are you sure you should be getting in the middle of this?” Pru asked, tugging on her ponytail. “Inserting yourself into big decisions between family members is usually a recipe for disaster.”

“I’ll be fine.”

It wasn’t like she hadn’t dealt with all kinds of different family dynamics over the years. They all had. Weddings tended to bring out the best and worst in family. From the overly controlling in-laws to the barely there groom to the last-minute screw-it-let’s-elope types. Mo and her friends had dealt with it all.

Lilly removed her glasses and cleaned them with the edge of her skirt. “If you say so, but I think getting involved in others’ family matters can lead to disaster. Especially if one of those people is your roommate.”

Lilly pushed her glasses back on her nose and gave Mo a pointed look. One Mo chose to ignore. If only her friends knew just how involved she was in Agatha’s matters. A part of her wished she could tell them, unload at least one of the secrets burdening her down. But she’d promised Agatha she wouldn’t. Dammit. Hiding Agatha’s surgery from August, hiding her relationship with August from Agatha, hiding all of it from her friends…

It was enough to give her an ulcer.

She didn’t want an ulcer. You weren’t supposed to eat fatty foods with an ulcer, and those were her favorite kinds of foods.

At least part of it would be over soon. Agatha’s surgery was next week, and the woman had promised Mo she would tell August all about it once everything was finished. All August knew was his grandmother was taking a few days off to go on a road trip with some friends from her living complex. At least, that’s what he told her his grandmother had said. Good thing Agatha was a better liar than Mo, and good thing August had shared that in the dark of night so he couldn’t see her face burning with guilt.

It’s not my secret to share.

She had to keep reminding herself of that when the words wanted to burst forth from her lips. Every time they were intimate or August shared a piece of himself with her, it cut a little deeper, the tiny whisper saying that by holding on to this secret, she might be doing something wrong. Even though she had promised and Mo always kept her word, it still felt…deceitful to be hiding something so big from the man she was coming to care deeply for.

“Temporary roommate,” she reminded Lilly. “And I know what I’m doing. Trust me.”

Her friends looked at each other and started to chuckle.

“What?”

At her question, they just laughed harder, until Pru was bent over and Lilly was wiping tears from her eyes. At least she’d gotten them to laugh. Better than the apprehensive glances they’d been giving her the past ten minutes. But she’d like to be let in on the joke, too.

“What is so funny?”

“Oh, sweetie,” Lilly said, working to compose herself. “Whenever you say ‘trust me,’ we know to do the exact opposite.”

“Hey!” She sat back in her seat with a huff, sending her friends a disgruntled frown. Even if what they said was true, it didn’t mean she had to agree with them.

“It’s true,” Pru agreed with a nod. “Remember the time we went hiking, took the wrong trail head, and got lost? Then you said, ‘Trust me, I can get us out of here,’ and we spent another hour and a half climbing all over the damn mountain?”

“We found our way back.” They had. “Eventually.”

Lilly gave a delicate snort. “Only because a ranger came by and escorted us back down to the trail.”

“We made it home. I’m still calling it a win.” She lifted a finger as her memory pinged. “And the ranger had a cute butt, so that’s a double win.”

Lilly shook her head. “What about the time you convinced us to try out your friend’s new food truck and we all got food poisoning?”

“That wasn’t Noah’s fault.”

“He was using raw milk in his iced coffees, Mo,” Pru pointed out. “It’s why he got shut down. It’s dangerous and illegal.”

Okay, so maybe that had been his fault, but she hadn’t known that at the time. She’d just wanted to support a friend.

“We love you, sweetie, but you tend to always think the best of everything and everyone.” Lilly reached out to squeeze her hand. “Not everyone can see the silver lining like you can. Some people aren’t as…easily convinced. Just be careful with this plan and maybe loop August in before you and Agatha sign anything, okay?”

But if she looped him in, he’d find a way to poke a hole in it. The loveable grump would dump his pessimism all over her and Agatha’s bright, shiny plan. Besides, it was still Agatha’s business. If she wanted to take out a loan—with Mo as a co-signer—she had every right to. She didn’t need to ask her grandson’s permission, and Mo didn’t have to ask her roommate/lover’s permission, either.

“I’ll take it under advisement,” she said to appease her friends. She grabbed a pen and one of the vendor contract agreements for their upcoming wedding. “Now, don’t we have a business to run or something?”

“Wow.” Pru gave Lilly a sly grin. “Hell must have frozen over if Mo wants to drop personal issues and get back to work.”

Mo pointed her pen at Pru. “You are not as funny as you think, Prudence Jamison.”

“I’m hilarious,” she responded. “Just ask my toddlers.”

“They laugh at fart noises. I’m not sure they’re the best judges of comedy.”

“Okay, break is over,” Lilly said, moving back toward her desk. “Mo is right—we have a lot of work to attend to.”

Pru playfully stuck her tongue out at Mo, which she maturely returned, smiling as her friend went back to her desk. As meddlesome as her friends could be, it was wonderful how much they cared. Mo felt lucky to know these two women, to be loved and supported by them. And while their advice might be given with the best of intentions, they didn’t know the whole story.

And whose fault is that?

Hers.

Her gut gurgled, acid churning away at the lining. Or it could be all the secrets. Could guilt eat stomach lining?

She pushed down the panic causing her heart to race. It was fine; things were fine. Everything would work out in the end, because it had to. The loan would go through. Agatha would find a nice plot of land for August to grow his flowers. They’d both stay in Denver. Agatha would make it through surgery just fine, and August would never have to know Mo had known about it ahead of time.

Things would be okay.

They had to be.