Chapter 3
Chapter Three
“C reepin’ cobwebs, Mom. When was the last time you used this place?” Lily entered the front door of Hart Family Fudge shop ahead of her mother and dodged a trailing diaphanous web. “It looks like you’ve decorated for Halloween. You’re only three months too early.”
“Oh, stop.” Mom closed the door behind them and turned the latch. “It isn’t that bad—and it hasn’t been that long.” She wore her salt-and-pepper hair piled in a messy bun, her faded jeans and green T-shirt reflecting her casual island life.
Lily shivered. “You sure about that?” She swatted several more sticky tangles away and took in the shop. Cloths draped the marble fudge tables in front of each of the pop-out windows, and a layer of dust covered the black-and-white checkered floor.
Along with everything else.
This open door of Lily’s was looking a little less sparkly in the light of day than it had seemed five days ago in her Florida apartment.
“I was in here at the beginning of May when I made a dessert spread for our ladies’ book club,” Mom said. “You know I’ve slowed down on catering orders.”
Aw, Mom. At fifty-five, she was far too young to be plagued by debilitating joint pain when her arthritis flared up, but Lily was glad she hadn’t given up her catering altogether. “Maybe you should have hired a housekeeping service in between.”
“You’re here now.” Mom elbowed her playfully.
“I am.” She was. “And I still can’t believe it.”
After spending the last several days packing up her room, helping Sadie find a new roommate, and spending way too much time on Pinterest creating a fudge shop mood board, Lily had finally arrived on Jonathon Island yesterday on the last Sunday evening ferry.
She, Mom, Dad, and Cody—along with Mia Jonathon Franklin and her two young kids—had spent the night eating burgers, laughing, and reminiscing about old times.
It had been a strange kind of wonderful to be back, knowing this time it was for good.
After a night sleeping in her old bedroom, she’d bounced into her parents’ kitchen and declared it was time—time for Mom to take her to the fudge shop.
Lily’s fudge shop, if all went well.
Which it totally, one-hundred-percent would.
“I can’t believe it either. But you’re exactly what the place has needed.” Mom rubbed the joints of her hand, her eyes a little wistful as she looked over the shop. “This is so exciting.”
“And a little bit terrifying.” Okay, a lot bit terrifying.
Here, there was so much history—over seventy years of it, since Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Hart had driven their Volkswagen van over on the ferry (before the vehicle ban) and decided that Jonathon Island would be the perfect place to start a business and raise a family.
It caused a little ache in Lily’s chest. How had her career brought her full circle, back to this tiny island and the fudge shop where she’d spent her entire childhood? She’d followed the legacy home, just like she’d always intended to do.
She only hoped she didn’t grind that legacy to dust.
“It’s good to be a little terrified. But you’re going to do great. You’re a Hart. This fudge shop is in your blood.”
“Thanks, Mom.” She rounded the long wooden counter—which ran parallel to the front door and was flanked by display cases on either side, creating a long U-shape that separated the workers from the lobby—and headed through the swinging door that led to the kitchen.
And here…here was where the real magic happened.
It wasn’t large, by any means, but it was just right, with three more marble tables taking center stage.
On the other side sat the dinged-up door of the walk-in refrigerator, the storage pantry to its right, the doorway leading to the back alley to its left.
And along the right wall were the perfectly arranged kettles, thermometers, and everything else she’d need to create fudge day in and day out—dusty too, but brimming with history.
Finally, on the left side of the kitchen sat the sink, dishwasher, and stovetop, followed by another door that led out to the shop’s small hallway, where hidden away from customers she’d find a small office, the storage room, and a bathroom.
This was going to be her home away from home once again.
“It’s like I never left.”
Mom squeezed her shoulder. “It will be—once it’s clean.”
“Subtle, Mom.” Squatting, Lily opened the cabinet under the sink and found a pair of bright pink cleaning gloves, still in the wrapper, two rolls of paper towels, and disinfecting spray.
She hoisted her treasure to the old tiled countertop.
“But cleaning is the least of my worries. For the rest, you’re here to help guide me if I need it, right? ”
“Of course, though I don’t know what I could teach you that you didn’t learn in that fancy school of yours. I’ll bet you’re thrilled to finally put that important degree to great use.”
