6. Chapter Six
Chapter Six
W hat was she going to do?
It was the question that had plagued her until the wee hours of the morning and into the next day. Carrie still didn’t have a marketing plan for Valentine’s week—at least not one that would stand out and impress people.
She’d considered a sale, but she had to be careful with that, since she’d just opened. She couldn’t afford to operate at a loss. She’d sunk all of her savings into this place. So, a sale wouldn’t work.
She could offer something special—something just for Valentine’s. But what? She’d already used up all of her great ideas for the grand opening.
Carrie grew frustrated and instead turned her attention to making some chocolate-covered strawberries. They had been a popular item so far.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Really? Jackson was at it again. She thought they’d agreed he was going to keep the noise down.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
The pictures hanging on the wall rattled. She inwardly groaned. There was more banging. It was so loud that it sounded like he was coming through the wall. As the noise continued, her jaw tightened and her back teeth ground together. This had to stop.
She marched out the back door and over to the unit next door. Before her hand reached the doorknob, the door swung open. She came face-to-face with a big burly guy in a red flannel shirt. He grunted something that might have been some sort of greeting as he carried lumber into the alley. It was only then she noticed the work trucks at the end of the alley.
Her agitation ebbed away. Mark had come through for her. She would have to put together some chocolates to thank him.
She stepped inside the store, which now looked like a demolition zone. There were half a dozen men inside and not one of them was Jackson.
When she spotted Mark, she headed toward him. “Hey, you don’t waste any time, do you?”
“Good morning.” Mark smiled. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, I came to yell at Jackson for banging on the walls so hard that it rattled the pictures on the wall. I thought they were going to fall off.”
“Oh, man. Sorry about that.” Mark turned to his men. “Hey!” When the guys stopped and looked at him, he said, “Take it easy when you’re working on the shared wall.”
The men grunted their acknowledgment and then returned to work.
Mark turned back to her. “I don’t know who did the original work on this place, but it’s definitely not up to code. Don’t worry. We’re going to beef up the shared wall and include sound proofing. Just bear with us until we get through this process.”
“Carrie, what are you doing here?”
She turned to find Jackson entering the building. “Hey, I stopped over to, uh, see how things are going. Imagine my surprise when I walked in and found all of these guys.”
“Yeah.” Jackson nodded his head. “Mark offered to help move things along at a much faster pace. I thought you’d like it if the work was done as quickly as possible.”
She wouldn’t miss the noise. That was for sure. But the completion would mean Jackson would be gone again. She wasn’t anxious for him to leave.
She glanced around to see a marked advancement in the demo work. Strangely enough, the place was already looking worlds better, even though it was being stripped down to its studs.
“Things are looking good,” she said.
Jackson glanced around. “You and I have very different ideas about what looks good.”
She let out a laugh. “I guess I can just see the potential of this place. By the way, what are you going to do with it?”
“I don’t know. It’ll be up to the new owner.”
“Owner?” This was news to her. “You sold the building?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. No one wanted to take it on in its former condition. Hence all of this work.”
She felt as though the world had tilted under her feet. She’d just gotten settled in her shop and now the building was being sold. The thought made her nauseous.
The timer on her smartwatch went off. She turned it off. “Work calls. I need to get going. I’ll, uh, see you later.”
When she reached the back door, he called out to her. “Carrie?” When she turned around, he asked, “Would you like to grab some lunch today?”
Her first instinct was to turn down the man who was about to sell the building. But Jackson wasn’t just any man, he was her oldest and dearest friend. “Would one o’clock work?”
“Sounds good to me. I’ll meet you at your place.”
“See you then.”
She’d hoped that at last the awkwardness between them would fade, but that wasn’t happening any time soon. How could he just sell the building without even talking to her?
Of course, it was his family’s building. They could do anything they wanted with it. But she was their tenant… No, she was more than their tenant. She was almost like family, at least that was what his mother always said when she’d find them in the Wrights’ living room, watching movies. Didn’t they think selling the building would matter to her?
When she stepped inside the chocolate shop, she found Alice cleaning up broken glass from a fallen picture. Oh no.
“I’m sorry,” Alice said. “I found this on the floor.”
Carrie rushed to her side to help with the cleanup. “Don’t worry about it. I...” She didn’t want to blame it on Jackson or the men working on the shop. “I must not have hung it securely.”
“You’ll never believe what I just heard.” Alice beamed with happiness.
Alice held the dustpan while Carrie worked the broom. “Have you been listening to gossip again?”
“Yes, but this is different.”
Carrie had told her numerous times to not believe the gossip that went around the town. Half the time it was utterly wrong, and the other half of the time it was exaggerated.
It only took a couple of minutes for them to clean up the area. Carrie moved to the trash and dumped the broken bits of glass. “Whatever it is, I don’t want to hear it.”
