The Sweetgum Ladies Knit for Love - By Beth Pattillo Page 0,39
asked. “You make your own soaps and sell them?”
Maria flushed. “I ordered those on a whim. I’m not really in business or anything.” She had asked her father several years ago if he would consider stocking her soaps, scrubs, and lotions in the five-and-dime. He’d all but patted her head and assured her that while her products were a nice hobby, good for Christmas presents and family use, she shouldn’t consider it a serious endeavor. Better to learn the business and follow in his footsteps at the five-and-dime.
“What will you do with all of this when you move?” James asked. Concern showed in the lines around his eyes, and Maria turned away. The last thing she wanted—or could handle—was pity from James Delevan.
“I’m not doing anything with it. I guess it will be carted off like everything else before the development starts.”
An uncomfortable silence hung in the air between them. She wished she hadn’t shown him her grief, and he looked as uneasy as she felt. What was done was done, and for the right reason. No sense looking back or regretting.
“Where will you live?” he asked, not quite meeting her gaze.
“Above the five-and-dime.”
“There’s enough room?”
“Not really.” She didn’t say anything more.
“Can I see your workroom?”
She looked at him, surprised. “Yes.” Not what she’d been expecting at all. “It’s this way.”
He followed her from the greenhouse, and she could feel his gaze boring into the back of her head. Well, at least she’d thrown him a curve ball. It felt good to return the favor.
He caught up to her as they walked toward the barn, his long stride outpacing her shorter one. He held the door for her as they entered the ramshackle building. She nodded her thanks and reached for the light switch.
“It’s through here. Watch your step.”
The room was just inside, to the right. A corner of the barn had been partitioned off to provide her with a work area. Long planks propped on sawhorses served as workbenches. The shelves above were lined with the product of her labor, an endless stream of soap wrapped in paper, scrubs in their small jars, and pump dispensers filled with lotion.
“You’ve got enough stock here to open your own store.”
That had been the idea, of course, but she refused to tell James about it. “Maybe.”
“You’ve never thought of selling these at the five-and-dime?”
“No.” No need to elaborate. Just lie.
“What about here at the lake? In the retail space we’re developing? Resort clientele would be ideal—”
He was trying to be nice, but he might as well have driven a stake through her heart.
“It will be all I can do to keep the five-and-dime afloat,” she said and then wished she hadn’t.
He shrugged. “Just a suggestion.”
Maria bit her lip. She didn’t need to explain herself to him, of all people, but she felt a strange compulsion to tell him the truth. That her life had never been her own and it never would be. That along with the farm, his friend Evan was buying what hope she’d had left in her dreams.
“What did you really want to see?” she asked. Her question sounded harsher than she’d intended, but she didn’t try to soften it.
James gave her a long look. “The shoreline, if you don’t mind walking down there with me.”
Maria nodded. “No problem.”
But it was a problem. Any time spent in the company of James Delevan was excruciating. Like this tour of the greenhouse and the workroom, he made her long for what she could never have.
“This way,” she said and hurried out of the room.
Merry arrived at the October meeting of the Sweetgum Knit Lit Society encumbered only by her purse and her knitting book. Jeff had offered to keep Hunter at home. Out of guilt, Merry suspected. She’d left a casserole in the oven and Courtney in charge of getting dinner on the table. With any luck, Jeff would have the younger ones in bed by the time she got home.
Eugenie, as always, was already in the classroom when Merry arrived.
“Good evening, Eugenie. How are you?”
“Well, thank you.” Eugenie looked past Merry, as if expecting someone to appear in the doorway behind her. “Where’s the baby?”
“Jeff’s giving me the night off”
“That’s nice of him.”
Merry half smiled, half grimaced. “It’s the least he can do right now.”
“Everything all right?” Genuine concern showed in Eugenie’s eyes. Merry had confided a little about their financial straits to Eugenie without going into too much detail.
“Jeff wants me to work full time at the law office.”