The sign painted on the panel of the vehicle’s white side readMagical Renovations, Number Two. My gaze darted from the name of the company that was pretty much exactly like mine, to the person driving.
Crystal Darsey saw me and gave me a little finger wave. I wanted to give her a little bit of the finger right back, but mine wouldn’t have been nearly as friendly as her greeting.
“What in the world?” I mumbled.
A thousand thoughts floated through my head.
Did Crystal somehow think I had hired her?
Why was she using my business’s name?
Was she insane?
Hadley gave me a sheepish grin. “I guess you should know…I’m getting a quote from someone else.”
Oh, and that someone else was Crystal Darsey—the brand-new house renovator in town who was riding on the shirttails of the business name that I had worked so hard to build up.
“The Baileys are old family friends,” she explained. “I felt like I owed it to them.”
Crystal cut off the engine and threw open the door. “Lord, has there ever been a finer day in all of Peachwood? I swear, fall is coming in beautifully.”
“It sure is,” I ground out. “Not only is fall coming in, but the name you’ve decided to call yourself looks awfully familiar. Like, very familiar. Almost like you’re trying to steal it,” I said with a laugh.
“Nobody’s gonna get us confused, if that’s what you’re thinking. You’ll always be number one around here.” Crystal patted my cheek in the most condescending way ever. “I would never try to steal that from you.”
Looks like you’ve done gone and done it.
“But anyway.” Crystal teetered on her stilettos all the way over to Hadley. “It’s so great to see you, Hadley. You’ve done gone and grown up.”
As they air-kissed each other’s cheeks, vomit crept up the back of my throat. I wanted to kill something.
Crystal linked her arm through Hadley’s. Using the other woman as a cane because her stinking heels were too tall, she pivoted them toward the barn.
“Show me everything, Hadley. I’ve already got so many ideas.”
“Great,” Hadley said. “Clementine thinks we should change the stables into a dining room.”
Crystal glanced over her shoulder and winked at me. “That’s exactly what I was going to say.”
I clenched my fists as anger bubbled in my gut. In less than five minutes Crystal Darsey had not only stolen the name of my company, but she’d also nabbed one of my ideas. If this sort of thing continued, there would be no other option but to declare war.
There weretwo things that I could do—mope about Crystal or set fire to her van.
Okay, so there were actually three things: mope, set the fire, or do a little retail therapy.
I decided that retail therapy was the best option. So I headed over to Architectural Scavengers to see if they had anything new in the store. If I got the job at Hadley’s, then I would probably be shopping there anyway, so it couldn’t hurt to see if my friends Lance and Patrick had acquired any new arrivals.
When I opened the door, the scent of ginger immediately struck me.
“Clementine,” Lance said warmly.
He left his spot behind the cashier’s counter and approached with outstretched arms. Blond bangs fell into his eyes, and he batted them away before embracing me in a hug.
“My favorite test kitten,” he said. “How would you like some fresh-baked gingersnaps?”
“How could I not?” I teased.
“Exactly!” Lance called over his shoulder. “Patrick! Clem’s here! I’m taking a break to eat cookies.”
