Page 28

“ D addy kissed Miss Tresia!” Avery blurted out as soon as Lucy released her from a hug. Tresia stood there, speechless.

“He did?”

Avery nodded enthusiastically, then scampered off to join Savannah and her brother, Miguel, who were already in the yard and leaving the statement just hanging in the air.

Heat rushed to Tresia’s cheeks as Lucy turned to her, a big grin on her face. “So, the marshal kissed you.”

“It was nothing,” Tresia insisted, but it wasn’t nothing. It was everything and more.

“Doesn’t sound like nothing.”

Tresia narrowed her eyes as she dropped her drawstring purse and the Emporium’s ledger on Lucy’s kitchen table and took a seat.

“Don’t be getting any ideas, Lucy Hart. It was just an innocent kiss.

I don’t think he even meant it.” Oh, it was so hard to lie to her friend.

She’d never done so before, but she really couldn’t have Serenity’s matchmaker believe she’d succeeded again—even if it were true.

Falling in love with Devlin Goodrich just wasn’t in The Plan.

At least, that’s what she kept telling herself, though, in truth, it was a little too late.

Even she had to admit her heart beat a little quicker whenever he looked at her or accidentally touched her.

And that kiss! She still felt it…as well as the guilt that kiss had brought.

She was betraying everything, her plan, Brett’s memory, and yet, she felt a spark of hope that he might feel the same way.

It was impossible to be certain. There were times when she caught him watching her, the expression on his face unreadable, but there was a warmth in his smoky blue eyes that spoke volumes.

She just had no idea what she should do about it.

“Tell me everything,” Lucy insisted as she poured a cup of coffee for her then set it down in front of her.

Tresia felt her cheeks become a little hotter. At this rate, she’d probably burst into flames. “There’s nothing to tell.”

Lucy laughed. “If there’s nothing to tell, why is your face all red?”

“I’m in love with him, Lucy!” She stifled a groan, wondering how she could have let this happen. “I don’t want to be.”

“Why not? He’s a good man.” Lucy sat in the chair opposite her. “You’ve said so yourself.”

“He is a good man, but he’s not part of The Plan. You know that.”

“Why couldn’t he be?” Lucy asked, her voice gentle and full of compassion, perhaps realizing that laughter was not appropriate at this moment.

“I don’t know if he feels the same.”

“He kissed you.”

Tresia fiddled with the spoon, unable to meet Lucy’s gaze. “That doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”

“Are you sure?”

She stopped playing with the spoon and settled it neatly on the saucer. “No, I’m not sure of anything at this moment.”

“There’s more, isn’t there?”

“I’ve been going through the newspapers and there are a few opportunities. One of them is in Philadelphia. The other is in San Francisco.”

Lucy raised a dark eyebrow but didn’t say anything. Her eyes were warm and understanding though as she reached across the table and laid her hand on hers.

“Two months ago, I thought I was ready for that challenge, but now, I’m not so sure.”

“Why?” Lucy asked.

“I’d have to move. Which would mean leaving Serenity, leaving the possibility of Sullivan’s, leaving…

them. I don’t know if I can now.” She bit her bottom lip, not hard enough to draw blood, but hard enough to hurt.

“Because I do love him. Love them both and moving…” She paused, unable to find the words to truly convey what she was feeling and then it hit her, like her heart suddenly started beating after being still for so long.

“I don’t want another store in another place.

I want my store. I want things how it used to be.

I miss Brett. And my father. Sullivan’s kept them alive for me, but I feel like…

I feel like I’m betraying all their memories as well as my own by even thinking of leaving.

” Her throat constricted, making it a little difficult to speak. “And by loving him.”

“I understand.”

She stared at the woman who was her closest friend, the sister she’d never had, and wondered how she could possibly understand. “Do you really?”

“Yes, of course.” Lucy squeezed her hand then let go.

“Sullivan’s was your life, as it was your father’s.

You spent all of your time there when you weren’t in school after your mother passed.

It was your solace. Your place of comfort.

Working beside your father helped you heal.

And then Brett came into your life when your father hired him.

All of your happy memories are wrapped up in that place.

And then, it all changed, and it must hurt to see what Arnold and Willetta are doing to it.

