by Judith Yates
Her innocent remark made Holly- flinch. Outside of Holly, Gracie was the closest thing to family Stephanie had here in Golden. Gracie adored Stephanie, and Holly was grateful for that. But her child’s lack of real family ties had been troubling Holly more each year. Jordan’s surprise appearance only shoved this concern to the forefront of her mind.
“Hey, what’s with the watermelon?” Nancy asked when Holly and Gracie came into the room. Susan was back at the table and all seemed quiet out on the porch.
Gracie pulled up a chair. “They just got some beautiful ones in at the general store. I couldn’t pass it up.”
“Watermelon is one of Steph’s favorites,” Holly informed her friends as she put the ice cream and the melon away.
“Anything for Steph, eh?” Susan tossed Gracie a playful wink.
“Never mind that. You should be glad I stopped by the store today, ladies,” Gracie admonished. “Wait until you hear what they’re all talking about there.”
“Are those old coots grinding out another rumor?” Nancy asked with wry grin. “Wasn’t the last one about the new librarian and the stash of X-rated videos she supposedly keeps locked up in the library safe?”
Holly couldn’t take Gracie’s remark so lightly. She knew her housekeeper didn’t have much use for town gossip. Holly had a sinking feeling that something was wrong. “What did you hear, Gracie?”
“Somebody has bought the apple packing plant.”
Nancy and Susan gasped. Holly blinked in astonishment. “Who?”
Gracie shrugged. “Some out-of-towner. That’s all anybody seems to know. But if you heard the fellows down at the store jawing about it, you’d think the devil himself was coming to Golden.”
“I wonder what the buyer plans to do with it,” Susan said.
“What does it matter?” Nancy slumped low in her chair. “Holly’s figures already prove we’re doomed. This just seals the coffin.”
Her friends’ distress upset Holly more than her own disappointment. Sure, the numbers were discouraging, but there remained a few more avenues to explore. She hadn’t been prepared to give up earlier and she wasn’t going to now. At least, not until she had some answers.
“This situation may not be as hopeless as it seems,” she declared with as much conviction as she could muster. “Who knows? The guys at the store may have gotten the story all wrong.”
During the next few days, Holly tried to find out everything she could about the sale of the apple packing plant. In the end, however, she found out absolutely nothing. Not even Gabe Sawyer could help. The entire board of selectmen was clueless about the identity of the seller. They knew a commercial agent from Boston had brokered the deal, but that was all. Although Gabe promised to try to find out more before the dinner at the Green Hill Inn, he didn’t sound optimistic.
On Friday afternoon, Holly closed up shop an hour early. She wanted the extra time for a relaxing bath before gussying herself up for her rare night out. Holly stopped at the general store for panty hose and snapped up a pair of extra sheer. On her way to pay at the front counter, she noticed the four older men gathered around the coffee machine—the General Store Four, as they were affectionately known around town. Eager to get home, Holly smiled and waved, but kept walking.
“Hello, Miss Holly,” silver-haired Clyde Barker called out. “How’s business?”
“Just fine, Clyde. Thanks.”
Percy Daws, leaning on his cane, motioned her to come over. “Give us old fools a moment, will you, Holly?”
With a silent sigh, Holly gave up her place in the checkout line. “What can I do for you, gentlemen?”
“You know the old apple plant’s been sold, don’t you?” Earle Stacy asked, his voice deep and dry, his New England accent thicker than anyone else’s in town.
Howie McGovern shook his gleaming bald head and muttered at his friend. “Of course she knows. She wanted to buy it herself. Remember?”
“Yeah, yeah. It was just a way to get the conversation going,” Earle barked.
Percy shot a disparaging look at his cohorts. “Have you any idea who bought it, Holly?”
“I’m afraid I don’t. It’s quite the mystery.”
Emitting a pronounced harrumph, Clyde rubbed his grizzled chin. “All this secrecy. I don’t like it.”
“It spells trouble, believe you me,” Earle said.
“I hear they’re gonna tear down the building and put up a shopping center or maybe even a mall,” Howie advised, his tone sharp with resentment.
