“What good would it really do, though? Love is such a small town.” Everything had been so dark and cloudy for so long, it was hard for me to see the light. I had to claw my way out of the grasps of despair, and I felt too weak to do so.
“She wants to market it as a small-town destination wedding location. She plans to get the bed and breakfast involved so people stay there. She’s drafting up plans so all the floral arrangements will come from Love in Bloom. Events will be catered by Cupid’s Cup and Blissful Bites. She dreams of having Teddy be the officiant, and I sure don’t see him turning down that role, do you?”
Stella wasn’t kidding when she said she wasn’t doing this just for me. She had created something that would benefit our whole community. She was giving back to them in an immeasurable way, and all I had done was come in here and yell at her.
Grandma must have seen the harsh realization come over me. “Oh,nowthere you are,” she said as she rubbed my cheek.
“I was such an asshole to her, Gram, how do I fix this?”
“The same way I’ve told you boys to fix things from the moment you were knocking down each other’s block towers.”
“Apologize, then help rebuild it,” I remembered out loud.
“It’s an easy concept, but sometimes harder to put into action.” She nodded. “And it will only truly work if you forgive yourself, too.”
It was like she could read my thoughts. “I don’t know if I can do that.”
“You need to award others with the opportunity to help you. When you helped me change the faucet, did that not feel good? When you helped Mel with the renovations she wanted done in Cupid’s Cup, did that not feel rewarding? When Garrett was sick in the middle of moving from school down east and you went to help him, did you not feel important? Necessary? Invaluable?”
I nodded at her. Of course, I felt amazing during all those instances. But that was just me, I needed to help those that I loved.
“When you don’t allow someone to help you, you are inhibiting them from feeling that same type of joy.”
All the air rushed out of me at her comment. Leave it to Grandma Trixie to sucker punch you with her words.
“Come now, let’s go have some supper. Good food and good company will help everything.”
“You did what?” Melody screamed the last word, tears starting to fill her eyes.
“She bought the rail house, effectively paying off the debt your asshole dad left your family with, and is going to be a boss-ass business babe with us!” Olivia didn’t use the exact words I had to tell them the news, but she got the point.
“Calvin hates it, doesn’t he?” She knew her brother so well.
I nodded sadly. “Yeah, he does. But Garrett warned me, so at least I saw it coming.”
“He’ll come around. When I called him from Vancouver, absolutely terrified out of my mind, I had never seen him so angry. And for a while, I thought he was angry at me for even leaving home in the first place. But really, he was torturing himself for not being able to protect me. He hasn’t realized yet that it isn’t his job to protect everyone. He doesn’t need to be a martyr to the people who already love him to his core.”
Melody had shared a little with me about her experience in Vancouver and a stalker making her feel so uncomfortable that she dropped out of acting school, but I could tell it was still a hard topic for her to be vulnerable about.
“But until he comes around, screw what my brother thinks. You’re doing an amazing thing for Love, and an immeasurable thing for my family. Thank you. I am beyond excited for you.”
“Me too!” Olivia chimed in.
I was so grateful that my girls were happy for me. After I left the rail house, still fuming from my interaction with Calvin, I met up with Olivia and Melody to tell them the news. I didn’t know what I would have done had I needed to face their disappointment like I faced Calvin’s.
A man’s love was something I already knew I could live without, but these women were my lifeline.
The girls pulled me into a hug and we spent the next few hours in Olivia’s bookstore, drinking Melody’s coffee, talking about the plans for my rail house. Life feltalmostperfect.
By the time I made my way back to the rail house the next day, I had spoken to almost everyone in town that I needed to. Gloria was already fussing about what kind of flowers would be suitable for weddings of all the different seasons. I had set up an account with Simon at The Tool Box for all my hardware needs and planned for a time that Jerry could scope the place out for plumbing after we had done all the demos. Cami was more than happy to display some of her items as décor, which would also double as another location her pieces from the thrift store could sell. Teddy was so enthralled with my plans that he burst into tears, and I wasn’t surprised in the slightest when he told me he already had his marriage officiant license.
The only person I still wanted to talk to, but hadn’t the guts to yet, was Valerie. Her boutique showcased such beautiful andunique wedding dresses that I knew could be the perfect addition to this whole endeavour.
As I walked up the steps of the rail house, bear spray in hand, I noticed a paper nailed to the doorframe.
Strange. I didn’t think the town would have been out doing any zoning permits on it yet, things had hardly been processed.
As I got closer, I realized it wasn’t any type of notice from the town, but just a blank piece of paper with something printed at the top.
