Alpha Billionaire Series
Coming Home Chapter 25

MAKENZIE

“What is this?" Travis asked as he stepped into the kitchen.

“What is what?” I looked around the room, nothing was out of place that I noticed.

“Where's breakfast?”

“Milk is in there, cereal in there." I pointed to the refrigerator and then the cupboard.

“I was expecting you to have something a little more prepared, and a lot less messy” He swiped scattered cereal O's from thy table where Ainsley had tossed a handful of her breakfast earlier.

Ishook my head. “I have no idea where you got that idea from. This is breakfast around here. If you want something fancier, you are welcome to cook something for yourself. Or you could always go to one of the many restaurants that serve breakfast”

“I'm here and I have expectations.”

“No, Travis, you have delusions. I'm neither your cook nor your mother. I don't give a shit what you expect.” I closed my mouth tight and cast a glance at Ainsley. Travis had me so mad I was cursing in front of little ears with a parrot mouth. “You're a grown man, feed yourself.’

He huffed and looked like he was about to ask me if I knew who he was. Travis's level of self-importance only seemed to get worse with every passing year.

“I want to go over your books."

“That's nice.” I used a tone that said, “I heard but I'm ignoring your stupid request.

“Makenzie!” Travis tried to scold me.

Fool him. I didn't care what he thought. He wasn't in a position to scold me.

“Travis, I said right back at him.

“Your toddler is behaving better than you are."

“That's because she doesn't have an older brother to deal with. How long do I have to put up with you?”

“I'll leave this afternoon after I have a chance to look over your books."

“Yeah, you keep saying that like I'm going to just give in. I have a business partner and a business plan, and neither includes you. So, you can leave after breakfast.”

“Mom specifically asked me—"

“Mom can talk to me directly if she is so concerned. Look, she doesn’t understand my business or the craft industry as a whole. She honestly thinks I'm just making this up as I go along. Ym not. I'm following a tried and trusted formula used in th industry. If I was so mistaken, then why did Gloria jump in with such enthusiasm?’

“There was not even a single customer in your store the entire day."

“That's bull and you know it. There wasn't anyone in the while you were there. My business is doing just fine for having been open less than a month. Tell Mom that”

The alarm on my phone went off.

“Time for us to get ready to go," I said as I lifted Ainsley from her chair. I put her down and she ran off toward her room. “Don’t be here when I get home. And next time you're planning on coming to Nantucket, call first, would you?”

“What? In case you don't have room for me? This isn't your house Makenzie."

I sighed. “No, but it's my home, and you don't have to be rude and just show up."

I cleaned up Ainsley's messy eating and tossed the dishes in the sink before following her upstairs. Travis was gone when we left about half an hour later. I hoped he stayed gone.

I spent the morning setting up a small, gated area that Ainsley could play in. She was happier when she could move around. A couple of moms with toddlers in strollers came into the shop. Eavesdropping was inevitable, what with the size of the shop, and how loud they were. I had to keep my ears open in case they needed help.

“Oh, 'm going to have to come back. Look at all this gorgeous stuff”

“No sweetie, let's not touch that. That's not for you."

I was glad she was telling her kid to keep their grubby hands off my fabrics. Toddlers are adorable, but they are grubby. “Excuse me?” One of them called out.

“Yes? How can I help you?"

She was standing in front of the play area I had set up. Ainsley sat playing with a couple of dolls.

“Is this for anyone? Or just...” She bit her lip and didn’t finish asking.

“I hadn't thought of that. I was just giving my daughter a bit more playroom. You want to put your kids in there while you shop, why not?”

They both immediately began lifting their children out of their strollers. “Oh, thank you, this will make things so much easier”

Their kids found toys and began playing.

What I had anticipated as a quick fifteen-minute run through the shop turned into almost an hour's stay and several hundreds of dollars of yardage being sold. They happily chatted as they rolled their kids, back in the stroller, out the door. Gloria held the door open and watched them leave. “Big sale?” she asked as she made her way back to the counter.

“Huge sale, all because of that" I pointed at the play area I had set up. “They were talking about having to come back later without their kids when they asked if they could put their kids in with Ainsley. I said sure, and they went nuts!

“Well, when I was a kid, stores had playrooms so mothers could shop. I think they had to stop for liability issues.”

Isighed; my brilliant idea had been squashed before I had a chance to verbalize it.

“But I think that was because they literally left us in rooms unattended and went all over in huge department and furniture stores. This place is small, they can see their kids from every single angle here”

“So, you're thinking what I'm thinking? We could move it a little farther back, and it could be seen from the classroom.”

“We could offer mommy quilting days,” Gloria said with excitement.

“We totally could. Moms are more tolerant of other kids than other people. So, we could offer classes specifically knowing that little kids will be present.” I started laughing. “I was just thinking of asking Ethan to build us some low walls, making it permanent because of the sales. I hadn't even thought about class opportunities.”

“We can expand classes to include toddler clothes.”

“That's exactly what that one woman said she was going to make. She bought over three hundred dollars of How Now Brown Cow to make toddler dresses.”

“Did you get her contact information? Does she want to teach a class?”

“I'love how you think!”

“Same here Mak, same here."

Gloria and I were smiling like idiots. We had an entirely new revenue line to build into the business. I looked over my shoulder to make sure Ainsley wasn't looking. I flipped my middle fingers up and did an awkward little dance. “Screw you, Travis."

“What was that?”

I clasped my hands together and angelically turned to Gloria. “My mother sent my a*****e brother out here to look at our books. She doesn't think this is a realistic business to open.”

Gloria put her hands on her hips. “Jennifer Underwood is getting a phone call from me. Does she think that I have so much money I can just throw it away?"

Isighed. “In her mind, it's a hobby store. She said as much when she was out helping us set up. Meaning the store is your hobby and not a legitimate business. I told Travis to stuff it. He doesn't get to analyze a business that's been open for a few weeks, especially one in an industry he doesn’t fathom. Mom never did crafts, of any kind. I don't think either of them realizes it's a multibillion-dollar industry."

“Well, it's a good thing that I do, and that you have such a good creative eye. Tapping into the stay-at-home mom market might be what we need to be able to advance our online presence timeline up."

My phone began ringing. Pulling it from my pocket, I looked at the caller ID. It was Holden. “I should take this."

I stepped back into the classroom area. “Are you calling to tell me you're coming home?”

There was a low groan on the other end of the call.

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“Sorry, I have to go in for surgery.”

“What? Holden, what's going on?”

There was silence and then another voice. “Hi, is this Makenzie? I'm a nurse here at New Haven General. Holden asked if I could let you know what was going on. He's on some pain meds right now. So, talking isn't as comprehensive as he thinks it is!

“Okay, what's going on?” I asked slowly. My stomach cramped and I could only imagine the worst things possible. “Something has gone awry with one of the plates in his leg. They'll be operating on him tonight to fix everything and remove it!

“By “fix everything and remove it, you aren't talking about amputating his leg, are you?”

“No,” she laughed. “They're going to remove the plate. Oh, here he wants to talk to you."

There was a rustle and then heavy breathing.

“Holden?”

“I'm sorry. I owe you dinner” He didn't quite get full words out. Talking to him was very much like talking to Ainsley when she was first learning her words.

“Call me when you get out of surgery and remember to, okay?”

He muttered something that sent lightning through my body. It sounded a lot like I love you, but it was so garbled it could have been anything. The call ended and I stared at my phone for a while.

“I love you too.”

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