Chapter 10
Kandace
M y mind is a blur. Early this morning I received an email from Mr. Murphy asking for a complete inventory of the store and invoices dating back to before Ruth passed.
I’d already provided the same information, but now he is asking for up-to-date figures.
Some of the merchandise we sell—or I should say that Quintessential Treasures does—is consignment rather than purchased.
For example, Judy Sams, Cory Sams’s wife, creates a line of lotions, natural with a range of scents.
She just expanded into lip balm. Her folks still own a small orchard, and she’s been working on amazing apple fragrances.
They sell very well. Instead of buying the product from her, I rent her shelf space in the store.
The panic set in as soon as I finished reading the email. By the time Joyce brought Molly back for school, I think she could tell that I was frazzled. Our talk was quick with a rundown of Molly’s breakfast and how my daughter helped her make sandwiches for her lunch.
Now, it’s after eight at night and I’m still stressed.
The books are up to date, but all day I’ve been nagged with worry.
Is this sudden need for updated information because Dax doesn’t want to sell the store, or he doesn’t want to sell it to me or possibly for the price Ruth stipulated?
The whole money exchange is meant to help me by purchasing not inheriting.
If she’d just left Quintessential Treasures to me, this would be done.
The store has been closed for over two hours. Molly ate dinner from the diner because I’m a terrible mother and there isn’t a kitchen upstairs—yet—and I can’t take her out to the farm until I go through everything in the back room.
Not that Molly is complaining.
Currently, she’s in the small office off the back room watching the newest Disney release and eating popcorn I made in a bag in the microwave that was once in Justin’s dorm room. I won’t even mention how hard I worked to clean that sucker out.
I turn with a start as the back door opens.
My eyes are wide and my heart thumps as my mom enters, still wearing her scrubs from work.
“Hi,” she says softly. “Can I help?”
My entire body sags as I let the tears I’ve been holding back flow. Within seconds, Mom has me wrapped in her arms. “It will be all right.”
I shake my head against her shoulder and pull myself together. Standing straight, I wipe my cheeks with the back of my hands, no doubt spreading the dust and dirt from the boxes and shelves.
She looks at me with her soft blue eyes, close to the color of mine. “I can stay here all night and Dad will come get Molly and put her to bed, or I can take her home and get her settled. You tell me what you want.”
I try to scoff with my head pounding. “What I want…that’s a tall order.”
She glances into the office seeing Molly and reaches for my hand. Soon we’re out to the front of the store. The closed sign is in the window, and the large shades are pulled, covering most of the glass. She leads me to two stools behind the counter.
We sit.
“Ruth loved you and Molly,” Mom says. “She worked this out. Believe in her.”
Inhaling, I nod. “I believe in Ruth.”
“Not Dax.”
My shoulders slump. “I don’t know what to believe, Mom. He is…” There were so many ways to end that sentence.
Her hand lands on my knee. “I’ve found that when you love someone, it’s hard to not love them. Instead, we find reasons to not like them.”
“Like? I don’t have time to like or dislike Daxton Richards.” I sigh. “He was my first love…my first everything.”
“You didn’t tell him about Molly. How was he to know?”
“I tried, but I was afraid. It was easier to stay determined than to let him know and have him turn away from me again.” I look down at my dusty jeans and back up. “I can’t bear another rejection.”
“How would you feel if you found out that you were an aunt, that Justin has a child you and he don’t know about?”
“Wait? Is there? Does he?”
“Oh Lord,” Mom said with a grin, “I don’t know. It’s an example. How would you feel?”
“I’d be excited that Molly has a cousin. I’d also be sad that I didn’t know sooner.”
“Have you considered that might be how Dax will react?”
“I can’t, Mom. I can’t have hope for something that won’t happen. I can’t be disappointed and hurt again, not by him. Right now, I’m so scared about losing this store.” I look around. “I really do love it, and I know I can make it more. I have so many plans, but until it’s mine…”
She grins. “It’s been a while. Will you show me upstairs?”
A spark of my excitement springs to life. “Yes.” I double check the front and back doors, making sure they’re locked. Then I go to the small office. “Molly, Grandma’s here.”
She jumps up from the beanbag chair and runs to Mom. “I can stay here with Mom.”
My mom smiles. “We’ll see.”
“We’re going upstairs to look around,” I say to my daughter. “Do you want to come or stay here?”
Molly looks at the beanbag and bowl of popcorn. “I’ll stay here.”
“Okay. Remember, don’t open the doors. If someone knocks, yell upstairs for us.”
Molly agrees as she goes back to the beanbag and pulls a soft blanket over herself.
The staircase to the second floor is located near the back of the front storeroom, and as I open the door, I see again how narrow the passage is. “I wonder if there will be problems getting things up there.”
“I’m sure there will.”
“Thanks,” I say in jest as I flip the switch and bring light to the dusty staircase.
“Kandace, real life isn’t life without problems.”
“Then I have one hell of a life.”
Mom smiles. “You do. It’s best to concentrate on that.” Her eyes open wide as we get to the top of the stairs.
The space was at one time used by an accountant. It’s mostly one large area.
“Wow,” she says, “this is bigger than I remember.”
I spin around. “It is. It’s a little over eighteen hundred square feet, and there is a small third floor that is another nine hundred square feet. It needs a lot of work.”
Mom goes to the wall and runs her hand over the wainscoting and woodwork. “This is beautiful.”
