Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
With just a few days left of spooky season, Kate double-checked last year’s Halloween cookie sales and smiled.
Sales this year had already exceeded last year’s total Halloween bakery sales.
Now all she needed to do was more than double her sales for the rest of the year, and she’d be within spitting distance of the twenty-five percent down she needed to buy the building.
She stood in front of her laptop, which was on the counter next to the baked goods case.
The directory for the Marley Creek Business Association was pulled up, and she was scrolling to look for potential businesses that could perhaps rent the storefront next to hers.
It was tricky because she preferred to keep the potential sale of the building to herself.
It was probably ridiculous to think that if she told anyone about her plans, they’d try to steal the building out from under her.
Then the image of Oreo being petted by Brittany’s boyfriend, Zack, flashed in her mind.
She’d had people take from her before. This time, she was not going to let anyone get the building that housed her life.
Her scroll took her to the letter N and New Age Stones and Witch Crafts.
Visions of Hannah’s sweet pink core filled her mind, and she brought her fingers to her nose, hoping somehow Hannah’s scent might still be there.
Sadly, only the smell of hand sanitizer greeted her.
If Hannah were here to see her, would she toss back her red curls and laugh?
Longing made her chest ache, and she mentally brushed it away.
She wasn’t going to allow herself to long for Hannah.
Lust after Hannah? Yes. Anything beyond that led to a relationship, and she could not handle falling for someone only to be rejected again.
Especially if Hannah was bi. Kate had promised herself that after Brittany, she would never let herself be drawn into a relationship with another bisexual woman, no matter how lovely, sweet, and delicious she was.
But it was like her body was rebelling against the fine logic she had crafted for herself over the last couple of years.
She had thought age brought wisdom, but now she was ready to throw everything to the wind and text Hannah.
Yes, she should text Hannah to see if she was interested in coming over again tonight.
She shook her head to stop thinking about Hannah and focused back on the list. She’d love to find someone to rent the space who would be complementary to her store.
Nothing was popping out at her, so she went back to the homepage for the group and saw a new posting.
The latest member of the group was a tall, dark-haired veterinarian.
She was currently providing in-home vet care.
Kate’s heart sped up. How perfect would it be to have a vet right next door?
Everyone could stop at her store after their appointments and treat their pets to goodies or a new toy after they survived their examination.
She speed-read her way through the article, looking for a phone number or email to contact Veronica Echols, veterinarian.
After she found the information, she sent off an email, briefly introducing herself and her shop, welcoming Dr. Echols to the business group, and asking if she was available for a one-on-one meeting.
Once that was done, Kate could get back to thinking about her night with Hannah and to going through her latest box of Christmas-themed squeaky toys, preparing them to be put out when the clock struck midnight on Halloween.
Well, not exactly then, but before the doors opened on November first. Unable to rest her mind, she pulled out her calculator and a piece of paper.
Even though she had all the numbers at her fingertips in her accounting and inventory software, she still wanted to break down the sales she’d need to make in order to raise enough money to buy the building.
Moving the business off Main Street was a no-go.
She knew it would crush her sales. Once she’d run through several scenarios and written so much that her hand ached, she stood up and paced the store.
It had been a very slow afternoon, and she didn’t think she could afford many of those.
To distract herself from worries about the future, she pulled out her phone to text Hannah. Then she heard her door whoosh open. Cathy, a sixty-something, short, and curvaceous woman with a shoulder-length grey bob, walked up to the counter.
“Long time no see,” Kate joked. “How’s Munchie?”
“A giant pain in my butt as usual.”
“I don’t believe it. Munchie is the sweetest little Scottish terrier I’ve ever met, including Dorothy’s little dog, Toto.”
Cathy shook her head and laughed. “How is my favorite lesbian shop owner doing?”
“I’m good. How is my favorite smut writer?”
“Not smut, spicy romance. That’s why you haven’t seen me this month outside the pet party. I’ve been on deadline, and I was stuck trying to get this couple to their happy ending.”
“Are you still writing that historical romance series?”
“I’m on book fourteen.”
“Any queer books yet?”
Cathy pinched the bridge of her nose. “Sorry, Kate, they’re all straight books. It’s a heavy lift to have a book featuring a lesbian couple in the Regency era. How can two women have a happy ending when they can’t even inherit property?”
“True, I guess. Thanks for the reminder that things used to really suck for women. Now, if you ever get around to writing some romance about people who aren’t straight, let me know. I’ll preorder that shit.”
“Noted,” Cathy said.
“Got time to hang out for a while? I was about to order dinner from Fuji-Yummy,” Kate said.
Cathy nodded. “I haven’t had their basil stir-fry in ages. Get me that with tofu and a mango lemonade.”
Kate pushed her counter-height chair over to Cathy. “Here, take my chair. I’ll go get one from the back.” Cathy sat down on the chair, her feet dangling a good six inches from the floor. Once she was back and sitting down, Kate called and placed the food order.
Cathy gave Kate a sidelong glance. “You look extra cheery today. Did something happen?” She waggled her eyebrows. “If so, do tell. I need to live vicariously through my youthful friends.”
