Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
DREW
Monday I’m in the zone working through the employee schedule for the next few weeks, when my phone buzzes with a call.
My stomach sinks when I see my uncle Orlo’s name on the screen.
I wish he was calling about Caleb’s wedding, but I’m positive it’s about something else entirely. I put him on speaker.
“Hey, Orlo.”
“How could you let Leon sell the bookstore? I had an agreement with him to buy it in January. You know I wanted it, and you let it go to some woman for far less than I was willing to pay.”
I lean back in my chair and rub my eyes. My one hope, which came true, was that he wouldn’t find out about Stella purchasing the building until after the title transferred to her. I expected him to blame me when he found out, and I was right.
“It wasn’t my decision to sell to her,” even if that is what I wanted. “It’s not my store.”
“You’re there in Blissful to keep an eye on my interests.”
“No, I’m here because this is my home. I don’t work for you.”
“We’re family. You should look out for the interests of your family.”
It’s an annoying thing for him to say since that only works one way.
He did put my mom to work managing his coffee shop here in town, but she took a big pay cut to do it.
He wasn’t too interested in watching out for her.
Even if his wife is my mom’s sister, he’s always looked down on us as the poor relations.
“It’s done, Orlo. There’s nothing to do at this point. Stella owns the building. It will remain a bookstore, which is what Leon wanted more than money.”
“Stella? Is that the same Stella who ruined my son’s engagement party?”
“It’s the same Stella who used to be friends with Mallory, but she didn’t ruin anything.”
“Infuriating.” He hangs up without saying goodbye.
I’m not happy he made the connection between Stella and Mallory. I wish I hadn’t mentioned her name. I hope he leaves her alone, but he can be real pigheaded.
As annoying as I find his call, at least it wasn’t another call from someone in Blissful asking about Quinn being in town last weekend. There are only so many times I can say, “I don’t know why Quinn came back,” and, “No, we are not back together,” before I get a headache.
When I finish all my paperwork, I head to the bookstore. I know the code to the back, but the door is propped open so I walk straight in. Stella is lying spread eagle on the backroom floor.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
Her eyes open and she smiles brightly. “Drew! I’m fine. I’m exhausted, but it’s a good kind of exhausted.”
She sits up and scoots until her back is against the wall. She pats the floor beside her, and I sit. I’m exhausted too, but emotionally, not physically.
“I’m also hiding,” she says. “I had so many people come by today to introduce themselves. I wanted to ignore the knocks, but that felt rude. Do you think they’d leave me alone if I did?”
“Maybe, but they’re more likely to come around to the back.”
Both of us look to the open door, half expecting someone to appear.
“It would really help me out,” she says, “If you could make me flashcards with the face of every person in this town. We can practice matching faces to names because right now, they’re all a blur.
And everyone brought me food! Not only are their visits taking time away from my to-do list, but then I have to run upstairs to put the food away. My fridge is full!”
“You’ll appreciate all that food when you don’t have to plan your own meals.”
“Good point.” She yawns, then asks, “Are you okay? You look sad.”
“Just tired.”
She studies me for a few seconds as if she doesn’t believe me, but doesn’t pry. “I forgot to mention it, but I offered Julia a job last week. She started today.”
My jaw drops. “Really? I didn’t think you were going to hire anyone, at least not at first.”
“She loves this place and needs somewhere to go after school. I don’t know, I thought maybe I could help her.”
I chuckle.
Stella’s face scrunches in confusion. “That’s funny?”
“Not funny, but a realization. You see someone who’s lost, and you do something about it. That’s how it was with the young me. Now you’ve done the same with Julia. I’ve asked her to work at the hardware store a few times, but she always says no.”
“You have a hardware store. This is a bookstore. Huge difference.”
“Good point.” I nudge her arm with mine. “I’m glad she accepted your offer. How did she do today?”
She leans her head back against the wall. “It was awkward at first. She didn’t want to talk, so I did most of the talking and that never goes well.”
“I don’t know why you would think that. I like to listen to you.”
She brushes my words away. “We started sorting books in the children’s book nook.
I put out boxes on the main floor so we could throw down the garbage books, and made a game of it.
Each box was worth a certain number of points.
