The Shop on Main(31)

“I don’t know, but I have a few choice words for the man.” Becky Lee pushed up from the table. “Give me a few minutes, I’ll get things wrapped up and be ready to go.”

Jenny sipped on her coffee and looked out the window at Main Street. She could see two other storefronts where new stores were going in. Izzy would have a hard time finding a new location on Main Street, much less one with the rent as reasonable as what she paid now. Then, there was the whole living situation.

Izzy had worked so hard to make her shop a success and be able to financially take care of her boys. Rick had been vocal about how Izzy would never make a go of the shop. Izzy had proven him wrong.

Oh, Rick was going to have some choice words to say to Izzy when he heard about this. The man was always putting in his two cents… well, really his couple of dollars, on and on… where it wasn’t wanted or needed. What a self-centered jerk. She never had figured out what Izzy had seen in Rick.

Jenny felt helpless, and didn’t like that feeling one bit. It didn’t seem fair that some outsider could swoop into town and take it all away from her friend. Owen Campbell was a devious man, keeping all this a secret from Izzy.

~ * ~

Bella looked up to see her friends come walking in the door to her shop. She waved to them and gave them a just-a-minute sign while she finished checking out her customer. The customer had bought a big armoire that had been refinished with off-white chalk paint and delicate flowers painted on its door. It was a good sale for her, especially if she had to pay to move her store somewhere else. It wouldn’t hurt to have the heavy pieces of furniture already sold.

Jenny and Izzy walked up the counter as her customer left.

“Hey. What’s up?”

“We have news,” Jenny said.

“What kind of news?”

“The kind you don’t want to hear.” Becky Lee chimed in.

Bella pulse quickened. She didn’t need bad news. “Okay, just tell me.”

“Your building has been sold.” Jenny looked at her. “I found out who bought it.”

“Who? Maybe I can talk him into letting me stay and not raising the rent too much.”

“That’s a no go, Izz. Hasn’t Mr. Potter called you today?” Becky Lee reached out and touched Bella’s hand.

“He left a message that he was stopping by this afternoon. Why? I’m losing the lease, right?” Bella sighed. All dreams of having an easy solution to her shop and her living quarters rushed out the door into the warm spring day. The sun shone outside, mocking her with the optimism she had secretly held that things would work out.

“Afraid so. And there’s more,” Jenny said.

“What could be worse than that? I don’t get the weeks left until the end of the month to find a new place and move out?”

Becky Lee cleared her throat and glanced over at Jenny. “It’s who bought the building… it’s Owen. I heard he already has a new renter.”

Bella blinked her eyes. Her heart pounded in her chest. Owen? Her Owen? And why the heck had she thought of him as her Owen? “What? Owen bought the building? Why would he buy it?” She realized she’d never really asked him what his business was in town. Her error. He probably had known she owned the shop the whole time and was just… what… toying with her? A small town fling to pass the time while he was here?

She pasted a smile on her face, knowing it was probably not fooling her friends. “I sure know how to pick ‘em, don’t I? First date since Rick and I divorced, and I go out with the guy who hides the fact he bought out the building my store and home are in and he's renting it to someone else. What do you think that's all about?” She sank down on the stool behind the counter, her mind reeling with random thoughts. She needed to find a place to live, immediately. If she couldn’t find a new place for the store by the end of the month, maybe she could move the store’s merchandise to the back room at her brother’s Feed and Seed until she could find a new location.

“I’m not sure why Owen didn’t tell you.” Jenny moved behind the counter and put her arm around Bella. “Let us help you, please. You could move in with Nathan and me for a bit. Give you more time. We’ll help you look for new space for your store.”

Bella couldn’t help the sinking feeling of failure. She had worked so hard to get herself set up and on her own two feet. She couldn’t bear to be back borrowing money, living with someone else, uprooting the boys. She could hear Rick’s voice, playing over and over in her head. I told you so.

“Jenny, really, I appreciate the offer, but I can’t descend on you with the boys. But I will take any help or leads you guys have about finding another storefront. Even two months ago, there were openings on Main Street. I don’t think there are any right now.”