Chapter 14
“Meeting come to order!” Lizzy called out cheerfully, banging the gavel a few times for good measure.
Jenna sat down at the end of the table, dropping her bag down next to her.
She’d come late to the meeting, so she only had time to shoot everyone there a quick welcoming smile before Lizzy started talking.
She let her gaze skate over Jack, who was sitting at the front near Lizzy, telling herself not to mind when he didn’t even seem to meet her eye.
He was completely focused on Lizzy and what she was saying.
Jenna suppressed a sigh. It had now been a month since she and Jack had started refurbishing Miller’s Mercantile—in addition to the lovely new wooden shelves and varnished floorboards, there was space for a self-serve coffee station and a salad bar that was being installed next week, sourced mainly from local farmers.
Jenna had enjoyed getting to know more local suppliers, and was working on some new agreements for local honey, maple syrup, and jam, in addition to the fresh produce.
A new, hand-painted sign would be delivered tomorrow, and new stock was arriving daily.
The store was starting to look pretty good, and Jenna was very grateful for it.
Once she’d stopped trying to keep it exactly the same, she’d found the process of change liberating, and she’d seen even more areas than Jack had mentioned that could use a pick-me-up.
Dried flowers in a vase on the windowsill, an armchair from the barn that looked antique rather than dilapidated and provided a welcome place for people to sit down for a moment…
a chalkboard above the cash register suggesting favorite items, a bulletin board by the door advertising local services and organizations…
All these touches added something special to the store that she knew had been missing.
So yes, she was grateful to Jack for getting the process started, but she just wished she hadn’t more or less ceased to exist in his eyes, because that was what it had started to feel like.
He had been so focused on making her store a success, throwing himself into every project, that he sometimes seemed to forget she was even part of it.
And then, in the last week, he’d only stopped by the store once, just for a few minutes, seeming distracted when he did, almost impatient, jangling his keys the way he’d once used to.
Jenna had tried not to take it personally, but he’d barely met her eye, and she’d started to wonder if he was annoyed or maybe just bored with her and her poky little store.
He’d told her herself, back when they had dinner, that he still wanted some purpose in his life.
Why should her little store be enough for him?
In any case, he certainly hadn’t wanted to stay, and for the first time he hadn’t promised to stop by again soon; he’d just walked out without a backward glance.
Which was fine , she’d told herself, because the consulting part of the project was pretty much done, and it wasn’t like she needed him to hold her hand forever or anything.
And while they’d certainly gotten along, they weren’t really friends…
except Jenna had sort of thought they had been.
At least, she’d become used to him being around, which was dangerous, so really it was good he wasn’t coming by anymore because she needed to get back to the status quo.
Yet no matter how many times Jenna told herself it was all better this way… it didn’t feel like it.
“So, first item on the agenda, the Winter Wonderland Weekend!” Lizzy announced. “It’s only three weeks away, and Christmas really is around the corner. We need to start decorating! Planning! And so I’d like to nominate Jack Wexler and Jenna Miller to chair the weekend’s organization.”
Say what? Jenna jerked her gaze back to Lizzy, who was giving her an innocent, beatific smile.
“I thought you were organizing the weekend,” she said blankly.
“I mean, I thought you’d already organized it.
” Since it was now mid-November, Jenna had assumed most of the work was already done.
Although, to be fair, any planning in Starr’s Fall tended to be on the haphazard side.
But Jenna had already started making her Winter Wonderland Weekend plans for the mercantile, which were coming along nicely.
“Well, I’ve got a lot on my plate right now,” Lizzy replied breezily, “and it’s true, much of the groundwork has already been done.
But in terms of the final details… making sure all the stores are on board, the decorating, organizing the caroling and the big Saturday night event…
I thought you and Jack could work on it together. ”
“The big Saturday night event?” Jenna repeated. She didn’t recall any such event. Last year, the weekend had been the lighting of the Christmas tree and one night of stores being open till eight. This was starting to feel like an even bigger upgrade than Jenna had realized.
“Yes, didn’t you read it in the minutes?
