Chapter Thirty #2
As the new week started and the days passed, by Wednesday, Jeremiah still hadn’t heard from Noelle.
He was wrapping up a pitch meeting with Wellman’s, a chain grocery store primarily located in the western part of the country.
Months ago, Jeremiah had suggested to Aaron that they reach out to Wellman’s, but Aaron had dismissed the idea, choosing to focus on pitching Good Boy to bigger prospective clients, even though western states had the highest percentage of dog ownership.
In the end, Wellman’s reached out to Good Boy because the CEO’s daughter loved Good Boy’s products.
A few members of the Wellman’s team were in the city this week for a conference and they’d requested a meeting.
Jeremiah met the head buyer, Cara, and her assistant Ian at Serafina’s in Midtown for lunch.
It was a meeting that could have happened months ago if Aaron had only listened to Jeremiah before.
“We’ll definitely be in touch soon,” Cara said. “Aaron was confident that you’d be able to talk us into an agreement.”
Cara and Ian laughed. Jeremiah forced a chuckle.
He’d been right about Wellman’s being a great client, so why didn’t he feel good about landing this potential partnership?
His gaze drifted to the fall toy merchandise that he’d brought to the meeting.
Anyone could be good at this job if they tried hard enough.
If they didn’t mind feeling underestimated by Aaron, or like they didn’t have enough wiggle room to progress.
Aaron had brushed off Jeremiah’s business instincts time and time again.
Was this how their working relationship would continue to be once he moved to California?
Maybe he was just overwhelmed, still thinking about the offer from Avid Foods to buy Smith’s Sweets. He was also feeling stressed about his move. Movers were coming next weekend to pack up his things, and he still didn’t have a single thing prepared.
And he couldn’t stop thinking about Noelle.
Since Sunday, he’d checked his phone every five minutes to see if she’d texted or called him.
She hadn’t. This was the longest they’d gone without speaking to each other since they’d met.
He missed her so damn much. Even though she’d said everything between them was okay, it was hard not to fear that everything was ruined.
“We’ve gotta head back to the conference,” Cara said, checking her watch. “We’re looking forward to working with you.”
Jeremiah stood and shook Ian’s and Cara’s hands. “Likewise.”
“By the way, I love your family’s cookies,” Ian said. “The salted caramel chocolate chip is my favorite. I always keep a box in my kitchen.”
“And we just started carrying Smith’s Sweets at Wellman’s earlier this year,” Cara said. “You’ve got quite the family legacy.”
Jeremiah glanced down at the dog toys again.
Legacy. What a weighted word. He’d thought he’d been ruining his family’s legacy, so he’d left Smith’s Sweets.
He’d thought that maybe he could take part in Good Boy’s legacy and help build something else.
But it was clear that Aaron wasn’t willing to make room for Jeremiah in that capacity.
And that was fine. Good Boy belonged to Aaron.
He could make the rules. He didn’t have to take Jeremiah’s input if he didn’t want to.
So Jeremiah had to ask himself, What was he still doing there?
Was it worth the move across the country?
Especially when it was clear that his family might need him more now?
Hours later, back in Jersey City, Jeremiah sat in his apartment and still couldn’t bring himself to begin packing a single thing.
Instead, he went for a walk. He found his way to the Thai restaurant downtown where Noelle had taken him for dinner all those weeks ago.
Foolishly, he hoped to run into her. Maybe then they’d have a chance to start over.
Begin truthfully and not based on a lie.
But when he stepped inside the restaurant, Noelle wasn’t there, of course.
With a heavy heart, he ordered his dinner to go.
On his walk back, he passed by Hidden Gems Books.
The same teenager was at the register, eyes locked on his phone.
Noelle’s old boss was restocking books on the shelves.
Other than the two of them, the store was empty.
Jeremiah saw the remnants of Noelle’s influence.
The summer beach reads table, and the staff picks on the wall.
She’d put so much of her heart into her work.
It sucked that she’d been let go because the store was failing.
It sucked that the store was failing, period.
But Jeremiah realized that there was something he could do about it. Something he should have done a while ago.
He stepped inside the bookstore, and the bell chimed above his head. The teen at the register didn’t react, but Noelle’s old boss glanced up.
“Welcome in,” he said. “Is there anything that I can help you with today?”
