Hometown Healing

by Jennifer Slattery

  “How have you been?”

  “Well. Staying busy.”

  “That’s good to hear.” She paused. “I heard you moved.”

  “I am on...an extended vacation of sorts. Helping my mom out in Texas.”

  “I see.” She shifted her briefcase to her other arm. “Who are you meeting with?”

  She glanced past her, toward the open appointment room. “I haven’t gotten that far yet.”

  “Come by my table. I’m representing East Coast Bling.”

  Paige blinked. “You left Chic Fashions?”

  Ardell cracked a wry smile. “Writers weren’t the only ones to get the boot.”

  “Wow. I didn’t know, Ardell. I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “It happens. Poor business planning and financial management hurts everyone.” She looked up as a stream of writers dressed in slacks, blouses and blazers hustled past her. “Looks like it’s that time. I’ve got a class to teach. If you want to learn how to turn passé story ideas into editor-grabbing queries, join us.”

  “I just might do that.”

  She watched the woman she’d once blamed for her layoff hurry down the hall, suddenly looking...human. And potentially like someone who could help Paige restart her journalism career.

  With a burst of hope and renewed confidence, she turned back to the appointment room, which was now practically empty.

  Her phone, set on silent, vibrated in her back pocket. She glanced at the screen and sighed. Jed had called again. She wasn’t ready to talk to him—about their relationship, his parents, what their future might look like if they were together...

  Where Paige would be a year or even a month from now was hard to say.

  Could she commit to something permanent with Jed, the man she loved, knowing his parents might forever hate her? If she did, how long would it be before the tension began to tear them apart? How long before she began to resent him, or he her?

  And what about her poor, sweet Ava?

  She played the voice message.

  “Hey. It’s Jed. I know today will be busy for you, but can we talk when you get a chance?” He paused. “About the restaurant last night and...my mom?”

  She shot him a quick text. Soon. Then she tucked her phone into her back pocket.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Standing in his office, Jed sifted through the box of costumes Grandma had brought. “These are perfect.”

  She grinned. “I hoped you’d like them. Of course, if we need to make any last-minute adjustments to fit the cast, I’m sure that won’t be a problem.”

  “We’re short on time with the reopening being a week from today.”

  “I know, but the ladies are prepared to work quickly. That reminds me, did Paige ever get our press release written?”

  He nodded. “I sent it out to our media contacts a few days ago.”

  “Good. That girl’s been such a blessing. You better not go scaring her off.”

  “I’ll try not to.” If only he could get his mom to say the same.

  With Paige’s contract officially ending a week from today, there wasn’t much to hold her in Sage Creek. Would she stay in Texas for him? Or was she still set on returning to Chicago?

  If he didn’t find a way to deal with his mother, he worried there was no point.

  Grandma shuffled toward the desk, gripped the chair’s armrests and lowered herself behind the computer.

  The front door chimed. “That must be New Life Furnishings delivering our stuff.” He couldn’t wait to see the finished products, arranged in the newly redone theater. The place was going to look amazing, and the final script Paige had sent over before leaving for her conference had been fantastic. Hilarious and filled with questions and clues, including false ones.

  With steps lightened by a hope he hadn’t felt since he had bought into his grandparents’ business, he exited the office. He continued down the short hall to the dining/theater area and then halted.

  “Paige.”

  “Hey.” She stood a few feet from the archway leading to the lobby, dressed in tan shorts and an aqua blouse. She wore her hair pulled back with tight ringlets framing her sun-kissed face.

  “How was your writing conference?”

  “Good.” She studied him with a furrowed brow, as if she were worried about something.

  “Thanks for stopping by.” The sad yet resolute look in her eyes suggested he wasn’t going to like what she came to say, as if she’d made up her mind already, regardless of how their conversation went.

  “Is now a good time?”

  “Sure. Let’s go to the office.”

  She nodded and followed him with her sandaled feet making a soft scuffing noise on the carpet. Each hesitant footstep added to the weight settling on his heart. He wasn’t ready for her to leave. He wanted her to be happy, sure. He just wished she could be happy here with him.

  When he entered his office, Grandma glanced up with her spectacles balanced on the end of her nose. Her gaze shifted to Paige, who was standing beside him, and she sprang to her feet. “Hello, dear! How good to see you.” But then her features tightened, and her eyes shifted between the two of them. “Is something wrong?”

  Jed swallowed. “Can we have a minute?”

  Her deepening frown indicated she felt the same foreboding he did. “Certainly.” She crossed the room and reached for Paige’s hand. “Let’s talk later. I’d love to hear about your trip.”

  Paige nodded.

  “The furniture folks will be here any minute.” Jed handed Grandma his receipt, which listed the details of their order. “Think you can direct them where to put everything?”

  “I’ve been running this place since you were in diapers.” She tapped the brim of his Stetson. “I’m pretty sure I can tell those men where to put tables and chairs.”

  He smiled. “Right.”

  She left, humming an old country tune he vaguely recognized.

  “Have a seat.” He motioned to the chair in front of his desk, shifted some papers and sat on the corner. “Listen, I know my mom can be...” He didn’t want to speak about her disrespectfully, but this was something he absolutely needed to address. “I’ll talk to her.”

