by Nicole Ellis
She walked with Maggie back to her car. Her six-year-old son Alex had fallen asleep in his booster seat, his head resting against the window.
Maggie sighed. “That kid can fall asleep anywhere. I hope I can get him awake enough to move him into the apartment. He’s getting too big to carry.”
“Good luck,” Charlotte said.
“I’ll need it.” Maggie stared at Alex and shook her head. “Good night.” She got into her car and drove away.
Charlotte continued walking back up the hill to the bookstore. By this time, she was wide awake, but still exhausted at the same time. She climbed back into bed and stared at the ceiling. Her fight with Luke seemed petty in light of what Saul must be going through. If Whimsical Delights caught on fire or she lost her paintings to some sort of disaster, she’d be devastated.
Was she wrong to be mad at Luke? The memory of him calling her Chatty Charlie whispered in her brain. At this point, she wasn’t ready to forgive him, but for the sake of their businesses and for Parker, she’d make an effort to be civil to him.
Luke shifted in his seat in the town hall as he waited for the meeting to begin. Candle Beach’s mayor, Chester Raines, had called a town meeting to address the fire at the Bike Barn. The room buzzed as everyone got settled into the collapsible metal chairs that had been crammed into the main hall, which hadn’t been built for such a large attendance.
“I’m sure all of you have heard about what happened to the Bike Barn,” Mayor Raines said as he looked out over the packed main room.
The crowd murmured.
“Do they know how long it’ll take to rebuild?” a man asked.
Mayor Raines shook his head. “I don’t think so. Probably not before summer ends.”
“I can’t believe this happened, so soon after the bookstore’s fire,” a woman sitting in the chair next to him said to her friend on the other side of her.
“Is there anything we can do to help?” a woman asked from the front of the room. She was hidden from his view by two taller men wearing ball caps, but he recognized Charlotte’s voice.
He straightened. He’d gotten off on the wrong foot with her and he wasn’t sure how to rectify the situation. Although she’d been annoying as his best friend’s kid sister, over the years she’d blossomed into a beautiful woman who seemed to be a kind and generous person.
She may consider him the enemy now, but he hoped to one day have a good working relationship with her. They’d need it if they expected both of their businesses to succeed on the small lot they shared. If only he hadn’t called her Chatty Charlie. The nickname had just popped out of him when he’d been surprised to see her, but he couldn’t change that now.
The mayor cleared his throat before responding. “That’s actually the reason I called this meeting. I’d like to see the town help Saul. Maybe someone has a rental space for him to operate out of while his store is being rebuilt? Then he won’t lose so much money this summer.”
“I have a small garage space I’m not using near the grocery store. He could use that,” an elderly man volunteered.
Mayor Raines beamed. “Excellent. That’s the kind of solution I’m looking for.”
“How about a fundraiser? He’s always helped out everyone in town, so I bet a lot of people would want to donate to the cause,” Charlotte said.
“I can volunteer the Sorensen Farm barn,” a woman said. “With my upcoming wedding, I can’t take on the project of organizing it, but you’re welcome to have some sort of fundraiser at the barn. Jake and I would love to help out Saul.”
Next to her, a man nodded. “We can provide all of the catering supplies and the venue, but we’ll need someone to bring the food and other things, depending on what type of event it is.”
“Thank you, Maggie and Jake. That’s generous of you,” Mayor Raines said. “Is there anyone who can take on the task of organizing an event?”
There were rumblings in the crowd, and chairs squeaked as everyone looked around to see if anyone would volunteer, but no one stepped up.
Ever since he’d arrived in Candle Beach, Luke had felt like an outsider. Maybe this was his chance to become part of the fabric of the town.
“I’ll help,” he said, standing.
At the same time Charlotte stood and said, “I can do it.”
She turned at the sound of his voice and their eyes met. He could feel her eyes shooting daggers at him from across the room.
“I said I can organize it,” she said stubbornly.
