Smitten (16 page)
The window boxes outside the brick storefronts were brightened by spring flowers, and the renewed life of the town felt palpable. As she approached the coffee shop, she rehearsed what she’d tell Natalie. She had no answer for her. That’s what Zak had done to her thinking process. He took it, shook around everything she knew to be true, and left her dizzy with confusion. She never should have stepped foot into his grill.
She noticed her Subaru parked outside the coffee shop. Apparently Devlin hadn’t made it all the way to the airport after all. No doubt his sweet tooth got the best of him.
She had two possible investors, but both of them wanted something from her that she wasn’t prepared to give: her independence.
She’d work on Natalie first. Natalie Mansfield was one of her best friends. Every week the two of them, along with Shelby and Reese, did some sort of exercise together to keep each other motivated. They shared prayer requests, joys, and failures. Sadly, there’d been too many failures of late, and her spa dream was rapidly joining that list.
Julia cupped her eyes and peered inside the coffee shop. Natalie’s curvy figure could be seen inside, bustling about in her typical manic display of energy. Natalie liked to mother the world, and any patron entering her coffee shop automatically gave her that right—or so it seemed to Julia. No doubt Devlin had received an earful of opinions in his quest for caffeine. She could only hope the earful included how the Smitten Grill would never work for a spa. She stepped out onto the brick street and wished again she’d dressed more practically, but she gazed at the church and focused on the cross. “Here goes nothing.”
She pushed open the door, and the bells rang as the scent of freshly roasted coffee beans invigorated her senses.
“Julia!” Natalie welcomed her. “I wondered when you’d get here. How did it go?”
“Hi, Nat, is Dev here? I’m assuming you know his entire background by now. He said he was going straight to the airport. I guess the scent of your coffee lured him inside.”
“I’m not sure of his net worth, but everything else, yes.”
Natalie grinned and pushed her long dark hair behind her ears and closed her Mac laptop. “He’s in the back room, using my desktop. His smartphone wouldn’t work here, and he needed to check e-mail.”
“You didn’t tell him about Smitten’s intermittent Internet service, did you?” she whispered.
“It’s not intermittent in here,” Natalie snapped. She was the town’s resident tech expert and managed to find ways around the town’s ailing infrastructure, but she kept her secrets quiet and sold more coffee as the only working Wi-Fi spot in town.
“You let a complete stranger into your office on your computer?”
“He’s your mentor. Hardly a stranger. I explained to him that our Internet could be a little spotty, but I had my ways around that. Don’t worry, I let him know your spa would have no trouble either. Not if I have anything to say about it.”
And she did. Natalie loved her technology, and if there was a new gadget available, she found a need for it in the coffee shop. No doubt Natalie had probably already picked out the spa’s computer software.
“I suppose Dev told you where he wants me to put the spa.”
“He did. I told him there was no way. Zak Grant is enough to keep that from happening, but that building! I asked him if he went in or was going by the outside, which isn’t nearly so bad. The mere idea of us helping you clean that place was reason enough for me to set the guy straight.”
“He sees potential there.” Julia shrugged. “I don’t see it, but I can’t just ignore his advice.” She leaned in to whisper, “Not if I want his working capital.”
Natalie shook her head. “It’s terrible advice. I took him next door and showed him the building I want you to put the spa in. There’s an art gallery interested, but I’m sure with you being the hometown girl, they’d give you first crack at it.”
“And?” She felt grateful that Natalie had taken on the necessary battle and had time to wear Devlin down.
“He said there wasn’t enough square footage, that the water lines weren’t running where you needed them. He said walls are cheap, but water lines cost a fortune. He didn’t like it at all. But you can’t let that stop you.”
“In other words, he won’t invest in that space. Only Zak’s.”
“Well then, you’ll have to find the money elsewhere. You can’t go into that building. It’s oozing testosterone. I told him about our romance theme, but he didn’t seem to get it.” She cupped her mouth. “For a city guy, he can be kind of slow.”
“Zak offered me the money.”
“Zak?” Natalie gasped. “Zak Grant?”
Devlin appeared in the doorway of the back room.
“Natalie, thanks for the use of your computer and the great coffee. Have you tried her blueberry muffins, Julia? They rival anything in New York. I’m impressed.”
“And they’re gluten-free,” she and Natalie said together.
“But don’t try the cookies yet,” Julia warned with a wink.
“They were lovely.” Dev took Natalie’s hand and kissed the back of it in his European way. Natalie turned bright red.
“Julia, the pilot’s waiting for me. Did you want to drive me so you’ll have your car?”
“Uh, yeah. Sure.”
“I expect I’ll hear from you soon about your decision. I have another protégé I’m considering for investment, so I trust you won’t keep me waiting.”
The way he said it made it clear that her decision had better line up with his, and just by her sheer inner will she wanted to deny him. Someone needed to. Natalie gave her a look that told her to stand up for herself or she would take the reins.
“I’ll tell you right now that I don’t think Zak’s place is right.”
Dev’s cheek flinched, but otherwise his face remained motionless—the way Botox intended. “I thought you might say that. While I find your little town very charming and full of potential, it’s apparent that you’re not in a place of humility where I can work with you . . . mold you, if you will. Therefore, I believe it’s best that I withdraw my offer of financial backing for your spa.”
Julia swallowed hard and tried to have faith. If Dev wouldn’t back her, it only meant God had something different in mind. In the meantime, Natalie looked ready to leap over the counter and take Devlin Stovich by the throat.
After a cleansing breath, Julia replied, “I understand.
Smitten is best left to Smitten, I guess. But I feel bad for bringing you out here. Are you hungry? Did you want to grab something to eat before I take you back to the airport?”
“I think I’ve had enough of small-town life for the year.
I’ll eat when I get back to the city.”