Percy grunted in disgust. “We don’t need any shopping mall in this town. Could you imagine the traffic? The noise?”
“This whole thing gets me steamed,” Earle groused.
“Outsiders just can’t waltz in and force things down our throats,” declared Percy, tapping his cane on the floor for emphasis. “We’ll put a stop to that malarky, at the town meeting.”
As the old men griped among themselves, Holly slipped away to pay for the panty hose.
The General Store Four were still going at it when she left the store. It wouldn’t be long before the rest of the town joined their chorus of resentment. Holly felt kind of sorry for the purchaser of the packing plant. Whoever it was probably hadn’t bargained on anything like the good people of Golden, Massachusetts.
Jordan pulled into Holly’s driveway and parked behind her car. Although an amazing number of stars glittered in the night sky, it was very dark out. He sat in his car, staring at the small house, wondering how Holly would react when she found him at her door.
Damn! Jordan gripped the locked steering wheel. He didn’t know why he was even concerned about it. It was just Holly, after all. But reminding himself hadn’t slowed his quickening excitement when he had crossed the Golden town line. Nor was it doing a heck of a lot to ease the tightness in his chest.
“Oh, what the hell.” Jordan climbed out of the car.
The single porch light illuminated his way to the house, while a clamoring chorus of crickets drowned out the sound of his boot heels on the front steps. He rang the doorbell and within seconds he heard Holly unlatching the locks.
“Hi, Hol—” The name died on his lips when Gracie’s white hair poked out from behind the door.
“You’re back?” With a wary sigh, the housekeeper unhooked the chain lock and opened the door wider. She made no move to open the screen door.
Somehow her less than cordial greeting didn’t surprise him. “Hello, Gracie,” he greeted from his side of the screen. “I didn’t see your car in the driveway.”
“It’s in the shop.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” She just stood there peering at him through the screen. “Ah, could you tell Holly I’m here to see her.”
“Don’t you know how to use a phone?”
Jordan couldn’t suppress a chuckle. He hadn’t planned to pop over tonight. He’d thought he would call Holly in the morning. Yet when he had reached Golden after the long drive from Boston, he felt like a kid about to burst from excitement. All of a sudden his news couldn’t wait. He had headed straight for this house.
“You’ve got a point, Gracie. I should’ve learned my lesson after the last time, but—”
“Holly’s not here this time, either. She went out to some fancy do with Dr. Gabe.”
“Oh.” Thrown off by the hard thud of his heart, Jordan looked away from the woman. “She’ll be late, then.”
“I expect so.”
“And Stephanie?” he asked impulsively, facing Gracie again. “Has she gone to bed yet?”
“Goodness, yes. It is after nine o’clock,” she replied with an indignant roll of her eyes. “Do you want me to tell Holly you dropped by?”
Keeping a rein on his disappointment, Jordan shook his head. “No point in bothering her about it tonight. I’ll call in the morning.”
He could feel Gracie’s eyes on his back as he returned to his car. The woman had no use for him that much was clear. But her unsurprising iciness didn’t expl
ain the deadweight of dejection lingering in his gut.
An unshakable image of Holly and Stephanie all alone in their isolated cottage in this nothing little town had propelled him into action. That Holly might actually possess a social life didn’t mesh with the picture fixed in his mind. And in the rush to get his brainstorm off the ground, he’d forgotten about Dr. Gabe.
As he headed for the motel he’d spotted out on Route 16, Jordan reminded himself that Holly’s personal life had no bearing on what he’d come back to Golden to do. His time here was limited. He needed to get on with the rest of his life—as his father had pointed out after CompWare was signed, sealed and delivered to its new owners. Jordan regarded this upcoming project as the first step toward moving on. It would help Holly, and it would help him.
After he’d spent a restless night in a thin-walled room, the rumbling of heavy trucks on the nearby state highway woke Jordan unmercifully early. He drank two cups of coffee at the motel café, but had no stomach for their big, greasy-spoon breakfast. He’d pick up something at the bakery on the common or at the general store. By then it would be late enough to telephone Holly.
