“I have, and he can tell you himself what he thinks.”
Sam shifted from one foot to the other, his cheeks a little pink, Meg noticed.
“Suzanne, I’m feeling pretty bad that I’ve gotten everyone I know into a bad situation. Everyone’s going to end up pretending if we do this.”
“Do what, Sam?” Meg said, confused.
Suzanne smiled at her husband and turned to Meg. “We had talked casually before you came along about the possibility of Sam telling his mother that the mercantile was his business. That way, he’d be married and have a business.”
“Oh, goodness.” Meg looked at Sam as he shuffled his feet, staring at his shoes. They’d beaten Meg and Sam, coming to the same conclusion that it might work for everyone. They hadn’t even had the opportunity to suggest it first.
“And now that you’ve come along, Meg, with your experience here at the mercantile, we are very comfortable with the idea. We trust you implicitly, and the inventory and ordering of supplies has been done for the month. It’s a good time.” James shoved his hands in his pockets, obviously pleased with his proposal as he rocked from heel to toe.
“I’m quite flattered,” Meg said. “Sam, what do you think?”
Suzanne came around the counter and put her arm through Sam’s. “I’ve heard you say a few times that you feel bad, but please don’t. We’ve offered, no strings attached. It actually sounds fun, really. Something different, anyway, and think of the celebration when we all pull it off.”
“Meg, you think we can do this?” Sam smiled gratefully at Suzanne.
“Of course, I do. In for a penny, in for a pound…and it looks like we’re all in for a pound,” Meg said and her eyes twinkled when everyone laughed.
She meant every word of it. If she was going to make this work out and please Sam and his mother, she was going to do whatever it took to make it happen. And the mercantile was the best of their available options…actually, as far as she knew, it was their only option.
“Good, then. It’s settled.” Suzanne walked Sam over to the small office behind the mercantile’s main room. “It won’t take long for me to show you two how to keep records, and that’s all you’ll need to do.”
“You…you aren’t staying with us?” Sam had turned an odd shade of pale.
“The store will be closed on Sunday, the first day she arrives,” Suzanne said, glancing at James. “And on Monday, we can be close by. We thought maybe Tuesday and Wednesday we’d take the girls up to Tucson for a last little vacation before school begins the following Monday. The back to school fair is this Saturday and we’ve decided to close up as so many will be at the fair. Can you believe it’s time for school to start again? Time has flown by.”
James leaned against the doorway to the small office, his tall frame filling it. “So that would leave you alone for only two days. I believe you said she’s only staying a week, Sam?”
“Yes, that’s right. That’s what she said. So if we can all just survive for a week, I suppose that won’t be too bad.”
“There, Sam, see? It’s all going to work out perfectly.” Sam turned to Meg, not appearing to be convinced at all that it would work out—perfectly or otherwise.
“Thank you, James and Suzanne. I am truly grateful and will find a way to repay your kindness sometime.”
“Think nothing of it.” James clapped Sam on the back as he led him out into the main room. “If you two have some time now, I can show you around the store and Suzanne can go over the books with Meg. It seems to be pretty quiet today.”
“That’s a fine idea, James.” Suzanne moved a chair over to the desk and motioned for Meg to sit down. “Just for a couple of hours.”
“Are you sure?” Meg whispered to Suzanne once the men were out of earshot.
“I am, truly. James and I always like to help, and as I said, I trust you. You could run the store on your own, if needed, you’ve been coming here for so long. What I don’t quite understand, and no one’s been willing to ask, is why it matters so much that he not disappoint his mother. He’s never struck me as someone who’d worry too much about that. He’s always been confident, his own man.”
Meg peered through the doorway at Sam, who was paying rapt attention to James’s explanation of the small boxes of hardware.
She turned back to Suzanne and patted her pockets, feeling the paper that might hold some answers to that question. Or at least an inkling.
“I don’t know yet, but trust me. If there’s a way to find out, I will.”