Page 189 of The Reason I Married Him
I feel him nod. “And the only source of income is from the store?”
“No,” I say. “The website as well, which is what Cassidy set up right before she started to get really sick.”
“You sell products online?” he asks.
“Yes, just the almond extract and vodka. We want to move the honey over there as well as some other products, like cookie mixes and whatnot, but we haven’t gotten to that aspect of the business yet. Only so much we can do at a time.”
“Understandable,” he says. “Who does the fulfillment for the online store now?”
“Esther. She’s in charge.”
“Is she in charge of the website?”
“I was taking care of it for a bit, then Hattie for a second, and now I believe Esther has fully taken it over. At least that’s what was in the process of happening when I spoke to Hattie last.”
“What’s the website?” he asks.
“What do you mean? We sell goods.”
“No.” He chuckles. “What’s the name of the website?”
“Oh.” Since I’m already connected to The Cliffs’s Wi-Fi, I pull up my web browser and type in the website. It takes a few seconds, but I show him when it comes on the screen. “It’s simple. Cassidy wanted it to be so much more, but she didn’t have the time, and none of us are webmasters.”
Wyatt takes a moment to look over the very basic Shopify website that Cassidy set up. With a white background and basic blue font, there isn’t much to it other than a homepage with a picture of the storefront, a shop page, and a contact page. She wasn’t even able to add the about us page she mentioned when she first started putting it together.
“It’s pretty basic,” Wyatt says. “But it does the job.” He clicks on the store and scrolls down, looking over the pictures of our products. Our two products. “I like what she did with the pictures, capturing the feel of the store.” He clicks on the almond extract and then balks. “Holy shit.”
“What?” I ask.
“Is that how much you sell your almond extract for?”
“What do you . . .” My voice fades away as my eyes land on the price. Two dollars and ninety-eight cents. “What the fuck,” I say as I bring the computer closer. “Does that really say what I think it says?”
“Uh, if you think it says two dollars, then yes.”
“Oh my God, we sell it for twelve dollars.” I stare down at it, thinking about when Cassidy put this up.It was just as she started feeling unwell.She wanted to do something when she was lying in bed, something that made her feel like she was contributing. She must have missed putting the one in front of the two to make it twelve dollars, not two.
I lean back against Wyatt, feeling a sense of frustration and relief at the same time.
“Do you think that’s the problem?” he asks.
“Yes,” I whisper as I move back to the Excel sheet and sort the products by almond extract. “That easily explains the higher volume of sales with lower income.” I let out a relieved sigh. “God, Wyatt, I’ve been driving myself crazy over this. And I should be mad about this, furious that no one caught this, but I’m just relieved.” I lift and look him in the eyes. “Thank you, Wyatt. I thought . . . I thought it was something I was doing wrong. That I was failing Cassidy.”
His expression softens as he lightly cups my cheek. “You’re not failing her, Aubree. You’re preserving her legacy through this farm, the store, and Mac.”
I wet my lips, my emotions getting the better of me as I say, “That means a lot to me, Wyatt. Thank you.” And then, because the relief outweighs the frustration, I grip his cheeks and press my mouth to his.
His hand falls to my thigh while the other holds my back, and he kisses me back. It’s slow and thoughtful, with a hint of hunger as our lips part and our tongues lightly tangle.
The world around us falls to the wayside as nothing else exists besides us—me sitting on his lap, his grip holding me tightly as our mouths explore each other.
Comfort and reprieve pull me into a tight hug while I get lost in Wyatt and the way he captures me so easily with his kisses.
I forget that we’re in the middle of town, in a popular restaurant where anyone can see us.
I forget that this is a platonic relationship.
I forget that he’s not my man but a business partner.
