Page 69 of Second Chance Fate (Hope Falls: Brewed Awakenings #5)

The quiet stillness of the cottage was broken by the distant sound of birds chirping as Taylor folded the flaps to close her ninth and final moving box. That was it. Once she took this box out to the garage and put it in her car, she could head over to Lauren’s realty office and drop off the keys.

Her original plan had been to keep the cottage out of fear that she and Owen would need it in case things didn’t work out with Caleb, but she didn’t have that worry anymore.

If, God forbid, things didn’t work out, Caleb would give her time to find a place.

He would never just kick them out on the street.

A sentimental ache spread through her chest as she took one more lap around to make sure she hadn’t missed anything and to say goodbye to the place that had been a sanctuary, a refuge, a soft landing for herself and Owen.

It was bittersweet to say goodbye to the Cobbler’s Cottage, at least it was to her. She’d asked Owen if he wanted to come by before she gave Lauren the keys back, and he scrunched his face up and asked, “ Why ?” Clearly he didn’t hold the same nostalgic associations as she did for this place.

They’d been there nine months, and she had packed nine boxes to take to Caleb’s.

Or she guessed now it was her house, too, since he was adding her name to the title.

There was something that felt poetic, something full circle about the number nine.

She wondered if it was because it took nine months to have a baby.

She researched to see if there was any significance to the number 520 since she left Martin on May 20th, and that’s the date Caleb rescued Minnie, and their wedding was Caleb’s dad’s five hundred and twentieth.

She discovered it is a homophone for “I love you” in Mandarin, making it a symbolic number for declarations of love.

It also means positive change and transformation.

Taylor’s phone rang, and she pulled it out of her back jeans pocket.

When she saw it was Caleb Facetiming her, she immediately got giddy, but she almost didn’t answer it.

Not because she didn’t want to talk to him—she did.

She just knew he was going to be irritated that she’d come to the house to clean it out and grab her and Owen’s stuff without him.

He had to go to Lake Tahoe to speak at a men’s retreat that he'd completely forgotten he’d agreed to.

He said usually he’d stay the night there for the four-day function, but since they’d only been married two weeks and only had their wedding at his parents’ three days earlier, he decided to commute instead.

She smiled as she answered, strategically standing so her backdrop was the front door, which was a neutral wood.

He smiled when she came on the screen, but then it immediately dropped. “You’re at the cottage.”

Okay, so not such a strategic spot after all.

“I told you I was going to come over and get the stuff,” she reminded him.

“And I told you I’d go get it with you on Saturday.”

“I know, but I said I wanted to clear it out so Lauren can get tourists in. It’s peak season.”

“I talked to Lauren. She’s fine if we wait until Saturday.”

“I’m sure she is. I’m not.”

This was the first time they’d had a disagreement. Caleb wanted her to wait until he could go with her on the weekend to get her stuff because he had to speak at the conference all week and would be commuting every day and couldn’t go, and she did not want to wait.

As much as she appreciated his offer, and she knew it did not come from the same place Martin’s controlling behavior came from, she wasn’t going to allow someone else to tell her when she could go get her things out of a house that she rented.

Taylor could see that Caleb wasn’t happy that she’d come over by herself. It’s not that he was mad at her; he just seemed upset that he wasn’t there.

“Is Josh there with you at least? Or Dad?” Caleb asked.

“You do remember I drove across the country by myself with Owen. I can bring a few boxes across town.”

“I know you can , but that doesn’t mean you should .”

“I miss you.” Taylor changed the subject, but she did actually mean it.

“I miss you, too.” He sighed, his chin dropped, and he hung his head in defeat. “I can’t believe I forgot that I had this.”

When Judy reminded him about the conference yesterday, he’d been pretty bummed.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself; it’s not like you found out you have a son, the baby mama got sick and went to the hospital, you became the primary caregiver overnight, and you got married. Oh, and while that was happening, your church and home were broken into. Oh, no, wait, that did happen.”

Caleb smiled. “I know, it’s just frustrating. I want to be there with you. Judy thinks it’s Patsy, but I don’t know if it’s her. This just doesn’t—” There was an announcement made over the loudspeaker, and Caleb lifted his head up. He sighed again. “I gotta go.”

“K, bye.”

