Shop On the Corner, page 9
“I like Sam. I don’t see any problem with you going if you want to.”
“Well, I think I can arrange to get away, but you’ll need to take care of Zoey again, either stay at the house with her or take her over to your place.”
“I can do that.”
“Well, good.” She finished off the last of her salad while they talked about mundane things.
Mitchell’s mind was partly diverted, considering his mother’s advice about Laura.
“You let me know if Laura can come to Nannie V’s for lunch, even if she doesn’t care to go to church with us.”
“I will after I talk to her.”
Mitchell picked up the tab the waitress brought.
“I invited you to lunch,” his mother argued, reaching for the ticket.
“Yeah, but it was my pleasure to spend time with you. Let me pay, Mom. You feed me often enough at the house.”
“Well, if you want.” She gave him a smile and a hug before they left.
As Mitchell started back toward Quinlan’s, he paused and looked across the street to Laura’s shop. Maybe he’d walk over at the end of the day and invite her to church and to dinner on Sunday. The weekend would be a good time for a more candid talk.
CHAPTER 7
Laura looked with satisfaction at the wing chair she’d been working on most all day in the shop. The new turquoise linen fabric made the old chair look fresh and pretty again.
“I like how that chair is turning out,” Rita commented. She stepped back for a moment to check to see if the stripes, on the armchair she was reupholstering, were aligned correctly before cutting fabric for the chair’s cushion.
“It was nice of Vern and Claudia Lawrence to let us redo all the pieces in their living room,” Nolan said from across the room where he was working on a large Chesterfield sofa. “Three chairs, an ottoman, and this sofa. It’s nice to get a whole room to do.” He rubbed his neck as he bent back to his work. “These tufted backs and the piped accenting around the chair and sofa arms sure do take some time though, don’t they?”
Laura looked across the room to smile at him. “They do at that.”
“Well, we’re blessed to get this job, though,” Rita put in. “Vern and Claudia Lawrence entertain a lot and Claudia belongs to a lot of those women’s groups around town. People will see the work, the Lawrences will talk about it, and it will help bring in more business.”
“We’ve done well since the shop opened at the first of April,” Laura said, beginning to measure and cut piping for the chair arms. “I’m really pleased at all the work that has come in for us.”
“We’ve been as busy as three beavers and that’s a fact.” Nolan picked up a bottle of water to take a drink.
“Well, I think we’ll get all of these pieces finished by tomorrow and then we can start reupholstering the outdoor furniture for the Hamlins. With spring here, a lot of people may bring us more porch pieces to recover.”
“Weather is hard on furniture.” Nolan started back to work.
“I tried to encourage Mrs. Hamlin away from some of the fabrics she was considering that would fade more quickly in the sun.” Laura pulled fabric off the big roll on her work table to cut long strips to go around the piping she was working on.
“Well, look at the time,” Rita said with surprise. “Can you believe it’s nearly five o’clock already? This day sure has gone by fast.”
Laura glanced at the big clock on the workroom wall. “Why don’t you two clean up and head home. It’s time to close. We can finish all this tomorrow.”
Rita started tidying up her work area. “I really love these aprons you brought us from your other store.” She smoothed a hand down the navy apron with the words Shop on the Corner embroidered at the top. “It saves me having to wash our clothes as much and always mending Nolan’s shirts where he’s snipped them with the scissors accidentally.”
Nolan laughed. “I like the aprons, too, especially the big pockets in them where I can tuck in a few tools I’m using. It’s nice how you could keep the name of your old store and bring so much from it to this place—like the sign you hung out front, these work aprons and such.”
“I think my dad would have been pleased to see the name of his store continue even if the old building got torn down.”
“I’m sure he’s smiling in heaven to see all you’ve accomplished to get this new place set up,” Rita said. “I imagine he looks down from that big upholstery shop on high and smiles even wider to see the fine work you do every day.”
Laura glanced across at her two employees who had quickly become friends. “Thanks. Those are kind words.”
“Just true ones,” Nolan hung his apron on a peg by his work area. He glanced at Rita. “You ready to head to the house?”
“I am, but I want to stop at the seafood market down the street to pick up a couple of pieces of fish to fry for dinner.” She began to hunt for her purse. “Laura, have you gotten fish and seafood there yet? It’s always fresh and you can walk to the market from here.”
“No, but I keep hearing about that shop. I need to visit one afternoon. It has a funny name, doesn’t it, the Wicked Fresh Seafood Company?”
