Teaberry Blossom Time, page 2
“How was work?” he asked.
“What?” Erica looked over Maddie’s head at him.
“I’m trying for normalcy. You know, having a conversation.” He felt Mason begin to relax in his arms.
“Oh, okay. Yeah. Let’s see.” Erica looked down at Maddie. Her eyes were closing. “We’re having a problem with school buses.”
“What do you mean?” Brad stood up.
“People aren’t always stopping for them,” Erica said as she began to follow him out of the kitchen. “You know, when the kids are getting on and off the buses.”
Brad turned back to look at her as he continued walking down the hall.
“Seriously? Why?”
Erica made a face. “I’m being told that people are just confused with the law.”
Brad reached the nursery first. He laid Mason down in his crib. Erica followed with Maddie. They backed out of the nursery and returned to the kitchen.
“What are the police going to do about it?” Brad asked as he picked up his phone.
“They are talking about starting an education initiative.”
Brad finished texting his question to Lauren and realized Erica had stopped talking.
He narrowed his eyes at her across the room. She had taken a seat at the table.
“What aren’t you telling me?” he asked.
Erica reached for a cold French fry and began pulling it apart between her fingers.
“They want to maybe use the media to get the word out. You know, in the paper, do some television segments on the news. That sort of thing.” Erica’s eyes remained on the mashed fry in front of her.
He continued to stare at her. The smile on his face formed slowly.
“They want to put you on television?” he asked.
Erica dropped the fry. She stood and went to the sink to wipe her hands before moving to the fridge.
She still hadn’t answered him. “I’m right, aren’t I? That’s awesome,” he said enthusiastically.
She shot him a look before closing the fridge and crossing the room with a juice bottle in her hand.
“I’m glad you think so,” she mumbled.
“Seriously. You’re going to be great at this.” He waited until she set the juice on the counter before reaching out for her. After turning her around, he pulled her in for a hug.
“You think so?” she said into his chest.
“I know so. All you have to do is picture our kids being the ones who are getting on and off the bus with a car whizzing past them.”
Erica lifted her head quickly and looked at him. “Good point.”
Brad’s phone buzzed.
“What did Lauren say?” she asked as she turned to pour a glass of juice.
“She said we should try a slow cooker.” Brad continued reading then chuckled.
“What?” Erica asked.
“She said we don’t have to worry about gaining weight.” Brad looked up. “Once the twins start crawling, we’ll never sit down again.”
Erica didn’t doubt it. She looked around the room at the cupboards.
“Do we have a slow cooker?” she asked.
“I have no idea. If not, we’ll ask your parents to find one for us.” Brad went over to the table and began cleaning up the remains of their dinner.
Erica nodded as she opened the dishwasher. “Good idea. They like being able to help.”
Chapter Three
Giselle woke early Saturday morning and wondered what the day would bring. Most of the Saturdays between the Christmas holiday and now had been slow at Togs. She wondered if that would begin to change given that the weather was finally beginning to show a promise of spring. In fact, today there appeared to be more than just a promise.
Giselle stood at the picture window in her living room with her coffee mug in her hand and looked out to her front yard. She could feel the warmth of the sun shining through. Okay, maybe it was just wishful thinking. She leaned forward and looked out, trying to spot the new arrivals in her flower bed. A figure jogged past her house on the sidewalk. She smiled as she recognized him.
It was one of the many things she loved about her neighborhood and about Teaberry in general. It was the place where she had grown up. Her parents still lived here, her friends were all here. So was her business. The one she had been struggling to make a success of for years. She turned her back to the window then slowly walked to the kitchen.
Some years were better than others, of course. Giselle thought back with a slight frown. Actually, that wasn’t entirely true. If she looked at her earnings, there was a decided downward slant. She’d started out great with Togs. It was only recently that things had begun to change. It hadn’t happened over night. It had been a slow, but steady, decline over time.
She thought again about what Julia had said to her. In a moment of mistaken identity not long ago, Giselle had accused the young teen of stealing from Togs. She’d been wrong, of course. In the process of proving her innocence to Giselle, the young girl had stiffened her spine and critiqued the merchandise with an experienced eye. To her mortification, Giselle knew immediately that the young girl had been right.
Giselle had responded with the first thing that popped into her mind. She offered the young girl a job. Julia has been working at Togs part-time ever since. It had been a large learning curve for both of them. It was Julia’s first job. Giselle had expected the young girl to be confused with the cash register or have problems answering questions about clothes from the shoppers.
Giselle rinsed her coffee cup and put it in the dishwasher. As she went to the bedroom to finish dressing for work, she smiled at the thought of anyone stumping Julia with a question about fashion. She sincerely doubted it would ever happen. Rather, it was something else entirely that caused problems for the young girl. Giselle realized very early on that Julia had very little self-esteem. She was hesitant to make suggestions to anyone.
It had been difficult to convince Julia at first that Giselle really wanted to hear her ideas. Julia was stunned when she learned that Giselle had acted on them. Today marked the first day they would discover how good those suggestions would prove to be. The first shipment of stock recommended by Julia had arrived yesterday. Giselle spent much of the day putting the clothes out on the racks.
