Page 117 of Falling into Place
“That doesn’t matter. What’s the point of saving money if you won’t let yourself use it when you need it? This could be the start of a brand-new career, Carly. Something incredible thatyouget to build, run exactly how you want, and that will be a return on that investment a dozen times over. Every single store they’ve franchised has been in the black within the first year, and it’s something you’d love doing. I swear,it felt like fate when I came across that post. Everything about this has Carly Porter written all over it.”
“You seem awfully optimistic.”
“I told you I was excited about it.”
Carly rested her chin in her palm, regarding the website. She leaned her head to the side and caught Brooks’s eye. “What do you think about all this?” she asked quietly.
“It’s unexpected, that’s for sure,” he said, voice low. “And different. But my opinion isn’t what matters, here.”
There’s no way he’d get behind this. It hadn’t even been a half hour since they got back together—he wouldn’t want her to move out of state.
“I’d like to hear it all the same.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Okay,” he said, scanning her face. “Well, the thing is, I’ve never forgotten the look on your face when we were on that pretend date and you told me about shopping with younger people who can’t spend a lot of money. I don’t think I’ve seen you look that excited since.”
She wasn’t expecting him to say that. “Not even when you rolled up your sleeves for me?”
He laughed. “This was enthusiastic excited, not turned-on excited. I like both.”
“Equally?”
A beat passed and one corner of his mouth lifted. “No.”
“Ew,” Sasha put in.
“This idea is huge, and it feels completely out of left field. I get that. I also know change is scary,” Brooks said, leaning forward to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. “But this literally sounds like a dream job for you. You’d get to curate your own store full of clothes to sell and help style people that came into shop. I think you might love that, and you’d be fucking awesome at it. You’re smart, hardworking, and creative, and when you want to, you can do anything you put your mind to.”
“Yes, the only things needed to start and run a small business,” she said dryly.
“What else is there? Money?”
It was no small concern, especially for someone who hadn’t grown up with it. “For one. Did you see the recommended cash on hand for start-up? That’s separate from the training program, and I definitely don’t have the money to do that on my own. The thought of taking out a loan is just ...” She shuddered.
“You’re looking at a guy whose career was made possible with loans.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know that much about small business loans, but school loans seem different.”
“So let’s go to a bank and talk about it. Learn the similarities and differences and see what you think after that. My neighbor owns a local appliance store, and I’m sure he’d be happy to talk you through how he got started. Nothing wrong with asking questions just to see, right?”
“Maybe.” Her shoulders dipped. “I also lack any business acumen.”
“You’re a CPA, so I doubt that. But even so, that’s what the training’s for, right? And the ongoing support from the flagship group. It sounds like they’ve got a pretty sophisticated system going.”
She tilted her head as she regarded him, thoughtful. “You’re saying a lot of reasonable things.”
“The same things I was saying,” Sasha grumbled.
Carly didn’t look away from Brooks when she said, “Sounds better coming out of his mouth.”
Brooks grinned and took her hand, weaving his fingers between hers. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
