Chapter 23
End of April
Kate
‘Those can go over there,’ I say to the guys bringing in the shelves. ‘Just set them against the wall.’ I point to the back of the store, or what will soon be a store.
I’m doing it. I’m opening a store filled with decorative home items that I get to shop for, order, and display in a space I got to design. It’s an absolute dream and one I never imagined would ever come true.
The store is in downtown Haydon Falls at the end of Main Street, right next to a bakery and a coffee shop, and there’s a large public parking lot in the back.
It’s a great location. Everyone walking from the parking lot to downtown will pass the store.
Matt got me a great deal on the lease because the building’s been empty for so long.
The place needed a lot of work, which is why nobody wanted it, but Brody and I are getting really good at renovating and we enjoy it. We couldn’t wait to fix the place up.
It’s been mine for a few weeks now, which was enough time for us to refinish the wood floors, repair and paint the walls, and install a front window display area.
This morning we’re installing the counter where I’ll have the sales register, then we’ll get to work putting up the shelves.
Nash is going to stop by today to change out the light fixtures and check on our work to make sure we did everything right.
He’s been helping us whenever he’s in town.
He’s here a lot because his aunt, Brody’s mom, insists on seeing the baby.
‘The place looks great!’ I hear Callie say.
Turning around, I see Nash and Callie coming into the store.
‘You brought Addison?’ I race up to Callie, who’s holding the baby. ‘Let me see her.’
‘You can hold her if you want.’ Callie offers her to me.
‘You know I want to.’ I take Addison and smile at her. ‘You’re getting so big.’
‘We had to pry her out of Aunt Martha’s arms to get her here,’ Nash jokes. ‘She didn’t want to let her go.’
‘We decided to stay another day so she’d have more time with her,’ Callie says.
‘Does that mean you can help us with the shelves?’ Brody asks, coming out from the back office.
‘Brody, he’s done enough,’ I say as Brody comes over to me. ‘Nash isn’t even letting me pay him to switch out the light fixtures.’
‘You can pay me by having us over for dinner when your house is done,’ Nash says.
‘We’d love to!’ I gently bounce the baby as she fusses a little.
‘You want me to take her?’ Callie asks .
‘Not yet. I need more baby time.’ I kiss her tiny head. ‘If you want a night out with Nash while you’re here, I’d be happy to watch her for you.’
‘You’d have to fight my mom for that,’ Brody kids. ‘She’s got first dibs on babysitting.’
‘Lyndsay and Nick need to hurry up and have some kids,’ Nash says. ‘Addison’s got Aunt Martha wanting grandkids more than ever.’
‘Yeah, I know.’ Brody rolls his eyes. ‘She was even hinting at me to have them the other day.’
‘She was?’ I smile at Brody, imagining him as a dad. He’ll be a great dad. He’s so patient and easygoing.
‘Don’t be getting any ideas,’ he says to me. ‘I’m not even close to being ready for that.’
‘I wasn’t either,’ Callie says. ‘I was a nervous wreck when I found out I was pregnant.’
‘But it all worked out.’ Nash puts his arm around Callie.
‘How’s the house coming along?’ Callie asks.
‘Good,’ I say, gently rocking the baby. ‘Brody tore down a wall last night, so that was fun.’
He smiles. ‘It was. Tearing shit down is one of my favorite parts of remodeling.’
‘You were careful, right?’ Nash says. ‘You checked to make sure it wasn’t holding anything up?’
‘Yeah, but I wouldn’t mind having you stop by and check my work, not just with the wall, but some of the other stuff I’ve done.’
‘Of course. I’d be happy to.’
‘Do you think you guys will keep the house?’ Callie asks.
Brody and I look at each other .
‘We haven’t decided yet,’ I say. ‘We want to finish it first and see how it turns out.’
‘Either way, we’re not done after this one,’ Brody says. ‘We’re already talking about fixing one up next fall.’
‘We decided we wouldn’t work on one this summer since that’s Brody’s busiest time, plus I’ll be busy with the store.’ I hand Callie the baby. ‘I could hold her all day, but I should get back to work.’
‘The new lights are in the back,’ Brody says to Nash.
‘Before he starts, we’re going to run next door and get coffee,’ Callie says. ‘You guys want anything?’
‘We already got one,’ Brody says. ‘I’ll get the lights so they’ll be ready when you get back.’
‘Count on me for putting up the shelves too,’ Nash says. ‘The only payment I’ll take is that you invite us to the store opening.’
