The Shop on Main(47)
“That’s a good idea. Let’s go back and look there.”
Bella took a deep breath, fighting for control. She was living one of a mother’s worst nightmares. She just wished she could wake up from it, everything would be okay, and Timmy would crawl into her lap and hug her.
~ * ~
Owen sat out on the porch of the Sweet Tea long after Rebecca had gone back inside. He liked the privacy of being tucked away on the end of the porch, shielded by a large magnolia tree. It was kind of like having an outside office. That appealed to him, which surprised him. He was used to his glass-walled corner office in downtown Chicago. This was certainly a change for him. While he was used to doing business while he was on the road, it was usually from his hotel room or doing paperwork while he ate somewhere. He’d never had a tree-shielded front porch office.
“Mr. Campbell?”
Owen looked up and saw Timmy standing at the top of the stairs to the porch.
“Timmy, what are you doing here? Is your mom with you?”
“No, my momma’s not here. I came all by myself. It’s not far.”
It was only a handful of blocks from the B&B to the Bella’s shop, but Owen was surprised Timmy was allowed to go that far alone. It just went to show how little he knew about raising kids in a small town. Or raising them anywhere for that matter.
Timmy crossed the porch and stood in front of Owen, shuffling one foot back and forth on the worn planks of the porch. “I came to talk to you.”
Owen wasn’t used to being sought out by children. “Okay, what do you want to talk about?”
Timmy had such a serious expression on his face. “I want to talk about my mom’s shop.”
“What about it?”
Timmy looked him straight in the eye. “I want you to not make my momma leave the shop or our apartment.”
“I wish I could, Timmy, but I already have plans in place for the building. I’ve promised it to someone else. I can’t go back on my word. I didn’t know your mom and you boys lived above the shop.”
“But you could buy a different building.”
“I need this building. It has to be this one. It just does.” Owen could tell that he hadn’t explained it very well. He couldn’t explain why it needed to be this building, without breaking his promise to Jake. Besides, he really had no idea how to talk to children, how to explain.
“But, if you make Momma leave, then Dad says we have to go live with him all the time. I don’t want to.”
Owen looked at the boy, unwilling to tell him what a jerk his father was being, but not knowing what to say to make Timmy feel better. “Maybe your mom and dad can work something out.”
“Dad already talked to his lawyer. And I heard Momma talking to Miss Jenny. She said she doesn’t have money for a lawyer.”
“Well, I’ll tell you a secret, Timmy. I’m trying to work out something to help your mom, to try and make all this right. But I have a few more things to figure out first. If everything works, hopefully your father will be happy.” Not that he gave a whit whether Rick was happy or not. But if he could make it so Rick didn’t try and take Bella’s sons from her, that’s all he wanted from the man.
Timmy’s eyes shone with hope. “You think so? You think you can fix this?”
“I’m sure going to try.”
Rebecca came back out on the porch. “Timmy, what are you doing here?”
“I came to see Mr. Campbell.”
“Does your mother know you’re here?”
Timmy looked down at the porch. He gave a big sigh. “No, Ma’am.”
“Well, how about I give her a call while you stay here with Mr. Campbell. We’ll just let her know you’re here.”
“Okay. But she’s going to be mad at me.” Timmy plopped down in the rocker beside Owen.
Owen realized how clueless he’d been. Of course Timmy was too young to be wandering around by himself, small town or not. Rebecca had figured that out immediately. Just add that to one more mistake he’d made with Bella.
Rebecca hurried back into the B&B.
“So, your mom doesn’t know where you are?”
“No, sir.”
“Don’t you think she’s going to be worried?”
“I guess, but I wanted to see if you’d let Momma stay in her shop and let us live upstairs. I thought maybe I could fix it for her.”
“Well, it looks like you and I are on the same page for that, Timmy my friend. We both want to fix this mess, don’t we?”
Owen’s phone rang and he listened to his business manager give him the quick details on his plan to help Bella. It looked like all the pieces were in place. “Thanks.” He ended the call and slid the cell phone back in his pocket.