Jordan was surprised by the temporary No Parking signs posted around the town center. Last night, he hadn’t noticed these signs as he cruised through in the dark, nor had he seen the red, white and blue buntings draped across every storefront on the common. While he parked behind the white steepled church located at the foot of the expansive green, the lights in Holly’s shop caught his eye. Could she really be out and about already? Especially after her big night with Dr. Gabe?
The lights drew him across the common like a magnet. A flash of excitement pumped in his veins as he neared the door and peered inside the window. Holly stood at the front counter, busy tying colorful fat bows on a row of big wicker baskets. She didn’t notice him until the wind chimes trilled as he opened the door. Her eyes widened with surprise.
He smiled. “I know Saturday’s your busiest day. But isn’t seven-thirty a bit too early even for you?”
“Jordan—what on earth?”
Her genuine astonishment proved Gracie had taken him at his word, Jordan thought dryly. She hadn’t told Holly about his visit to the house last night. But something felt off here. Holly’s surprise seemed more apprehensive than amazed.
“You don’t look so happy to see me, Holly.” He closed the door behind him. The inside of the shop smelled fresh and sweet, like the rows of blossoming apple trees that lined the road into town.
“No. It’s not—it’s just—it’s just so—unexpected,” she stammered. “Why are you here?”
“To see you, of course.” This wasn’t the reception he’d anticipated. Glancing at what she’d been working on, he realized the problem could be his timing. “I’ve interrupted you.”
She looked down at the baskets. “I’m donating these to the preschool’s silent auction at the chicken barbecue. I need to get them done before the parade this morning.”
“Ah, that explains the buntings and the No Parking signs. I’d forgotten Monday was the holiday.”
“Golden always holds the parade on Saturdays. Then the local Rotary Club sponsors a barbecue out at the high school.” Moving from behind the counter, Holly stooped down for a box marked “Kiwi Shampoo.”
“Here, let me take that.” Jordan strode across the room and lifted the box from her arms.
Closer to her now, Jordan was struck by how much Holly resembled this late-spring morning. Her hair was twisted back into a thick golden braid that grazed the back of her slender neck. The pale-green dress she wore, light and graceful, flowed almost down to her ankles. Beneath its short sleeves, her arms were gently muscled, yet delicate. Her skin was taut and looked as smooth as creamy fresh honey. Imagining just how soft she would be to touch, he felt a stirring ache low in his body.
Swallowing a quick, sharp breath, Jordan pulled back. He put the box on the table behind the counter as Holly directed. “I can help you with the baskets,” he suggested, despite the sudden rawness in his throat.
Holly took him up on the offer. “Place one of every product in each basket,” she instructed, pointing to the array of colorful tubes and jars on the counter. “And try to make the basket look nice.”
Even with Holly’s guidance, it took him a while to get the hang of her artful arrangement. As they progressed through the baskets, she described the purpose for each lotion, powder and gel. Being a straightforward bar-soap kind of guy, he found the variety of bath products mind-boggling.
“So Jordan, why did you come back?” Holly asked as she checked each basket, tactfully tidying up his handiwork without comment.
The slight tremble in her voice was perplexing. If he made her that nervous, he’d like to know why. But Jordan suspected it had to do with Scott, and that irked him. He resented the idea of forever being linked in her eyes and in her mind with the man who had left her devastated. No way was he going to bring up the subject of his brother. Not now.
Besides, his news was too good to spoil with talk of the past. Holly was going to be thrilled. Jordan reached inside his sport coat pocket for the folded wad of documents. “This is why I came.”
She took the papers and skimmed them. “This is a sales contract for the apple plant,” she said, bewildered.
“I know. I bought it.”
“You! You’re the one?”
“Yes. I’m going to remake it into a first class facility.”
She stared at him in disbelief. He looked back at her, completely baffled. She sank back against the counter with a sigh.
“Holly, what’s wrong?”
“Oh, Jordan,” she groaned, shaking her head. “You don’t know what you’ve done.”