“Yes. Mr. Gray doesn’t close til six, too. That’s a help. If you go by one day, be sure to tell him we sent you his way.”
“I’ll do that.”
As the Harbecks left, Laura put the closed sign on the front door, locked the shop for the night, and headed into her office near the front of the store to check email and make a few calls before she called it a day. She smiled looking around to see the new paintings of old Victorian houses now hanging on her office walls. They were prints of Evelyn’s that Laura found at one of the galleries downtown. Most of the people who stopped in the office recognized the old historic homes around Waynesville she’d painted, and Laura thought paintings of local buildings better suited to an upholstery store than the modern art there before.
She smiled to find a text from Mitchell on her phone. ‘Thinking of you; I may stop by later for a minute.”
Laura hoped he would but she felt a wince of conscience, too, as her thoughts moved his way. She hated that she was still keeping her past from him. It didn’t feel honest or right now that they were getting more involved.
With Mitchell on her mind now, she scrolled through photos of him on her phone she’d snapped when they’d spent time together. She really enjoyed Mitchell’s company and she knew her feelings for him were deepening. Even now that old sweep of attraction still hit her whenever he walked into a room, looked at her in a certain way, or touched her sometimes. It felt school girl silly, but she loved it, too. She’d never felt this kind of attraction with someone and with so much rich friendship, trust, and ease.
A niggling of guilt that she wasn’t being honest with Mitchell washed over her again. He deserved better. She closed her eyes thinking about it and then decided to call Lillian in Amory. Maybe she could learn more of what had happened with Georgina and Chance from her. All Laura knew from talking with Lillian a few weeks ago was that Georgina and Chance were still living in the house. Lillian said Georgina had called their home once, hoping for a phone number for her, but that Nolan evasively told her he didn’t have one yet or an address. When Georgina pushed for more, Bobby cheerily told her he felt sure you’d contact her in time. Laura hadn’t heard from anyone else in Amory about her sister, naturally, since no one really knew where she was. But she wondered.
She dialed Lillian’s number and grinned as she heard her familiar voice answer. “Oh, hi honey. I saw your name and phone number pop up right on my television screen. Isn’t that the most innovative thing today?”
“Lillian, it’s good to hear your voice.”
“You, too, sweet girl. How are things going there?”
“Fine, and the weather is getting lovely with spring here at last.”
They chatted for a few minutes catching up.
“Have you heard any more from Georgina?” Laura finally asked. “Even as awful as she’s acted sometimes, she is my sister, and I keep thinking about her.”
“Well, I hated to bring the subject up as much sorrow as you’ve experienced with her, but she came by here this week.”
“Really?”
“I’d like to say it was a nice visit but it wasn’t. She looked as pretty as always but acted as mean as a snake to us. She said she felt sure we knew where you were and she pushed us to give your address and phone number to her.”
Lillian paused a minute. “Bobby told her he had no intention of passing along any of your personal information to her. She started getting mad then and claimed she had a right to know where you were, that she’d learned the store was being torn down and that you’d gotten money for the building that should have been partly hers. She sure talked spiteful and mean after that. I don’t even want to share her hateful words. We surely were shocked. I’ll tell you that.”
“Oh, Lillian, I’m so sorry.”
“Honey, her ugliness isn’t your fault. It sure made us glad though that you’d made a change in your life. That boyfriend of hers actually got out of the car and threatened us, cursed at us and called us some real ugly names.” She heaved a sigh. “Bobby got right up in his face after that and told him a thing or two, and then he asked them to leave.”
Laura winced at her words.
Lillian continued, “Bobby told Georgina she didn’t deserve a kind sister like you, who’d give her money all the time and let her mooch off her without helping out any. He told her he knew good and well you’d left the house furnished for them and paid the rent through the end of April just to be nice. He asked Georgina what in the heck more that she thought you owed them.”
Laura began to cry. “I hate that they came out to your home and acted like that to you and Bobby.”
“Well, it sure showed us what they were both like—selfish and ugly and thinking of nobody but themselves. Bobby said it must grieve Mason and Carolyn O’Dell in heaven to see what one of their own children has come to.”
“Did Chance and Georgina leave then?”