Mayor Raines laughed nervously. “Well, two volunteers. That’s great.” He turned to Luke. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I caught your name.”
“I’m Luke Tisdale. I just moved to town and I own the Beachside BBQ food truck.” He scanned the crowd as he spoke. People were nodding and murmuring to each other.
“Ah. Of course. I’ve seen your truck. I’m looking forward to trying your barbecue sometime this week. You know, this sounds like a big job. It will be great if the two of you can work together to make the fundraiser a success,” the mayor said. He turned his attention to the others. “Does anyone else have any suggestions?”
“Just don’t make the fundraiser a bake sale,” a woman with a tight bun said. “I hate bake sales and they never make much money.”
Mayor Raines smiled. “I think what Agnes is saying is that it needs to be something bigger so that we can really help Saul out. I’m sure Charlotte and Luke will figure something out, but if they need help, we’re all there for them.” He addressed the crowd. “Thank you all for coming. That’s what I love about this town—everyone comes together to help a fellow citizen in need.” A wide smile stretched across his face.
Everyone stood and started to file out of the room. Before Charlotte could exit, Luke caught her arm and pulled her aside. She froze when he touched her arm, but she turned to talk to him.
“Yes?”
“Look, I didn’t mean to step on your toes, but I’d like to help. I can provide barbecue for the event.” He smiled, hoping to disarm her.
She took a deep breath. “I don’t need your help, but it looks like we’re stuck together anyway. I don’t have time tonight, but I can meet tomorrow evening to discuss the fundraiser if you’d like.”
So, the ice princess was thawing a little. He’d wondered if she’d ever talk to him. It had taken a fire for her to finally do so. For the sake of his friendship with Parker, he’d like for them to be cordial to each other, but if she refused to talk to him, that wouldn’t happen.
“That would be great.” He flashed her a smile, determined to kill her with kindness. “How about seven o’clock? We can meet at the café or something.”
“Yeah, fine. That works.” She edged backward as though she couldn’t wait to get away from him. “I’ve got to get going, but I’ll see you tomorrow.” She rushed out of the room.
Behind him, some men were stacking the metal chairs against the wall, and he went over to help. The monotonous work of picking up one chair after another cleared his mind a little, allowing him to think. Why was he letting Charlotte get to him so much? He’d encountered people before that he didn’t get along with, but this was different. Something about her was different, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
Their first meeting regarding the Bike Barn fundraiser had been short and to the point. They’d settled on a date for the fundraiser for the middle of July and Luke had confirmed that he’d be providing barbecue for the event. Charlotte had said she’d take care of everything else. When he’d protested, she’d told him they could talk about it at their next meeting.
Now that the second meeting had arrived, Luke wasn’t sure what he wanted the outcome to be. She’d made it pretty clear that she wanted as little to do with him as possible. Did he want to force his help on her? He glanced out the big front window of the food truck over to her Airstream. She’d put off the second meeting several times, claiming to be too busy to meet. This was a big project for one person to take on by themselves, and he had a f
eeling that she was too stubborn to ask for help.
Yeah, he was going to make her accept his help. He went outside and shut the wooden flap over the front window and cleared the condiments from the metal bar on the outside of the trailer. Chances were Charlotte hadn’t had dinner yet, and since they were meeting at one of his picnic tables as soon as she closed her shop, he’d bring her something. Food always helped to mend things between people.
He fixed a heaping platter of barbecued brisket and smoked macaroni and cheese, then peeked out the back door. She’d picked up the items outside of her trailer as she did every night before closing and taken down the sandwich board she always set on the sidewalk to lure customers in. It was showtime.
He placed the food, paper plates and plastic forks down on a picnic table and knocked on the closed trailer door. She opened it a crack.
“Yes?”
“We’re supposed to meet tonight about the fundraiser, remember?” He felt surprisingly unsure of himself. Something about Charlotte threw him off guard.