Although Giselle had maintained sales from customers of her age group and older, she’d lost touch with the types of clothes that younger people might wear. She still had no idea how it had happened. It had taken Julia’s comments to open her eyes to the problem. It had certainly gone a long way to explain why her sales over time had taken on a downward slope.
Shortly before ten o’clock, Giselle opened the front door of Togs and stepped out onto the sidewalk. Her clothing store was located in a brick building with several other shops. Anderson’s Florist was on one end of the long brick building on Main Street and Tea & Thyme was on the other. The owner of the building, Ross McMann, kept a business incubator in the shop space closest to Anderson Florist. The other shops were Olde Tomes, Vintage Teaberry, and Teaberry Togs.
Giselle loved her location. She had grown fond of the other shopkeepers in the building over the years. She turned to look at the front window of her shop and the glass on the door. They could use some cleaning. She held a small bucket of water, a squeegee, and a roll of paper towels in her hands.
“Hey, Giselle.” Ross McMann stopped on the sidewalk next to her. “This looks serious.”
Giselle laughed. “I think it’s time for some spring cleaning. At least the door, anyway.”
“The weather is definitely cooperating,” Ross agreed. “I hope it stays like this.”
“I saw you enjoying it with a morning run,” Giselle said.
“I didn’t want to waste the chance. Enjoy your Saturday.” Ross gave a wave and continued walking a few doors down until he came to his own door.
Giselle watched him stand and inspect it. He turned and looked at her. She held up her squeegee. He nodded and signaled that he’d be back in a moment before unlocking his door and ducking inside. Giselle finished cleaning her door and stood back to inspect it.
“I think you have a streak over there.”
A hand appeared in front of Giselle and pointed to the left side of the door. She turned to find a man that looked to be around her age, or maybe just a bit older. At five eight, Giselle was taller than most women. The man standing next to her was about three inches taller. He wore his blond hair short.
“Uh, thanks.” Giselle tilted her head. The different angle allowed her to see the streak. He was right. It was pretty noticeable. “Oh, that would have been bad.” She ran the squeegee over it again and dried it with the paper towels.
“Better,” he said. He glanced at the store name on the front window. “Your place?”
“It is. I’m Giselle Lafitte.”
“Kurt Dodd. I’d shake your hand, but…” He looked down at the water dripping from her squeegee onto her hand.
Giselle followed his gaze and laughed. “Yeah.” She set the squeegee back in the bucket and began wiping her hand with the paper towels.
“Nice weather for washing windows,” he commented.
“I was just about to say the same thing,” a deep voice behind Giselle said.
She turned to find Ian. He wasn’t in uniform, but he still managed to look like the police officer he was.
“Hey, hi.” Giselle took a step back to include Ian in the conversation. “Ian, this is Kurt. We just met when he stopped to critique my work.”
She watched as the two men nodded to each other. They appeared to be sizing each other up. She couldn’t help making her own comparisons. Although Kurt was about an inch taller than Ian, the police officer was noticeably more muscular and fit. His posture was ramrod straight and he had what she’d always thought of as a commanding presence.
Giselle looked down at her bucket. “I should get this to Ross. He wanted to borrow it.”
“I’ll watch Togs for you,” Ian said.
“Thanks. Nice meeting you, Kurt.” Giselle lifted the bucket and turned to walk toward Ross’s place but found him walking toward her. She met him half way and passed the cleaning supplies off to him. He promised to bring them back to her soon. By the time she returned to Togs, Kurt was gone and Ian was waiting for her inside Togs.
“Did he mention why he was in Teaberry?” Ian asked.
Giselle gave him a wry smile. “I didn’t ask. I don’t usually interrogate potential customers.”
“Speaking of customers, how have things been going here?” he asked.
Giselle moved behind the counter where the cash register was located. “Good. I had a lot of sales for the dance that’s coming up next weekend. I’m hoping things really pick up now that the weather is getting nicer. Maybe spring break will help too.”
“It usually makes things busier for us also,” Ian said. “Are you here alone today?”
“No, Julia is due in any minute.” Giselle turned toward the door when the bells rang. “There she is.”
Julia smiled a greeting to both of them when she entered.
“I’ll let you guys get to work then,” Ian said as he passed by Julia on his way out the door.
Julia turned and watched him go.
“What was that about?” Julia asked as she walked toward Giselle.
Giselle was still staring at the door.
“I have no idea.” She turned to Julia. “The stock you suggested came in yesterday.”
Julia immediately began walking around the store to look at it.
“I hope I didn’t steer you wrong,” she said as she lifted a summer dress from the rack.
“You didn’t. You made excellent suggestions and I agreed. If the items don’t sell, it’s on me.”
Julia gave the older woman a hesitant look before hanging the dress back on the rack. The bells on the door caused them both to look at the new arrivals.
“Hey, you two.” Giselle went around to the other side of the counter.
“I brought help,” Megan said with a smile.