Kate scoffed. “I’ll be forty next year. That’s hardly young.”
“When you are almost old enough for Medicare, forty is definitely young.”
“Okay, fine, I’ll tell you—but only because you are one of the few lesbians I know in this town.”
Cathy grinned. “I call myself a triple L.”
“Triple L? I know one of those words, but what are the other two L’s?”Cathy ticked off on her hand. “Later-in-life lesbian.”
Kate threw her head back and laughed. And then she pointed at Cathy. “You know, that could be the title of your first sapphic romance. A Triple L Finds Love. Or something like that. What do you think?”
Cathy pulled out her phone and started tapping away. “I kind of like it, not the title so much, but the idea. I know there’s a whole audience out there for books like that.”
“Are you going to dedicate your future book to me?”
“You’ll just have to wait and see.”
After a pause, Cathy said, “Honestly, the reason I’ve stuck with traditional couples for so long isn’t just because it’s my ‘brand’.” She made air quotes. “But because the pain from losing Cindy has hurt so much, I’ve been afraid to write any love stories that hit close to home.”
Kate leaned over and hugged Cathy. She’d known Cathy since shortly after her move to Marley Creek, and Cathy had mentioned her wife had died, but she’d never said anything more when they’d spent time together.
“If it’s going to upset you, please don’t feel like you have to start writing it just because I said you should. ”
Cathy leaned back in her chair and used the sleeve of her burnt orange cardigan to dry her eyes.
“Oh, honey, I don’t do anything because someone says I should.
My tears are bittersweet, not sadness. I’ll always miss when Cindy was by my side, but I’ve got this feeling in my gut telling me it’s time to write a book she would have loved.
” Cathy took a deep breath and paused. “Now then, tell me all about what has you smiling today.”
“I had a lovely time with someone. A beautiful red-haired girl.”
“Do I know this woman?”
“She was the pet psychic at the party. Her name is Hannah. She works at New Age Stones and Witch Crafts.”
“Oh, she’s darling. To be honest, I assumed she was straight.”
“Nope.” Kate said, shaking her head.
“She seems like a nice girl. I’m so happy you’ve found someone to date.”
Kate ran her hand through her hair. “Well, I don’t know about dating, don’t get carried away.”
Kate’s heart warmed as Cathy reinforced her opinion of Hannah. But then she remembered she had zero plans to date Hannah. Ravage her until she was shouting Kate’s name, yes, going on dates to the movies or out to dinner. No.
“Why wouldn’t you want to date her?”
The door opened, and a teenage girl carrying a bag and a drink tray from Fuji-Yummy walked in.
Saved by dinner. The girl put their dinners on the counter and walked out. Kate unpacked the food while Cathy took a long drink of her lemonade. “Not only do they have great food, but the mango lemonade is also fantastic.”
Both of them were hungry, and they dove into their dinners. The portions were always huge, so neither one of them finished their meals.
“Now I’ve got lunch for tomorrow, and all I came in for was to get a bag of cookies for my Munchie. Do you want me to e-pay my portion of the food bill separately, or do you want to run my card for the food and the doggie treats together?
“I like to keep the store receipts separate from my personal stuff.” Kate frowned at her leftovers. She needed to do more cooking at home than she liked to if she was going to reach the down payment goal.
Cathy sent her the money for the food, and Kate bagged up a dozen doggie cookies. She also added a small packet of cat treats for Cathy’s old grey cat. “I’m out of the pumpkin cookies, so I gave you half a dozen bacon and half a dozen oatmeal.”
“Perfect.”
Cathy added her leftovers to the bag Kate handed her and buttoned her cardigan. “I’d better head out; I’ve got my loves waiting for me at home.”
“I threw in a little bag of treats for Ollie. He shouldn’t be left out.”
“Aww, you’re the best. Hey, are you going to make it to Friendsgiving this year?”
“What day is it?”
“Week before Thanksgiving, the third Thursday of the month. At Hop’s Heaven, 6 p.m. Just bring a dish.”
Kate nodded. “Oh yeah, that’s right, bring a dish. You know my cooking is limited to baking for pets.”
“Stop at Diamond’s and grab a veggie tray or a pie.”
“That I can do. I’ll be late. I’m open ‘til seven.”
“You know no one cares if you’re late. Bring Hannah with while you are at it.”
Kate crossed her arms. “All I can promise is I’ll be there. Are you becoming the meddling aunt I didn’t know I needed?”
“Perhaps,” Cathy said with a grin. Then she turned toward the door.
Kate shook her head, “I’ll see you later, Auntie Cathy.”
Cathy waved over her shoulder and walked out.
Kate got up and began shutting down the store.
Technically the store had closed an hour ago, but if anyone had come in to shop while she was eating dinner with Cathy, Kate wouldn’t have turned down the sale.
She bit her lip. How was she going to get extra money to buy the building?
Her mind couldn’t stop running the numbers even though there was absolutely nothing she could do about it right now.
Maybe she should contact Hannah; she needed a distraction, and she couldn’t think about anything better than having Hannah in her bed.
Before she could talk herself out of it, she sent off a quick text.