A pained expression crossed her face and she opened the door wider. “Oh yeah.” She glanced at a calendar on the wall behind her. “Give me a minute and I’ll meet you outside.”
He nodded and sat down at the picnic table. Should he dish out some food? Or leave it for her to serve herself?
“What’s all this?” She came out of the trailer and pointed at the food.
“I thought you might like some dinner.” He gave her what he hoped was a disarming smile.
“Uh.” She eyed the food hungrily as she set her white binder down on the table. “Sure, I guess I could try some.”
He felt as if he’d scored a goal. “Here.” He scooped out some mac ’n’ cheese and plopped it on her plate, followed by the smoked barbecue brisket.
She picked up her fork and he held his breath, waiting for the verdict. He’d topped the brisket with some pickled red onions and a swirl of his signature sweet and spicy barbecue sauce.
The brisket went into her mouth and her eyes closed for a moment, as if she was savoring the taste. She swallowed, then set her fork down and pushed the plate to the side. “It’s spicy.”
“Oh.” He wasn’t sure he’d hidden his disappointment very well. “I could get you a new plate of brisket with the sweet sauce on it.”
“Don’t bother. I’m not that hungry.” She opened up her notebook and his eyes widened. Neat, multi-colored tabs bore labels for each main item of the fundraiser – the silent auction, food, marketing, tickets, and more. Maybe she was Super Woman and could handle this on her own.
“You’ve got the food and Maggie’s offered up the Sorensen Farm for the venue, so we’re set on that.” She tapped the end of her pen against her lips. “I’ll take care of advertising and decorations. I guess you could help with procuring items for the silent auction.”
He was still in awe of her organization and found it difficult to speak. “Uh, sure. I can do that.”
“There’s been some money donated from local businesses to get the fundraiser off the ground, but it’s not a lot, so we’ll have to keep that in mind.” She showed him the figures she’d written out for the budget. While he was reviewing it, he caught her gaze slide over to the brisket and he could have sworn she licked her lips, but he didn’t comment on it.
He nodded. “Looks good.”
“Great.” She gave him a tight-lipped smile and flipped the front cover of her binder closed. “We can meet again sometime next week to check in.” She stood from the table and went back into her trailer, shutting the door firmly behind her.
He sat at the table for a moment, then grabbed the uneaten food and dug in. The peace offering had been a miserable failure. He wasn’t expecting them to ever be best friends, but he’d hoped that this meeting would have made things a little warmer between the two of them. That idea had flopped as badly as the smoked brisket.
A week later, Charlotte was sitting on her living room couch working on the plans for the Bike Barn fundraiser when her phone rang. She eyed the phone, which was charging on the kitchen counter and then the lapful of binder inserts she was working on. I’d probably better get that. She eased the notebook pages off of her lap and onto the couch cushion, then made a mad dash for the kitchen, reaching the phone just in time before it went to voicemail.
“Hello?” She tried to calm her breathing.
“Hello. This is Raymond Donohue, calling from the Donohue Gallery. Is this Charlotte?”
“It is. Hi, Raymond.”
“I wanted to follow up with you on scheduling a show of your work next month. Are you still interested in the opportunity?”
Was she still interested? Ha! She was having trouble keeping herself from squealing for joy at the moment.
“Yes. I’d love to show my paintings at the gallery.”
“Fantastic. I have it scheduled for Thursday, July fifth. You can drop off your artwork either Monday or Tuesday of that week.”
“Thank you so much for this opportunity. I appreciate it.”
“Well, I’m sure our patrons will love your artwork just as much as I did,” he said warmly. “I have to get going now, but I’ll see you in a month, all right?”
“Yes. Thank you,” she said. “See you in a month.”
He hung up and she allowed herself to do a victory dance on the linoleum kitchen floors. “Woohoo!” She screamed out loud.
“Are you okay up there?” Dahlia shouted from the bottom of the stairs.
Charlotte laughed as she opened the door. “I’m fine. More than fine. The art gallery just called to schedule my solo show.”
