Chapter 14
Kandace
“ Y ou look like something the cat dragged in,” Chloe says, handing me a paper cup of coffee from the diner.
It’s only ten minutes before the store opens. On Saturday, we open at nine. Traffic in town is picking up as out-of-towners drive from one festival to the next. The diner was too crowded to get coffee when I first arrived.
“Thank you.” I take the coffee and hum. “Yeah, I feel like shit.”
“Are you sick?” my friend asks with concern. “Maybe you’re pregnant.”
I shoot her a death stare. “Since I haven’t had sex in six years, I’m going to eliminate that possibility.” Taking a sip, I shake my head. “I found Mom’s wine stash.” My lips quirk. “And since there was only one glass in the open bottle, I opened the second.”
“And how much did you leave?”
“Wine stoppers are for quitters.”
Chloe laughs. “You have a hangover.”
“Shh. Not so loud.”
My friend’s voice rings through the storeroom. “Kandace Sheers has the second hangover of her life.”
“And the way I feel, there will never be a third.”
“Mick got a call…but you don’t look up to hearing about it.”
“A call?” I ask. “From whom?”
Changing the subject, Chloe looks around. “What do you want me to do? I’m here all day to help. Mick is helping Ricky with baling. He left before I woke. By tonight he’ll be drowning his sore muscles in beer.”
“Help checking people out, watching the customers, and restocking the shelves if necessary—basically, everything.” My lips come together. “I wish I could pay you.”
“Oh, girl, once this place is yours, you can pay me in merchandise. Have you tried Judy’s creations?” She goes to the shelf and picks up a jar of lip balm and loosens the top. “I love this scent.”
I sit on one of the stools behind the cash register. “It’s not going to be mine.”
She turns to me. “Don’t say that.”
“It’s the truth. I saw him last night.”
“Him?”
My head shakes as I fight the bubbling cauldron of wine and coffee in my stomach. “You know who. I spent all day yesterday updating the inventory numbers because Mr. Murphy sent me an email telling me that he needed it.”
“And Dax showed up?”
Closing my eyes, I see him standing in nothing but basketball shorts.
When I open them, Chloe is staring at me.
I take a breath and try to explain. “Ruth and I stored some items for the store in her basement. She didn’t use the basement and” —I shrug— “the upstairs here is dirty. Her house worked. After she died, I’ve been too busy.
I forgot things were there, so when I saw I was missing items on the inventory sheet, I remembered.
Last night, I went to her house and let myself in. ”
“Don’t tell me, Dax is staying there.”
“Yes. I was a dirty, sweaty, and tired mess, and he finds me in Ruth’s basement going through boxes.” I let myself have a small grin. “You’re right.”
“About?”
I shake my head. “Not soft.”
Chloe’s eyebrows dance.
“Since he had recently showered—his hair was damp—and was only wearing nylon shorts, I got a good look.” I place my coffee on the counter. “I mean, why do the gods hate me? A beer belly or something, but damn, he’s even more buff than the last time…”
“And you two made up with makeup sex and now the world is right?”
“No, that’s not happening. I left after discovering that over two thousand dollars’ worth of merchandise is missing.” I shake my head again. “Once I tell Mr. Murphy, I don’t blame Dax for refusing to sell the store to me.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Pay back the vendors and the store and spend the rest of my life at my parents’ house.”
“Where is my best friend?” she asks. “You’ll know her by her nothing can stop me and superwoman attitude.”
“She went swimming in a bottle of wine and has a massive headache because as her mother would put it, she has one hell of a life. Meaning, I’m fucked and not in the good way.”
The buzzer on my phone tells me that it’s time to unlock the front door. There is already a line of people on the sidewalk waiting to enter when I flip the sign. I turn back to Chloe. “Thank you for being here.”
“I’ve got you.”
The next six hours are nonstop. Earlier I’d sent a text to Joyce who brought Chloe and me sandwiches. They’re both sitting in the small refrigerator in the office because neither of us has had time for so much as a bathroom break. It’s completely insane how busy we are.
