Chapter 6
Chapter Six
K ate adjusted her purse over her shoulder and closed her car door carefully.
She glanced up at the sign above the sidewalk: "Mistletoe Meadows Candy Canes."
Maybe a little creatively uninspired, but descriptive.
Had she heard somewhere that it had been in his family for five generations?
Not his family—hers. His late wife's. Jack's late wife.
No wonder he was working so hard to keep it for Lilly.
At the thought of Lilly, her heart clenched a bit. She really wanted to help the child. How difficult it must be to lose one's mother. Of course, at least she had a caring and loving father who wanted the very best for her.
Thoughts of Kate's own cold childhood tried to push into her mind, but she shoved them aside. That was part of the reason she became a counselor, because she had so longed for a gentle touch, a warm hug, a caring smile from her parents, but they never seemed to have time.
They had taken care of her, that was for sure.
Provided her with everything a child could want, except love and attention.
They'd been too busy working to pay for all the things they had given her, and anytime she tried to talk to them about it, especially as she got older, they gave her a guilt trip for not being grateful for what they had provided and always wanting more.
She hadn't wanted more; she had just wanted.
.. the human connection. The love a child deserves from their parents.
But her parents had done the best they could, and looking back, Kate could hardly fault them. They thought they were providing for her in the very best way possible. And they truly did think she wasn't being grateful when she asked for something different.
Regardless, it had shaped her entire life and landed her here, at Mistletoe Meadows Candy Canes and Jack Henderson's doorstep.
It was a shop, so she didn't have to knock before she pulled the door open and stepped inside.
It was like stepping back in time into an old-fashioned movie, only the smell was minty and somehow old, yet not musty or dirty.
She breathed in deeply, the sugary, sweet candy scent seeming to fill up her soul, like the hug that she'd longed for as a child.
The old-fashioned display in the window, with the mechanical toys that made little clicking and buzzing noises as they moved along, made her smile as she walked along the hardwood floor.
They were small, narrow planks, and she guessed the floor hadn't been replaced since the building had been built in the early 1900s.
It probably wasn't on the national historic register, but a part of her felt it should be. She supposed it provided tons of beautiful memories to all the kids who had grown up over the years in Mistletoe Meadows.
How many kids had stood in front of the penny candy display, clutching a nickel or a dime and trying to decide which candy they would choose?
She smiled at the thought.
And somehow the thought made her long for a child of her own to hold her hand and stand and make decisions about what she really wanted. Of course, as a child, her parents probably would have encouraged her to save her money and not spend it frivolously on candy.
"Hey there," Jack spoke, startling her.
"My goodness, I didn't see you back there." He stood behind the mixer, which was silent and still.
"I need to get these candy canes shaped before they cool too much to work with."
"That looks so interesting. Would it be too much to ask for me to be able to watch you?"
"I think that's why we have the store part open to the kitchen. So that people can come in and watch." He looked up with a welcoming smile. "Of course you're welcome to come over and take a look."
Movement caught her gaze, and she realized Lilly stood directly beside her dad, her hands on the counter, shaping candy canes.
"Lilly. I didn't see you there. Looks like you're helping your dad."
Lilly's eyes, bright and shining, looked up as she nodded happily.
The little girl had been well-behaved in school, but obviously here in the shop her entire body seemed to come alive.
“Lilly loves to help.”
“I bet she’s a great helper.” Lilly beamed. Kate’s gaze went to the pot on the burner. “So you cook the... it's not called batter?"
"No. We refer to it as syrup. We cook the candy syrup to a specific temperature, and then we put it in strips on a tray to let it cool.
Then, before it's completely cold, you have to form those strips into the shape that you want.
Obviously, because of the name of the shop, we make a lot of candy canes, but we do have different kinds of candy too. "
"You do?" Kate asked, looking around the shelves. There were blue candy canes and green ones, the traditional red and white stripes, as well as solid red and solid white. She could read the different tags with the different flavors underneath. A banana candy cane caught her eye.
"Yeah. I don't make a whole lot of chocolate, but it's probably my favorite thing."