” Lizzy asked, her eyebrows arched. “A few of us discussed it after the meeting last month.” Lizzy looked at her expectantly, but Jenna just shook her head.
She hadn’t been at this spontaneous discussion, and she never read the minutes.
Who did? “We’re planning to hold a barn dance for the whole town,” Lizzy explained.
“Zach volunteered your barn. And the other day he suggested you and Jack could organize it, since you obviously work so well together. Everyone agreed.”
What? Jenna swiveled to stare at her brother, who gave her a bland smile back. She was sensing a stitch-up. A serious stitch-up. The Starr’s Fall Business Association was busy matchmaking… but there really was no point.
She glanced at Jack, who, no surprise there, wasn’t looking at her.
Was he embarrassed at how obvious everyone was being?
Did he think she’d put Lizzy up to it, because she wanted to spend more time with him now that he’d finished helping her?
Heaven forbid. “Why doesn’t Zach organize the big Saturday night event?
” she asked Lizzy, a little mulishly as she threw her brother a glare that bounced right off him.
“Not really my thing,” Zach told her. “And I’m already organizing some local woodworkers to do some workshops throughout the weekend. That’s keeping me pretty busy.”
“I’m pretty busy too—” Jenna began, only to have Jack interject.
“I don’t mind,” he said, his voice quiet but firm. Jenna turned to look at him and saw he was frowning at her, looking confused and maybe a little annoyed. “I think it could be fun,” he said to the group, but Jenna thought the discontented look in his eyes said otherwise.
Still, to continue protesting would be ungenerous as well as embarrassing, and so she just gave a nod, folded her arms, and sat back in her seat. She glanced again at Jack—still frowning. She looked away.
The meeting lumbered on, with yet more talk about the streetlights that were continually going on the blink despite Jenna’s efforts over the years to get them fixed, everyone’s plans for late-night openings all through December, and then forward-looking hopes for some kind of springtime event around Easter.
Jenna started to tune out, because she was thinking about planning a barn dance and who knew what else with Jack and bracing herself for spending yet more time with him, while judging from the last week and his virtual disappearance, he was seeming even less enthused.
It was not a particularly enticing combination.
The last thing she needed or wanted was to be around someone who seemed to have decided he didn’t want to be around her.
She knew what that felt like, and it wasn’t good.
She had no intention of feeling it again, and especially not with someone like Jack.
She hadn’t even realized the meeting had broken up until Jack dropped into the empty seat next to her, giving her an uncertain smile as his gaze scanned her face.
He was wearing a gray fleece and the usual khakis, his hair slightly ruffled.
He hadn’t shaved that day, and stubble glinted on his jaw. Basically, he looked scrumptious.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey.” Jenna managed a tight smile in return, determined to rein in her emotions. “Sorry you got railroaded into organizing this barn dance,” she said. “I know you’ve had stuff going on.”
“I don’t mind.” He continued to scan her face, as if looking for clues. “But you seem like you do…?”
“No,” Jenna said quickly. Too quickly.
Jack cocked his head. “Okay,” he said after a moment. “Well, how about we go out for a drink and talk about it? If you have time?”
“Okay,” Jenna said after a moment, knowing she sounded reluctant.
She could feel everyone’s beady eyes on them; Liz Cranbury wasn’t even trying to hide the fact that she was unashamedly eavesdropping; she practically had a hand cupped to her ear.
“If we go to The Starr Light, we’ll have half the town listening to us, though,” she added, like a warning.
“Don’t we always?” He gave her a glimmer of a smile that Jenna did her best to return. All right, she needed to get over herself. So Jack wasn’t being flirty anymore. He wanted to talk shop, nothing else. She was a grownup. She could take it.
“Fine,” she said, and Jack frowned again. Okay, she was going to need a little time to get over herself, clearly, but she’d get there.
They headed out into the crisp night, the streetlights—those that were working, anyway—glimmering in the darkness, the air holding a touch of frost. Thanksgiving was next weekend, and the weather had definitely turned; it felt like winter, Christmas on the horizon just as Laurie had said.
“How have you been?” Jenna asked diffidently as they walked toward The Starr Light. “You seem like you’ve been busy this last week or so.”