Candle In The Wind

Chapter Seventeen

The call

I flipped through her resume. Ava’s resume.

Val’s potential girlfriend.

She wore a white, professional, you-should-definitely-hire-me blouse.

Her dark hair was in a tight low-bun, her posture was amazing.

And her resume meant business. I was starting to feel like I couldn’t afford her. I looked at the paper that said she attended Dartmouth and looked back at her with lips parted.

Why she was applying to work at a shop that might never even take off was beyond me.

I smacked my lips. “Don’t you already work at Molly’s? With Val?”

She nodded, “for personal reasons, I need a second job.”

“Just to give you a heads up, I’m not sure how well the business is going to be so the salary I have set right now cannot change yet.”

Ava’s head bobbed, “I understand—”

“Thank you for applying though—”

We spoke at the same time.

My brows furrowed as I blinked and registered her positive words. “Wait, you still want to work here?”

“If you’re still hiring me, yes.”

“Yes! You’re hired.”

I chuckled as I extended a hand out to give her a handshake.

She wrapped her hand around mine and shook it with a small smile.

I bit my lips. “You do bake right?”

“Yes.”

Well, thank God, because I’d feel pretty awful to fire her right after hiring her because I forgot to ask if she baked. If I was being honest, I was too impressed with her resume which distracted me from interviewing her.

She got comfortable in her seat again and I opened the button drawer of my desk and pulled out a sheet of paper.

“Fill this out, please.”

I handed Ava the paper.

It was an emergency contact paper, and included her personal information as well—phone number, email, house address, bank information for her deposits, all that good stuff that people found really annoying on a first day of work. At least she didn’t have hours of useless training videos to watch.

Instead, she had a five minute tour waiting for her.

“I’m gonna step out for a while but let me know once you finish up for the tour,”

I said as I stood up with my phone.

I closed the door of my office and immediately pulled out my phone to shoot a text.

Juliette: I just hired someone!

Cal: aww I missed orientation :(

Juliette: you missed how I almost fired her because I was too impressed with her resume. Haha.

Cal: Oh really? Who is it?

Juliette: You’ll meet her soon.

Cal: Have you looked at my resume yet?

Cal: It’s pretty impressive too ;)

I sighed as I rolled my eyes, lips pursing into a thin line as I started typing.

Juliette: I’m not hiring you Callum.

Cal: Why not?

Juliette: Because you already own a multimillion dollar company.

Cal: I’d work for free

Juliette: No.

With that I placed the phone face-down on the countertop near the glass display. I asked Marshall for a day off because my sign was getting delivered, as well as the grand-opening banner, and Val was going to help me put it off, which he was getting off work early to do. In the meantime, I unboxed the espresso machines, frozen coffee machine, pots and pans for the kitchen, plastic Tupperware and coffee cups from small to large, napkins, and plates. I was setting everything up.

I was almost ready for opening day, which was lurking over me—Juliette’s Barn would be open in just a week. Seven days.

Just the other day Cal and I set up the tables and the counter chairs by the windows. So when people walked in they could choose to take a window seat or they could sit at a good ol’ fashion round table.

I had multiple shelves of all my pottery displayed all around the shop. They were all for sale. It was almost like a store. Just like bookstores with a coffee spot in the middle—my Barn was just like that.

I had minimalistic decor, a few hanging pictures and a few sculptures here and there. What was most noticeable was my work, every mug, every vase, every plate, every bowl, they were all on display and all organized.

The place looked pretty full and put together so far, it was just the display case that was empty. And I had to start working on my menus, but I’d have to have a talk with Ava first to see what she was able to bake.

I really wanted to talk to Bailey about working here, I’d have to quit working at Blueberry Lane in less than a week—and I thought I’d need Bailey, his sandwich skill was no joke. And I needed at least one more person before I could open this place.

“I’m done,”

Ava said once she finished struggling to fill the napkins in the metal box.

“Did you leave the paper on my desk?”

