“I can call Lamar and have him take us,” Rupert says.
“Yes, call him.”
“On it.” Rupert steps to the side and I address Tilly. “I don’t want you saying anything to her, not yet, not until we get back. I need her to be able to see the potential first, because if we tell her now, I bet she will say no.”
Tilly nods. “You’re right about that. She’s in such a bad headspace that there’s no doubt in my mind that she’ll turn down the idea. So what should I do?”
“Get her to the shop when we’re ready. And get Kitty there too.”
Tilly’s face falls flat. “Do you think that’s a good idea? They’re not talking.”
“Trust me, it will work.”
“Lamar is on his way,” Rupert says. “Let’s get changed. He’ll be here in five.”
“Okay.”
I turn to leave, but Tilly grabs my arm. “Is this actually going to work, Theo? Because I don’t want to do this, get her hopes up, only for it to come crashing down. We need to make sure this will actually be feasible.”
“I will make sure it happens, even if I don’t get one ounce of sleep in the process. I refuse to let her give up on her dream. I refuse to let the bad people win. She’s worked too damn hard to just let it all go now. She might not think she has help, but she has help now.”
Tilly smirks. “That’s what I wanted to hear. Let me see your phone. I’ll put my number in it, and you can text me when you want her to show up at the store and I’ll make sure she’s there.”
“Thank you,” I say as I grab my luggage and start toward the stairs.
“She deserves you, Theo,” Tilly says as I take the first step. I glance over my shoulder and she smirks at me. “You’re a good man. I knew the minute you walked into her house, looking for your fiancée. And the way you pursued her, you are exactly what she needs, and I’m so glad you’re back.”
“Me too,” I say with a smile and then head up the stairs to my bedroom.
We have some candy to purchase.
“They should really give us the chance to taste test,” Rupert says as he examines a package of Bottle Caps. “How do we know this is what we should sell?”
“Because it’s what Rudder’s used to sell. Look.” I show him a picture on my phone of Rudder’s and all the candy that used to be in the store. “Renley said she wanted to serve all the samethings.” I take the box from him and put it in our second trolley since the first one we have is already full.
On the drive over, we caught Lamar up on everything that’s been going on, and he offered up his help, along with that of a friend. They decided that after getting the candy, they would tackle the upstairs so she either has a place to stay or could rent it out for more income. Up to her.
I told Lamar I owed him big-time and he just shook his head and said that’s what friends are for.
Fucking Lamar. Such a good man.
Once we caught him up, I made a list in my notes app of everything we needed from things I remember Renley saying, like that she wanted a jelly bean wall. Looking at old pictures of Rudder’s online, I make sure to grab as much as I can. Lamar has been a huge help because there was some candy we didn’t recognize and he’s been able to help us figure it out.
“Got the Tootsie Pops,” Lamar says as he strides up to us with three boxes.
“Splendid. Put it in there.” I review the list and say, “We need some jawbreakers, candy buttons, and we have to go down the gummy aisle one more time because I don’t think we have enough.”
“Agreed. You need a decent amount of sour and regular,” Lamar says just as his phone rings. “Excuse me.”
He steps off to the side, answering his phone while we go back down the gummy aisle.
“I really don’t want to forget anything.”
“If we do, we can come back, it’s not that big of a deal.”
“I know, but wasting time driving is not ideal. I would rather grab everything we need now.” I put a few differently shaped gummies in the huge trolleys we have and keep moving. I pick up a barrel-size canister of chocolate-covered raisins and ask, “What about these?”
“Absolutely, and the peanuts and pretzels as well. Those are classic candy store items.”