“Um, yeah,” Jeremiah said, walking toward him. “Well, actually I was hoping that I might be able to help you.”
The man raised an eyebrow. “Wait, you look familiar. You were here earlier this summer.”
“Yeah, I was. I’m Jeremiah Smith. I’m Noelle’s boyfriend.” His stomach squeezed, thinking of her.
“I’m Harold,” the man said. “How’s Noelle doing?”
Jeremiah didn’t know how to answer that question because he hadn’t talked to her in days.
But he pictured Noelle’s beautiful face, grinning at him as they relaxed on the beach.
At this very moment, he didn’t know how she was doing, but he knew that she’d been able to rest this summer, and she was going back to college, achieving her dreams.
“She’s doing well,” he said. “She told me that she was let go from her position here because the store was struggling financially.”
Harold sighed. “Yeah, I was sad to let her go too. We’ve been struggling even more without her.
She really helped make the store what it is now.
” He cast a disappointed glance at his nephew.
“Noelle was a good egg. I’m happy to hear she’s doing well.
I wish I could hire her back, but we just don’t have it in the budget. ”
“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about,” Jeremiah said.
“My family has a foundation that offers grants to Black-owned businesses in New Jersey. I’d be happy to put you in touch with the right people to get your store in better financial standing.
” Jeremiah pulled out his business card.
“Please feel free to give me a call if you’re interested. ”
Harold slowly took Jeremiah’s card. “Thank you,” he said. He eagerly shook Jeremiah’s hand. “I’ll definitely give you a call.”
Jeremiah smiled. “Great, looking forward to speaking.”
“Oh, and tell Noelle that I said hi. And that I’m proud of her.”
Jeremiah swallowed thickly. He didn’t want to admit that he was unsure of how soon he’d be able to deliver his message to Noelle. But he nodded and said, “I’ll tell her.”
His Thai food had gone cold by the time he returned to his apartment.
He placed the food on his kitchen table and plopped down on his couch.
The truth struck him then: He didn’t want to move.
Now that he was being honest with himself, he’d never really wanted to.
A lot of that had to do with a reluctance to be so far from his family.
But he also realized that he’d been chasing the idea of the kind of life that he thought he’d wanted and he thought maybe he’d find that fulfillment in California.
Meanwhile, he’d been slowly carving out that life right here in this apartment, where he’d found peace and growth.
His gaze landed on the framed photograph of him and his family at Disney World all those years ago.
He looked at Pop’s overjoyed expression.
He’d been so proud of his family, even with Amara moving out of frame and Percy complaining about the heat.
And Jeremiah surely hadn’t been a saint that trip.
He’d begged Celeste to buy him almost every toy in sight.
Pop had loved them each unconditionally, like always.
Over the past couple days, Jeremiah had been frustrated, thinking about how crushed Pop would feel to know that Celeste and Percy were considering an offer to sell.
But what Jeremiah hadn’t thought about was how Pop had never put the company before family.
Jeremiah and Percy had apologized to each other in Heart Beach, but they hadn’t talked since.
They differed in many ways, but they were brothers, and nothing could change that. They had to make things right.
He stood and grabbed his car keys.
Percy and his family lived about a forty-minute drive west of Jersey City in Montclair.
Jeremiah pulled up in front of their Victorian-style house.
Percy and Robin’s cars were in the driveway, and the lights were on inside their home.
Jeremiah rang the doorbell and heard Harper’s and Ashley’s voices on the other side of the door.
“It’s Uncle Miah!” one of them shouted.
The door yanked open. His nieces looked at him with big, curious eyes as Harper grabbed his arm and pulled him inside.
“Whoa, hi,” he said, laughing.
It smelled like something savory was cooking, and Jeremiah belatedly realized that he’d most likely interrupted their dinner. They were a shoes-off household, so he untied his sneakers and left them by the door.
“Are you here to argue with Dad again?” Ashley asked.
Jeremiah winced. “No. And I’m sorry you had to hear that argument last weekend.”
“You and Dad would have filled up Mom’s swear jar,” Harper said.
Robin came into the hallway then. She hugged Jeremiah.
“This is a surprise,” she said. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I’m not bringing drama. I promise,” he said. “I just want to talk to Percy. He busy?”