The Boss's Bride (The Heart of Main Street)

by Minton, Brenda

  “I thought Patrick would be here. In case we have questions.”

  Allison True had shown up, hoping to put together bookcases for her store. She laughed at the question. “Why, Phyllis, do you doubt Gracie can answer your questions?”

  “No, of course not. I mean, I know Gracie can handle anything.”

  Gracie cleared her throat. “Thank you for the vote of confidence.”

  Marilyn Parks leaned close. “Tell us the real reason you left Trent Morgan at the altar. Was it because of Patrick Fogerty?”

  “Of course it wasn’t.”

  Allison flipped brown hair over her shoulder and her blue eyes flashed as she focused on Marilyn. “That question was very unnecessary. Now, let’s start thinking about these bookcases we’re building. I don’t have all day.”

  “Exactly, we’re all busy and this is a lengthy project.” Gracie grabbed the bookcase kit and sandpaper. “We’ll start by sanding and then we can either stain or paint the wood, depending on what you want.”

  “When do we put the bookcase together?” Phyllis of the many questions asked. “And you have to admit your boss is cute.”

  “Yes, he is,” Gracie answered offhandedly and kept working.

  “So you are interested?” Marilyn asked.

  “Seriously?” Allison sighed, a very long, drawn-out sigh. “Can’t two people be friends without everyone going crazy in this town? Let’s focus.”

  Focus. Gracie needed to focus. But her thoughts were traitorous and really did stray too often to her boss and to a kiss that had changed everything between them. Or at least it had for her. He didn’t seem to be affected at all.

  Maybe she should be thinking about Allison and what she’d just said, about two people being friends. Of course they could just be friends. She shot Allison a grateful smile and went on with the class. Each woman had questions about sanding and then about staining, the type of stain, the best type of paint. It didn’t take long for the hour to pass once they really got started and focused on their project.

  After everyone left and as she was cleaning up, she noticed that Allison had remained behind. “Hey, I didn’t see you over there.”

  Allison stood next to the fall plants, staring at the window and at nothing really, it seemed. Gracie walked up behind her, placing a hand on Allison’s shoulder. She was taller than Gracie by quite a bit. She turned and smiled.

  “Are you okay?”

  Allison nodded. “It hasn’t been easy coming home.”

  “No?”

  Allison shook her head. “I’ve wanted to come home for years, but it never seemed like the right time. And now…” She shrugged. “I’m still not sure if I’m doing the right thing by being here.”

  “Is there anything I can do?”

  Allison’s gaze slid back to the window. Her blue eyes were shadowed and somber. “No, not really. Sometimes life is about accepting what happens, even if it hurts. Even if it doesn’t make sense.”

  “True.”

  “I guess you know that better than anyone.” Allison sighed. “I should go. I’m sorry for dumping this on you.”

  “You’re talking to a friend, Allison. We all need people we can talk to.”

  “Yes, we do. I’m glad you’re here, Gracie. I’m glad we’re friends.”

  “And you’ll remember that I’m here if you need to talk?”

  Allison’s smile returned. “It was just a moment and it’s over now. But I know you’re here.”

  Allison left and Gracie stood at the door watching her walk down the sidewalk. She wondered if someone had broken Allison’s heart. Maybe it had happened recently, causing her to move home, to a safe place. Or maybe it had happened years ago, causing her to leave home. Gracie didn’t know, and she wasn’t going to go snooping into her friend’s life. If Allison wanted her to know, she’d tell her.

  Patrick came back thirty minutes later. As much as she wanted to know who he had met, she didn’t ask. She didn’t want to know if it had gone well and if he’d liked the latest blind date. Instead she took the cup of coffee and pastry he offered and she asked if he had talked to the police chief about the dunking tank they were going to have at the block party and again for the fall festival.

  The school would also have several booths for the block party, including face painting. The school board had done some research on small private schools and how they raised funds for budget shortfalls, and some of the stay-at-home moms were going to sell different items through home parties, as well.

  “What about the sales logs?” Patrick followed her back to the counter.

  Gracie sat down and picked up the books she’d gone through earlier in the day.

  “It seems to me that different sales and promotions bring in customers. But the women who attend the workshops also buy specific items, usually having to do with what they’re making.”

  “Okay, that’s good. What if we do a different sales promotion each week and advertise the workshops along with the promotion?”

  “Good. I think that would work.” She flipped through the pages again. “What if it doesn’t?”

  “I’m not sure. I don’t have a business in Michigan to go home to. Maybe I could find a job somewhere managing a store.”

  “And leave?”

  “It isn’t my plan.”

  “I know it isn’t.”

  The door chimed. Gracie glanced at her watch. She should have turned the sign to Closed. When she looked up, it was her dad. Her heart dropped as he walked up to the counter, looking unsure.

  “Dad?”

  “I thought maybe you’d have a few minutes to talk.”

  Gracie glanced at her watch and at Patrick, who nodded. “Sure, Dad, is everything okay?”

  “Everything is fine. I just wanted to talk if we could.”

  “Patrick, I can close up.”