I asked as I fought the napkins to just go in the box. Ava made it look so easy.

“Yes,”

she replied.

“Okay, good, you start today,”

I was starting to sound out of breath, “start working on stacking the coffee cups, then fix the forks, spoons, and knives. The sugar packets, and anything else that’s left we’ll work on it as well.”

She nodded. “Hot it.”

“Val is coming soon to help with the sign and banner.”

She nodded.

Once it was Ava and I, things got done quicker and smoother. She complimented my ceiling, told me it looked cool and that made me happy. I had to have a long conversation with Cal to explain to him I wanted to have a cool New York City loft apartment ceiling with theater lights.

But when we were done with everything, and I finally fixed the napkins and every single one of the metal boxes, I was exhausted but relieved. It was like one less thing to worry about.

I gave Ava a tour and she asked questions here and there about the place and I answered truthfully—appreciating her engaging with me. Something Bailey was never capable of doing.

“Since you’ll be teaching as well, you could probably run a promotion,” Ava said.

I nodded. I was at least interested in the idea. With a brand-new shop opening the only way to get customers is by flashing free stuff and running cheap promotions that applied to everyone—that was how you got loyal customers.

“What did you have in mind?”

I asked Ava.

“You can run a free class for customers who buy at least five cups of coffee. You can raise the number up in a month, and I can even create the little cards to give out, each time they buy a coffee we punch a hole in the spot,” she said.

“That’s a really great idea,”

I said as I held the small of my back.

I was starting to feel great after hiring Ava, she was already making my life easier. “You can work on it and get back to me.”

She nodded as she pulled out her phone and immediately started taking notes.

We were standing in the middle of the only room that was still a work in progress—the workroom, or the studio. I haven’t figured out what I was going to name it yet. But there were at least four square, tall tables in the room, but the room was very spacious so in front of each table there was a potter’s wheel and a little stool to sit on.

I had all sorts of material a beginner would need to throw.

Which cost me a fortune because I had to buy everything in bulk.

I nearly cried yesterday spending nearly five thousand dollars purchasing a commercial fridge and all kinds of beverages in bulk. So far in our storage room, we had water and all kinds of juice and sodas to stock up the commercial fridge. And coffees of course. I bought baking stuff, flour, eggs, and all that other stuff but they’re all in the normal fridge we have in the kitchen. The commercial fridge was for us to sell drinks out there other than coffees and lattes. The money was almost all gone now. I just had a little left to cover the bills for the shop and to pay three potential associates.

“I think the delivery people are here,”

Ava said as the knocking finally registered.

“Oh, right.”

I turned to make my way to the door, I turned the key and unlocked the door. Now that this place was no longer an empty building and there were valuable things inside, I locked the door while we were inside.

“Hey, guys.”

I greeted them with a smile, “you guys want anything? Water?” It was still hot and humid outside.

“Just a signature,”

one of them said as he handed me a clipboard with a delivery confirmation paper on top.

I nodded as I grabbed the clipboard, then I signed it. “Here you are,”

I said as I handed it back.

“Have a great day,”

he said as he walked away and the rest of them followed.

Once they left, I turned to see the huge letters and started to wonder how the hell was Val supposed to get that done. He could definitely help me hang the banner, but the sign job was a Callum job. I sighed and went back inside to look for my phone. I clicked on Cal’s name and waited until the line started ringing.

“Hey, Julie.”

He picked up the phone after just one ring.

“Cal, put that damn phone down!”

a voice commanded in the background.

“Julie?”

I repeated as I tried to ignore the collective cheers coming from his side of the phone.

“Yeah, you like it?”

I’ve had a lot of nicknames like J, Jules, Letty, Juju, but for some reason this is the first time I’d ever heard Julie in a while.

I smiled, then quickly wiped it off my face.

“Can I use your help today? For the sign? You own a multimillion-dollar company, so you should have one of those machines that can help us hook up these big ass signs, right?”

