Chapter 6
Surprised, Chelsea couldn’t ignore the sensations bubbling up inside her—happiness, irritation at this man, and an unwavering desire to forget, for a moment, all the things she needed to do.
She wore shorts, so it was easy, except for the thought of placing her hand in his. Unsure if she was making the right call, and let him lead her to the water.
She stepped in with one foot, then the other, as the waves foamed gently around her ankles. She laughed. “Oh, it's cold today. It's so strange. Some days the water heats up nice and warm; other times it's cold, oh my.”
His hand still held hers—for support or something else; she didn’t know. Gently, he tugged her further in, the bottoms of his pants soaking wet.
“I…this is… I don’t know if it's the sun or the cold on my feet, but I feel…”
On cue, he seemed to know what she needed, if not why. His arm gently moved around her back to offer support, which was nearly her undoing. The closeness, with his arm supporting her, felt too personal. She’d not felt this in forever. Her mind was a jumbled mess of thoughts she couldn’t control.
Too bad we didn’t buy swimsuits; we could have taken this little diversion a bit further.”
“Well, we didn’t.” Her voice shook, sounding husky and strange even to her. Not knowing anyone was watching, she let herself enjoy the moment, brief as it was.
“Look at that.”
She looked where he was pointing. Something slipped into the sand near their bare feet. Grant bent down and picked it up. “A ring, hmm. It could be a sapphire or just fake, and I didn’t even need a metal detector to find it.”
He held out his large hand, and the ring seemed so small as she took it. “It looks real to me. Somebody probably lost this beauty. What a shame.”
“Their loss, your gain. Keep it. I have no use for it.”
He seemed in no hurry to let her go, which soothed and frightened her all at once. Her mind snapping into place, Chelsea knew it was time. “I should; I really have to…”
Unsteady though she was, Chelsea pulled away. She turned and walked back to shore, feeling him at her side again as she tucked the ring into her pocket for later.
“I understand. I should be getting back.”
Veronica, a longtime friend, drew near, meeting Chelsea at the edge of the sand. “Chelsea, it’s so nice to see you. It's been a while. I just got back to town, and I’m glad to see you finally found someone after all this time. You deserve it more than anyone I know.”
The unmistakable glance from her to Grant wasn’t hard to miss. Reality slapped her in the face, and Chelsea was quick to intervene. “It's not what you think. I mean, we're not?—”
“I’m Grant. It's nice to meet you.” Grant’s hand shot out to meet Veronica’s, much to Chelsea’s dismay.
“Veronica, it's nice to meet you, too, Grant.”
Chelsea wasn’t surprised to see the appreciation in her friend's eyes.
“It's okay. I need to go now. My grandson is sick, so I have to take him to the doctor for my daughter-in-law. We can catch up another time. Really, you don’t have to explain. Dating at our age feels strange. We’re not sure what to call it or where it's heading. No worries. I just saw you, just got back to town, and wanted to say hi. We can talk another time.”
“But I?—”
Veronica waved her off, tugging her dog along with her in the direction of the path home.
“A lot of people know you around here. I guess small-town life is that way. Everyone knows everyone, which could come in handy. I bet you use your connections and networking for your business just in a more casual way.”
She almost rolled her eyes. Moving farther up the sand, she chose to ignore the comment and leave it behind. “I have to go.”
His hand grabbed hers, gently stopping her. “Me too. Hey, I wanted to thank you. This was interesting.”
“Sure, no problem. Just do me a favor and stay out of my shop unless you need something done, like a haircut, a beard trim, or whatever. I don’t want to have to do this every time you come in for no reason.
I’m not a networking kind of girl. I don’t make connections with people solely for business. ”
“I don’t always either, but it sure comes in handy. Besides, a person can be both a friend and a business partner. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.”
The conversation dragged on, and she felt bored. “I have to go. Have a good day. I hope you like what you bought, and I hope you find your story somewhere else, just not about me or my shop.”
Hurriedly, Chelsea made her way back to the salon and buried herself in her work. Days passed, submerged in the sea of customers and thoughts of next steps for her business. She barely had time to come up for air.
She’d thought of Grant often and wondered where he was, though not seeing him was a good thing.
“I heard the deal fell through for Jake; at least that's the rumor.” Eve stood beside the sinks, one by one removing a set of curlers from a young woman’s hair.
“I heard much the same from Janice, but we both know these are just rumors. No one really knows for sure, and I need a plan. It's obvious we’re getting closer, or he is, and I need to start thinking about where I’m going and where we’re all headed,” Chelsea said.
One day rolled into another, with nights spent stressing over work, the shop, and thoughts that wandered in at random about Grant and the time they’d spent together. She’d placed the ring on her nightstand, an odd memento from their afternoon.
Chelsea fretted late at night, when it was just her and her thoughts, with Cocoa snoring away beside her. Why him, why him of all people? Why now?
There were no answers. Many times, the conversations she had late at night gave her peace. In this case, no peace was to be had. “Such an infuriating man, talking about connections, networking, and business all the time. How boring.”
And yet he wasn’t. Despite her words, Grant was anything but boring. Every day since that time they’d spent together, she found herself wondering when he’d reappear in her shop. She knew he would reappear, and it was only a matter of time.
She wondered what he was doing and if he had found the story he was looking for. Each day, she bought a copy of the newspaper for the shop and one for herself.
She’d heard rumors—the newspaper was faltering and on the verge of dying off thanks to social media and the internet. Sad though it was, she understood his hard-nosed dedication, which was obviously needed for his friend.