  Patrick looked at his watch. “I’ll run upstairs and take our dog for a walk.”

  Their dog. She smiled at the joke. The stray had become the store dog, and lately, Patrick had decided Rufus could make his home in the loft apartment above the store. Patrick’s apartment.

  Patrick left and Gracie sat down, patting the stool next to hers for her dad. Her heart thumped hard as she waited, worrying about what he’d tell her. She’d had bad news before. Moments like this always sent her spiraling into the past when nine-year-old Gracie had sat in a doctor’s office while the doctor explained to her parents that they couldn’t help her mother. It was too late.

  “Gracie, are you listening to me?”

  She nodded and then she shook her head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t listen. Daddy, are you okay?”

  She shouldn’t have moved out. She should have stayed home to take care of him, of her brothers. Her dad patted her leg and smiled.

  “Gracie, calm down. I can hear your heart from here. I’m fine. Your brothers are fine.”

  “Okay, then what’s wrong?”

  “Can’t a dad check on his daughter after she moves out? You know we miss you. As a matter of fact, when this block party is over, I’d like for you to spend a Sunday with us. Maybe cook dinner?”

  She smiled at that. “You wanted to talk so you could tell me you’re starving without me at home?”

  “No, that isn’t why I came by.” He let out a long sigh and his smile disappeared. She knew that now he’d tell her the bad news.

  “Dad?”

  “I wanted to tell you I’m going to sell some of our land. Maybe fifty acres. That affects you. It’s yours, too.”

  “Dad, you do what you need to do to make things easier.”

  “Well, now, I know it will make things easier. But, Gracie, I’ve always thought we shouldn’t rush into decisions like this. Sometimes God is getting ready to work and we rush in and so
lve the problem for Him.”

  “And make things worse?”

  He smiled big and rubbed his chin. “And make them worse. I don’t know what I’d do without you, Gracie.”

  “Well, you’d have a son-in-law right now.”

  “Not the right one.”

  “Oh, is there a right one?”

  “For my girl? I’m not sure.” He patted her arm. “You’ll know him when you see him.”

  “I think I thought that once before and I was sadly mistaken.”

  “I think you wanted him to be the right one.”

  That didn’t help her.

  “Maybe so, Dad.”

  He stood and hugged her. “I’m going on back to the granary, but thanks, honey. I needed to talk this over with you. Your brothers listen but they’ll do whatever I think is best.”

  “You’ve never let us down, Dad.”

  He kissed her cheek. “I try not to.”

  Her dad left. Gracie leaned her head on the countertop and sighed. If only everything could be so easy. A hand touched her back. She looked up, smiling at Patrick.

  “I thought you left,” she whispered, brushing the hair back from her face.

  “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  “Oh.” She was always okay. He should know that. Everyone knew that. “Of course I’m okay.”

  But his dark gaze remained on her face, studying her. He didn’t think she was okay.

  “I’m really okay,” she repeated.

  “Do you always say that?”

  She smiled. “Yes.”

  Almost always. Usually she meant it. Today, though, her heart felt bruised. If things had been different… She didn’t want to go down that road, because things weren’t different.

  She also knew things would get better. As she walked out the back door of the store with her boss, she wondered how. Her dad was selling land that had been in her family for decades. The town she had grown up in was struggling to survive.

  Her boss. She looked up at him as he opened her truck door. Somehow he had become the person she needed in her life. She hadn’t expected that to happen.

  She wouldn’t make the same mistake twice, attaching herself to someone because she wanted it to be right. She had to stop thinking that sometimes, every now and then, he looked at her the way Tate Bronson looked at Lily, as if she meant everything to him.

  This was the time in her life when she was finding out who she was and what she really wanted. Breathing the same air as Patrick Fogerty made that almost impossible, because he made her want to believe in the kind of love that took a person by surprise.

  Chapter Thirteen

  By Thursday Gracie’s ankle felt as good as new. Almost. She walked around the outside of Miss Opal’s house, wondering where they would start. For such a lovely lady, Miss Opal’s house had gone downhill over the past while. Gracie knew that it had a lot to do with the death of her husband, Bobby.

  Patrick walked up behind her. “This one might take time.”

  “I know.” She looked the house over; from top to bottom it needed work. English ivy covered the siding, the flower gardens were overgrown and the front porch needed serious repairs. Fortunately the house had vinyl siding and didn’t need to be painted.

  “I’m going to order shingles for a few spots where it looks like her roof might leak.” Patrick continued to look the house over. “How’s the ankle?”

  “Why, did you want me to get on another ladder?” She took the rake from his hand. “It’s almost as good as new. I’ll rake the weeds and leaves out of the flower beds.”

  “I’m going to get the ladder and start ripping those vines off the side of the house. Josh is going to cut the vines and spray the roots with weed killer.”

  A truck pulled into the drive. Gracie smiled when her brother Jason got out and walked her way. He surveyed the house and shook his head.

  “Lost cause.”