  “And say what? Tell her to stop hating me?”

  “She doesn’t hate you.”

  “Well, she’s not exactly my biggest fan.”

  “It’s not you. She’s always been a bit...protective of me.”

  “It’s not healthy. Not for us, not for our marriage—if we were to get married. Not for Ava.”

  He sighed. “I know. Like I said, I’ll talk to her.”

  “And you think she’ll listen? And change?”

  “She’ll have to.”

  “Or what?”

  “I’ll stand by you. You know that.” He’d fight for Paige with everything within him, but he couldn’t just cut his mom out of his life. Nor could he demand she suddenly embrace Paige.

  But he could pray, something he should’ve done a long time ago.

  Later that afternoon, he met his mother at the Literary Sweet Spot. The scent of chocolate, cinnamon and freshly roasted coffee filled the air.

  They chose a table tucked in the far corner. The whir of the espresso machine challenged their hearing, but it would also provide his mom a level of privacy he hoped would make their conversation easier.

  “Is everything okay?” She wrapped both hands around her steaming mug.

  “We need to talk about Paige.”

  Her face hardened. “I’m listening.”

  “I love her.”

  She stared at him, then leaned against her seat back, looked beyond him and took a slow sip of her coffee.

  “Mom.”

  “I heard you.”

  “What do you have against her?”

 
“I’ve told you. When you marry a girl, you marry her family.”

  “And she’d be marrying into mine. Which is precisely why we need to talk.”

  His mom took in a sharp breath. “How dare you.”

  “I love her. She—”

  “Has a child.”

  “She and her daughter, Ava, bring me joy. I lost Paige once. I won’t lose her again. I won’t let you drive her from me.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying I plan to spend the rest of my life with that woman. Every Christmas, Thanksgiving, Sunday dinners, vacations... To build a life with her.”

  Her eyes grew moist, and she dropped her gaze.

  He placed his hand over hers. “I’d love for you and Dad to be a part of that. For you to get to know her—to see the amazing, creative, fun, contemplative, brilliant woman I’ve fallen in love with. To get to know that sweet child of hers. But I can’t force you. Neither can I let you rob me of the best gift God’s given me.”

  “What are you saying? It’s her or me?”

  “It doesn’t have to be that way.” He pushed his chair back and stood. “I love you both. But I refuse to lose her, Mom.”

  * * *

  Paige absentmindedly watched Ava stack storage bowls, one inside the other. At this moment, Jed was talking to his mother, and Paige had little hope that conversation was going well. Love wasn’t supposed to be this hard. She’d never wanted to come between Jed and his mom.

  What if Mrs. Gilbertson didn’t budge? What if she became enraged and stormed out, or gave Jed an ultimatum?

  Would he still choose Paige?

  Would she want him to, if it cost him his relationship with his mom?

  “You all right?” Sitting at the table, Mom peered at Paige over her glasses.

  “Just antsy.”

  “Hmm... Me, too. Want to go to Wilma’s for a slice of apple pie?”

  “Not really.” Mira had offered the same thing—followed by buckets of ice cream and sappy chick flicks that would only make Paige cry.

  “Well—” Mom stood “—I for one don’t want to spend my Saturday doing paperwork.” She pulled off her reading glasses and set them on top of a stack of manila files on her desk. “What do you say we get some ice cream?”

  “Ice cweam?” Ava looked at her grandma with big, hopeful eyes. Always such a sunshine.

  “What is this, sugar day?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Mira suggested I drown my sorrows in carbs, too.”

  “What sorrows?”

  “Oh, you know, the adulting kind, but they’ll pass.”

  “With a sufficient dose of chocolate, I’m sure.”

  “And a cinnamon-roll latte.” Paige gave her daughter a squeeze.

  Mom stood and deposited her coffee mug in the sink. “You got any writing you need to finish first?”

  “Not really.” She’d finished the mystery script, and Jed had said he liked it, it was hilarious, and it would keep his patrons on their toes.

  “All right, then. Are we leaving anytime soon?” Mom grabbed her purse off the floor by her chair. “Or are you just going to sit there moping?”

  “Sorry.” Paige gathered her things and Ava, and then she followed Mom outside into the hot, sticky air.

  An engine hummed, drawing closer and then lingering. She straightened and glanced toward the sound. Her heart stuttered. It was Jed and his grandmother.

  Mrs. Tappen grinned at her and stepped from the vehicle. “Paige, Marilyn, you’ve got to see the costumes the gals at Trinity Faith made for the theater reopening.” She waved them over, and before Paige could protest, Mom hurried her way. Soon the two were engaged in conversation.

  Paige followed. She shot a glance in Jed’s direction. His eyes held hers for a moment, as if pleading.

  She wished she had an answer for him, or a different answer than she felt she needed to give.

  Maybe it’d be best for them both if they ended things now, before things turned ugly between him and his mom.

  “Come in.” Mrs. Tappen looped an arm through Paige’s and urged her toward her house. “I think you’ll be pleased.”

  She glanced at Jed once again to find him watching her, but his face was too shadowed by his Stetson to make out what he might be thinking. Though she could assume.