“They did. Our big ole’ Shepherd dog Ajax came out growling and acting kind of aggressive about that time, hearing all the hollering and picking up on the anger and aggression. He’s a real protective type. It sent Georgina and Chance backing away from us and getting in their car to leave. I gave Ajax a lot of sweet talk and two dog bones after they left for helping us to get rid of them.”
“Do you think I should call Georgina? I don’t want them bothering you two anymore.”
“Oh, honey, they’ve left town now. I was getting to that part.” Lillian paused. “Your landlady, Betty Humphries, called us yesterday to tell us one of the neighbors let her know they’d moved out. Knowing the situation with them, she’d had them watching the house for her. They loaded up everything you left behind in one of those little moving trucks and took off. The neighbors said a couple of young men helped them. I figure it was some of the boys in Chance and Georgina’s band. I don’t know where they’ve gone. Probably back to Nashville. They knew the lease was about up and Betty said she’d been pushing them to sign a new one or give her a date when they planned to move. She said they left the place a mess.”
“I’m so sorry about that for Mrs. Humphries. She was always nice to me.”
“Honey, Betty knows it wasn’t your fault. Don’t worry over that. She’s already had the house cleaned and found a new renter.”
Laura felt relieved to hear that.
“Now, don’t you be getting yourself upset over this. I worried about telling you but I knew you needed to know about what’s been going on. Georgina has moved on and we’ll all keep praying that in time she’ll have a good wake-up call and get her life straightened out.” She chuckled. “My grandson Tim said it sounded like she’d sold out to the Dark Side. He watches a lot of Star Wars.”
Laura tried to think what to say. “I’m really so sorry my problems caused you this trouble.”
“Now, you quit apologizing and just keep having yourself a good life there. I think Nolan and Rita sound like fine folks. Bobby and I have been thinking about coming over that way for a vacation later in the summer or in the early fall to see you.”
“Oh, I’d love that. There’s a sofa in my upstairs office that makes a nice bed. You can stay with me.”
“Well, I think we’ll bring the camper. It’s got everything we need in it, and we’ve been wanting to take some more trips now that we’re not working all the time. We thought we might go to a nice campground we like near Townsend in the Smoky Mountains for a week and then come over your way for a few days before we start back home. You look around for a good campground nearby where we can stay.”
“I’ll do that,” she promised.
After a few more words, they hung up, and then Laura burst into tears. She was so embarrassed at how her sister had acted to Lillian and Bobby. How could she act like that to them? They’d worked for her father since she and Georgina were only little girls, had been sweet to them whenever their mother or father brought them to the shop. Given them birthday presents and graduation gifts.
It hurt Laura’s heart so much to see what her sister had become. She’d been so gifted, always so talented. When they were little, she and her sister had been close, too, even with the age gap between them.
Laura was hunting through her drawer for another tissue when she heard the doorbell at the front door. A text popped up on her phone from Mitchell. “Hi. I saw your light in the office. Come let me in.”
Trying to mop at her face, she made her way into the vestibule to the front door to open it a small crack. “Listen, this isn’t a good time. Maybe you could come by tomorrow.”
He pushed the door open, his face concerned. “No, I’m coming in right now. What’s happened?”
CHAPTER 8
Mitchell was shocked to see Laura’s tear-streaked face when she eased open the door slightly. He didn’t think he’d ever seen Laura cry before, and it tore at his heart to see her so upset. Despite her objections and her desire to send him away, he had no intention of leaving her at a time like this.
She looked away from him in embarrassment as he shut the door behind him.
“Look, I’m okay, Mitchell,” Laura assured him. “I simply had an upsetting phone call from home, but I’d rather be alone for a little while if you don’t mind. You can come by tomorrow.”
He walked closer to her and lifted her face. “I’m staying, Laura. You don’t walk out on people you love when life hurts them. Besides I don’t want to be shut out of your life anymore. If you care for me, you need to let me in.”
She burst into tears then and he pulled her into his arms.
Mitchell let her weep for a few minutes and then said, “Why don’t we go upstairs? You need to sit down. We don’t want people walking by the shop and hearing you crying.”
Her eyes widened at that thought and then she shrugged in a resigned way. “Okay, let’s go upstairs. I do need to sit down. My legs feel shaky.”
Mitchell locked the front door and wrapped an arm around her waist as they made their way through the downstairs of the business, turning off lights in the store, setting the alarms, before starting upstairs to her apartment.
He opened the door there with her key, and then helped her across the living room to the sofa to sit down. She started crying again then, hiding her face in her hands.