She said she’s never played basketball, but she was really good.
Earned double the points I did. That seemed to warm her up, and we talked about ideas for the store. She had a lot of good suggestions.”
“That is impressive,” I say. “I only get a sentence or two out of her every so often.”
In all the years we’ve tried to help Julia, Stella’s gotten further than any of us have, except for Mr. Long. And in only five days. She’s remarkable.
“She had the idea to paint murals on the blank walls of the second story. Wouldn’t that be great?
It depends on if I have time before the store opens, but I really want to do it.
Not that I’m artistic, but she is. She showed me some things she’s drawn in her art book.
Really impressive.” She turns her body to face me, her smile fading.
“I’m worried about her. Lana brought over a loaf of bread, and she inhaled the whole thing in under an hour.
You can bet I’ll be feeding her every time she works, but I wonder what she’s eating the rest of the time? ”
“She gets school lunch everyday, and we do what we can to help. And now she has you.”
She bites her bottom lip and looks away for a minute, lost in thought. “I’m really glad she accepted the job.”
I love how Stella takes care of other people. I’m glad she allows me to take care of her.
“Oh, I have something for you,” I say. “It’s in my truck. I’ll be right back.”
When I return a minute later, she’s where I left her. I hold out the small box.
“A doorbell?” she says.
“A doorbell with a camera and a speaker. I’ll install it tonight. That way you know who’s at the back door without having to come downstairs to answer it.”
She clasps her hands together. “That’s wonderful! Thank you. It’s one less thing I have to think about. Can you get me one for the front door, too?” she jokes. “Every time someone knocks, I have to take time away from work to see who it is.”
“You could just leave the door unlocked. I promise you, it’ll be a week, maybe two, before your visitors slow down.”
My stomach grumbles loudly.
Stella laughs and holds out a hand for me to help her up. “Will you stay for dinner? I need help to eat all the food people dropped off.”
“I’ll help you eat some of it,” I say as I follow her up the stairs. “Not everyone in this town cooks as well as they think they do.”
She looks over her shoulder at me. “That’s where your flashcards will come in handy. At the moment, I have no idea who brought what.”
“You better start taking notes, because every single one of those women will expect a thank you card.”
She gasps. “Is that a joke?”
“No. We’ll take pictures of everything and send them to my mom. She’ll know who brought what. If not by the food, then the dish.”
Once upstairs, I snoop under all the tin foil until I recognize Joy’s potato bake. It’s my favorite meal. While it cooks in the oven, we sprawl out on her couch and turn on a British crime drama she likes. By the time the buzzer rings, we’re both half asleep.
We dish up our dinner and head back to the couch.
The detectives are running after a guy in a three-piece suit.
I have no idea what’s going on, and I don’t care.
Stella has this magical ability that every time I’m around her, she syphons off the angst from the day.
Now that I’m relaxed, it might help my mood even more if I talk about things I haven’t talked about to anyone in years.
As the ending credits meld into the intro for the next episode, I say, without preamble, “I met Quinn four years ago.”
Stella turns off the TV and gives me her full attention. She hardly breathes, as if any sudden movements will silence me.
“Glory is a friend from Blissful who moved to California for school. During fall break one year she came home for Apple Jamboree and brought some friends, including Quinn. I was at the Oak Tavern when they came in for dinner. Quinn was … new and exciting. A lot of fun.”
I remember how I felt dancing with her that first night. I fell hard and fast.
“We spent most of the week together, and once she left for school, we FaceTimed almost every day until she came to visit during Christmas break. I proposed. She said yes. She graduated in April and already had a job lined up at a PR firm. It was remote, so she could relocate to Blissful.”
I run my fingers through my hair, scratching my scalp, agitated at revisiting the memories.
“We married that summer and were happy for the first six months. Then the slowness of small town living sunk in. There are only a few restaurants. We don’t have much entertainment.
Most stores close by eight at night. She was stir crazy.
I did what I could, even turned down work so that I could spend more time with her.
We went to Tucson almost every weekend. It wasn’t enough. ”
“I’m sorry, Drew.”
I turn my head and look at Stella. She’s studying me intently. I love having her in Blissful and hate the idea of her growing restless and resentful of the slow pace of the town.