Chapter 14 #2
Levi and Laney smiled and worked in tandem quickly making another beverage.
If Georgia’s eyes had been on a hill, they would have rolled all the way to the bottom. “How do you know so much about this potential nonprofit, Mr. Dawson?” she interrogated studying him closely.
The fact that she used his last name didn’t slip past Cavin. “These folks are the first people I met in Beaufort yesterday, and we had a discussion over beverages and cinnamon rolls,” Cavin disclosed, purposely leaving the details to the imagination.
“Is that right?” Georgia declared, giving Noel a sideways glance all the while keeping her focus on Cavin. “It doesn’t take you long to get around a new town, huh?”
Cavin felt the intensity of her accusation. “I like meeting new people,” he countered.
Georgia shifted her gaze to Noel. “The kids can keep the hot chocolate stand up today, but before setting up shop again on the sidewalk, which is a potential insurance liability, you all will need to complete the necessary application paperwork at the municipality office.”
“Sure we can do that,” Noel offered to appease the woman.
“If you need help, I imagine your business consultant, Mr. Atlanta here, can assist,” Georgia proposed, patting Cavin’s firm chest. She then painted a smile on her face and altered her tone to match the chirpy birds in a nearby tree, locking eyes with Cavin.
“Let’s get together again soon,” she suggested before winking at Noel as she turned and walked away, her hips moving like a runway model on a mission.
Noel furrowed her brow, scoffed, and with folded arms monitored Cavin’s expression closely.
She thought his eyes would most likely follow Georgia’s departure as Sam’s had, but to her surprise Cavin didn’t so much as glance in the woman’s direction.
An instant later his gaze met hers, and the two studied one another for a moment.
“This is the best hot chocolate I’ve ever tasted,” Sam declared, turning his attention back to the table.
Laney and Levi grinned.
“They can sell it by the gallon,” Cavin stated and then quickly rephrased, “I meant the kids take donations for a gallon.” As soon as Cavin finished the statement, he thought it sounded kind of odd to sell hot chocolate by the gallon; he had never heard of that . . . but why not?
“I’ll take a gallon.”
“In order to have the hot chocolate available by the gallon, we will need gallon jugs first,” Noel proclaimed with an expectant glare in Cavin’s direction. “I think Cavin signed up for that task.”
“Put me down for one,” Sam requested. “Call me when it’s ready, and I’ll pick it up. Good luck today, kids,” he added with a smile before heading down the sidewalk.
“You are quite the businessman, huh, Mr. Dawson,” Noel declared.
“Just trying to be helpful,” Cavin replied as he tried to decipher the meaning behind her comment.
“In addition to fetching the gallon jugs, you can also help these kids make the hot chocolate,” she directed.
“I would, but I am kind of in a pickle this morning and do not have time right now, unfortunately,” he explained.
“In that case can I have a word with you in private before you run off?”
“Of course.”
“Levi, Laney, keep up the great work. I will come back to check on you in a bit,” Noel promised. “Remember, when the urn gets to the one-quarter mark, we need to make more so you don’t run out.”
“Yes, ma’am,” they responded in unison.
Cavin followed Noel into the candy store where Mrs. Madelyn peeked out from behind the guests at the counter and said, “Good morning, Mr. Dawson. I am so glad you are back.”
“Good morning, Mrs. Madelyn,” he reciprocated with a genuine smile. “Me too.”
Noel forced a grin and kept walking.
Not quite keeping up, Cavin shrugged his shoulders in response to Mrs. Madelyn’s quizzical reaction.
Once on the other side of the kitchen door, Noel turned abruptly, and Cavin accidentally bumped into her. He nearly knocked her backward but grabbed her shoulders just in time and held her firmly.
Noel quickly straightened herself and pulled back but not far.
“Listen, Mr. Dawson,” she started as Cavin studied her green eyes.
“While I appreciate what you did out there for the kids, I don’t appreciate you teaching them to lie their way out of a challenging situation.
You and I both know there is no nonprofit. ”
Cavin, taken aback by her accusation, offered a swift rebuttal. “An animal nonprofit to be exact,” he reminded her, “which, if I recall correctly, were your words.”
Noel’s nostrils flared. “I went along with you because at that point we were already knee-deep in lies.”
“I did not tell any lies,” Cavin claimed. “We literally just created a nonprofit out there,” he contested while pointing his finger toward the front of the store.
“You don’t just create a nonprofit for strangers on a whim.”
“You went along with it,” Cavin debated, “and I do not consider you all strangers.”
“Just because you brought us coffee and hot chocolate, which probably started this whole idea, now that I think of it, doesn’t mean we are friends.”
The insult stung a bit. “Are we in Atlanta or Beaufort?” Cavin asked.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Noel snarled.
“It means what happened to small-town kindness and hospitality?”