My inventory evaluation last night is going to be way off. Throughout the day, we’ve restocked some of the shelves three times, and it’s only three in the afternoon.
I start to think about adding online sales. My imagination is working overtime with figures and the idea of renting some storage space when the reality hits: Quintessential Treasures won’t be mine.
“Kandace,” Mrs. Gordon says, laying her hand on my arm. “Are you not well?”
I feign a grin. “I’m good.”
“Well, where is that beautiful smile?”
One could think that Mrs. Gordon is rude, but since I’ve known her all my life—her husband owns the farm where… And she’s near Ruth’s age, I take her words to be concern.
“I think I’m tired.”
She nods. “God made Sundays for rest.”
“I’m ready,” I say, though I know that instead of rest, I’ll be updating the inventory and profit-and-loss reports.
Finally, at ten after five the last customer leaves. Locking the front door, I exhale and lean against it. “Whoever owns this place needs to hire help.”
Chloe steps into the store from the backroom. “Where did this stuff come from?”
“What stuff?”
Following her, I enter the back room and see two tall stacks of rubber totes. My pulse races as I peel off one of the lids. “This is the merchandise.”
Pulling a holiday quilt from the container, I have tears in my eyes. “These sell for a hundred and fifty a piece.” I hold the thick blanket to my chest and grin. “They aren’t gone.”
Chloe opens a second tote. “This one is filled with glass ornaments.”
We keep searching. It’s the tote with the hand-knitted items that does me in. “Oh, I didn’t lose these.” I look at my best friend. “It had to be him.”
“Dax?” She lets out a sigh. “I didn’t see anyone even go back here, much less carry these through the store.”
“We were so busy.” I look around from where I’m sitting on the floor and spot the boxes, I’d opened last night. “And over there are the boxes. I’ll have to count, but I think it’s all here.”
Chloe reaches for my hand and pulls me to standing. “Not tonight, Kandace. You’re either going home and after Molly is asleep, taking a long bath, or you’re coming home with me and working on the third hangover. You’ve worked hard enough.”
My stomach remembers its hunger. “First, I’m eating my lunch.”
“Good idea.”
We’re both in the office, eating delicious sandwiches and chips, each of us on our second bottle of water. “No wonder Molly prefers Joyce’s sandwiches.” I look out at the totes. “How did he get in?”
“I’m going to guess the back door.”
“No, it’s locked. I mean, who unlocked it?”
“Not me. Who has a key?” Chloe asks.
I do a mental inventory. There’s Mom and Dad. Justin. Joyce. Chloe. I may have given one to Judy. Of course, Ruth had some. I don’t know where those went. Exhaling, I say, “The new owner better change the locks.”
Chloe stands and goes over to the boxes. She lifts a white envelope. “I just noticed this. It has your name on it.”
With half my sandwich consumed, my appetite is gone. “Shit.”
She comes closer. “Do you want me to open it?”
“I want you to burn it and throw the ashes in the pond behind the Gordon farm.”
Chloe giggles. “Those are oddly specific instructions.”
I reach out and take the envelope. There’s no doubt of whose handwriting it is. I remember from when we were younger, how Dax used to make an extra swirl on the ‘K’ that extended under the rest of my name, as if he was underlining it. That is exactly how it appears.
Letting out a breath, I look up at Chloe. “Do you know what he asked me last night?”
“I might. Like I said before the rush, Dax called Mick last night.”
“He asked who Molly is.”
Chloe nods. “He asked Mick the same question.”
“Who told him?” I ask, the thought of betrayal causing my blood to cool.
“He told Mick that he found pictures at Ruth’s.”
“What did Mick tell him?”
“To talk to you.”
My hands tremble as I open the envelope. Inside there is one sheet of paper and a picture of Molly eating blueberry ice cream. Tears fill my eyes. The note is simple.
Kandace,
We need to talk. Please come by the house after the store closes.
Dax
I hold it up for Chloe to read. “What should I do?”
“Are you sure you’ve ruled out a third hangover?”