Chapter 7
“Hey, sis. Can you fill this for me?” Fred placed his travel mug on the counter near the cash register at The Baked Apple.
“With or without additives?” Emma asked as she took the mug.
“Without.”
She shuddered. “I don’t see how you can drink it without something added.”
“Lots of people drink it that way.” Cari, Emma’s business partner, was arranging baked goods in the display case. “You want something to eat with that pot of coffee?” Her left eyebrow arched as she smirked.
“Hey, it has to last me until the end of my shift.” But she wasn’t kidding. This insulated mug could hold a small pot of coffee. He had tested that fact. More than once.
She didn’t look convinced.
“Seriously.”
“Is the coffee maker at work broken?” Emma placed his mug back on the counter so he could put the lid on it.
“Nah, but your coffee is better.” And he wouldn’t have to stop to talk to anyone while refilling on caffeine this way.
He hadn’t really been in a chatty mood for a while now.
It was as if his willingness to hold a conversation had left when he decided to stop playing on the worship team.
“I’ll take one of those chicken pesto paninis for lunch and a muffin for now – whichever you have the most of.
Surprise me.” It didn’t matter what you ordered at Emma and Cari’s café, it was going to be good.
“You look tired,” Emma said with a small, almost sad smile. It was her heart showing up on her face again.
“I am.” He hadn’t slept well for three days. Not since he had followed God’s prompting and sent out that email about worship team changes. Thankfully, this past Sunday had been a non-worship team Sunday for him, and he’d managed to avoid Esther completely.
“Any specific reason for that?” his sister asked.
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
She chuckled. “Fine. Don’t tell me.”
The bell on the door rang as it opened and closed, and Fred turned to see who had entered. “Hey, Tiffany. How’s the housing market?”
“Rather chilly.” She pulled off her gloves as she smiled at her own pun. “How are your renovations coming along?”
“Nate assures me that everything is on time.”
“And what does Will say?” Emma asked.
“Oh, you know our big brother. I’ve been made fully aware of every possible thing that could delay my moving out of Henry’s place.
” He laughed and shook his head. “As if I needed Will to tell me. I mean, I’ve got Eddie just across the hall, so anytime I get too excited, I can just ask him what could go wrong. ”
“They are rather similar in that way, aren’t they?” Emma agreed with a laugh.
“Yeah, they are. ‘Cept Eddie only shares what might go wrong if I ask him. Will takes it as his solemn duty to manage expectations in a downward trend.”
“Does he?” Tiffany asked. “He’s always been positive around me.”
“Oh, I’m sure he has been. He’s normally a pretty upbeat guy. This is just because I’m his little brother and prone to being exuberant. I think he thinks I’m too much like Mom.”
“But your mother is wonderful.” Tiffany was still looking rather shocked and now confusion had joined her expression.
“I won’t disagree,” Fred assured her. “However, when you’re Will, even our mother – whom he loves as well as the rest of us do – must not be allowed to be disappointed without warning.” He shrugged. “It’s just how he cares for us. As annoying as it can be.”
Tiffany’s nose wrinkled and her brow furrowed.
“I guess I can see how that would be true. He does have an eye for details, and he seems very caring. Just look at Jayni’s Landing.
It takes a person with a good heart to put aside the fortune he could have made developing that place into high-end homes to build more affordable ones instead.
You don’t meet very many guys in the housing space that would do that – or at least, I haven’t. ”
Fred sighed and nodded. In that regard – and only in that regard – his oldest brother was a saint. Will had always taken God’s command to love your neighbour as yourself very seriously. If he could help, he did. He was a lot like their mom in that regard.
“You know, when you put it like that … I can’t help feeling extremely blessed – even if Will is annoying at times,” he said as he cut a look towards his sister. “Not everyone gets a family like ours.”
“No, they don’t,” Cari agreed, as she placed Fred’s sandwich in a bag.
“They sure don’t,” Tiffany agreed.
Was that bitterness in her tone?
“You know,” Fred said, “I don’t know much about your family, Tiffany. I mean, I know your aunt a bit from church, but I don’t hang out with the older ladies much.”
“There’s not much to tell.” Her words and tone sounded nonchalant, but the colour in her cheeks said something different.
That was interesting. She appeared to be a woman holding the world by the tail.
She was always dressed like she was ready for a magazine shoot featuring the rich and powerful.
Even at casual events. And there was always an air of purpose about her.
Be that as it may, he knew that confidence could hide some pretty deep secrets.
One only needed to know Trish – Henry’s soon-to-be-wife – to know just how true that was.
Fred pulled out his debit card and tapped the payment machine.
“Do you want your regular?” Emma asked Tiffany.
“Yes, for both me and Sandra, please.”
“Hey,” Fred said as a thought struck him, “you seemed to have some good ideas when I toured my house before I bought it. Do you think you could help me finalize some decisions about cabinets and such? I have Eddie’s opinions already, but I’d like to make sure that whatever I do is sellable.”
“Aren’t you planning to live there a while?”
“Well, yeah, that’s the plan, but I figured I should maybe make sure I’m not destroying the place.”
“And maybe one day, he’ll want his girlfriend to like it,” Cari teased. “Not all girls are going to like car parts and guitar strings.”