“I love you.” He pressed his hand to the bottom of the screen.

Taylor wasn’t sure why he put his hand on the bottom of the screen when he said he loved her, but it did actually make her feel more connected to him when they were apart.

She held her hand up to the screen to touch the same place as his on her phone. “I love you, too.”

When the call disconnected and her wallpaper came back up, which used to be a photo of Casper and Owen and was now a photo of Casper, Minnie, Owen, and Caleb in the backyard, she returned the phone to her back pocket and picked up the box.

No sooner had she done that than her phone rang again. She set the box down and pulled it out.

Viv’s name was on her screen. She’d given birth on Sunday, and it was Tuesday. Why would she be calling her? Maybe she needed her to cover shifts at Brewed Awakenings, but that was really more Audrey’s domain; Viv’s was Broken Nail Event Planning.

“Hello.”

“Do you remember me telling you about Singles Week?”

Taylor took the phone from her ear and looked at it to make sure that it was, in fact, Viv’s name on her screen. It was. It did sound like her. She put the phone back to her ear. “Viv, are you okay? How’s the baby?”

“Gabriel is great. He sleeps, eats, and pees. He’s perfect. Do you remember me telling you about Singles Week?”

“Yes. You got the idea from the show Schitt’s Creek, right?”

“Exactly! You do listen, which is more than I can say for Kevin. So, I have something coming up like that but on steroids, and I have another event that I can’t even tell you about.

Well, I could, but then I’d have to kill you.

Just kidding, but I do need you to sign an NDA before I tell you.

Which is why I’m calling. How would you like to work for me?

It can be part-time. you can do it from home when you feel up to it. ”

“For you?” She did work for her. “Oh, you mean for Broken Nail?”

“Yes. In the past forty-eight hours I signed the two biggest contracts, gave birth, and lost my entire team.”

“Your entire team?”

“Yep, director of events, event coordinator, head of marketing, head of catering, and venue manager.”

“Oh, no, that’s?—”

“It was Kevin. He’s been saying he wanted to start his own company, and he took advantage of me not being around as much because I was growing a human, and he poached the entire team, promising them things he’ll never be able to give them.

He basically Jerry Maguire’d, but he’s not Tom Cruise.

It doesn’t matter, though. He had them wrapped around his sketchy finger with his big speech about more creative freedom and better hours and pay, and they all went full Renée Zellweger.

Traitors. He not only took my employees, he’s also trying to lowball my bids to steal my clients.

So now, I don’t just have to succeed; I have to crush them. ”

“Is someone with you now?” Taylor was worried because Viv sounded a little manic. “Glenn or?—"

“Yes, Glenn’s here, and so are Audrey, Ava, and Grace.”

“Oh, okay.” That made Taylor feel better. Her phone buzzed, and she pulled it back and looked at it.

It was a text from Audrey.

Audrey: This is normal. She’s like this when she’s this mad .

Taylor felt better after seeing that and put the phone back up to her ear, and she heard Viv saying, “Just think about it, okay? I already told Audrey I wanted to poach you, which is how decent people behave, so there’s no drama there.

I just made her an auntie, so she can’t really say anything.

Anyway, I’m trying to put together a team, and I think you’d be an amazing asset. ”

“I would?” Taylor was not suffering from false modesty. She honestly wasn’t sure what she could bring to an event planning team.

“You alphabetized the teas in the storage room,” Viv pointed out as if that was Exhibit A.

“I just thought that way it would make it easier to see when you’re running out.”

“And you’re right, it did. Your attention to detail is a chef’s kiss.

And you don’t panic in emergencies. When the pipe burst in the back of Brewed, you calmly asked where the valve was to shut off the water, and when I didn’t know where it was, you figured it out.

And when the power went out, you put all the perishables in the ice chest with ice so they didn’t get ruined. ”

Taylor felt like Viv was just naming things that were common sense that anyone would do.

“Like I said, don’t answer now. I’m assembling a team. I’ll call you in the next couple of weeks. Just promise me you’ll think about it.”

“I will. I promise.”

“Cool beans.”

Taylor knew that was her sign-off.

“Viv, wait.”

“Yeah?”

“Congratulations!”

“Oh, yeah, thanks,” her voice softened. “He’s pretty cute. I think I’ll keep him.”