I explained to him what Stan had told me, and that Frank, Carsen, and Oscar had quit and left Love.
“That seems too specific to be a coincidence, doesn’t it? Stella comes here from Utah, she receives weird packages from her ex, and then he steals some of my crew?”
“Whoa, let’s slow down, man. We don’t even know what this guy does. How can you be so sure he would have had a hand in this?”
Patrick was right, I guess I didn’t know anything for certain. It just felt weird to me, and I couldn’t shake this gut feeling that he was involved somehow.
Patrick must have recognized the look on my face and sighed. “Look, I can make some calls and ask a couple questions, but let’s find out what this guy does before we jump ahead to any conclusions and worry ourselves, yeah?”
He was right. I knew I needed Patrick’s level-headed thinking and was grateful I could count on him.
“Wow, I can’t believe she let you off the leash to come out with the boys.”
I glared at the source of the voice coming from behind me.Valerie.I thought she had backed off after the spray paint incident but apparently not.
“Excuse me?”
“I just mean…it’s been awhile since I’ve seen you here.” She sat on the bar stool next to me and leaned in impossibly close.
“Valerie, I need you to understand that I am not interested. We had our time and went on our dates, and it’s over now,” I tried to explain as I moved away from her. I was praying for Patrick to step in and say something like Garrett saved me last time, but I wasn’t that lucky as I eyed Patrick beside me. He was sitting there going red in the face from trying not to laugh at my obvious struggles.
“Oh, come on, you already know we would be perfect together. We’re both business owners and would be an absolute power couple.” Her voice got louder as she tried to prove her point and more eyes in the bar made their way to our disturbance.
“I don’t particularly enjoy finding myself involved in the business of someone who damages other people’s property, so unless you want me to press charges”—I gestured over to Patrick, who was still in full uniform—“I’m going to have to ask you to leave meand my familyalone from now on. Got it, Val?”
She scrunched up her face and stormed out of the bar, a slow applause from Patrick sounding beside me.
“Wow, didn’t think you had it in you to actually bemean.Good job,” he said while laughing. “I don’t think we could have actually pressed charges, though.”
I didn’t care, I was just glad to have one less worry on my plate with Valerie finally off my case.
No one was hiring. I guess that was on par for a small town. Everyone either owned their own business, or had enough family members to help them work that they didn’t need to hire outside help.
Mel said she could find something for me to do at Cupid’s Cup, but I didn’t want to be a nuisance where someone had to make accommodations to suit me. I wanted to findmyplace.
I contemplated my options while I looked around the Tim Hortons, noting an “apply now” sign in the window, but that felt disingenuous. As much as I wanted to find a place for myself, I also wanted it to be something I was passionate about.
I brought my attention to the window once again but took notice of the view beyond the signs instead. The snowflakes were dancing in the wind as they fell from the sky, just barely leaving a skiff of snow in the ditches along the highway. I had been warned that big snowfalls would be coming, but as the landscape around me changed once again, I couldn’t help but feel grateful for being here to witness it in all its forms. I had arrived in Love at the end of summer and watched as fall graced us with her beauty of colours I had never seen before. Now, asMother Nature was laying her soft blanket of winter over us, I held an appreciation for the changes I had gone through as well. I felt more at peace with myself, more in tune with my needs and emotions than I ever had before.
Opening my laptop, I drafted up a few emails and sent them away to companies I had previously worked with that I knew had sister locations in Canada. As much as I didn’t want to leave Love for anything, I adored interior design and would consider travelling for work.
Feeling successful with what I had put out, I ordered myself a coffee and grabbed my Kindle out of my bag. I wouldn’t have internet access when I went back to the bed and breakfast, so I made myself comfortable while I waited to see if I received any responses.
Half a book and a couple hours later I woke up my laptop screen to see one new email.
“Huh.” Voyager Hotel. It wasn’t one of the places I emailed, but it wasn’t unlike companies to share information with each other.
Good afternoon, Crystal Broastberg,
It was a pleasure to hear from our main offices that you will be starting up your practice north of the border. We have a unique opportunity to expand our branch and open up a chain of hotels in Canada. We are currently doing renovationson a hotel in Calgary, and as you come highly recommended to us by Miranda Codsworth, we would love your input on room and lobby design.
I squealed in excitement, causing heads to turn my way.
“Sorry,” I apologized to the couple next to me, but there was no erasing the accomplished smile off my face.
I replied to the email saying I would be happy to meet with them. They sent me a follow-up with details for one room accommodations, and I went ahead and booked two more for the same weekend. Because this was just a consultation and not a for-sure job, there wouldn’t be a lot of work involved when I went on this trip. I was treating my girls to a weekend away in the city, same as they had done for me when I needed it, and I couldn’t be more excited to tell them.
By the time I got back to the bed and breakfast, Calvin was sitting on the deck looking like someone had pissed in his coffee. And I knew that wasn’t true because I watched him drink it black as night first thing this morning.
