All About You (All Series Book 6) Read Online Free PDF Page A

the fun stuff. The exciting part of it. You know, to spice up this boring life in the slow lane you keep reminding me I have.”
    Olivia knew Sophia was just picking on her. Something she never did until recently. Sophia always said and did the right things, the proper things. Nothing like Olivia.
    “Sorry, can’t give it to you. But after the premiere, I’ll gladly tell you. Especially if she is asked who the designer is and it brings in more business.”
    “I understand, but I still don’t think it’s fair.”
    “Pouting doesn’t become you. And I’m still not going to give you a name, no matter how cute you look doing it.”
    Sophia huffed out a snort. “It was worth a try.”
    Olivia smiled softly at Sophia, thrilled at how well they got along now. Something she always wanted with her sister when she was younger, but never had the opportunity to have.
    “If I haven’t thanked you before, I’ll do it again for giving me the cash for the construction. I had enough cash to swing the inventory, but not for the rehab of the storefront.”
    Sophia walked over and ran her free hand along Olivia’s while she fed Addison with the other. “You didn’t need the cash. You needed my name for your line of credit. I know that.”
    She should have known that Sophia would have figured that out. “How did you know?”
    “I do this for a living, Olivia. You’re young, with not a lot of stability. You have money, you have clients, but you don’t have a history of staying put. You’ve never owned a home, and you move all the time. Without my name and stability, my credibility and history, you would have had to float cash all the time for inventory. They didn’t want to take the chance with you, did they?”
    “No, they didn’t.”
    Olivia hated that. She hated that the vendor she’d wanted so desperately wasn’t willing to give her a chance.
    It didn’t matter she had a great reputation, it didn’t matter the amount of money she was willing to put up, she was still too big of a risk to them. They wanted someone more responsible—their words exactly. Or they wanted another partner to cushion things. So Olivia did the only thing she could think of—she called Sophia.
    “You could have asked Mom, but you asked me. Why?”
    “You really need to ask that? Sure, Mom is ‘stable’ but I don’t need her swooping in and telling me what to do, who to hire, how many hours to work, and what pieces to make. You won’t do that.”
    “You’re right, I won’t. Silent partnership works well for me. You know, Kaitlin is still annoyed you wouldn’t let her put up some money for a small percentage of ownership. Her name and creditability would have helped too, probably more than mine, to be honest.”
    Kaitlin Mathews, Phil Harper’s younger sister, was Sophia’s best friend, and now her sister-in-law. Being a partner in her father’s investment firm, not to mention their family ties, or her husband’s legal ties would have gone a long way.
    “If I need something down the road and can’t do it on my own, I’ll consider it. But I wanted to keep it in the family, and I didn’t want to give up that much of the ownership.”
    “Totally understand. Kaitlin’s still family, though. She just wanted ten percent and she’d do it in a heartbeat if you’d let her. She thinks it’s a good investment.”
    “I know the store is.”
    “No, you are. You’re the investment, Olivia. This isn’t about the store; it’s about you and what you can do and what you’ve made of yourself so far.”
    It felt good to hear Sophia say that. To have someone believe in her, to have faith in her, and someone to make her feel she really could do this.

A Team
     
    Finn looked around the store watching everyone working, staying quiet and minding their own business, for which he was thankful. Olivia hadn’t shown up today and he hoped if she did, the boys would be on their best behavior.
    At least he prayed for their sake they were on