Chapter 5
Chapter Five
“So tell me all about Interstate Antiquer.” Erin’s sister-in-law, Bethany, sorted through a pile of women’s shoes in the tent that Erin had rented for the next two weeks.
It was Friday. She hadn’t heard from Remy since he’d left the store with his daughter on Tuesday.
She’d spent all her free time researching affiliations with the Dress for Success national organization and making sure she met the guidelines for an event.
If she was going to be on national television, she wanted it to serve a good purpose.
Helping others while she tried to fill the gaping hole of guilt inside was a good start.
Today, Bethany had come over to the store to help her with all the donations she’d collected already. Bethany’s teenage daughter Ally had early dismissal from school so she was watching the register for Erin while the older women worked.
“It was Heather’s idea.” Erin sorted stained clothes into a recycle pile and hung the items she planned to keep on rolling racks.
The tent stood off to the side of the parking lot behind the store.
There were canvas sides to keep out the elements, but they’d opened one of the walls to allow in a spring breeze.
She still needed to sort by size and steam a few things in Jamie Raybourn’s size before the woman arrived later for her private preview of the big event.
She also needed to set a date shortly after the filming to allow time for—she hoped—donations to arrive.
“That doesn’t surprise me.” Bethany rubbed at a scuff on a black patent pump and added it to a bin for cleaning.
“Your sister is determined to make that store a showplace after all the hard work you’re doing to renovate it.
” She sorted the shoes with the same quick efficiency she brought to everything she did, including managing Finleys’ Building Supplies.
Erin wished her oldest brother, Scott, would get his act together in order to keep Bethany in the family.
Their marriage had lasted seventeen years, tying the knot right after college graduation when Bethany was pregnant.
Erin had always thought the couple was rock solid.
They were in counseling, but neither talked much about each other or their relationship.
If those two couldn’t stay together, Erin wondered why she’d thought she’d ever had a chance.
“I guess I didn’t realize how serious she was about it until the producer showed up on my doorstep.” She had thought about Remy too many times to count this week, a fact that was making her irritable when she should be celebrating her newfound direction with her good-works initiative.
She wondered if his daughter had stayed in town with him like he’d planned, but she wondered a lot more than that. Like how his wife died and if the daughter was getting enough help to deal with it.
“I hear he’s really cute.” Bethany held up a pair of pink sparkly sandals and put them in the donation bin since they were only keeping business attire.
“Word travels fast in a small town.” Erin did not want to envision Remy’s face again, yet she found herself remembering the line of his jaw and the golden-brown scruff of beard that made her want to run her fingers along his cheek to test the texture.
“So you don’t deny it?” Bethany poked her in the knee from her seat on a stool beside her.
“Everyone in television is attractive. I’m more concerned with how I’m going to face a store full of cameras when they film this thing.”
Bethany was quiet for so long that Erin stopped sorting to peer over at her. Her sister-in-law grinned from ear to ear.
“You like him,” she announced, sliding a brown leather mule onto some open shelving they’d brought outside to show off the wares.
Erin sighed. “I don’t know him well enough to like him or not like him.
He just is. Cute, I mean.” What was it about a handsome man that made women so eager to matchmake?
“And who’s been yammering around town about how cute he is?
Maybe that person likes him and not me.” She felt a rant coming on and couldn’t quite stop herself.
“Just because I’m single doesn’t mean I’m desperate to meet a man, okay?
I broke up with a guy because I needed some time on my own.
I have no desire to jump back into dating yet. ”
She hadn’t told her family the real reason behind her breakup with Patrick. The truth mortified her, and she wasn’t a woman who embarrassed easily.
Bethany held up both hands in surrender.
“Message received. It was Trish at The Strand salon who mentioned how cute the guy was, but she’s a happily married woman so she won’t be making a play for the producer.
” Bethany busied herself with straightening a row of purses above the shoe shelf while an old convertible sedan pulled into the parking lot nearby, music blaring at full volume with the top down.
“Yes, well, all I meant to say is that she could if she wanted to as I’m not going to pay any more attention to Remy Weldon than is strictly necessary.