“Honestly, Mitchell, this is really a bad time for me,” she said between her tears. “Just let me be by myself to have a good cry. It’s so embarrassing to have you here.”
“I’m used to being around crying women. Don’t worry about it.” He snagged a box of tissues from a nearby shelf, handing them to her. “I’m going into the kitchen to fix some coffee. I can make hot tea for you if you prefer it.”
“No, coffee would be good.”
He left her for a few minutes to go rustle around in her kitchen. He’d been here often enough now to find his way around, and it didn’t take him long to locate the coffee maker and a can of coffee on the pantry shelf.
Mitchell started the coffee and then came back to sit beside Laura on the sofa while their coffee brewed. He snuggled her close under his arm without saying anything. Sometimes a little quiet was a good thing. He’d learned that lesson often enough through all the sorrows he’d passed through. It wasn’t always what you said to someone at a hard time, it was simply the fact that you were there for them.
When the coffee finished brewing, he went to the kitchen to pour a cup for both of them. He remembered she liked a little creamer, nothing else. So did he. Digging around in an old-fashioned bread box on the counter, he found some of Rita Harbeck’s banana bread and cut off a couple of slices for them, putting each with a fork on two small plates he found on a shelf.
He brought coffee and a plate to Laura and then went back to get one of his own.
“Thanks,” she managed to say.
He studied the rooster on his cup and plate and couldn’t help grinning.
“I wouldn’t say anything about my rooster dishes right now if I were you,” she said in a quiet warning tone.
“What? I like them,” he replied, grinning again.
“Just now I’m feeling a little testy; that’s all.”
“So drink your coffee for a minute and then we’re going to talk. It’s long overdue between us, and you know it. I’m sorry you had a hurtful call from home, but I want you to share about that call with me. You’ve avoided sharing about your past with me for a long time. I could understand that when we first met. You didn’t know me. You didn’t owe me any explanations about your past life. But it’s different now.” He lifted her chin to look at her. “I’m a part of your life now, Laura. I don’t want to be pushed to the outside anymore.”
“You’re making this night harder for me.” She pulled away from him, sniffling again.
“It doesn’t need to be harder. Let me in. I want to be a part of the good and the bad with you. I don’t only want a superficial relationship between us.”
“Well, I think I can arrange to get away, but you’ll need to take care of Zoey again, either stay at the house with her or take her over to your place.”
“I can do that.”
“Well, good.” She finished off the last of her salad while they talked about mundane things.
Mitchell’s mind was partly diverted, considering his mother’s advice about Laura.
“You let me know if Laura can come to Nannie V’s for lunch, even if she doesn’t care to go to church with us.”
“I will after I talk to her.”
Mitchell picked up the tab the waitress brought.
“I invited you to lunch,” his mother argued, reaching for the ticket.
“Yeah, but it was my pleasure to spend time with you. Let me pay, Mom. You feed me often enough at the house.”
“Well, if you want.” She gave him a smile and a hug before they left.
As Mitchell started back toward Quinlan’s, he paused and looked across the street to Laura’s shop. Maybe he’d walk over at the end of the day and invite her to church and to dinner on Sunday. The weekend would be a good time for a more candid talk.
CHAPTER 7
Laura looked with satisfaction at the wing chair she’d been working on most all day in the shop. The new turquoise linen fabric made the old chair look fresh and pretty again.
“I like how that chair is turning out,” Rita commented. She stepped back for a moment to check to see if the stripes, on the armchair she was reupholstering, were aligned correctly before cutting fabric for the chair’s cushion.
“It was nice of Vern and Claudia Lawrence to let us redo all the pieces in their living room,” Nolan said from across the room where he was working on a large Chesterfield sofa. “Three chairs, an ottoman, and this sofa. It’s nice to get a whole room to do.” He rubbed his neck as he bent back to his work. “These tufted backs and the piped accenting around the chair and sofa arms sure do take some time though, don’t they?”
Laura looked across the room to smile at him. “They do at that.”
“Well, we’re blessed to get this job, though,” Rita put in. “Vern and Claudia Lawrence entertain a lot and Claudia belongs to a lot of those women’s groups around town. People will see the work, the Lawrences will talk about it, and it will help bring in more business.”
“We’ve done well since the shop opened at the first of April,” Laura said, beginning to measure and cut piping for the chair arms. “I’m really pleased at all the work that has come in for us.”