Alice looked like she was going to burst if she wasn’t allowed to share the news. “This is different. You’ll want to hear it. I promise, it’s good.”
“Alice...”
“It’s about you.”
“Me?” Why were people in town talking about her?
“They are saying that Totally Chocolate has been added to the Happy Hearts schedule.”
Surely, she hadn’t heard her correctly. This was too good to be true. “But Brittany said no.”
Alice shrugged. “I don’t know why she changed her mind, but it’s true.”
Carrie shook her head. “It’s just gossip. It doesn’t mean it’s true.”
“But it is true. I swear it.” Alice grinned at her. “What are we going to make for it?”
Carrie fought the excitement welling up inside her. This is what she’d wanted since she’d first heard about the Happy Hearts week. But she wasn’t going to set herself up to be disappointed.
Ring-ring.
They both turned and stared at the ringing wall phone. Could Alice be right? Was this news about Happy Hearts? No.
“Well,” Alice said, “are you going to answer it? Or should I?”
When Carrie didn’t respond and the phone kept ringing, Alice moved toward it.
“No,” Carrie said. “I’ll get it.”
She rushed over and lifted the phone to her ear. “Totally Chocolate. How may I help you?”
“Carrie? This is Brittany. I just wanted you to know that we’re putting your chocolate shop on the Happy Hearts schedule. You must have a special menu for the guests.”
She was in! It was true! Her heart skipped a beat. Her next thought was: What is the catch?
“Carrie, did you hear me?” Brittany’s voice had an irritated tone.
Carrie’s mind was having problems keeping up with things. “Um... Yes, I did. But why did you change your mind?”
Brittany sighed. “What does it matter? You’re in. That’s all that matters.” She rushed on. “Now, what do you plan on doing for Happy Hearts?”
Really? Brittany expected her to have a plan on the spot? This was after she’d been told that since her business wasn’t well-established, it wasn’t welcome to be a part of the Valentine’s celebration.
Carrie swallowed hard. “I don’t have a plan...”
“You have to have a plan or we simply won’t be able to add your business.” Brittany hadn’t let her finish her sentence.
Carrie swallowed and started again. “What I was going to say is that I’ll work on it and have something in a couple of days.”
“Have it to me by tomorrow morning. We’re going to finalize the schedule and print them tomorrow.” And then the line went dead.
Carrie lowered the phone from her ear and stared at it for a moment. She didn’t know whether to be excited that she was given this chance for free advertising or be irritated that Brittany was just as rude as she’d been in high school. She sighed. She wouldn’t let that woman ruin this for her.
She turned to Alice, who was grinning. “You were right. I’m sorry for not believing you.”
“I told you so. This is awesome.” Alice’s eyes lit up.
“But now we have to come up with something spectacular by tomorrow morning. It has to be something that will really get the town talking. Any ideas?”
Alice looked thoughtful for a moment. “No, but I’m sure we’ll come up with something.”
Carrie hoped so. She knew if it wasn’t good enough, Brittany would quickly and readily strike them from the event. The one thing Carrie wanted to know was why Brittany had changed her mind and included Totally Chocolate. She supposed she’d never know because there was no way Brittany would volunteer that information.
Is this a good idea?
Jackson had asked himself this question since Carrie had said yes to his lunch invitation. He longed to reconnect with her. He missed her so much.
It was strange. He’d thought the physical distance that had been between them for all of those years would have destroyed their special bond, but for him, it hadn’t. He couldn’t speak for Carrie. To him, she was still the girl next door—the one he could tell anything to—the one who was always there to have his back. At least that was what he wanted to believe.
Except he hadn’t told her his big secret. He was afraid to tell her the truth about his mother. He didn’t want to see the disappointment in her eyes. Or for her to vocalize his own tormenting thoughts about how he hadn’t been there enough for his mother—not knowing what was going on with her. Instead, he’d been busy with his career.
As he walked with Carrie to Mel’s Grille for lunch, he noticed she was smiling a lot. He wanted to think it was her excitement of having lunch with him, but he supposed that might be too much to hope for, especially after the bumpy reunion.
Buzz. Buzz .
It was probably the office. Again. He hesitated. Maybe they’d hang up.
“You can answer that,” she said.
“What if I don’t want to?” He didn’t. Not at all.
“But it might be important. It could be your office.”
“Everything is important to them.”
She arched a brow as she glanced at him. “If I didn’t know you better, I’d think you don’t love your job.”
As his phone continued to buzz, he shrugged his shoulders. “I enjoy the work. I don’t enjoy how it intrudes on my private time.”
She nodded. “I can understand that.”
