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“Yes,” Angelica said emphatically. “Can you go this morning?”
“I guess. I have a lunch date today, but I can check out the big craft store on Route 101 before then.”
“Even if we can only decorate the baskets lining Main Street, it would at least be welcoming to the tourists when they get off the buses.”
“And when is redecorating the baskets going to happen?”
Angelica grimaced. “Tonight.”
“And who is going to do it?” Tricia asked, already knowing the answer.
“Why, you and me of course.”
“Of course. What about Antonio?”
“You can’t expect him to leave Gi
No, she didn’t.
“Couldn’t Nigela Ricita Associates pull someone from the Brookview I
“And let it get out that we’re replacing the real flowers with silk?”
“Somebody’s bound to notice.”
Angelica’s lips pursed.
“Okay. Do I even have to ask who’s going to be climbing the ladder?” Tricia asked.
“You know I’m afraid of heights,” Angelica said, appalled at the idea.
Yes, she did.
Tricia drained her cup. “I have just enough time to shower and change before Mariana reports for work at the Chamber.”
“If I haven’t told you lately, I really appreciate all the work you’re doing for the Chamber. I don’t know what I’ll do when you go back to your real life, and it will be all too soon.”
Not soon enough, Tricia thought. “I’m happy I can take on some of the work to make it easier on you.”
“The Chamber is now big enough that it needs a dedicated employee to run it—not a part-time volunteer, and that’s where I’m going to steer it. The membership has already grown faster in the past eight months than I’d considered it would during my two-year tenure.”
“It’s your leadership,” Tricia said. Angelica shook her head in denial, but she did look pleased at the sentiment. “I’ve gotta go,” Tricia said, getting up from her stool and pausing at the sink to rinse her paper cup before placing it in the recycling bin.
“I’ll see you later,” Angelica called as Tricia headed for the stairs.
As Tricia closed the Cookery’s door behind her, she pondered the kind of personality that could deprive the villagers and tourists of the beauty the flowers had brought. Could it have been Bob? Her thoughts had immediately gone to him, but only because he’d been a
Why did the sourpusses in life want to ruin things for everyone else?
• • •
The big arts-and-crafts store on Route 101 was ru
It was getting close to noon when Tricia returned to the village and pulled into the municipal parking lot. Instead of hauling her purchases to the Chamber office, she left the bags of faux flowers in the trunk. They weren’t going to wilt, even under the blistering midday sun.
She had just enough time to stop at Booked for Lunch to pick up the orders she’d phoned in hours before, then carried them two doors down to the Happy Domestic. Technically Gi
Tricia entered the shop and the bell over the door jangled. The sound was like a knife thrust to her soul. It sounded so like the one at Haven’t Got a Clue. Some days the sound didn’t bother her, and others, like today, the pain from the loss of her store was almost too much to bear.
Gi
Gi
“And risk trichinosis?”
“I thought you could only get that from undercooked pork.”
“Pork, bears, and other wild game infected with parasites. Do you really want to take the risk?”
Gi
“Black bean.”
“Oh, my favorite—except it hasn’t treated me well since . . .” Again she looked down at her belly.
“More information than I needed to know,” Tricia said, and laughed. She took the seat across from Gi
“It won’t be long now,” Tricia said.
“A week from today, if the calculations are right.”
“What are your plans after the baby arrives?” Tricia asked, dipping a piece of lettuce into her dressing.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about that,” Gi
“You’ve changed your mind about working?” Tricia asked, surprised.
Gi
“You’d give up the Happy Domestic? But I thought you were happy here.”
“I have been deliriously happy here, but I’m not sure the hours are conducive to a happy family life.”
“Your boss seems quite amenable when it comes to flexible hours.”
“I’ve been very lucky,” Gi
Tricia poked at her salad. She’d known things would change once the baby arrived, but the thought of not seeing Gi
“I’ve been thinking,” Gi
“Oh?”
“While I would love to work with Antonio either at the Brookview I
“Is there an opening at NRA?” Tricia asked. Angelica hadn’t mentioned it, but then she hadn’t gone into the details of how her business ran, either.
“I don’t know. I think it could be fun to work on projects that have end dates, not just picking baubles, waiting on customers, and banking the receipts. Maybe NRA will open another business here in town. Maybe they’d let me manage a couple of different stores or other parts of the operation.” She shrugged. “What I’d really like is a job with more regular hours—and weekends off would sure be a treat, too.”
“Have you spoken to Antonio about that?”
“He doesn’t have a problem with it.”
“Has he mentioned it to your boss?”
Gi
And you’ll get that opportunity sooner than you know, Tricia thought. She decided to move away from the subject. “Have you come up with names for the baby yet?”
Gi
It stood to reason Antonio wouldn’t name his son after his own father. The man had abandoned him. It was Angelica who’d bought him clothes and paid for his schooling. “Mr. Everett will like that.”