Fred laughed. “Yeah, I don’t see that being an issue.”
“Why? Because you don’t plan to have a girlfriend or because you won’t be decorating with car parts and guitar strings?”
Fred shook his head. “Both.” The thought caused his smile to falter. And this was where his enjoyment of small talk found its end. “Well, I suppose I need to get to work and stop keeping you from yours.” He turned to leave. Preferably before Emma started asking questions as he knew she would.
“What do you mean both?” Emma, with her hands laden with takeout boxes, had rejoined them at the counter before he had been able to slip away.
“I just don’t see either happening.” He lifted the hand holding his enormous travel mug as if waving and hurried toward the door.
“Mom won’t be happy to hear that,” Emma called after him.
“Mom already knows,” he shot back as he ducked out the door and into the brisk December wind. He had taken two steps towards his car before he realized he hadn’t gotten an answer from Tiffany. Ugh. He was going to have to face his sister again.
He pulled open the door to The Baked Apple. “So, Tiffany? Will you help me?”
“Um, sure. I guess.”
“Close the door,” Cari scolded, causing Fred to step inside fully.
An older gentleman stepped into the café behind him, and Fred stepped further away from the door.
“Do you have a time in mind?” Tiffany asked as she joined him.
“Well, I work until six tonight, but I’m off tomorrow. I could stop by your office with my selections around noon – or we could meet somewhere for a lunch consultation.”
“Oh, that sounds good. Why don’t you bring your lunch and your things, and we can spread out in the conference room. As far as I know, no one has it booked tomorrow, but if I find out they do, I’ll let you know, and we can adjust things.”
“Are you sure it’s okay for me to ask for your help? I don’t want you to get in trouble with your boss or anything.”
She had put her gloves back on and had glanced at her watch while doing so. It was getting late. If he didn’t get out of here soon, he’d be late for work, too, so he opened the door for her.
“Sandra will be pleased to hear you want my opinion on your design. She’s been wanting to expand her business to be more of a full package thing for clients.”
“Full package? What does that mean?” Fred asked as they walked to Tiffany’s SUV.
“Well, she already has a list of contractors – including your brother and Nate – and I’ve asked if I could do some design consulting for her because I know she would like to include that, and then, she’s been creating a list of landscapers.
You know, all the things that someone might need to make the house they just bought their home exactly how they want it. ”
“Wait. Are you a designer?”
Tiffany looked away from him as she nodded. “I was for about a year. It’s what I went to school for.”
“And you’d like to be one again?”
Again, she nodded but added a shrug to it this time.
“So why are you realtor if you’re trained as a designer?”
She unlocked her car. “It pays the bills, and it felt like it would be a good fit with design.” She looked up at him. “How do you think I knew what to suggest to make you want to buy your home?” She grinned. “It really does come in handy.”
Fred chuckled. “So how much do you charge for consulting?”
She shook her head. “Nothing right now.” Her breath puffed out on the air. “If I can help you, then, maybe Sandra will let me do some other consults that would pay. I’ll tell her that you’re my demonstration of what I can do.”
“So, really, I’d be helping you while you’d be helping me?”
“Yep.” She opened her car door.
“Well, then, let’s do this.”
“Tomorrow at noon?”
“That’s what I’m planning. And I’ll bring my lunch. Want me to pick something up for you?”
“No, I already have tomorrow’s lunch waiting. Just bring yourself and your options,” she said as she slid into the driver’s seat.
Fred took a sip of his coffee and turned to go to his own vehicle.
“Fred?”
He looked up. “Esther? Why aren’t you at school?”
“It’s a professional development day – or more precisely a day for us teachers to get everything ready for the concert on Wednesday.
We’re meeting up to go through costumes and make sure mics are working and all that starting at ten, so I thought I’d take them some treats from Emma’s place.
They’ve really been such a great team to work with on this concert. ”
She was rambling. Esther didn’t ramble unless she was nervous.
“I’m sure it’s going to be huge success.” That was what likely had her bubbling over with anxious words.
“I don’t know. I’m a little worried that it is going to flop.”
“Not going to happen.”
Her smile was half-hearted. “I wish I had your confidence.”
He sighed. It wasn’t the first time she had said that to him.
“It’s not confidence. It’s truth. You’re really good at what you do, and I’m not just saying that as a friend.
Remember, we’ve played more than one concert together.
And that practice I attended went well even if you thought it could have been better. ”
“I know you’re right, but you know how my nerves can be.”
He did know that. New situations made her anxious. It was what had made it easy for Mandy to talk her out of going to that hayride with him. She hadn’t wanted to risk ruining a friendship so much that she was willing to give up the chance for it to become something more.
“I have to get to work,” he said. “You’ll survive this time as concert director, and then, next time, it’ll be easier.”
She smiled. A real smile this time. “Thanks. You always know what to say.”
“That’s what friends are for, right?”
Friends. Only, and always friends. Until she married Steve and their friendship was completely lost. She hadn’t preserved their friendship with her refusal to date him back in high school. She had only put off its demise until she started dating someone – like Steve.
He looked at his watch – that he wasn’t wearing. “Anyway, I’ve got to run.” He needed to be anywhere but here. With her.