“We’ve been as busy as three beavers and that’s a fact.” Nolan picked up a bottle of water to take a drink.
“Well, I think we’ll get all of these pieces finished by tomorrow and then we can start reupholstering the outdoor furniture for the Hamlins. With spring here, a lot of people may bring us more porch pieces to recover.”
“Weather is hard on furniture.” Nolan started back to work.
“I tried to encourage Mrs. Hamlin away from some of the fabrics she was considering that would fade more quickly in the sun.” Laura pulled fabric off the big roll on her work table to cut long strips to go around the piping she was working on.
“Well, look at the time,” Rita said with surprise. “Can you believe it’s nearly five o’clock already? This day sure has gone by fast.”
Laura glanced at the big clock on the workroom wall. “Why don’t you two clean up and head home. It’s time to close. We can finish all this tomorrow.”
Rita started tidying up her work area. “I really love these aprons you brought us from your other store.” She smoothed a hand down the navy apron with the words Shop on the Corner embroidered at the top. “It saves me having to wash our clothes as much and always mending Nolan’s shirts where he’s snipped them with the scissors accidentally.”
Nolan laughed. “I like the aprons, too, especially the big pockets in them where I can tuck in a few tools I’m using. It’s nice how you could keep the name of your old store and bring so much from it to this place—like the sign you hung out front, these work aprons and such.”
“I think my dad would have been pleased to see the name of his store continue even if the old building got torn down.”
“I’m sure he’s smiling in heaven to see all you’ve accomplished to get this new place set up,” Rita said. “I imagine he looks down from that big upholstery shop on high and smiles even wider to see the fine work you do every day.”
Laura glanced across at her two employees who had quickly become friends. “Thanks. Those are kind words.”
“Just true ones,” Nolan hung his apron on a peg by his work area. He glanced at Rita. “You ready to head to the house?”
“I am, but I want to stop at the seafood market down the street to pick up a couple of pieces of fish to fry for dinner.” She began to hunt for her purse. “Laura, have you gotten fish and seafood there yet? It’s always fresh and you can walk to the market from here.”
“No, but I keep hearing about that shop. I need to visit one afternoon. It has a funny name, doesn’t it, the Wicked Fresh Seafood Company?”
“Yes. Mr. Gray doesn’t close til six, too. That’s a help. If you go by one day, be sure to tell him we sent you his way.”
“I’ll do that.”
As the Harbecks left, Laura put the closed sign on the front door, locked the shop for the night, and headed into her office near the front of the store to check email and make a few calls before she called it a day. She smiled looking around to see the new paintings of old Victorian houses now hanging on her office walls. They were prints of Evelyn’s that Laura found at one of the galleries downtown. Most of the people who stopped in the office recognized the old historic homes around Waynesville she’d painted, and Laura thought paintings of local buildings better suited to an upholstery store than the modern art there before.
She smiled to find a text from Mitchell on her phone. ‘Thinking of you; I may stop by later for a minute.”
Laura hoped he would but she felt a wince of conscience, too, as her thoughts moved his way. She hated that she was still keeping her past from him. It didn’t feel honest or right now that they were getting more involved.
With Mitchell on her mind now, she scrolled through photos of him on her phone she’d snapped when they’d spent time together. She really enjoyed Mitchell’s company and she knew her feelings for him were deepening. Even now that old sweep of attraction still hit her whenever he walked into a room, looked at her in a certain way, or touched her sometimes. It felt school girl silly, but she loved it, too. She’d never felt this kind of attraction with someone and with so much rich friendship, trust, and ease.
A niggling of guilt that she wasn’t being honest with Mitchell washed over her again. He deserved better. She closed her eyes thinking about it and then decided to call Lillian in Amory. Maybe she could learn more of what had happened with Georgina and Chance from her. All Laura knew from talking with Lillian a few weeks ago was that Georgina and Chance were still living in the house. Lillian said Georgina had called their home once, hoping for a phone number for her, but that Nolan evasively told her he didn’t have one yet or an address. When Georgina pushed for more, Bobby cheerily told her he felt sure you’d contact her in time. Laura hadn’t heard from anyone else in Amory about her sister, naturally, since no one really knew where she was. But she wondered.
She dialed Lillian’s number and grinned as she heard her familiar voice answer. “Oh, hi honey. I saw your name and phone number pop up right on my television screen. Isn’t that the most innovative thing today?”