” Erin watched the boys and girls hop out of the car, laughing and shoving as they headed toward the back door of an ice-cream place.
Even as a teenager, she hadn’t been the kind of girl to hang out with tons of friends, sticking close to her family until she’d been old enough to leave Heartache.
She didn’t envy Sarah Weldon trying to find her way in the world as a teen without her mom.
“Remy Weldon.” Bethany sighed. “That sounds very French.”
“Cajun, actually,” Erin found herself saying. She folded a stack of camisoles with new speed, embarrassed to know way too much about him. “He’s got that warm honey accent to prove it.”
“Oh my, that sounds nice. You’ll have to excuse an old married lady for occasionally eyeing the hot young men in town.” Bethany picked up a bottle of leather cleaner from the ground beside her folding chair. “Scott has barely noticed me in the last year and it gets tough—”
Her voice cracked a little. Erin set down a stack of silk blouses so she could give her a hug.
“I’m so sorry he’s being this way.” Erin squeezed Bethany’s shoulders. “I wish I knew what to say or how to help.”
“Me, too.” Bethany tipped her forehead to Erin’s for a moment before straightening.
“But it’s like I’m out of words when it comes to him.
I don’t even know anymore if it’s his fault or mine.
We just don’t ever have anything to say to each other, and when we do, it’s always so full of old resentments.
It’s like we have this mean-spirited language we speak that only we understand and the subtext is full of unhappiness. ”
Erin still found it hard to believe that Scott and Bethany—once the town’s Harvest King and Queen and longtime golden couple—could have drifted so far off course in their marriage.
“I just keep remembering how happy you both were when Scott took over Finleys’ and you left your teaching job to help.
” Erin had worked part-time in the afternoons at the store while Bethany overhauled inventory and rearranged shelves to make them more appealing.
“I know I was just a kid, but I recall thinking there was nothing you two couldn’t accomplish. You seemed like such a great team.”
“Once upon a time maybe we were.” Bethany straightened the last pair of shoes she’d cleaned. “Speaking of which, I’d better get going so I’m not late for today’s family counseling session.”
“Right. I’ll take over at the counter for Ally.” Erin knew that had been the deal when Bethany agreed to help out. “Thank you so much for being here.”
“We’re still family. That’s what we do.” She tugged the strap of her purse up her shoulder.
“Damn straight, we’re family.” Erin might have issues with her mother, but being away from Heartache had made her appreciate this place and these people all the more.
Small-town was exactly her speed these days, even if she occasionally missed the access to more stores and restaurants. More culture.
As they exited the tent, Erin noticed a few kids on bicycles pull into the parking lot, loaded down with backpacks and gym bags. The local high school must have let out for the day.
Bethany helped her secure the one canvas wall so the clothing and accessories stayed safe inside. While they worked, a bicycle tire rolled into Erin’s peripheral vision.
“Ms. Finley?” Sarah Weldon, Remy’s teenage daughter, perched on the seat of a yellow three-speed bike with a woven brown basket on the front. The logo for the Heartache B and B—a pink heart with a crack—was stenciled on the front. “I love the highlights in your hair.”
The girl smiled and Erin remembered what her dad had called her—a powerhouse personality. Sarah might not be Remy’s flesh and blood, but she sure had his charm.
She wondered how deep it went or if it was the kind people put on for show.
“Thank you, Sarah.” Erin extended a hand to the girl. “It’s nice to see you again.” She introduced Bethany and noticed Sarah’s basket contained a big green garbage bag. “How are you enjoying your time in our little town? It’s a far cry from Miami, I know.”
“I love it!” She planted green tennis shoes on the pavement and steadied the bike by the handlebars.
“You can bike everywhere without fearing for your life from crazy drivers, which was a good thing for me since I’ve been grounded and don’t get to drive my car again until tonight.
” She held up her fingers to show that they were crossed.
“I’ve also been researching some online coursework so I can keep up with classes while I’m here, and that’s kept me busy.
But everyone around Heartache is so nice. ”
“I like that about it, too,” Erin was glad to hear that Remy had coughed up some kind of punishment to keep his daughter accountable for her actions. Not that it was any of her business, as he’d been quick to point out.