“I can do it.”

“Callum!”

The same voice was raised again.

“If you’re busy I get i—”

“Be right there,”

he cut me off.

“Cool, come as soon as you can, Val will be here soon, right now it’s just Ava and I,” I said.

“Val will be there?”

“Yeah, you’ll need his help, I won’t be able to help you,”

I explained.

“Okay, be there soon.”

Cal was in a New York Rangers jersey when he got to the shop. All three of us—Ava, Val and I-gawked at him like hawks. He wore light wash blue jeans, and he had a blue Rangers cap on backwards.

I wasn’t sure how everyone else was looking at him, but I thought he looked hot.

Stupid hot.

I cleared my throat and looked away as he approached me—I was entirely too focused on him. I didn’t notice it when he said hi to everyone.

“Hi, Julie.”

He smiled.

“Hi… Cal.”

I pulled my lips into a thin, awkward smile. “What’s with the jersey?”

“I was watching the hockey conference finals with Ardley and a couple guys,” he said.

“Rangers versus Panthers, right?”

Val chimed in.

Cal nodded.

“It’s not looking too good for you man,”

Val said, “I was watching from the bar, and it looked like the Panthers had it in the bag.”

Cal turned in Val’s direction and just glared at him with a grimace.

“We’re losing daylight, guys,”

Ava spoke and I instantly nodded.

“Yeah, we should get started,” I added.

“I brought the aerial truck,”

Cal said as his eyes bored into mine, “have you thought about dinner?”

I bit my lips as my cheeks burned, “mhm-hmm.”

“So?”

He stepped closer in front of me.

“Just dinner,”

I whispered.

Cal grinned. “Sweet.”

He took off his cap and planted it on my head.

Before I could even register the moment we just shared he was already meeting Val by the door—to make matters worse, Val was grinning from ear to ear like he already won a bet.

I looked away as I tucked a strand of curl behind my ear.

I could see the grand opening banner Ava and I managed to put up hanging above the huge windows. We’d be open right in the middle of June. Cal kept his words and finished everything up in just one month.

I wanted to do everything differently this time. What happened to Muddy Hands couldn’t happen to Juliette’s Barn. I refuse to see it happen—things were different now, the only threat I had was permanently gone. I wasn’t being pushed into a corner or controlled by anyone. I wasn’t living in constant fear anymore. Even if things got crazy or the shop didn’t work out how I wanted it to, I’d see it to the end because it was really mine this time.

Almost all my life nothing I’d had was ever truly mine, and nothing I did was ever enough. It felt like I was constantly trying to prove myself and what I was worth—trying to prove what I could obtain. All that it taught me was to never take shortcuts to get to the top. It came with its own painful consequences. You’d be forever haunted by a single choice you made when you were at your lowest. Unsure if things would ever get better.

And it would, you just had to wait for it.

It was exactly like waiting for a storm to pass through on its own.

If you tried to interfere and tried to escape in the middle of it, you just might get swept up in the currents and then spend the rest of your life trying to keep your head afloat.

I’d been trying to keep my head afloat for a very long time—I had no idea how I managed to find the shore. I kept thinking maybe somebody offered me their hand and pulled me out of the currents.

“Where are you keeping the coffee beans?”

Ava asked.

I blinked, pulling myself out of my head. “In the storage room.”

“I’ll grab a bag to put up here,” she said.

And once again, I thanked God for sending Ava my way because it seemed like she could run this barn better than I could.

“I’m going to unpack the rest of the toiletries in the bathroom!”

I shouted as Ava went inside the kitchen.

“Okay!”

I walked into the bathroom immediately surprised because Cal’s cap was still on my head. My curly hair was now forced to stay on each side of my head. My face was glowing, and the light blush I put on this morning highlighted my cheeks. My lashes were dark and curly, and the faint rose lip gloss on my lips was slowly fading. I wore a long white skirt and a blue stretchy shirt. The hat fit the whole outfit entirely. It looked like I’d been cheering for the New York Rangers all day too.