Using my shoe, I tap the floor. I imagine sanding and restoring this floor. The wood is solid and in good condition. Mick said he thought it would restore well.”
“That’s a lot of work.”
Simply thinking about making this space a home for me and Molly brings back the spark that has been doused all day.
I walk to the back wall. “There’s an unusable out-of-date bathroom with a toilet and sink.
Mick says that we’ll need to replace the plumbing, but it’s a start.
” I grin as I peer all around. “I figure there’s room on this floor for a living room, a nice bathroom, kitchen, and two more rooms. Upstairs Mick thinks we could fit a half bath and two bedrooms. That way, Molly could have a playroom on this level by my office. ”
Mom nods. “I can see it.”
“Me too,” I say hopefully. “I just…”
“How much more inventory do you have to do?”
I shrug. “A few hours’ worth.”
“Why not do it tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow is Saturday. It’s the busiest day of the week for sales.
With the pumpkin and apple festivals around, the store should be hopping.
I need to get the inventory done tonight.
” I exhale. “There are still a few things at Ruth’s house.
I can’t take the chance that Mr. Murphy thinks I’m hiding something. I should go pick up the boxes.”
“Are you sure what you want is still there with the contractors working on the house?”
I hadn’t thought of that. “I sure hope they are.”
“Okay,” Mom grins. “Let me take Molly home and get her ready for bed. You come home when you can.”
“I’m sorry.”
She reaches for my hand. “Why are you sorry?”
“You shouldn’t have to do so much with Molly.”
“And why not? She’s our granddaughter. There’s nothing your dad or I won’t do.” She tilts her head and her short bob of hair swings to the side. “Justin, too.”
I roll my eyes. “According to Mick, he’s been less than hospitable to our town visitor.”
Mom grins. “He loves you and Molly very much.”
“Oh, he gave me an earful for even being at the game last night.”
“You, Kandace Anne, are an adult. So is your brother even if he doesn’t act that way. He’s worried because he doesn’t want to see you hurt again.”
“Neither do I. Molly is a gift. Dax doesn’t owe me anything other than to follow through on Ruth’s wishes.
” Lifting my arms, I give my mom a hug. “Thank you.” When I step back, I joke, “It’s been a long day.
When I get home, I’ll share some herbal tea or maybe some of the wine you keep hidden in the kitchen cupboard. ”
“It’s not hidden,” Mom says with a grin. “It’s simply in its place.”
There’s a place for everything and everything in its place.
That saying is something Mom has said my whole life. Thankfully, her advice has sunk in. If not, I wouldn’t be as organized as I am with the Quintessential Treasures inventory.
After Mom and Molly leave, I spend another hour checking boxes I’d already checked, making sure the inventory balance sheet is up to date.
With my back and legs aching, and my stomach growling—my dinner consisted of the crust from Molly’s grilled cheese sandwich and a few French fries, mostly because I didn’t want to take the time to eat—I go to the old laptop in the small office.
My goal is to compare my hand count to the inventory checklists.
“Stop spinning,” I say to the screen as if it will listen to me any better than my daughter does. Riverbend has improved the town’s Wi-Fi, but this dinosaur can’t keep up. A new computer is on the top of my list for when—if—Quintessential Treasures is mine.
The screen tells me what I already know.
Everything is present and accounted for except the holiday inventory.
That includes items that didn’t sell last year and even some new items that I’ve acquired for later this year.
Homemade pillows and quilts as well as pine arrangements.
As soon as Halloween is over, the store will look as if Santa lives here.
Keeping those items at Ruth’s house was to save space. Honestly, I’d forgotten all that was there, and now, after talking to Mom, I’m worried the contractors or the Richardses, Dax’s parents, did something with the boxes, not knowing what they were.
As I’m about to lock the back door and drive to Ruth’s, I change my mind.
It’s almost ten on Friday night and Ruth’s home is only two blocks away on a quiet street. The contractors won’t work on Saturday, or I hope they won’t. I decide to walk to her house, confirm that the boxes are still present, and I can pick them up tomorrow morning.
Maybe a walk will clear my mind.
The evening breeze feels good. All my hard work has me dirty and sweaty. I inhale the fresh air as streetlights send circles of light on the green grass and sidewalks. My mind clears as I stroll toward Ruth’s home.
Many of Riverbend’s residents live outside the city limits on farms or even in new subdivisions. The houses within the city are grand structures, most built before the 1920s.
Even though I have a key to Ruth’s home, I haven’t been inside of it since she passed away. It didn’t feel right. I also don’t want anyone to think I would take advantage of a kind woman who was so good to me and Molly, after she’s gone.
This visit isn’t about her belongings or the house. It’s about Quintessential Treasures.
Standing for a moment in front of the stone home with pale yellow trim and pillars on the front porch, I sigh.
Ruth was truly a quintessential person. By definition, that means she represented class and quality.
The darkened windows make me sad, as I recall the times Molly and I spent inside this beautiful home.
Ruth welcomed both of us with open arms.
Walking around to the back, I go to a door that enters a breezeway.
To the right is the garage and to the left is the house.
Despite the renovation that’s being done to ready the home for sale, as soon as I cross the threshold into the kitchen, I sense Ruth.
There’s an aroma and feel that is still present, bringing a smile to my lips.
Instead of looking around at the changes that have been done, I head directly toward the basement door to where I’d last seen the holiday merchandise.