“Lillian, it’s good to hear your voice.”
“You, too, sweet girl. How are things going there?”
“Fine, and the weather is getting lovely with spring here at last.”
They chatted for a few minutes catching up.
“Have you heard any more from Georgina?” Laura finally asked. “Even as awful as she’s acted sometimes, she is my sister, and I keep thinking about her.”
“Well, I hated to bring the subject up as much sorrow as you’ve experienced with her, but she came by here this week.”
“Really?”
“I’d like to say it was a nice visit but it wasn’t. She looked as pretty as always but acted as mean as a snake to us. She said she felt sure we knew where you were and she pushed us to give your address and phone number to her.”
Lillian paused a minute. “Bobby told her he had no intention of passing along any of your personal information to her. She started getting mad then and claimed she had a right to know where you were, that she’d learned the store was being torn down and that you’d gotten money for the building that should have been partly hers. She sure talked spiteful and mean after that. I don’t even want to share her hateful words. We surely were shocked. I’ll tell you that.”
“Oh, Lillian, I’m so sorry.”
“Honey, her ugliness isn’t your fault. It sure made us glad though that you’d made a change in your life. That boyfriend of hers actually got out of the car and threatened us, cursed at us and called us some real ugly names.” She heaved a sigh. “Bobby got right up in his face after that and told him a thing or two, and then he asked them to leave.”
Laura winced at her words.
Lillian continued, “Bobby told Georgina she didn’t deserve a kind sister like you, who’d give her money all the time and let her mooch off her without helping out any. He told her he knew good and well you’d left the house furnished for them and paid the rent through the end of April just to be nice. He asked Georgina what in the heck more that she thought you owed them.”
Laura began to cry. “I hate that they came out to your home and acted like that to you and Bobby.”
“Well, it sure showed us what they were both like—selfish and ugly and thinking of nobody but themselves. Bobby said it must grieve Mason and Carolyn O’Dell in heaven to see what one of their own children has come to.”
“Did Chance and Georgina leave then?”
“They did. Our big ole’ Shepherd dog Ajax came out growling and acting kind of aggressive about that time, hearing all the hollering and picking up on the anger and aggression. He’s a real protective type. It sent Georgina and Chance backing away from us and getting in their car to leave. I gave Ajax a lot of sweet talk and two dog bones after they left for helping us to get rid of them.”
“Do you think I should call Georgina? I don’t want them bothering you two anymore.”
“Oh, honey, they’ve left town now. I was getting to that part.” Lillian paused. “Your landlady, Betty Humphries, called us yesterday to tell us one of the neighbors let her know they’d moved out. Knowing the situation with them, she’d had them watching the house for her. They loaded up everything you left behind in one of those little moving trucks and took off. The neighbors said a couple of young men helped them. I figure it was some of the boys in Chance and Georgina’s band. I don’t know where they’ve gone. Probably back to Nashville. They knew the lease was about up and Betty said she’d been pushing them to sign a new one or give her a date when they planned to move. She said they left the place a mess.”
“I’m so sorry about that for Mrs. Humphries. She was always nice to me.”
“Honey, Betty knows it wasn’t your fault. Don’t worry over that. She’s already had the house cleaned and found a new renter.”
Laura felt relieved to hear that.
“Now, don’t you be getting yourself upset over this. I worried about telling you but I knew you needed to know about what’s been going on. Georgina has moved on and we’ll all keep praying that in time she’ll have a good wake-up call and get her life straightened out.” She chuckled. “My grandson Tim said it sounded like she’d sold out to the Dark Side. He watches a lot of Star Wars.”
Laura tried to think what to say. “I’m really so sorry my problems caused you this trouble.”
“Now, you quit apologizing and just keep having yourself a good life there. I think Nolan and Rita sound like fine folks. Bobby and I have been thinking about coming over that way for a vacation later in the summer or in the early fall to see you.”
“Oh, I’d love that. There’s a sofa in my upstairs office that makes a nice bed. You can stay with me.”
“Well, I think we’ll bring the camper. It’s got everything we need in it, and we’ve been wanting to take some more trips now that we’re not working all the time. We thought we might go to a nice campground we like near Townsend in the Smoky Mountains for a week and then come over your way for a few days before we start back home. You look around for a good campground nearby where we can stay.”
“I’ll do that,” she promised.
