Small Town Boss by Cheryl Michaels

Author:Cheryl Michaels [Michaels, Cheryl]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-11-14T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Brady was having fun showing Claudia around Landon. They’d visited the waterfalls, took a few selfies, browsed the antique shop, grabbed lunch at the café, and picked up a few books at the bookstore. She’d even dragged him into his friend’s wife’s boutique so she could buy a dress for church the following Sunday. Of course he’d slipped the clerk his credit card while Claudia was redressing, much to her dismay.

But when he led her into Ainsley’s flower shop, she pulled back on his hand. “Why’re we going in here?”

“Just to say hello.” He led her inside, smiling at the girl behind the counter. “Ainsley around?”

“She just stepped out to grab some coffees.” Her gaze slid to Claudia before she said, “My sister’s been wondering why you haven’t called her. I guess now we know.”

Claudia slipped her hand from his as she leaned over to admire a bunch of blue and white hydrangeas.

“Uh, excuse me?” He’d never seen this girl before in his life.

“You don’t see the family resemblance?” she asked, glaring at him. “My sister’s Ellie.”

Ugh. Ellie was a dental hygienist he’d gone out with a few times before Claudia came to town. “Oh, uh, I didn’t realize she had a sister,” he said, wondering what he was supposed to say about a girl he hadn’t given a second thought about since he met Claudia.

“Oh, hey, you guys,” Ainsley said, breezing through the door holding two coffees. “If I’d known you were here, I would have grabbed two more.”

“That’s okay,” Brady said, noting that Claudia’s eyes were fixed on the door. “We just popped in to say hi.”

“Actually, that coffee smells so good,” Claudia said, barely sparing him a glance. “I think I’m going to go grab one. Nice seeing you, Ainsley.”

“Yeah, you too,” Ainsley said, watching Claudia leave.

When the girl behind the desk said to Ainsley, “I’m going to work on those orders now,” Brady exhaled slowly.

“Okay, what’d I miss?” Ainsley asked, walking behind the glass counter to set down the coffees.

“Why didn’t you tell me you’d hired Ellie’s sister?” Brady snapped. “If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have brought Claudia in here.”

“Who’s Ellie?” Ainsley asked, looking confused.

Brady wasn’t surprised Ainsley didn’t know her. Her family had moved to the area a few years ago and she went to school out of state, only returning for summer and Christmas vacations. She’d just gotten a job in town a few months ago. “Just someone I was seeing before Claudia came to town.”

“Oh.” Ainsley peeked into the backroom, but there was no sight of her employee. “Did she say something to make Claudia uncomfortable? If she did, I can have a word with her.”

“It’s okay,” Brady said.

He had no one to blame for this but himself. Ellie had texted him a couple of times over the past two weeks, asking if he wanted to get together. He’d told her he was busy, instead of telling her he was no longer interested. No wonder she and her sister were mad at him.

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