“Good luck finding a gluten-free muffin that tastes like mine,” Natalie mumbled.
“Dev—”
“Don’t say a word, it’s fine. I understand how difficult it is to make changes when you’re used to life moving at a snail’s pace. You’re not ready for my help, and I understand that, but I can’t condone it by leaving the option open.”
“No, that would be downright human. We can’t have that.”
Natalie opened her laptop again and rolled her eyes. “Would you like me to call you a cab? We have them here, you know.”
Julia just wanted to get him out of town before she changed her mind. And before Natalie made it virtually impossible for her to ask Devlin for anything again.
“My car’s right out front. I can have you at the runway in ten minutes.” She bit her lips down together to maintain a professional front.
Devlin managed to make her feel like a child desperate to win a parent’s approval, but suddenly his confirmation seemed unimportant. She couldn’t have voiced why, but something in Zak’s grit, in his immediate dislike of Devlin, gave her renewed determination. Zak believed in her. Somehow that knowledge provided the boost of faith she needed at the moment.
Dev went outside and waited by the car. He flipped his linen jacket over his shoulder as Zak’s pickup pulled up. Zak got out and approached Devlin. Julia watched the entire scene paralyzed, as if they couldn’t see her if they glanced in the coffee shop window. The two men had words and then shook hands. She wondered if her fate hadn’t just been decided.
“I need to go.” She grabbed a muffin from the counter and raced outside to the two men she’d disappointed.
Her meager savings, earned in New York, wouldn’t be enough to open the spa to the level of elegance that she wanted, or at all, if she was honest. But she realized in that moment that answering to a caveman, be he a well-dressed and charming caveman like Devlin or a rugged, hard-bodied Neanderthal like Zak, was not the vision she had for her business. Or her future. Her friends’ shared vision for Smitten was based on faith, and either she trusted in God’s ability to rescue Smitten, or she didn’t.
“Julia,” Zak said as she approached the car, “stay and enjoy your coffee. I’ll be taking Devlin to the airport.”
“What? I—”
“I’ll see you when you’re back in New York, Julia.” Devlin slunk into Zak’s oversize pickup, and the two of them sped away before she had a chance to say another word.
She walked back into the coffee shop and slipped her heels off. “What do you think happened there?” she asked Natalie.
Natalie stood by the espresso machine. “The usual?”
Julia nodded. “Make it a triple. Two shots of espresso couldn’t possibly save this day. I’ll never get the money now. I wish I were more like Reese and planned everything out since I was a child. Maybe then I wouldn’t be in this mess.”
Natalie grinned. “If this mess includes being rescued by Zak Grant, I’d say there are a lot of girls who’d like to be in your shoes.” She wiggled her eyebrows while she drew the espresso.
“Ever since you and Carson started dating, the rest of us will never hear the end of your romantic notions. Just because it worked out for you in this town doesn’t mean the rest of us have any hope. Smitten is home of the spinster, may I remind you. If there’s one thing unemployed loggers avoid, it seems to be taking a wife.”
“Dark thoughts like that do nothing for our romantic destination idea.”
“That’s just it. It’s a destination, meaning you bring the guy with you. He’s certainly not here.”
Natalie laughed as she poured Julia’s espresso over ice. “It will all look better after you’ve had your coffee. Everything does.”
“I thought today was the start of something new, but I feel further away from my goal than when I began. At least I had hope this morning.”
“It’s always darkest before the dawn. How’s your mom’s therapy going?”
“She’s home now. Someone comes to the house once a day to work with her.”
“How’s your dad doing?”
“Without his slave, you mean? He’s trying to train me up to be a ‘proper wife,’ which resembles an Egyptian slave according to him, but I’m managing. I mean, he’s managing.”
The two friends laughed, and Julia lifted her cup.
“Cheers!”
“To new beginnings and hot barbecuers.”
“Zak is only interested in boosting Greg’s morale. The day he looks at me as more than Greg’s little sister is the day of reckoning. None of us will need businesses by then.”
“What would Shelby say if she heard you talk like that?”
“She’d probably plant buttercups in my front yard and tell me to spend more time in prayer.”
“Then maybe you should do it.”
“I wonder if Shelby’s attitude would be so happy-go-lucky if she were approaching thirty and living with her parents.”
“We’ll pray,” Natalie said. “The answer will come.”
Julia wished it would come in the form of Zak Grant, but her life didn’t work out that way. Julia Bourne, eternal member of the Chemistry Club, invisible to the Available Men Club.
S
ince Julia moved back to Smitten, she’d lived in her lavender childhood bedroom at her parents’ house. Nothing made her feel the angst of her day’s failures like coming home to Mom and Dad’s. Life at home served as a constant reminder as to why Smitten needed a change from its current male, chest-beating administration to a fresher, more feminine way of life. She entered the traditional Colonial, built in 1900, and cringed at the familiar mint-green carpet (over original hardwood) against the peach walls with her father’s periwinkle blue recliner set smack-dab in the middle of the room. Directly under the blaring television set.
“Hey, Dad.”
He rustled under the newspaper and cast off another section. “You’re home early.”
Since her father’s retirement from the mill, Julia didn’t know if the recliner actually sat upright any longer. It was a wonder he didn’t develop boils on his backside.
“Yeah.”
Her mother’s habits harked back to the time when the house was built. She always wore an apron and saw her life’s work as bringing Dad sustenance and fresh reading material.
If others needed a reason as to why Julia despised the thought of marriage, they only had to look inside her family home, where her mother worked as if she had seven dwarves by her side and her father slept as if his life depended upon it. When her mom broke her ankle, Julia had rushed home from New York. Clearly, her father might have starved had she left him to his own devices. He didn’t even operate the microwave oven. That was, as he put it, women’s work.
