Chapter 6
six
. . .
Emilia
I added some fresh mums in the terra-cotta pot in the window scene at the flower shop.
I always went all out on my window displays, and after a Town Hall meeting determined that we keep all decorating Fall themed this year until the first of December, I had a few more days until I would need to change it.
The window design was kind of my little moment of using my interior design degree at my day job. But now that I’d gotten the business license for Vintage Interiors, I was so inspired to get things going.
“Hey, Emilia,” Beatrice said as she walked in and set her purse behind the counter. She normally worked part-time for me, but with the busy holiday season approaching, she was coming in daily now. “I just walked the entire downtown, and our window is still by far the cutest.”
I chuckled. She was always pumping me up. She was in her mid-thirties, so a few years older than me. She used to date my brother back in high school, so I’d known her for a long time.
“Thank you! I’ll take it. But I’ve got to get that egg off the windows, so I’m going to try this spray that I ordered. I’m hoping it comes off. It’s really caked on there.” I held up the bottle of window cleaner that had arrived in the mail yesterday.
“I still can’t believe that Cara Carmichael did it. Are you sure Bridger Chadwick is a reliable source?” she asked.
“I mean, he’s a complete jackass, but he does seem like he’d do his due diligence, right? And apparently, he had the town’s security cameras’ video pulled and saw it go down.”
“Where does one just find random camera footage? How do we do that?”
“We don’t. Apparently when you’ve got more money than any one man needs, people let you do things the rest of us can’t do.”
“Must be nice. Shouldn’t we take the footage to the police and report her?” she said, the shake of her head making no attempt to hide her irritation.
“I’m not going to press charges against a pregnant woman for egging my building.” I chuckled. “Plus, she’s a loyal customer, and I’m hoping this all blows over.”
“Yeah, I mean, where else is she going to go for flowers? She’s not going to drive to the city for them. She’ll be back. And now we just have to act like we don’t know it was her?”
“Are we talking about Egg-Gate?” Melanie called as she peeked her head out from the open space from her shop next door. I loved that our businesses were connected like that. We had a lot of customer overflow wandering between the two stores, and I just liked seeing her.
“We are. I got that spray that I ordered, and I’m going to try to get that cleaned up today,” I said, smiling at her. Melanie was older than both of us, her kids around our age, and she was the kindest woman. I felt badly that some of the egg had splattered onto her front window as well.
“Oh, honey, don’t give it a thought. It’s barely noticeable.”
“Well, Bridger Chadwick made a comment about it not being cleaned up properly, so he clearly noticed,” I huffed.
She clapped her hands together with a laugh. She knew Bridger well, as she and Ellie Chadwick had been best friends since they were kids. “Bridger is a rare gem.”
“Is that what we’re calling him?” I gave her a look, letting her know that I disagreed.
“He’s like an M I’d proven it. But instead of just apologizing, he thought he could get my building cleaned and call it even?
I stepped forward and stood in front of Fancy Suit Guy. “And you are?”
He startled a bit, maybe surprised that I was asking.
“I’m Brenner Layton. I’m Mr. Chadwick’s executive assistant, and this is Walter—he works for the company that cleans our building in the city.”
“Good to know. You aren’t from Rosewood River, obviously?” I asked.
“No. I live in San Francisco. But Mr. Chadwick wanted me to come oversee this job to make sure it was done correctly.” His lips turned up in the corners as if that should make it all better.
“May I have your phone, Brenner?”
“My phone?” he asked, looking completely confused by the question.
“Yes. Please. I’d like to reply to Mr. Chadwick myself, and I don’t have his phone number,” I said, my tone even and calm.
“Oh, that would be wonderful, Emilia.”
Interesting that he knew my name. His gaze turned to Cara, who was standing beside me, and I saw something there. As if he recognized her and was surprised to see her here at the shop. He was probably the one who’d pulled the camera footage for his boss.
I took his phone and typed out a quick text.
Brenner
This is Emilia. Nice try, Daddy Warbucks. You can’t buy me off. I don’t need your money. I would like a genuine apology. So suck it, and apologize.
I handed the phone back to Brenner, who gaped at the screen as he read my message.
“Oh, this is not good. But nice touch with the Daddy Warbucks. I am a big Annie fan. But this won’t land well,” he said.
“Who is Daddy Warbucks?” Cara asked. “And are we thinking Bridger Chadwick egged your building?”
I blew out a breath and studied her as Brenner’s mouth fell open a little bit at her insinuation. It was definitely clear that he knew she was the culprit.
“No, Cara. I think we all know that Bridger did not egg my building. How about you go back inside and check on that arrangement.” I didn’t smile, because I was not in the mood to play this game with her.
“Whatever.” She turned and walked back inside.
“I’m assuming Daddy Warbucks told you about the footage we pulled, yes?” Brenner asked.
“He sure did.”