After a few more words, they hung up, and then Laura burst into tears. She was so embarrassed at how her sister had acted to Lillian and Bobby. How could she act like that to them? They’d worked for her father since she and Georgina were only little girls, had been sweet to them whenever their mother or father brought them to the shop. Given them birthday presents and graduation gifts.
It hurt Laura’s heart so much to see what her sister had become. She’d been so gifted, always so talented. When they were little, she and her sister had been close, too, even with the age gap between them.
Laura was hunting through her drawer for another tissue when she heard the doorbell at the front door. A text popped up on her phone from Mitchell. “Hi. I saw your light in the office. Come let me in.”
Trying to mop at her face, she made her way into the vestibule to the front door to open it a small crack. “Listen, this isn’t a good time. Maybe you could come by tomorrow.”
He pushed the door open, his face concerned. “No, I’m coming in right now. What’s happened?”
CHAPTER 8
Mitchell was shocked to see Laura’s tear-streaked face when she eased open the door slightly. He didn’t think he’d ever seen Laura cry before, and it tore at his heart to see her so upset. Despite her objections and her desire to send him away, he had no intention of leaving her at a time like this.
She looked away from him in embarrassment as he shut the door behind him.
“Look, I’m okay, Mitchell,” Laura assured him. “I simply had an upsetting phone call from home, but I’d rather be alone for a little while if you don’t mind. You can come by tomorrow.”
He walked closer to her and lifted her face. “I’m staying, Laura. You don’t walk out on people you love when life hurts them. Besides I don’t want to be shut out of your life anymore. If you care for me, you need to let me in.”
She burst into tears then and he pulled her into his arms.
Mitchell let her weep for a few minutes and then said, “Why don’t we go upstairs? You need to sit down. We don’t want people walking by the shop and hearing you crying.”
Her eyes widened at that thought and then she shrugged in a resigned way. “Okay, let’s go upstairs. I do need to sit down. My legs feel shaky.”
Mitchell locked the front door and wrapped an arm around her waist as they made their way through the downstairs of the business, turning off lights in the store, setting the alarms, before starting upstairs to her apartment.
He opened the door there with her key, and then helped her across the living room to the sofa to sit down. She started crying again then, hiding her face in her hands.
“Honestly, Mitchell, this is really a bad time for me,” she said between her tears. “Just let me be by myself to have a good cry. It’s so embarrassing to have you here.”
“I’m used to being around crying women. Don’t worry about it.” He snagged a box of tissues from a nearby shelf, handing them to her. “I’m going into the kitchen to fix some coffee. I can make hot tea for you if you prefer it.”
“No, coffee would be good.”
He left her for a few minutes to go rustle around in her kitchen. He’d been here often enough now to find his way around, and it didn’t take him long to locate the coffee maker and a can of coffee on the pantry shelf.
Mitchell started the coffee and then came back to sit beside Laura on the sofa while their coffee brewed. He snuggled her close under his arm without saying anything. Sometimes a little quiet was a good thing. He’d learned that lesson often enough through all the sorrows he’d passed through. It wasn’t always what you said to someone at a hard time, it was simply the fact that you were there for them.
When the coffee finished brewing, he went to the kitchen to pour a cup for both of them. He remembered she liked a little creamer, nothing else. So did he. Digging around in an old-fashioned bread box on the counter, he found some of Rita Harbeck’s banana bread and cut off a couple of slices for them, putting each with a fork on two small plates he found on a shelf.
He brought coffee and a plate to Laura and then went back to get one of his own.
“Thanks,” she managed to say.
He studied the rooster on his cup and plate and couldn’t help grinning.
“I wouldn’t say anything about my rooster dishes right now if I were you,” she said in a quiet warning tone.
“What? I like them,” he replied, grinning again.
“Just now I’m feeling a little testy; that’s all.”
“So drink your coffee for a minute and then we’re going to talk. It’s long overdue between us, and you know it. I’m sorry you had a hurtful call from home, but I want you to share about that call with me. You’ve avoided sharing about your past with me for a long time. I could understand that when we first met. You didn’t know me. You didn’t owe me any explanations about your past life. But it’s different now.” He lifted her chin to look at her. “I’m a part of your life now, Laura. I don’t want to be pushed to the outside anymore.”
“You’re making this night harder for me.” She pulled away from him, sniffling again.
“It doesn’t need to be harder. Let me in. I want to be a part of the good and the bad with you. I don’t only want a superficial relationship between us.”