‘Of course you’re invited,’ I tell him.
They leave and go next door.
‘It’s so nice of Nash to help me out like this,’ I say to Brody. ‘And not even charge me.’
‘It’s a rule. We don’t charge family, which works out great with Sawyer owning a brewery. We get all the free beer we want.’
‘But I’m not family.’
Brody puts his arms around me. ‘Sorry to break this to you, but my family’s already adopted you. If you want out, you should do it soon because once you’re in, it’s hard to leave.’
‘I don’t want out. I love your family.’ I kiss him. ‘Almost as much as I love you.’
It’s true. I feel closer to Brody’s family than my own, especially now.
My parents have only talked to me once since I moved here.
When I call them, they don’t pick up, and they won’t return any of my messages.
They think if they ignore me, I’ll do what they want to get them to talk to me again.
They did the same thing when I was growing up.
If I didn’t do what they said, they punished me by ignoring me and withholding their love.
So I learned to always do what they told me.
But no more. I can’t live that way, and I shouldn’t have to.
My parents should love me no matter what, the way Brody’s parents love him.
‘When are we going to tell people about the house?’ Brody asks.
‘When it’s done.’
‘Why wait?’
‘Because it’s a mess right now. I want to finish it before we tell everyone we’re keeping it. Why are you in such a hurry to tell people?’
‘I guess I’m thinking if we tell people, you’ll be less likely to change your mind.’
‘Brody, I love you. And I love this town. Why would you think I’d change my mind about staying here?’
He shrugs. ‘You changed your mind about marrying your ex. Maybe when the house is done, you’ll decide you don’t want to stick around.’
‘There’s no way that’s happening. I’m here for good. I can’t leave. I have a store here. And I own a house, or half of one.’
‘It’s ours. We’re a couple. We own it together.’ He gives me a kiss, which turns into another and then another, until the bell on the door jingles and we break apart.
‘I don’t know how you two get any work done when you’re making out all the time,’ Jason says, coming into the store .
‘What are you doing here?’ Brody asks.
‘Water leak at the school.’ Jason walks over to us. ‘It’s closed until noon so they can figure out where the water’s coming from. If they can’t find it, there won’t be school today.’ He looks around at the store. ‘It’s really coming together.’
‘The products start arriving tomorrow,’ I tell him. ‘I can’t wait to unpack them and get to work on the displays.’
Just saying that has me so excited I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve waiting for Santa to come. I can’t believe this is real, that this is my life. Not only am I opening a home decor store, but I’m also fulfilling my dream to renovate old houses.
‘Hey, Brody, can I talk to you a minute?’ Jason glances at me. ‘In private?’
‘Just tell me here. Kate can keep a secret.’
‘It’s not a secret. I’m just trying to figure out what it means.’
‘What’s this about?’
‘A girl.’
‘Kate’s a girl. She should hear this. Maybe she could help.’
‘I could try,’ I tell Jason. ‘Is this someone you went out with?’
‘We didn’t really go out.’ Jason looks at Brody. ‘It’s that girl I met at Noah and Lacey’s wedding.’
‘He slept with her,’ Brody says to me. ‘And he hasn’t talked to her since that weekend.’
‘For the record, I never do that,’ Jason says to me. ‘Or I hadn’t before that night. I met her at the reception and we hit it off. We talked, did some dancing, drank too much, and she ended up in my room.’
‘Yeah, so what about her?’ Brody asks .
‘She called me. She’s coming to town and asked if we could have dinner.’
‘Where does she live?’ I ask.
‘In Madison. She’s going to grad school there, but she’s not from here. She grew up in Boston.’
‘So what’s the problem?’ Brody asks. ‘You don’t want to go to dinner with her?’
‘I don’t know. I’m not sure why she’d want to. After that night, we decided not to see each other again. We really hit it off, but we didn’t want to start something since she lives an hour away and is going back to Boston after she graduates in May.’
‘What did you tell her?’ Brody asks. ‘Did you agree to have dinner with her?’
‘Not yet. I told her I’d get back to her.’
Brody turns to me. ‘What do you think this means? From a girl’s perspective?’
‘Maybe she hasn’t been able to stop thinking about you,’ I say to Jason. ‘And she wants to see you again to see if you guys could figure out a way to make this work.’
‘But it can’t. Like I said, she’s moving back to Boston in May.’