Lily froze.
Nearly groaned out loud.
Who knew that the little white lie she’d told about actually graduating with her bachelor’s—instead of failing out—would come back to bite her now?
Probably she should come clean. She eyed the cleaning supplies in front of her. The irony. “Mom…”
“Hold that thought.” Her mother approached the bulletin board hung on the wall beside the door and pointed to the calendar hanging there.
She flipped it from May to July. “I meant to tell you, the second weekend of August, Dani Sullivan is planning a Main Street Festival. It’s a way to get tourists back and introduce all the new restaurant and shop owners—and what they have to offer—to the town.
Do you think you can be up and running by then? ”
Lily glanced at the calendar. “What’s that? Just under five weeks away?”
Mom nodded. “The festival is sort of a little teaser of what’s to come next season, when part of the Grand Hotel is reopened, and of course the season after that, when the hotel renovation and repair will be complete.
We don’t know how long it will take for tourism to build back to the previous levels.
So many moving parts—businesses, housing, employees.
But if we can start small, build, if we can get people coming here for day trips, that’s a start. ”
Restarting up the fudge shop didn’t feel like starting small.
“Right.” Deep breath. Maybe a week of hard work and she’d have the place in order.
“I think I should be operational well before then, so long as I can figure out financing for the start-up costs. I’ve got a little in savings, but I need to be smart with how much I spend right away. ”
Probably she should have made an appointment with Mr. Michaelson at Great Lakes National Bank, but she’d been so busy.
Mom took up a cloth and indicated that Lily should follow her through the door to the front of the shop.
“That’s something I’ve been meaning to talk with you about.
” She started wiping down the counter and register that must be twenty years old.
It might take ten cloths just to get through the dust, but Mom didn’t seem to mind.
Still. With her hands, she didn’t need to be doing the cleaning. Lily came up beside her and gently took the rag from her. “Oh yeah?”
Mom lifted her shoulders in a shrug and moved aside without a fuss. “Yes. Your father and I have been talking about it, and we want to contribute.”
“What? No. You guys basically just retired. You’re saving for a trip to Arizona in the fall. I’m not letting you?—”
“Letting us? Well, someone’s gotten a little big for her britches.” Mom’s eyes twinkled as she laughed.
“It’s not a pride thing at all.”
“I know, honey. I’m just teasing.” Mom drew a figure eight in the dust, then blew it off her finger onto the floor, which would need a good vacuum and scrubbing anyway.
“We gave Cody the fishing company license and sold him equipment at a discount. That was our way of helping him get started, and this is our way of helping you. It’s not a whole lot, but enough for you to operate for two months, maybe three. ”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. We’re proud to see you guys carry on both of the family businesses, and we want to do all we can to make that happen. In fact, after book club today I’ll head over to Seb’s to pay your first month’s rent.”
It was so incredibly sweet that they believed in her. But how much of that confidence was based on the lie that they thought she’d graduated with the knowledge of running a business? “But what if I fail?”
“You won’t.”
Lily opened her mouth to say that she already had. But before she could confess, Mom hoisted a box of fudge gift cartons and carried it toward the back storeroom.
She hurried after her. “Mom, you shouldn’t be carrying that.”
“Nonsense. I’m having a good day.” Mom had already set the gift cartons down by the time Lily reached the room.
Her eyes landed on a boxy metal appliance that took up a nearly two-foot by two-foot space on the shelf and stood almost three feet high. A latched door with a metal chute stuck out of the front. “Is this an ice cream maker?” She eyed the digital buttons at the top of the unit.
Mom dusted off her hands. “Cool, right? I got it at an auction. They were closing an ice cream shop in Saginaw and no one else had bid on it—it was a steal. Thought it would come in handy for summer parties or weddings, plus I know how much you love to experiment with different flavors as a stress relief. Unfortunately, I’ve been struggling to get it to work.
I’ve tried three batches, and it shuts off too soon. ”
“Did you have Dad take a look?”
“No.” Flipping off the lights, Mom headed back to the front. “He knows his way around a boat, but ask him to fix a small appliance and he gets grumbly.”
Ha. So much truth in that statement. “What about Cody?”