Treasure on Lilac Lane - SAMPLE

Chapter Three

Jess had thought to stop in, grab a chicken salad croissant for her lunch, and dart back to the shop. She hated having to put up the Closed sign, but Cindy White, who'd been working for her part time, had been offered an assistant job at the school and Jess's high school girl, Tessa, only worked after school two days a week and Saturdays during the school year.

If Jess wanted to skip out at all, it meant closing the store. She paused, though, after placing her lunch order. She didn't expect to see Tom here, especially with Rick. She considered walking back out without acknowledging either one of them. But she'd been meaning to talk to Tom anyway, about building some extra wall shelves in her workroom. Now that her classes were really taking off, she needed the room without sacrificing workspace.

With the workload and the wedding plans, she might not get another chance for a while.

She got to the table just in time to hear Rick say something about his job situation. Tom replied, "There must be something in town somewhere. Even part time. Just to get you out of the house, you know?"

Indeed. Work was there if someone was inclined to actually look for it. Which hadn't seemed much of a priority for Rick. At least not until this past summer. He'd been far too busy running up a tab at The Rusty Fern.

"I'm sure there is," she said, her voice tight. "If he can stay sober long enough, that is."

"Always nice to see you, Jessica," Rick replied. His tone said otherwise.

She looked at Tom. "Mind if I pick your brain for a second? I'm waiting for my order and I wanted to ask you about some shelving."

She watched as Tom looked at Rick. Rick picked up his napkin and unrolled it, revealing his cutlery. She watched as he placed it on the table precisely using his prosthetic. She swallowed. She knew she should cut Rick some slack. So why wasn't she able to? Why did she always feel so angry when he was around?

"Don't mind me," Rick said. "Pick his brain all you want."

She pulled out a spare chair and focused on her cousin. "I was thinking of adding some wall shelves to the workroom. Do you think you'd have time for that, and can you give me an estimate?"

"You're running out of space already?"

She smiled. "Business is good. And rather than stack things on the floor, having it on shelves makes it easier to find and access. Plus I can organize it so that everything for certain classes is in one spot. I probably should have had you do it from the start, but the store shelving was more important."

"You need it right away? I'm tied up for the next few weeks, and then it's our honeymoon..."

"Do you think you could do it before Thanksgiving? With all the Christmas materials arriving, I can really use the extra space."

"That should be doable." Tom nodded. "I'll come over and measure and stuff first, and when I get a free day or two, I'll bring one of the guys and we'll do it up right."

She smiled. Tom always came through. Despite tension between the two sides of the family over the last few years, he'd been on her side through it all. Tom had stepped in and built her display counters and shelves, added on a back deck and pergola. He'd believed in her, and she wouldn't forget that.

"You know, Jess," Tom mused. "Maybe Rick could put in your shelves. Jack's not going to have much more work for you, is he, buddy?"

Rick looked startled at the suggestion and Jess's stomach clenched. She could kill Tom for putting them both on the spot like that. What was she supposed to say?