“Okay, then.” He cleared his throat. “So can we continue with our job and get this all cleaned up for you?”
“Absolutely not,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “Walter, I apologize for wasting your time. I will be cleaning these windows myself. I will not be bought off by a man because he’s too much of a stubborn ass to give me a simple apology.”
Brenner winced at my words, and Walter chuckled.
Clearly, one of these guys was on the payroll.
“He really wants to take care of this for you,” Brenner said.
“And I really don’t need him to do that.”
He glanced down at his phone and made an awkward face again. “Oh, he’s not happy. He said you’re being stubborn, and you should just let Walter do the job that he came here to do.”
“Tell him I said ‘glass houses.’ He’s the one who’s being stubborn. I don’t need his money—I simply need an apology. And remind him that he’s not welcome in my shop until he apologizes.”
Walter’s head tipped back in a full-bodied laugh. “Mr. Chadwick is not a man most people say no to.”
“Well, lucky for him I’m not most people. Thanks for coming, but you can pack up and head back to the city. Unless you need some flowers?” I asked.
“Actually,” Walter said, “it’s my anniversary today. Twenty-seven years with my beautiful wife. We’re going to dinner, but I think it might be nice to grab her some flowers, too.”
“Oh, for God’s sake,” Brenner hissed under his breath, and Walter completely ignored him and stepped inside the shop while I remained outside with Brenner, who wasn’t finished speaking. “You do know your other client egged your building, correct?”
“Correct. But she doesn’t know that I know,” I whispered. “She’s a regular here, and I don’t want to embarrass her.”
He narrowed his gaze. “I think she should probably be embarrassed all on her own.”
“Well, it really is your boss who should be embarrassed. If he hadn’t accused me of writing that ridiculous column, none of this would have even happened. He is the one who owes me an apology.”
“And what about the pregnant egg lady? Does she owe you an apology?” he asked as I glanced inside and overheard Cara and Walter discussing the weather. Beatrice was at the register, ringing Cara up.
“Well, he’s been doing it for a lot longer. She only has one offense, and it was caused by him. So let’s start there, okay?” I said.
“He’s not big on apologies. This was his apology. You should just take it. We haven’t left yet.”
“Unbelievable. You’re afraid of him, aren’t you?”
He chuckled. “No. He’s harmless. Moody, grumpy, demanding—sure. But he’s not scary. He’s just a stoic guy who runs a very successful company, and this is his way of apologizing.”
“And I don’t accept. But thanks for trying. I’ll be waiting for the apology that I’m owed.”
I clapped him on the shoulder and was turning to step inside when his phone vibrated in his hand, and he groaned.
“Speak of the devil,” he said, answering the call. “What’s up, boss.”
I couldn’t hear what Bridger was saying, but he obviously wasn’t happy about how this was going down.
“Yep. I’m dead serious,” Brenner repeated three times as he followed me inside the flower shop.
I made my way around the counter, just as Cara was turning to leave.
“There’s a rumor going around that you don’t write ‘The Taylor Tea,’” she said, smiling at me like I was her favorite person again.
“That would be the first correct rumor I’ve heard in a while.” I smirked.
“I couldn’t imagine you saying that about me,” she said.
Beatrice couldn’t resist, and her head popped up. “What exactly did it say about you, Cara? I can’t remember.”
“They wrote about me and Harvey Lawson having an affair and getting pregnant. It’s offensive.” She threw her hands in the air.
Walter’s eyes moved slowly down to the gigantic baby bump and then back up, as if he was trying to figure out why she was offended.
“Aren’t you and Harvey dating?” Beatrice pressed.
“Well, yes. We’ve been secretly seeing one another for months. But now we’re making it public, because, well, we’ve got a little one on the way.” She chuckled, and we all just stared at her in confusion.
“So ‘The Taylor Tea’ was correct. You are dating Harvey, and the two of you are having a baby.” Beatrice reared back and laughed.
“Sure. But not everything they say is correct.”
“I mean, at least they didn’t accuse you of egging the storefront of your favorite florist—now that would be outrageous,” Beatrice said, and I sank my teeth into my bottom lip to keep from laughing.
“Yes. That would be outrageous. I’m pregnant, for heaven’s sake.” She shrugged as she waved her hand over her head and beelined for the door.
“Well, he’s officially pissed off, so I wouldn’t hold your breath for that apology,” Brenner said as he called for Walter and said they needed to get going.
“Well, he’s always pissed off, isn’t he?” I smiled, because pissing off Bridger Chadwick felt like a win today.
“You aren’t wrong there. Have a nice day,” he said as the door closed behind him.
“Well, this has been an eventful morning,” Beatrice said as I reached for the bottle of window cleaner and a towel. “But you could have let the rich bastard pay for your windows to be cleaned.”
“I’d rather clean the windows in the middle of a blizzard with no coat on than let that man get off the hook without an apology.”
And that was the damn truth.