Page 17 of Tangled Up In You

He didn't respond to her smile. "What do you want me to do?"

He might not be cheerful, but he seemed willing to work. She'd take that. "I'd like you to start in the back room." She paused as she locked the front door. "I want to keep this door locked when we're not here in the showroom. There was a break-in last week. Until we're ready to really be open, I'd appreciate if you'd keep the bolt on."

He shrugged. She had a feeling that would be his response to everything.

She led him into the back. "You can start opening boxes. I cleared some space on the table. If you can organize products that look like they go together and/or are by the same manufacturer or distributor, that would be very helpful. You can then break down and recycle the boxes in the bins that are just outside the back door."

"Got it."

He pulled headphones out of his pocket and put them in his ears.

"One second," she said.

He took out the headphones. "What?"

"Can you tell me a little about yourself before we start? We didn't get acquainted yesterday."

"What do you want to know?"

"How old are you? Do you live around here? Are you in school?"

"Nineteen. I'm in town until Christmas. Then I'm going back to school."

He definitely wasn't chatty. That was one difference between her teenage self and him. She'd peppered Phoebe with questions and had been happy to have any conversation she could get from someone who was actually interested in her opinions.

"You said you're in town until Christmas," she pressed. "Are you visiting with your family?"

"No, I'm staying with a friend of my father's. Well, he didn't used to be a friend, but I guess he is now."

Finally, a little detail. There was a story behind that answer. But Drew had already put his headphones back on, and she needed him to work more than she needed to know about his life.

As he started in the back room, she moved out to the front. She had a plan of attack for today. She would begin in one corner of the store and stay there until it was clean and organized. Then she'd move on. She couldn't keep getting distracted by different tasks. They all had to be done at some point.

The next two hours passed in a blur, but she finally filled one shelving display with sleep aids: meditation tapes, eye masks, aromatherapy candles, and more. It was a start. But there was still a lot to do.

Just after noon, Chloe knocked on the door.

She let her in with a smile. "Hello. What are you doing here?"

"Bringing my friend some lunch." Chloe handed her a large paper bag. "Sandwiches, salads, and cookies. Whatever you don't eat for lunch, you can have another time."

She was touched by the kind gesture. "This is so sweet of you, Chloe. Thank you."

"It was no problem, and I thought you might be too busy to eat."

"You're right. I also hired a teenager to work for me part-time. I'm sure he'd love some food, too."

"That's great. You're already hiring people."

"Just a couple of hours a day until I can figure out what I have to sell and reopen."

Chloe glanced around the showroom. "I guess I haven't been here in a while. I don't remember so much stuff."

"Apparently, Phoebe inherited some things from her friend, Caroline Montgomery."

"Really?" A curious gleam entered her eyes. "Anything interesting? I heard Caroline was quite a collector."

"I haven't gotten to her boxes yet. Did you meet Caroline?"

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