He shrugged. “I cut a rent check once a month. No other maintenance needed.” As far as he was concerned. Until Angi had come back into his life, he’d resisted getting involved with anyone.

“Downtown is doing great, and we’re on track for a record tourist season this month.” Avery inclined her head as she studied Gabe. “A few people have talked to me about the fact that the In Bloom storefront isn’t exactly looking festive. Your grandmother always did such a lovely job with her holiday displays.”

“A few people?” Tension knotted in Gabe’s gut. He did not want to know that people were talking about him when he was barely holding it together. Particularly if they implied he wasn’t doing the best he could for his grandmother’s legacy or the store she loved so dearly.

But that morning he’d received a voice mail from his mom demanding he shut down the store sooner rather than later and send her the proceeds for the display shelving and supplies he managed to sell. How could he still work hard knowing her plan to destroy everything Gran had built?

It might be convoluted, but Gabe couldn’t help but believe that if he ignored the business for a period of time his mom would lose interest. She didn’t like hard work. If In Bloom wasn’t making money, she’d have no reason to come back now and cause his grandma more pain.

“It would be nice if you could get something up before this weekend.” Avery gave him an encouraging smile. “If you need help—”

“He doesn’t,” Angi interrupted before the blonde could finish her thought. “I’m going to help him.” She moved closer and slipped her hand into Gabe’s, the touch soft and reassuring.

He shouldn’t let himself depend on her for anything because he knew their relationship was fake. She was using him to placate her mother, and he was letting it happen because he wanted to make his grandmother proud when she came to the shop.

“We’ve both been busy.” Angi nodded and leaned toward Avery as if conveying a secret. “You know Iris is still recovering in the nursing home? And with my mom’s rehabilitation, we both are juggling a lot of balls.”

The blonde frowned, clearly as confused by Angi’s behavior as Gabe. Where was the nervous, stammering woman of a few minutes ago?

Avery nodded. “Of course, I wish a full recovery for your grandmother.”

“Thank you,” Gabe said quietly.

“He’s at the nursing home almost every day, you know,” Angi added. “Things may have fallen behind at the store, but we’re going to fix that. The two of us. Together.”

“Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help,” Avery told Gabe, her tone so sincere it made him wish he was truly a part of this kind of community where people genuinely seemed to care. “We’re featuring several of the downtown businesses on the Magnolia website and our social media accounts. I’d love to do a feature on In Bloom.” She switched her gaze to Angi. “Or on Il Rigatone. I hope your mom is feeling better, as well.”