” She sighed and even her eyes seemed to glow with unshed tears.

“I would feel the same if something happened to Montana del Trueno, even though I don’t live there anymore. ”

“Why did you do this to me, Lucy?”

“Do what?”

“Offer me the job of taking care of Avery.” Tears burned her eyes and she looked out the kitchen window at the little girl she’d fallen for. “If I had never taken this job, Sullivan’s would still be thriving.”

“No, it wouldn’t. Arnold and Willetta are ruining Sullivan’s. Neither one of them knows how to treat a customer. Neither one of them knows how to keep the place clean, either, not like you did. I stopped in just the other day and the place is a mess.”

“I know. And it breaks my heart.” She took a breath.

“When I stopped by to pick up the books, Willetta was waiting on Mrs. Ashby and doing it very badly. She was rude to her, one of the sweetest women in the world. It was obvious to me that Willetta is unhappy that she actually has to work. I’m sure she’d rather be sitting in the apartment, stuffing her face with bonbons. ”

Tresia let out a sigh. “Speaking of Willetta, I need to go. Will you keep an eye on Avery?” She nodded toward the ledger. “I need to return that to the store, though I don’t know why. Neither Arnold or Willetta are keeping track of sales or inventory.”

There was another reason she wanted to talk to Arnold alone.

The numbers weren’t adding up. She wasn’t sure if they were selling items and simply not recording them.

She couldn’t tell, not from the receipts stuck so haphazardly into the ledger.

She did know they weren’t paying their invoices.

She’d found several that were marked ‘Overdue.’

Arnold and Willetta needed the store. It was their livelihood, but then again, they might not care.

They’d gotten what they wanted but had no understanding of how to keep it successfully running.

And that broke her heart, too. Not because of the money they were losing, but because it felt like the end of something important.

“Yes, of course, Avery can stay with me. Take all the time you need.”

“Thank you.” She rose from her seat, grabbed her drawstring purse and the ledger then walked through the kitchen door and out onto the back porch, her gaze sweeping over the three children in the process of digging a hole in the dirt. A big hole.

“Avery!”

She looked up, her face and clothes smudged with dirt but that didn’t matter. Beneath the dirt, Avery Goodrich wore a big smile.

“I’ll be right back. You’re going to stay with Lucy, all right?”

Avery nodded then went back to digging, the sun reflecting off the spoon she used.

Lucy stepped up beside her.

“Are those your good spoons?”

Lucy laughed. “No, not my good ones. I keep those for exactly the purpose they’re being used for—digging in the dirt.”

“Look at them! All three are filthy!”

“But they’re having fun and that’s all that matters.” Lucy moved closer to the railing and leaned against it, just watching her niece, nephew and Avery.

“All right, I’m going. I’ll see you in a little bit.”

A few minutes later, Tresia entered the store, not through the front door where the little bell would alert Arnold and Willetta they had a customer, but by the back door, the one that led to the cozy little storage room.

She moved through the small room, avoiding pieces of furniture and other items, and pressed her ear against the wooden panel on the other side.

All was quiet in the next room. Arnold must be in his office and Willetta—she was probably upstairs, as she’d told Lucy, sprawled out on the sofa, her nose in a book, which wasn’t a bad thing, but when one owns a store, one should be in that store.

Leaving the little storeroom, she opened the ledger in the middle, at the ribbon that marked the back half, where the inventory was listed.

She dropped her drawstring purse on the counter beside the cash register, fished out a little pencil, and began counting.

Five minutes into it, she knew that things had been sold but not recorded.

She also noticed that the floor had not been swept or mopped and no one had dusted a darned thing.

There was even dust on the counter by the cash register.

And the windows hadn’t been washed, something that she had done every morning when she opened the store.

Anger and frustration surged through her.

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right, either.

“What are you doing here?” Arnold came out of his office as she was counting the tea services on display. There were two missing, though no mention was made in either the inventory list or the list of sales.

She glanced at him, beyond disappointed. She hadn’t seen him since she’d quit. She’d been getting the books from Willetta, who wasn’t happy at all about the arrangement. He looked terrible, haggard, thinner and as if he’d lost weight. “I’m taking inventory.”

“Why?”