Lauren laughed. “Megan said you get a panicked look whenever she comes into the shop.”
Giselle nodded. “She isn’t kidding.”
Lauren moved over to a rack of clothes. “Oh, this is nice.”
Giselle and Julia shared a smile. It was the same sundress Julia had just been holding.
“I don’t think that would fit me for a while,” Megan pointed out.
“No, but it would fit me.” Lauren grinned at her cousin.
Megan shook her head then turned to Giselle.
“Have you heard from Sal Hobson lately?” Megan asked.
“Yeah, I talked to him…” Giselle tried to think back. “Actually, I guess it’s been a while.”
Megan turned to look at something Lauren was holding up.
“Why do you ask?” Giselle felt guilty. It had been a while since she’d spoken to the older man she considered family.
“I wanted to add another tree to an order I already placed with him. I haven’t been able to get in touch with him.” Megan watched as Lauren took something else from a rack and handed it to Julia. Julia began carrying items back to the dressing room.
“I’ll have to make some time to get out to see him next week.” Giselle picked up something else to show to Lauren. Lauren nodded and Giselle passed it off to Julia.
Megan sighed. Based on the numbers of items they had already accumulated within a matter of moments, it was going to be a long morning.
Chapter Four
The stairs leading up to the top of the bleachers called to him. He could see others up there, way at the top. They looked like they were having fun. He wondered how far they could see. Maybe all the way to outer space. He took a step closer to them. Nothing happened. He took another step. Holding his breath, he waited. He could hear the sound of a bat as it connected with a ball. He could hear voices shouting encouragement and instructions. But he didn’t hear the one voice he expected to hear. He took another step. He was next to the stairs now. It was just a matter of climbing up them.
“Noah, I need you to stay by Daddy,” Justin said without turning around.
Noah sighed and returned to his father’s side. “I’m bored.”
“Watch your sister. She’s coming up at bat.” Justin put his hand on Noah’s shoulder.
Noah leaned against the railing. He wondered if he could climb on it.
“Focus on the ball, Mia. Just like we practiced,” Justin shouted above the other voices.
He could see the concentration on his daughter’s face. The pitcher threw the ball. Mia made a face just before she took her swing. She missed.
“It’s okay. Don’t worry about that one. Focus on the next one. You got this,” Justin shouted.
Noah picked his foot up and rested it on the bottom rail. His dad didn’t notice. He picked his other foot up and put it on the rail too. It raised him up several inches. He looked over at his dad. He could tell that his dad was focused on Mia. Noah lifted his foot and put it on the next rail.
Mia swung at the next ball. It connected.
“That’s it, baby. Run! Go to first!” Justin shouted as Mia took off.
Noah lifted his other foot and placed it on the rail.
“You got it, go to second,” Justin shouted as he reached for Noah. “Don’t climb on the rail, Buddy.”
Justin pointed at Mia. “Watch your sister. Look, she’s going to make it.”
Noah looked at his older sister running around the bases. One of the other kids picked up the ball and threw it toward the second base. The kid there missed the catch.
“Keep going, Mia!” Justin shouted. “Run!”
“Dad!” Noah said. “I have to go.”
“What? Oh, okay, Buddy. Wait just a minute.” Justin kept his eyes on Mia as she ran toward third base.
“Now, Dad! I have to go now!” Noah headed for the stairs exiting the bleachers.
Justin caught up with him half way down the stairs. He turned to see Mia rounding third base before losing his view of the field as he continued to descend.
When he reached the bottom step, Noah took off like a shot to the restrooms below the bleachers. Justin heard the cheers as Mia crossed the home plate when he caught up to Noah and followed him into the restroom. When they exited the restroom, they were surrounded by parents and children as they moved quickly in the opposite direction to get back to their cars. The game was over.
Justin led Noah around the bleachers and met his daughter as she walked off the field.
“Daddy! Did you see it! I won the game!” Mia skipped toward him.
Justin wrapped an arm around her to pull her in for a hug.
“I sure did, Mia. You were great!” Justin navigated the kids through the crowd toward their van.
“Is Mommy home? I want to tell her,” Mia said as she climbed into the van.
“Not yet, sweetie. She’s shopping with Megan.” Justin made sure both kids were secure in their seats before climbing in. “What do you say we stop and get some food to celebrate?”
Both kids began yelling for food, but not the same kind.
Justin looked in the rear-view mirror. Mia was sweaty and her hair was going everywhere. Noah was scowling at Mia because he didn’t like her choice for food. Justin smiled as he pulled out of the parking lot. Just another Saturday.
***
Cole grabbed on to the handle of the cart and followed Trina down the sidewalk next to the rear of the building. She stopped when she reached the end.
“This is where we had them last year,” Trina said as she pointed.
Cole looked at the space. “Which way to you want the rows to go?” He motioned with is hand. “This direction?”
“Yeah. You want to butt up against the building and leave enough space in between them for people to get in and out easily, especially if they have a cart.”
“Okay. I’ll let you know if I have any more questions,” Cole said as he began off-loading the materials to set the rows up.
