“I’ll take a gallon.”
“In order to have the hot chocolate available by the gallon, we will need gallon jugs first,” Noel proclaimed with an expectant glare in Cavin’s direction.“I think Cavin signed up for that task.”
“Put me down for one,” Sam requested.“Call me when it’s ready, and I’ll pick it up.Good luck today, kids,” he added with a smile before heading down the sidewalk.
“You are quite the businessman, huh, Mr.Dawson,” Noel declared.
“Just trying to be helpful,” Cavin replied as he tried to decipher the meaning behind her comment.
“In addition to fetching the gallon jugs, you can also help these kids make the hot chocolate,” she directed.
“I would, but I am kind of in a pickle this morning and do not have time right now, unfortunately,” he explained.
“In that case can I have a word with you in private before you run off?”
“Of course.”
“Levi, Laney, keep up the great work.I will come back to check on you in a bit,” Noel promised.“Remember, when the urn gets to the one-quarter mark, we need to make more so you don’t run out.”
“Yes, ma’am,” they responded in unison.
Cavin followed Noel into the candy store where Mrs.Madelyn peeked out from behind the guests at the counter and said, “Good morning, Mr.Dawson.I am so glad you are back.”
“Good morning, Mrs.Madelyn,” he reciprocated with a genuine smile.“Me too.”
Noel forced a grin and kept walking.
Not quite keeping up, Cavin shrugged his shoulders in response to Mrs.Madelyn’s quizzical reaction.
Once on the other side of the kitchen door, Noel turned abruptly, and Cavin accidentally bumped into her.He nearly knocked her backward but grabbed her shoulders just in time and held her firmly.
Noel quickly straightened herself and pulled back but not far.“Listen, Mr.Dawson,” she started as Cavin studied her green eyes.“While I appreciate what you did out there for the kids, I don’t appreciate you teaching them to lie their way out of a challenging situation.You and I both know there is no nonprofit.”
Cavin, taken aback by her accusation, offered a swift rebuttal.“An animal nonprofit to be exact,” he reminded her, “which, if I recall correctly, were your words.”
Noel’s nostrils flared.“I went along with you because at that point we were already knee-deep in lies.”
“I did not tell any lies,” Cavin claimed.“We literally just created a nonprofit out there,” he contested while pointing his finger toward the front of the store.
“You don’t just create a nonprofit for strangers on a whim.”
“You went along with it,” Cavin debated, “and I do not consider you all strangers.”
“Just because you brought us coffee and hot chocolate, which probably started this whole idea, now that I think of it, doesn’t mean we are friends.”
The insult stung a bit.“Are we in Atlanta or Beaufort?”Cavin asked.
“What is that supposed to mean?”Noel snarled.
“It means what happened to small-town kindness and hospitality?”
“It sounds like Georgia has already shown you plenty of that.”
Cavin couldn’t help but smirk at the accusation.“Has anyone ever told you that you are cute when you are mad?”
Noel suddenly felt herself at a loss for words, glaring at Cavin for just a moment before her eyes fell to the floor.That’s when the tears began to trickle down her cheek one at a time like a leaky faucet.“Yes,” she uttered.“My husband.”
The tide shifted, and now Cavin didn’t know how to respond.He had never been good at handling crying women.Noel turned away from him, but he could still hear sniffles as she stepped slowly toward the kitchen’s island where she slumped over and rested her face in her palms.