  She’d never been more convinced of his love, nor had she ever been more uncertain of their future.

  She suppressed a sigh as a heaviness settled in her chest. The familiar sense of loneliness and abandonment crept in. She knew better than to let her heart get tangled in a romance with Jed Gilbertson. Hadn’t she learned her lesson the first time?

  When they reached Mrs. Tappen’s stoop, she began to rummage through her purse, still talking about the costumes.

  “I hope you’ll like the colors we chose.” She pulled out keys dangling from a neon-green lanyard. “We went with cool colors for the women’s dresses—used some images I found online as reference points.” She unlocked her door, opened it and then cast a glance over her shoulder. “Can you grab the boxes from the back of your truck, Jed? Including the fabric for the lobby and gift-store display window? I want to show them to Paige and Marilyn. Maybe you ladies could give me some ideas.” She opened her arms to take Ava, and Paige handed her over. “I could use help in the creative department.”

  The scent of fresh bread and a hint of cinnamon wafted toward Paige as she entered, reminding her of the countless afternoons she’d spent at Mrs. Tappen’s breakfast bar, eating freshly baked goodies and talking about movies and books. Occasionally their conversations turned more serious, when Paige wanted advice, which usually involved her dad. Inevitably, Jed would show up, and he and Paige would walk to the bookstore for giant cookies.

  In the kitchen, Paige sat beside Mom at the breakfast counter while Mrs. Tappen pulled plates from the cupboard. “You ladies up for something sweet?” She grabbed a spatula from a ceramic utensil holder and pulled a tray of cinnamon rolls, freshly baked—if the smell was any indication—toward her.

  “You know I can never turn down anything you make,” Mom said.

  Mrs. Tappen placed a tub of butter on the counter. “What about you, sugar?”

  “I...” Paige’s gaze zipped to Jed, who entered carrying two cardboard boxes stacked on top of one another. When their eyes met, he hesitated, and her heart skittered.

  “Can we talk?” His eyes searched hers. “Later?”

  “Sure.”

  He placed his load on the counter between her and his grandmother.

  Mrs. Tappen looked from him to Paige with a furrowed brow and then proceeded to dish rolls onto plates, distributing them and forks to each of them. After serving herself, she rummaged through the first box Jed had brought in while he leaned against the arched entryway.

  “This used to be a curtain—can you believe it?” Mrs. Tappen pulled out wine-colored velvet that was bordered with golden tassels. “One of the ladies snagged it at a garage sale for five bucks. Got the fringe on clearance at the craft store.”

  “Nice.” Mom ran her hand across the fabric. “So, where will this go, then?”

  “I was figuring on the counter by the cash register, though Jed might have other ideas.”

  Paige sat with a heavy confused heart as Mrs. Tappen pulled one item after another out of her box. Each time her mother oohed and ahed and asked questions regarding placement. Paige feigned interest, shooting frequent glances to Jed.

  She was anxious yet nervous to hear what he’d have to say. She didn’t feel right about him confronting his mom, considering she still wasn’t certain she planned to stay in Sage Creek.

  Would her decision come more easily if she knew the tension between her and Jed’s mom might abate? If she thought they might even get along eventually?

 
; “We better get those back to the theater, don’t you think?” Jed asked.

  Mrs. Tappen glanced at the microwave clock behind her. “Oh, my. Yes, I suppose we should.”

  Ten minutes later, with items folded and returned to their box, Paige and Mom followed Jed and Mrs. Tappen out. He loaded the costumes in his truck while the ladies chatted. Feeling like a swatch of polyester in a sequined gown, Paige walked to her mother’s car to wait and leaned against the back bumper.

  Hadn’t she known this would happen? That falling in love with Jed again would only lead to pain?

  Jed approached a moment later.

  A breeze stirred a lock of hair against her cheek. She tucked it behind her ear. “How’d your talk go?”

  He blew out a puff of air and rubbed the back of his neck. “About how I’d expected.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Give her time.”

  In other words, nothing had changed.

  “Trust me on this, Paige. I won’t let her get between us.”

  If only it was really that easy.

  Apparently done with her conversation with Mrs. Tappen, Mom ambled over, holding Ava in her arms. She glanced at Jed. “We’re about to get ice cream. Care to join us?”

  He looked to Paige, as if seeking her invite. When she didn’t respond, he said, “I should probably head back to the theater. My crew will be showing up for rehearsals soon.” He grabbed Paige’s hand. “But I’d like to see you. Tomorrow?”

  She wanted to say yes, to spend every moment possible with him. But considering all that lay in flux, it’d be wiser to distance herself. “I need time to process some things.”

  Crease lines formed above his brow. He nodded, gave her hand a squeeze and then dropped it.

  Paige unlocked the car and climbed in. Hot air clogged her lungs, and the vinyl seat cushions burned the back of her legs.

  After placing Ava in her car seat, Mom slid behind the steering wheel and took the keys. She cranked the engine, sending a gust of sun-heated air through the vents.

  She watched Jed and Mrs. Tappen climb into his truck, and then she looked at Paige. “What was that about?”