"Your favorite thing to eat, or your favorite thing to make?"
Jack exchanged an amused smile with Lilly. "Both," he said, his brows raised, and he looked at Lilly rather than Kate as he spoke.
The little girl laughed, and a small sound escaped her mouth, but she quickly put her hand over it, stifling her laughter.
Jack didn't seem to notice that his daughter had made a sound, and Kate wondered if that was normal. Perhaps she did often laugh.
"So you two own and run a candy cane shop, and yet your favorite candy is chocolate. Is this something I should report to the candy police?"
Lilly giggled again, her shoulders shaking, but she kept any noise from coming out of her mouth.
Jack looked amused at his daughter, and then at Kate. "We would be guilty as charged. Although, to be fair, both of us love candy canes and eat far more than we should. After all, that's how our store makes a profit."
A little bit of the light dimmed from his eyes after saying that last part, and it made Kate wonder if the reason Jack worked so much was because the store was having financial difficulties.
She remembered what someone had said about Lilly being in the hospital and Jack trying to keep the store afloat for her.
That seemed to insinuate that there might be some trouble. Not to mention, Kate couldn't imagine handcrafted candy canes being a lucrative business.
She glanced again at the displays, noting the prices and trying to figure out how much he would have to sell in order to simply pay rent on the building.
Maybe they owned it outright, and then he'd just have to figure taxes. She hadn't lived in the area long enough to know if taxes were expensive or not. In some places, taxes could break a family trying to make a living.
She'd seen that firsthand in the inner city.
"There. Another tray done. Can you carry this carefully over to the rack?" Jack said, looking at Lilly, who nodded eagerly.
Kate got the impression that Lilly found any job in the candy shop an honor.
As Lilly picked up the tray and turned, she tripped on something and tumbled, barely catching herself before the candies spilled all over the floor.
A micro-expression on Jack's face showed dismay, and then relief settled there as the candy was safe.
Lilly's eyes were big, and her mouth was open, almost as though she was ready to say something, whether it was an apology or an exclamation of surprise or dismay, Kate wasn't sure.
"That was a good catch," Kate said. "You're very light on your feet, Lilly."
Lilly saw the acceptance and compassion on her dad's face, and it seemed to soothe her, because she turned to Kate with a smile that grew wider as she met Kate's gaze.
Carefully, walking very slowly, Lilly carried the tray to the rack that Jack had indicated.
Was it possible that as young as she was, she knew how important the candy shop was to her mother's memory and she was putting too much pressure on her young little shoulders to learn and make her mother proud of her?
She seemed kind of young for that type of issue, but maybe she'd overheard her dad talking to someone about it.
"All right, Lilly. You know what time it is. I'll be up in fifteen minutes, after you've taken your shower, and we'll read a little bit before bed. You do have all of your homework done, right?"
Lilly nodded, and then she put a hand up and wiggled her fingers at Kate.
She didn't give her dad any trouble as she turned toward the back and disappeared into a hallway.
"She loves it down here. She'd spend all day every day here if I let her."
"She's different here than she is at school, that's for sure," Kate said, not wanting Lilly to overhear her.
Jack glanced back toward the hallway and tilted his head to one side as footsteps echoed, showing that Lilly had headed up the stairs, and then a door closed.
"She's a good kid," Jack sighed. "This was her mother's shop, and it was Lauren's dream to have Lilly follow in her footsteps, because it had been in the family for so long. I'm doing everything I can to try to keep it together."
Kate nodded, and she was trying to figure out what kind of questions she could ask that would let her know if the shop was in some kind of financial trouble.
Not that it was any of her business and not that she could do anything to help.
She might be able to buy a few pieces of candy, but she wasn't going to be able to pay any major bills.
She hadn't even managed to find herself a place to live, not one that she could afford anyway.
There were some high-end rental places on the outside of town, and a couple of nice houses for sale, but again, they were out of her price range and completely out of her budget.
"I would think this season would be your best sales season," she said, hoping the statement was open-ended enough that if he wanted to talk about his financial issues he could. Perhaps that had something to do with Lilly's issues.