The Old Fashioned Way (A Homespun Romance) Read Online Free
Author: Geeta Kakade
night with us? It will be no bother at all for a friend of Abby's."
Beside him, Daniel heard a sharp gasp of surprise. Before he could turn down Sarah's invitation, he heard Abby Silver say, "Mr. Hawthorn has a very busy schedule. He can't stay." The words were followed by a light touch on his arm. "Let me show you out."
Daniel stared at her. Her eyes held a warning he couldn't understand. I want you to leave. Now.
He didn't want to stay, but neither did he want someone else making the decision for him. Irritation crackled through him as he nodded to Sarah Trenton and hurried after her granddaughter.
CHAPTER TWO
"Wait, just a minute."
The hand he placed on her shoulder when they were back in the shop, stopped Abby Silver. She spun around to face him, her color bright.
"Why are you rushing me out of here as if the place is on fire?"
"Because I saw the way you looked when I told you Gran was a partner in the store."
"And what way was that?" Did Abby Silver think she could read his mind?
"Horrified."
She could read his mind. Horrified described exactly how he felt. Dealing with someone like Abby was different from dealing with her grandmother. He knew that from experience.
"I thought you owned the shop."
Abby held the door open. "I own a quarter of it."
"I still don't understand why you're rushing me out like this."
She looked at him and then away, but not quickly enough. Daniel saw the anger in her eyes.
"For someone to help The Busy Bee they have to understand and accept Gran and our friends. You said at your seminar that business and emotion are like oil and water. Here at The Busy Bee, they're not. Take away emotion and there would be no need to keep the store open."
She had touched a nerve, hinting he was a stranger to emotion.
"And you think I won't understand that?" Daniel asked.
Her eyes looked at him from head to toe, "Absolutely not."
"Why?"
"Your talk that day. You never mentioned the human factor in relationship to business."
Daniel stared at her. He hadn't considered the human factor before. For success one had to separate the two.
After a moment she said slowly. "You're a big successful businessman, Mr. Hawthorn. We're not in your league. Our small store isn't run on any hard and fast rules laid down by a man who has no idea how we operate. At The Busy Bee we make our own rules as we go along bending them to meet the needs of our customers, who in a community as small as this happen to be our friends and neighbors. We couldn’t take a clinical approach with them any more than we could follow your textbook guidelines for success. It would only upset you to have anything to do with us."
Except for pushing him out, she was doing her best to get him to leave.
"You think I'm beyond understanding someone like your grandmother?"
Abby Silver took for granted what he had just begun to suspect. That he was out of touch with the complexity of human relationships. What she didn't know was he intended to do something about it.
"I think you've reached a stage in your life where you don't have time to care about people. Not people like us anyway. What's a small store in Carbon Canyon going to do for your image? You're better off helping a firm that will bring you publicity, increase sales of your books, get you more requests to speak."
Daniel hadn't been so smash-something angry in a while. That she had drawn such a perfect picture of him didn't help. He turned on his heel and headed back to the community room.
"Where are you going?"
Daniel ignored Abby's cry.
Adrenalin coursed through Abby as she watched Daniel Hawthorn disappear. What was it about the man that made her forget everything and say what was on her mind?
She couldn't go after him and make a scene in the community room. One look at her, and Gran and some of the others would know how upset she was. Whatever Daniel Hawthorn
Beside him, Daniel heard a sharp gasp of surprise. Before he could turn down Sarah's invitation, he heard Abby Silver say, "Mr. Hawthorn has a very busy schedule. He can't stay." The words were followed by a light touch on his arm. "Let me show you out."
Daniel stared at her. Her eyes held a warning he couldn't understand. I want you to leave. Now.
He didn't want to stay, but neither did he want someone else making the decision for him. Irritation crackled through him as he nodded to Sarah Trenton and hurried after her granddaughter.
CHAPTER TWO
"Wait, just a minute."
The hand he placed on her shoulder when they were back in the shop, stopped Abby Silver. She spun around to face him, her color bright.
"Why are you rushing me out of here as if the place is on fire?"
"Because I saw the way you looked when I told you Gran was a partner in the store."
"And what way was that?" Did Abby Silver think she could read his mind?
"Horrified."
She could read his mind. Horrified described exactly how he felt. Dealing with someone like Abby was different from dealing with her grandmother. He knew that from experience.
"I thought you owned the shop."
Abby held the door open. "I own a quarter of it."
"I still don't understand why you're rushing me out like this."
She looked at him and then away, but not quickly enough. Daniel saw the anger in her eyes.
"For someone to help The Busy Bee they have to understand and accept Gran and our friends. You said at your seminar that business and emotion are like oil and water. Here at The Busy Bee, they're not. Take away emotion and there would be no need to keep the store open."
She had touched a nerve, hinting he was a stranger to emotion.
"And you think I won't understand that?" Daniel asked.
Her eyes looked at him from head to toe, "Absolutely not."
"Why?"
"Your talk that day. You never mentioned the human factor in relationship to business."
Daniel stared at her. He hadn't considered the human factor before. For success one had to separate the two.
After a moment she said slowly. "You're a big successful businessman, Mr. Hawthorn. We're not in your league. Our small store isn't run on any hard and fast rules laid down by a man who has no idea how we operate. At The Busy Bee we make our own rules as we go along bending them to meet the needs of our customers, who in a community as small as this happen to be our friends and neighbors. We couldn’t take a clinical approach with them any more than we could follow your textbook guidelines for success. It would only upset you to have anything to do with us."
Except for pushing him out, she was doing her best to get him to leave.
"You think I'm beyond understanding someone like your grandmother?"
Abby Silver took for granted what he had just begun to suspect. That he was out of touch with the complexity of human relationships. What she didn't know was he intended to do something about it.
"I think you've reached a stage in your life where you don't have time to care about people. Not people like us anyway. What's a small store in Carbon Canyon going to do for your image? You're better off helping a firm that will bring you publicity, increase sales of your books, get you more requests to speak."
Daniel hadn't been so smash-something angry in a while. That she had drawn such a perfect picture of him didn't help. He turned on his heel and headed back to the community room.
"Where are you going?"
Daniel ignored Abby's cry.
Adrenalin coursed through Abby as she watched Daniel Hawthorn disappear. What was it about the man that made her forget everything and say what was on her mind?
She couldn't go after him and make a scene in the community room. One look at her, and Gran and some of the others would know how upset she was. Whatever Daniel Hawthorn
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