When his phone quieted, he noticed the smile had returned to Carrie’s face. Wow! She was gorgeous. How was it possible she didn’t have a serious guy in her life?
“So, what has you in such a good mood?” he asked.
She glanced over at him, and he noticed that even her eyes were twinkling. “Brittany called this morning...” Carrie paused and looked at him. “You probably don’t know this, but she’s now on the town council. Anyway, she’s organizing Happy Hearts. When I applied, she told me that my business was too new. I don’t know what that had to do with anything. I think it had more to do with all of our animosity in high school. She never liked me. Anyway, I was going to do something special for Valentine’s on my own. I was brainstorming ideas when I got the call. Brittany told me I was on the schedule for Happy Hearts.” The smile returned to Carrie’s face. “Of course, she threatened that if I didn’t turn in information for the event tomorrow that she would drop me.”
“That’s great!” Then clarifying his comment, he said, “That you’re a part of Happy Hearts, not that she threatened to drop you.” He was truly happy for her. He knew how great it felt when something you’ve worked hard on worked out. “I’m sorry she’s still giving you a hard time. High school was a lifetime ago.”
“I totally agree.”
By then they reached the most popular restaurant in Bayberry: Mel’s Grille. One of the things he loved about his hometown was the fact that most everything was within walking distance. It might have been warmer to drive, but then they would have missed the bright sunshine that warmed their faces, and they wouldn’t have had much time to talk.
He opened the door for her and followed her inside. The warm air rushed up and greeted them. And the air carried with it the aroma of beef stew. Jackson’s stomach rumbled its approval.
Carrie pulled off her gloves and stuffed them into her pockets. “Looks like we missed the lunch crowd.”
He was confused. The dining room was still full. “I think you’re mistaken. This place is packed.”
Carrie nodded in agreement. “But what you probably don’t know is with Bayberry Candles growing, so is our town. There’s usually a line of people waiting to be seated for lunch, which is a problem since most people don’t have long for lunch.”
“I can honestly say that I never thought Bayberry would be such a hopping place.”
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a small town, but every year it grows a bit more. It’s not without its growing pains, but relatively speaking, it’s gone smoothly. But I think we could definitely use another restaurant or two.” She looked around the dining room. “Oh, look. There’s Kate and Abby. Let’s go join them.”
It wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind when he asked her to lunch, but he didn’t have much choice. Carrie was already rushing toward her friends. He trailed behind her.
He was really hoping this meal would be a chance for them to reconnect. Maybe she’d have some advice for him about how to deal with his mother going forward. He wanted to help his mother, but he didn’t want to smother her with his concern either.
Abby slid over in the booth. “Carrie, join us.”
Carrie didn’t hesitate as she sat down. Jackson hung back. She glanced over at him and waved him over. “Come on, Jackson.”
“I promise we won’t bite.” Kate slid across the bench. “You can sit by me.”
He took a seat, leaving a big gap between himself and Kate.
“How long are you in town?” Abby asked.
He shrugged. “I’m leaving in a couple of weeks.”
“That’s too bad.” Abby lightly elbowed Carrie. “Isn’t it?”
“Um...yeah.” Carrie sent him a little smile that didn’t quite meet her expressive eyes.
He told himself not to take Carrie’s half-hearted response seriously. After all, her friends weren’t exactly being discreet.
“Maybe you’ll change your mind,” Kate said, “and stay longer.”
He hesitated. In the past, he would have quickly dispelled the idea of him sticking around any longer. Not even six months ago, his priority would have been his career. And then he’d gotten a phone call from his mother’s bank, and his priority changed.
“I don’t think so.” Wanting to take the attention off himself, he said, “Carrie has some exciting news.”
All heads turned in Carrie’s direction. He settled back against the seat, finally able to take his first full breath since they’d sat down.
Carrie was practically glowing with happiness when she said, “Totally Chocolate is officially a part of Happy Hearts.”
“Really?” Kate smiled. “That’s awesome!”
“They were crazy to turn you down in the first place,” Abby said.
“How did this happen?” Kate asked.
“I don’t know,” Carrie said. “I got a call this morning from Brittany. She let me know that my shop was in as long as I supplied a special menu for the event by tomorrow afternoon.”
“I wonder what changed her mind?” Abby mused out loud.
“I don’t know,” Carrie said. “When I asked, she wouldn’t say.”
Jackson was relieved that Brittany hadn’t told her about his part in including Totally Chocolate in Happy Hearts. To be honest, he thought Brittany was foolish for turning Carrie down when she’d applied for the event.
Of course, the favor hadn’t been free. Brittany hadn’t changed from high school. She didn’t do anything for free. And so he had to agree to use her as his real estate agent when he put the building on the market. He really didn’t want to continue to deal with her, but it was worth it to see the happiness written all over Carrie’s face.