  “Don’t be so negative.” She hugged him when he got to her and he lifted her off the ground a little. Jason always managed to be the brother who lifted her spirits. The two had stuck together over the years. But then Jason had moved to the old homestead, remodeling the two-bedroom home that had originally belonged to their great-grandparents.

  “Hey, Patrick.” Jason held out his hand to her boss. “Do you all need any help?”

  “We can always use help. What’s your pleasure? Pulling vines off the house, power washing, fixing that front porch? In a couple of weeks we’ll patch up that roof.”

  “I’m a pretty good hand with porches.” Jason lifted his tool belt, which showed he’d come prepared to work. “And Daniel should be here soon.”

  Daniel, closest to Gracie in age. She loved Daniel, but he spent more time studying and reading than had to be good for a person.

  “That would be great. Your older brothers offered to help with the roofing project. They’re both out of town, I think?”

  “Yeah, they took some cattle up north. Someone said beef are bringing a little more in the Dakotas. I don’t know if they could bring enough to cover the gas, but Caleb said if the buyers are going to give us rock bottom for cattle and sell them in the Dakotas for more, we’d just cut out the middleman.”

  “Makes sense if you can come out ahead on the deal.” Patrick laughed. “Okay, I know nothing about cattle.”

  Jason pounded him on the back. “You’ll learn. You can’t live in Bygones and not learn a thing or two about farming. Or women.”

  “Women?” Patrick shook his head, clearly puzzled.

  “I ran into The Everything for a burger and the ladies were discussing you.”

  “I think I should go.” Gracie walked away, because it suddenly hurt to hear that every single woman in town would like to date her boss.

  The kiss. Her big mistake. Not her first or biggest. She tried to shake off what felt like a big dose of jealousy. She should know better. Patrick had made it pretty clear that he had no interest in settling down. She’d been the one trying to force his hand, to get him settled.

  She put her jealousy to work raking leaves and dead weeds from an overgrown flower garden. Occasionally she had to yank vines from the mess of weeds. Someone walked up behind her as she yanked and pulled on a particularly difficult vine.

  “That’s a power cord.” The man behind her finally spoke.

  Gracie looked at the vine in her hand and cringed. “Oops.”

  She turned and smiled up at Police Chief Joe Sheridan. She shielded her face to block the sun and he moved to give her relief. It must be nice to be as tall as a mountain.

  “Better?” he asked.

  “Much, thank you.” She leaned on the rake and lifted her foot to give her ankle a break. “How are you doing, Chief?”

  “Good, Gracie. I thought I’d ask you the same. Seems you’ve had a run of bad luck lately. And last night someone decided to paint up the granary.”

  “They what?” She moved out of the house and suddenly her family didn’t think she needed to know what was going on.

  “Your dad didn’t tell you?”

  “No, he didn’t.”

  Joe grinned, his face in shadows with the sun behind him. “Don’t be too hard on him. I think his mind is a little preoccupied.”

  “Because he’s dating. I think the empty nest, even if it isn’t empty, is setting in and he realizes he has a lot of life to live.” She could handle her dad dating. He probably should have dated sooner.

  “I think so.”

  “But that isn’t the reason we’re talking.”

  Joe laughed a little. “Don’t worry, nothing official. Your brother Evan hasn’t pulled a caper in months. I wanted to make sure we’ve got our plan for Saturday’s block party. I’m going to have the dunking tank s
et up over by the park. I think there will be booths on Main Street. The school and police department are both looking for every opportunity to raise money to keep us going. The fire department, too. They’re volunteering to serve chili at the fire station Saturday evening.”

  “That sounds great, Joe.”

  “I hope this works, Gracie. I really don’t want to cut the hours of any more of my guys. Or let anyone else go. What I really want is to bring back the guys who have left town and taken jobs elsewhere.”

  “I know. It hurts us all, doesn’t it? They lose jobs, and then we deal with more crime, more vandalism. It’s a shame we can’t find someone to reopen Randall Manufacturing. A good business like that shouldn’t just shut down.”

  Joe glanced around. “I know, Gracie. I guess we’re all confused by that situation.”

  He stopped talking and glanced to his left. Gracie smiled as Josh Smith joined them. Joe was a great guy, but she sometimes thought he still had the idea that the new store owners were outsiders.

  “Hey, Gracie, have you seen Patrick?”

  Since when had she become Patrick Fogerty’s keeper? she wanted to ask. But then she realized she worked for him, so people assumed she knew his whereabouts.

  “Somewhere on a ladder pulling weeds off the house. Is there something I can do for you?”

  “Do your many skills include wiring problems?” He smiled at the police chief. “Joe, I hope you know we’re all behind the police force. I really hope we bring in enough revenue to at least help the city a little.”

  “I know you do, Josh.” Joe pushed his ball cap back. “It’s a struggle right now. I know you come to the city council meetings, so you know the budget issues. They’re talking about raising water bills, raising property taxes and even extending the city limits. Anything to bring in revenue. But the problem is, the people in town can’t give any more.”

  “I know.” Josh rubbed his cheek and sighed. “And we’ve got feelers out, looking for manufacturers needing a new location.”