Dahlia walked up the stairs to Charlotte’s apartment. “That’s great. When is it?”
“July fifth .” Charlotte couldn’t stop beaming.
Dahlia’s face fell. “Oh. Sad. Garrett and I will be gone on our trip to Europe.”
Charlotte hugged her. “Don’t worry about it. I would have loved for you to come to my showing, but you’re going to have so much fun seeing the art of the old masters in Italy. I’m jealous.”
Dahlia glanced at the easel Charlotte had set up in her living room. “July fifth isn’t too far away. Do you know yet which pieces you’ll have in the show?”
Charlotte followed her friend’s gaze and her good mood slumped slightly. A month wasn’t too far away and there was still so much she wanted to get done for the show.
“I’m not sure yet.” Charlotte bit her lip. “It’s going to be like picking which of my babies I love the best.”
Dahlia smiled. “I’m sure they’ll love anything you have.”
“I hope so.” Charlotte smiled. “I think this calls for a celebration.” She walked into the kitchen and selected a bottle of champagne from the refrigerator. “I’ve been saving this one for a special occasion and I think this qualifies. Want to share with me?”
“I wouldn’t miss out on this celebration.” Dahlia squeezed her with one arm. “I’m so excited for you.”
Charlotte glowed inside. This was her chance to show all of her friends and family that she could succeed in the art world. Her parents had been telling her for years that she’d never be a commercial success and she hoped to prove them wrong with this show. She grabbed two champagne glasses from the cupboard and set them on the table, then uncorked the bottle. When the fizziness had subsided, she poured it into the two glasses and they held them up in the air.
“To the best painter I know,” Dahlia clinked her glass against Charlotte’s and they sipped their drinks. Bubbles went up her nose, adding to the giddy sensations she was feeling. She had a lot of work in front of her to get ready for the show, but for now, she was going to celebrate.
7
It never failed to amaze Luke how barbecue sauce could get into every nook and cranny in the food truck. That didn’t matter though—every mess he cleaned up reminded him that he had customers and people liked his food. He swiped at a glob of light-brown sweet sauce that had hardened on the counter, releasing a fa
int scent of honey and spice into the air. Locals and tourists alike had gone nuts over the three sauces he’d carefully concocted for the food truck and the tender, fall-off-the-bone meats he smoked out back.
Although it hadn’t been the reason he’d volunteered to cater the fundraiser for the Bike Barn, it should bring him new business too. It never hurt to get the name of his business in front of potential customers. That is, if he and Charlotte could manage to work together and pull the fundraiser off without making both of them look like fools.
Luke had no doubt that Charlotte had everything under control with the fundraiser, but although they worked only ten feet from each other, she was hard to pin down for a time to meet. He’d had a few questions about the auction items and had resorted to sticking a note on her trailer door with his question on it. He’d found a response taped to his food truck’s door the next morning. Judging by her lack of availability, she probably had a boyfriend or something that she spent all of her time with, but she certainly hadn’t told him that.
A strong emotion shot through his chest when he thought about Charlotte, surprising him. Was he jealous of the boyfriend or upset because she didn’t have enough time to commit to the event?
He finished polishing the counter to a high shine that would make a food inspector sing with delight, then threw the rag into a bucket near the door to take home to wash. He’d found a small studio apartment nearby to rent for the time being. It was only a tenth of the size of the condo he’d owned in the Bay Area, but somehow, it suited him.
Everything looked good inside, so he grabbed the bucket and locked up, pausing on the steps to survey the lot with a critical eye. The six stools for the long eating bar he’d set up against the back of the lot were tucked under it and the wooden picnic tables and round table with chairs had been hosed off for the day. All was good out here too.
He’d done a particularly thorough clean that day and the sun was already starting to set. He stretched, then sat down at a picnic table with his back against the tabletop to relax and watch nature’s majestic show, something he’d always enjoyed growing up.
