I decided to visit a few Grow-Op stores and then pop into Du-Kane’s. I need to see what other companies are offering compared to ours, get a feel of the environment, and see if there’s any room for new products.

I started with the obvious, CronCorp. If anyone was in on what was selling, it was the Michaelson brothers. Their storefront was simple and hidden, if you didn’t know what you were looking for. A bell over the door announces my arrival. The first thing I notice is the color of the shop. It’s a pea green, almost like peas in baby food jars. Yuck. I’m walking down the counters when I hear my name being called out.

“Alice, what are you doing here?”

“Cash? I didn’t know you worked here.”

I watch the eldest brother jump over the counter and saunter over to me. “I come in here a few times a week just to check in and see how the stock is. What are you doing here? Come to taste test the competition.”

“No. I’m actually hitting a few of the Grow-Ops here in town before I head over to Du-Kane. It’s been awhile since I’ve visited ours, and I wanted to compare. So, how are you today?”

Cash slings his arm over my shoulder. “I’m much better now.”

“I’m glad I could brighten your day,” I say as I hip bump him. “I’ve got to get going. I have a few more places to hit before I need to be back home this afternoon.”

“Look, Alice, I was going to call you later, but since you’re here, I can ask you now.”

I glance up and see a blushing Cash. Why is he acting so nervous?

He clears his throat before starting again. “I was wondering if you’d like to go out with me?”

“Oh, wow. I wasn’t expecting that.”

He drops his arm and takes a step back. “Cash, I’m sorry. I didn't mean to sound rude. I was just surprised that you’d want to go out with me.” I reach out, grabbing his right hand. “I would love to go out sometime.”

Cash graces me with his big, beautiful smile. “Alright then. I’ll call you Thursday and we can talk times and stuff for Friday night, if that’s okay?”

I slap myself in the face. “Damn,” I mumble to myself. “Look, there’s something I need to tell you first. Ridge called the other day and we’re going to a baseball game tomorrow afternoon.”

Cash leans over and kisses me on the crown of my head. “I already know that, beautiful. We don’t keep things from each other. Ever.” Cash winks at me as he begins to walk away backwards. Throwing his hands up in the air, he calls out, “Besides, we’re brothers. We’re used to sharing our favorite things.”

Dear mercy. I shake my head and walk out the door.

It’s official, Du-Kane Grow-Op store is the worst thing I’ve seen all day. The ceiling is yellow, the floors are scuffed and in need of a mop, the counters are dusty, and I think I saw a rat running when I looked behind the counter. This is so bad.

“Hi! Can I help you?”

I look up at the perky little blonde barbie behind the counter. “Hey, I’m Alice Du-Kane.” I reach my arm out across the counter to shake her hand.

“Um, okay?” She takes my hand with a confused look on her face. “What can I do for you, Alice?”

“Nothing, I’m just checking out the store. I haven’t been here in a while and I wanted to get a feel of how things were going.” I can see this girl is still confused so I explain a little more. “I’m Alice. Alice Du-Kane. I own this store, along with Du-Kane, Inc.”

Still nothing.

“What’s your name, dear?”

“It’s Barbie,” she tells me as she flicks her hair over her shoulder.

Bless her heart.

“Barbie, Du-Kane, as in the name of this store. You following me?”

Barbie starts laughing. “Oh, yeah! Sorry, I just had a smoke in the back, it takes me a few minutes to come back down to reality.”

Kill me now.

“Alright then, Barbie. I’m just going to go. I’ll see you later.”

I hightail it to my car and call Zoe on my way home.

“Sup girl? How’s the store look?”

“I have to fire Barbie.”

“Who the hell is Barbie?”

“A blonde chick, smoking our product while working.”

“No kidding?”

“No kidding.”

“How did the store look?”

“Oh my word, Zoe. It was awful. It’s old and disgusting. I think we need to just shut it down and gut the whole place.”

“That bad?”

“Worse.”

“Damn.”

“Yep.”

“Ben is coming over later this afternoon for a quickie, we can talk to him then about remodeling the store.”

What the hell has happened to my simple, uncomplicated life?

“He’s out! Stupid umpire.”

I can’t help but laugh at Ridge and all the yelling he’s doing. It’s been like this since we sat down in our seats. Our seats which so happen to be directly behind home plate. I’m pretty sure I saw the umpire give Ridge the middle finger a few times.

“Ridge, I’m hungry. Do you want me to bring you anything from the concessions?”

He raises his arms above his head to stretch and I catch a glimpse of his tan, tight abdomen, before he lowers them. “Nah, I’m actually hungry myself. Let’s go grab some of those BBQ nachos.”

We stand and make our way up the stairs and into the breezeway where the food carts are located. I already smell the Memphis BBQ cooking before we make it to their cart.

“Two BBQ nachos and two beers, please.”

I grab my tray and drink while Ridge pays for our food. We decide to sit at one of the bistro tables overlooking the park to eat. BBQ nachos are messy and knowing my luck, I’d probably drop them walking back down the steps.

“Well, how’s your first baseball game?”

“It’s not my first. Dad and I used to go to all the home games when the team played at the old stadium in Midtown. I haven’t been out here since the first season. School took up a lot of my time.”

“We come out here a lot,” Ridge tells me. “Anytime I need a break, I try to catch a game. It works because they play a lot of early afternoon games during the week.

Memphis has their own Minor League team. Some of the best times with Dad were watching them at that old stadium. The new one is modern and beautiful, but nothing beats watching your team in old, busted seats, with the same old guys week after week.

I need to look into getting season tickets. I might even make Zoe a fan of the Memphis team. I snort to myself over that thought. Zoe and heat do not mix. Ironic since her degree means she has to work in a hot greenhouse or outside all the time.

“Cash told me you were at our store yesterday. Did you get a chance to stop by Du-Kane’s?”

“Oh, yes I did. It was awful. Have you been in there recently?”

“I stop by once a month just to see if ya’ll are doing anything new. Barbie kind of freaks me out, so sometimes I make Oren go for me.”

“She was high as a kite yesterday. She couldn’t even put it together that my last name was the same as the store’s. She has to go.”

Ridge starts chucking. “No kidding? I figured she was sampling the product a few times I was there, but it’s not my place to call her out on it.”

“Eh, it’s okay. I’m letting her go at the end of the week when I close the store down.”

Ridge throws his hand up at me. “What do you mean you’re closing the store down? Are you getting out of the Grow-Op?”

“No! I’m having it gutted and remodeling the whole thing.” I lean closer to him and whisper, “I’m pretty sure we have rats in there.” I shudder at the thought of seeing that beady-eyed monster yesterday.

Ridge turns his head toward me and our noses touch. I can feel his breath on my cheek. I close my eyes on instinct and almost sigh when I feel his lips on mine. It wasn’t a heated kiss, just a small, simple one, but it’s full of promise. I pull back and when I open my eyes, I lose myself in the intensity of his gaze.

Ridge grabs my hand and pulls me up to stand with him. He leans over and whispers in my ear, “Later. We will definitely be finishing this later.”

Unfortunately, Ridge and I don’t get to finish our “conversation” later. North called him on the drive back to my house and needed him back at the office for something. He walked me to my door and left me with a chaste kiss, and a promise to pick up where we left off.