When Eve caught her one afternoon, Chelsea knew the mortification of that moment would stay with her for a long time. “What are you smiling about, Chelsea? With that far-off look and dreamy eyes, that warm smile lighting your face can only mean one thing.”
“What?”
Caught off guard, she felt a flush on her cheeks when their eyes met. Eve knew. “Nothing. I’m not thinking of anything. I was wondering how I’m going to move this business and was smiling over the interesting ideas I came up with.”
Eve gave her a huge smirk. “Sure, you were. At least have the decency to admit you were thinking about him. Not your type. I know, I’ve seen the way you two interact, but somehow sparks fly between you anyway.
You should run with it, forget all this work stuff, and see where it takes you.
Maybe Grant will surprise you. Besides, rumor has it you two are dating, and Chelsea has finally found love again after all these years. ”
“I beg your pardon.”
“You heard me. It's all over the salon, in case you didn’t notice. Whoever you came into contact with at the beach that day, when you were dipping your toes in the sand, has a big mouth.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“No, I’m not, and you must have your head in the clouds not to hear the conversations around here.”
“Well, I?—”
A hand shot up to wave it away. “Don’t fret. I told them it's all hush-hush for now since you’re new to this dating thing. Everyone knows it's been years, and things have changed. No one is going to talk to you about it if that’s what you're worried about.”
Rendered speechless, Chelsea watched her friend walk away, unsure of what to say. One look around at all the customers in their chairs and her staff, and she could think of nothing to say.
She buried her head in her work and fought every urge to think about the infuriating man. At the end of a long day, Friday night, everything quieted down, and the door closed on the last customer.
With the mail in hand, she cozied up in her home office to do the much-needed paperwork that had been left undone. “Well, Cocoa, I guess I can’t avoid all this forever. I think I’ll start with the mail.”
She went through her mail one piece at a time, separating junk, personal, and business letters and laying them out on her desk. She threw away the junk mail, and quickly dealt with the personal letters. “I have to pay my car insurance. I should get the app and do it that way.”
She dug through the mess of business mail, including credit card offers, catalogs for materials her salon needed, and deals on things it didn’t. When she got to the bottom, an envelope sat quietly, waiting to be opened, with no return address.
“Hmm.”
She lightly flicked the brass clasp holding it closed and pulled out the neat pile of paperwork inside. “There is no way. I know I paid the home mortgage. How can that be?”
Frustrated by her inability to find documentation that the money had been paid, she didn’t take long to abandon her task, exhausted and angry. Sleep eluded her for most of the night, and the morning brought no peace.
The sun shone brightly in the morning sky, a beautiful Saturday for everyone but her. The quick walk to the shop offered no relief, as the joy of summer and laughter seemed to annoy her more than ever.
One step into the shop, an hour before opening, she thought she’d have time until she heard the jingle of the bell above the door. “Hey, glad I caught you.”
“Hi, Jake. What’s up? I heard that the deal didn’t go through. I’m sorry you?—”
Jake slapped the papers on the counter in front of her and grinned. “I’m happy to say, for the first time in forever, your gossiping customers are wrong. I sold the building. That buyer wants the place, and the papers have been signed. I’m finally getting my finances on track with this one.”
Confused, Chelsea didn’t bother reading the paper in front of her. “What does that mean for me?” She hated how her voice faltered and wavered as she spoke, his eyes revealing nothing of what was to come.
“It means you have thirty days to be out of here. Read this.” Knuckles tapped the counter in front of her.
She looked down again, heartbroken by the news. “But I thought I had more time than that. I thought I’d have at least sixty days, maybe ninety. Can’t the new owner give me some time? I could speak with him if you have his phone number, and I?—”
“Don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just keeping you informed. I’m sure he’ll send you more information.”
He was gone in a flash, leaving her alone with her thoughts. Hands shaking, she tried to read the papers in her hand but couldn’t through the tears in her eyes. Her phone rang just as she tossed it onto the counter again.
“Hello.” Chelsea knew who it was—Amber, her other daughter.
“Hey, Mom, Josiah wants to go to the carousel, but I have things to do. Can you take him?”
The papers floated gently to the counter, her heart swelling with relief at the happy diversion she desperately needed. “Sure, honey, I can pick him up in a few minutes once Eve gets here. It's Saturday, but I could use the diversion because I have things on my mind.”
Chelsea buried her emotions for a while and went to pick up her grandson. “Oh, this is going to be so much fun, Josiah.”
“Carousel.” Her grandson, almost five years old, was getting ready for kindergarten and using bigger words than before. Always eager to learn, he pointed to his favorite weekend activity.
“Okay, okay, you had breakfast and walked all this way with me. We should get on first since it looks pretty quiet right now.”
Firmly, she helped him on the elephant seat, one of the few on the ride with buckles to secure kids his age. “Grandma is going to sit over here.”
He smiled at her as Chelsea took a seat on the nearby sparkly red-and-blue bench. “Ride.”
“You bet. Hold on. Don’t let go.” Her heart swelled with love, her eyes fixed on his every move. Chelsea knew this was what really mattered—her life with her family, not her business in the building.
As the carousel started to move, gradually picking up speed, she snapped pictures of her grandson for her albums and her children’s. He waved and giggled. She knew it wouldn’t be long before he wanted to move to the colorful horses without straps.
Moving slightly to ensure the best angle, her foot hit something large and jingling beneath the open seat. “What in the world is that?”
Reaching down, she tugged on it, shocked by what she discovered. “Will you look at this, Josiah?” She looked down in more amazement with each passing second.