Chapter Five
Jordan was floored by Holly’s reaction,
“What’s the problem? The building was up for grabs, so I bought it.”
“But why?”
“I thought about it a lot after I left here, and I realized you were right. The building has great potential as a small retail center,” he explained. “And I have the money to make that happen.”
Holly’s eyes darkened with disapproval.
“Waltzing into town and throwing your money around smacks of arrogance.” She tossed the sales contract at him. “Do you have any idea of the uproar you’ve created around here?”
“Uproar? What kind of uproar?” Jordan couldn’t believe it. “All I did was buy the building so you could relocate your shop.”
Her eyes widened with shock. “You bought it for me?”
He nodded. “You made it clear the building was your best hope. But I knew you’d never be able to afford it on your own—not with all the renovations it needs.”
“You should’ve consulted with me before deciding that.”
“Maybe I should have. Except I didn’t think it would be an issue. You wanted the building and I had the money to invest. It was the answer to the problem.”
Holly’s nostrils flared with indignation as she moved back behind the counter. “That was your answer, Jordan. But the problem was mine.” She began fussing with the bows on the baskets. “Hard as it may be for you to believe, I’ve been managing on my own just fine. I don’t need anyone—especially you—buying my way out of problems.”
He knew she took great pride in her independence. Yet he had to wonder if something else was behind her strong reaction. As he gazed at her from across the counter, his eyes were drawn to the wispy blond tendrils caressing her flushed cheeks. Her delicate beauty undermined Holly’s claims of strength, and it tripped the switch on a protectiveness he’d rarely felt.
Jordan leaned in closer and apologized. “I can see I presumed too much. It never occurred to me that you’d feel this way.”
She met his eyes, and slowly, the tension eased from her face. “Oh, Jordan,” she said with a sigh. “What am I going to do with you?”
A dozen tantalizing things suddenly sprang to mind, catching him off guard. He’d never thought of
Holly in that way before. It would take some getting used to.
Aware that she was watching him, Jordan brushed these surprising and lustful notions aside. They had nothing to do with why he’d come back to Golden. Clearing the tightness in his throat with a cough, Jordan wished he could clear the confusion in his head as easily.
“We should sit down and talk about it.”
Holly nodded. “But when? There’s so much going on today with the parade and the barbecue. I don’t see how we’re going to find time.”
“It can wait until tomorrow.”
“You’ll still be here?”
He couldn’t help laughing. “Since I’m now the proud owner of the building in question, I thought I’d stick around—for a little while anyway,” he said. “Why don’t we meet at the building tomorrow? Say about ten o’clock?”
“Eleven would be better. We have church tomorrow.”
“Oh. Sure,” he replied, feeling embarrassed. He had forgotten tomorrow was Sunday, and that for a lot of people, the day meant more than sleeping in or reading the funny papers over leisurely cups of coffee.
At that moment, a frazzled woman with long, salt-and-pepper hair bustled into the shop. “I’m running late as usual. Are the baskets ready?”
Before Holly could answer, the woman looked at Jordan. “Who are you?” She eyed him from head to toe.
Holly jumped in, introducing him to Karin, the preschool director. “Jordan’s a childhood friend,” she took pains to add.
The characterization made Jordan wince.
Karin glanced around the shop. “Where’s my little pumpkin, Stephanie?”
“Over at Gracie’s apartment, playing with the cats. She and Gracie should be popping over here any minute.”
“Tell your daughter that the face-painting lady will be at our booth at the barbecue after all. Steph must have asked me about it fifty times this week.” Karin looked Jordan’s way again. “Hey, big fella, can you help Miss Karin carry these baskets to her car?”
Wondering if “Miss Karin” talked to all adults as if they were preschoolers, Jordan caught Holly’s eye. She confirmed his suspicion with a wink and a smile. The preschool director continued chattering as he loaded the baskets into her big station wagon. After she drove off, Jordan heard a high-pitched squeal of delight coming from across the road. He turned to find Stephanie running toward him.