I smiled as I looked away and looked through the box on top of the toilet.

I pulled out the flushable wipes and stacked them on top of the shelf behind the toilet. I also stacked the pads, tissue papers, toilet papers, flushable wipes, hand sanitizer, a Febreze spray, hand soap, and a bowl of the small Neutrogena makeup removing wipes.

I ignored the shower. The original bathroom had the shower and when Cal asked me if I wanted to get rid of the shower as we rebuilt, I decided to keep it. It was clean and I believed it could serve a purpose.

After fixing up the bathroom I walked out with an empty box to throw away in the dumpster. I was left speechless, mouth hanging open as I looked at all the empty boxes overflowing the dumpster.

“Hey, Ava,”

I called out when I walked back inside.

“Yes?”

“Moving forward, let’s break down the boxes before throwing them away, okay? The dumpster looks like a nightmare.”

“We’re done!”

I heard Val shout.

My brows furrowed as I walked outside.

“Juliette’s Barn,”

I said out loud as I read it.

“Wanna do the honors, Jules?”

Val dropped his arm over my shoulder, “wanna turn it on?”

I sucked in a breath, “absolutely.”

Cal came down the machine and handed me a button. A box with a red button. The strings from the box were connected to the sign above.

I smiled. “Thank you.”

I was about to call for Ava, but she was already standing behind me.

“Should I do a countdown?”

I asked as I looked around to look at everyone’s face for approval. They all nodded.

“Okay,”

I was still smiling, “three…two…one…”

I pushed the red button and watched all the letters turn yellow with a little electric buzz.

It was so beautiful I could almost cry.

“You did it, Jules!”

Val whispered over my shoulder while they all clapped.

It was cruel how the words rang in my head, it became a parallel of a tainted memory—the start of something terrible.

“You did it, sweet pea.”

His voice rang.

“Anything else, Julie?”

I looked up to find Cal’s blue eyes.

“Did you want us to add the open hours stickers on the windows as well?”

I shook my head from side to side.

“Look at her,”

Val chuckled, “she’s so excited, she’s in shock.”.

Cal was looking at me like he saw right through me. He placed a hand over my arm and rubbed it up and down. “Why don’t we go inside to celebrate,”

he said to everyone as he guided me inside.

I tried to pull myself together and remind myself that things were different now. I wasn’t who I used to be and I was certainly not where I used to be.

Before we could sit at the table, I offered to grab everyone some juice. We’ve all been working so hard today, we needed a little break and a cold drink. And thank God I threw a case of apple juice in the freezer an hour ago.

I grabbed four apple juices from the freezer and brought them out front to where Val, Cal, and Ava were sitting down.

They all said thank you after I passed them their drink, then I finally sat down.

“When do you think you’ll put a TV in here?”

Cal asked.

My brows pulled together as I glared at him. “This is not a bar or a restaurant,”

I scolded, “this will be a respectable artistic place, plus, Ava and I mastered a Spotify playlist.”

“So, no ESPN?”

Cal asked again with a worried look on his face.

“No beers, no ESPN,”

I said firmly.

“Uh-oh, are the Rangers losing as I predicted?”

Val chuckled.

Cal immediately pulled out his phone and opened ESPN to watch the game. Val and I started laughing because watching Cal stress about his team was a little funny.

Ava hasn’t spoken a word, she’d just been mindlessly scrolling in her phone while Val and I laughed at Cal’s demise.

“It’s not too late to take off the jersey,”

Val said as my phone started to ring. I turned in its direction, and it was on the countertop, next to the espresso machine. I stood up to go grab the phone.

“Would you shut up. We didn’t make a bet so why are you taunting me?”

Cal snapped at Val.

I was laughing when I picked up the phone, “hello?”

“Hey sweet pea. Missed me?”

My blood turned cold as I held my breath in shock.