“It sounds like Georgia has already shown you plenty of that.”
Cavin couldn’t help but smirk at the accusation. “Has anyone ever told you that you are cute when you are mad?”
Noel suddenly felt herself at a loss for words, glaring at Cavin for just a moment before her eyes fell to the floor. That’s when the tears began to trickle down her cheek one at a time like a leaky faucet. “Yes,” she uttered. “My husband.”
The tide shifted, and now Cavin didn’t know how to respond. He had never been good at handling crying women. Noel turned away from him, but he could still hear sniffles as she stepped slowly toward the kitchen’s island where she slumped over and rested her face in her palms.
“I am sorry I crossed a line,” Cavin apologized. “I will be sure not to let that happen again.”
Cavin liked women. He dated plenty of them and hit on a lot more.
Sometimes they gave him their numbers like Georgia did last night, and other times they laughed at him.
However, none ever just started crying like Noel.
One thing he didn’t do intentionally was flirt with married women.
He didn’t initiate it or reciprocate it if they started the game; he instead always made sure to walk away from such situations.
Before Noel could gather herself and formulate a response, Cavin hastily showed himself out the kitchen door and down one of the candy shop’s aisles as quickly as Noel walked it earlier. He didn’t even notice that Mrs. Madelyn gave him the same quizzical look as she shot Noel on their walk through.
When the front door fell shut behind Cavin, he watched the kids hand a fresh cup of hot chocolate to a couple.
When those people walked away, Cavin spoke.
“Levi, Laney, I shouldn’t have lied to Mr. Sam and Ms. Georgia.
I was trying to help you guys and maybe it did temporarily, but we should always tell the truth no matter what it costs. ”
“But you saved our hot chocolate stand,” Levi reminded him.
“I should have done it differently. With honesty we might still have saved the stand.”
“We like your idea,” Laney proclaimed.
“What idea?”
“Raising money to help find lost animals like Scout.”
“Who is Scout?” Cavin asked.
Levi pointed. “The missing dog on the poster. But we can’t donate money to help find other animals until we make enough to help Mom keep the candy shop open.”
Cavin’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
Laney punched Levi’s arm. “You’re not supposed to tell,” she whispered harshly.
“Cavin’s our friend,” Levi contested.
Cavin smirked. Not according to your mother, he thought.
“We’re giving all the money to the candy shop,” Laney confessed. “But no one knows we know about the candy shop closing after Christmas.”
“Yeah so thanks for lying for us,” Levi said seriously.
“No,” Cavin responded. “Don’t thank me for lying. In fact I am going to straighten all of this out with Ms. Georgia.”
Disappointment filled Levi’s and Laney’s faces. “Does that mean we are going to get shut down again?” Levi questioned.
“No,” Cavin promised.
“Good. Will you also help us find the dog?”
“Help you find the dog?” Cavin quizzed.
“Yeah, the missing dog,” Laney reminded him as she pointed at the poster. “There’s a $500 reward,” she shared with bulging eyes. “That should be enough to keep the candy shop open and start our dog-finding business.”
Cavin stepped closer to the poster. “It is actually a $5,000 reward,” he clarified with surprise lining his voice as he studied the photograph of the small, brown Goldendoodle, noticing the patch of white around its nose which complemented his meticulously trimmed curly coat. “Wow, somebody really loves that dog.”
“Five thousand dollars,” Levi shouted. “We will be rich. We can definitely save the candy store and more dogs.”
Cavin’s heart warmed at the realization that the kids planned to donate the hot chocolate stand funds all along.
“You are both very generous. I will see what I can do,” Cavin said, unsure if he was still welcome around Noel’s kids and the candy store.
“But right now I need to figure out how to fix four flat tires before I can go play golf.”
“Four flat tires,” Levi declared. “That’s all of them.”
“I know, right?”
“My daddy is a mechanic; he can help you,” Laney offered.
“Really?” Cavin replied.
“Yeah, we can have Mom call him for you,” Levi suggested.
Yeah, right, Cavin wanted to say. Slim chance of that happening after the conversation he just walked away from. “That is okay, I will figure it out but thanks for your willingness to help.”
Cavin knew he would now have to skip coffee in order to make the tee time, but thankfully, he drank a cup of hot chocolate. “Hey, how about one more cup for the road?” he requested, glancing at his watch.
The kids promptly made him another.
“I know you taught us to be honest, but please don’t tell Mom we know about the candy shop closing,” Levi requested.
“Is that lying if we don’t tell her?” Laney asked while she handed Cavin the hot chocolate as the contents sloshed like a rough sea when her unsteady hand moved across the table.
“No, that is not lying; it is just keeping a secret.”
“Good,” she replied.
Noticing the level in the urn, Levi suddenly exclaimed, “We’re going to need more hot chocolate!"