‘Maybe she’ll come to Haydon Falls, love it, and decide to stay,’ I tell him. ‘It happened to me and I never imagined myself living in a small town.’
‘I like to think I had something to do with you wanting to be here,’ Brody says, putting his arm around me.
‘You did.’ I kiss him, then look back at Jason. ‘If this girl really likes you and things go well when you see her again, maybe she’d consider moving here when she’s done with grad school. ’
‘I don’t see that happening. And I’m kind of seeing someone else right now.’
‘Who are you seeing?’ Brody asks.
‘I went out with Brianna last weekend and we’re going out tonight.’
‘Brianna’s 22. She’s too young for you.’
‘Yeah, well, I can’t be picky. There’s only so many single girls in this town and Brianna has no plans to leave.’
‘Dude, she is not the right girl for you. She’s out partying every night and she can’t keep a job.’
‘I didn’t ask for your opinion about Brianna. We were talking about Mia, the girl from the wedding, but you’re not helping so just forget it.’
‘I think you should meet her for dinner,’ I say. ‘What’s the harm? It’s just dinner. Maybe she just wants to talk and see how you’re doing. Maybe it’s more of a friend thing.’
‘Yeah, I guess that’s possible. I did like talking to her. She’s smart, funny, and we’re both teachers, so we bonded over that.’
‘What kind of teacher?’ I ask.
‘High school English. But she’s done teaching. She’s going to grad school to be a school counselor.’
‘I agree with Kate,’ Brody says. ‘Tell her you’ll go to dinner with her.’
‘Yeah, I guess you’re right. It’s just dinner. And I would like to see her again. I’ll call her and set up a time.’ He walks to the door. ‘See you guys later.’
‘I wonder what that’s about,’ Brody says when Jason’s gone. ‘He went to that wedding months ago. Why is this girl calling him now? Why’d she wait so long? ’
‘Maybe she can’t stop thinking about him and wants to see if he feels the same way.’
‘Yeah, but why? They’re not going to date. They don’t even live in the same town.’
‘We didn’t live in the same town and look what happened.’ I hook my arms around his neck and smile at him. ‘We’re in love and living together.’
‘Yeah, but it sounds like this girl’s moving back to Boston soon. Jason’s not going to move. Well, he could, but he won’t. He loves his job and loves living here.’
‘Then maybe they’ll just have dinner and that’ll be it.’
‘I’m surprised he hasn’t found someone by now. I thought for sure he’d settle down before I did. He’s been ready to get married for years, but he can’t find anyone.’
‘Maybe he should go out in snowstorms and look for girls stuck in ditches,’ I kid.
Brody laughs. ‘I can’t believe that happened to you twice and that I found you both times.’
‘Guess it was meant to be.’ I kiss him.
‘Okay, you two,’ Nash says, coming into the store. ‘You can do that when you get home. We have work to do.’
‘Where’s Callie?’
‘She’s across the street at Sawyer’s place. Gina’s there and she wanted to see the baby.’
‘Let’s go in the back,’ Brody says to Nash. ‘I’ll show you the lights.’
The lights I picked out are black metal domes lights with a glossy white interior.
They fit the modern farmhouse look I’m creating for the store.
I could’ve gone with more of a glamorous look with white tile floors, shiny gold shelving, and sparkly chandeliers, but something like that didn’t feel right in this town.
And it doesn’t fit the new, more relaxed me.
So I went with a comfy farmhouse look. The shelving I picked out is planks of reclaimed wood held up by black iron brackets.
The original wood floors have some stains and nicks, even after refinishing them, but I like it that way.
It’s a reminder of how old the building is and it adds to that lived-in, laid-back look I’m going for.
I didn’t want this place to look perfect.
That was the old Kate. The new Kate wants to be comfortable and relaxed, and not so perfect.
Looking around the store, I’m so proud of how it turned out, and proud of myself for doing this.
If I’d done what everyone wanted me to do and married Cam, I’d be living with a man I didn’t love, working at a job I didn’t like, and feeling miserable.
It just took one decision, one bold move, to change everything.
I almost didn’t do it, but I’m so happy I did.
Leaving my wedding was the best decision I ever made.
It led to the life I always dreamed of, and to Brody, the guy I love and can’t wait to marry someday.
And when that day comes, when I’m standing at the altar about to say my vows, I can say with certainty that I won’t run away.
I have no doubts this time. I know Brody’s the guy for me.
He may be messy, disorganized, and a terrible decorator, but to me he’s perfect. The perfect guy for me .