Page 15 of Handling Skylar
When there was no answer, I headed around the back and heard voices. I stopped when I saw Samantha sitting on my brother’s lap and she was laughing, genuine laughter. He murmured something, and she cupped his jaw. I got a pang of jealousy and a shot of reality. The way she looked at him, there was no mistaking that she loved him deeply. This.Thisis what true love looked like. I wanted that, not the cold, barely tolerant relationship I currently had with a woman who found her phone more interesting than she found me.
After our blowout. It was clear who turned me on, who I wanted to pursue. Why was I fighting it so much? Why was I throwing my happiness away? Happiness. When was the last time I felt happy?
Dancing with Sky. Kissing Sky.
I cleared my throat and Samantha rose. “Jake,” she said, the warmth of welcome in her tone, and I felt ashamed of all the times I made her feel unwelcome. All the times Anna Kate had denigrated her in front of me, and I let her when I knew it was wrong.
“I knocked,” I said.
“I’m sorry. We didn’t hear you. Would you like some lunch? We have plenty.”
I wasn’t quite ready to sit down to a leisurely meal with my brother and his soon to be wife. Especially when Chase looked so wary and guarded.
I thought back to the speech and got angry all over again. “Your cooking is always an experience, but I’ve already eaten,” I said, the flush of my compliment staining her cheeks. She really was quite a lovely woman. Yank or not.
“I’ll get you something cool to drink,” she murmured as I came into the yard.
Chase leaned back, his eyes watching Samantha disappear into the house, lingering on her and the longing in my gut intensified. He turned his attention to me, his blue eyes, stormy. “I was wondering when you’d show up to…what…tell me there’s nothing I can say that will mend our differences?”
“That speech in public directed at me wasn’t your best idea. I don’t need a lecture,” I growled.
“It was about family, Jake.” He shook his head and huffed out an exasperated breath. “Never mind. Is that all?”
I held my tongue. My first inclination was to point out that I knew all about family. I was the one whostayed. “No, Daddy wanted me to run an idea by you. I guess I need your blessing.” The bitter words slipped out.
Chase stiffened and said, “What is it?” His reaction to my comment and tone was one of sadness.
“I’ve got a plan to expand the store into a more general type establishment.
He straightened and a spark of interest came into his eyes. “I think that’s a great idea. Diversifying is good for business, worked well for me. Do you have the particulars?”
“Not on me. I am meeting with the general contractor next week, on Monday at ten, if you want to be there.”
“I do. I’ll be there. You’re okay with that?”
There was a part of me that wanted him involved, the part that remembered what our relationship used to be before he left and shattered it. But I couldn’t seem to let go of my anger or resentment.Forgive him, Brax had said, and I wasn’t sure I knew how. “I guess I’ll have to be,” I said, walking away.
I ducked another phone call from Anna Kate, the message about having lunch, but I couldn’t muster up the interest or the patience to listen to her denigrate Sky for another hour. I was well aware it was a bad sign, but the last few days had been increasingly confusing, especially after I’d given into the buried hunger for Sky.
I opted for a quick lunch and brief stop in at the groves to make sure everything was running smoothly, checking over my heavily laden project trees and fielding questions from some of my workers. One of them asked me about the area I had just started to clear, but I told him to leave it. For some reason, one I couldn’t fathom, I wanted to clear it myself. Then, it was back to town for the meeting of business owners. My family was deeply involved in all matters of both politics and management of Suttontowne. It was a given since we followed in the footsteps of the founder. Even with his disgrace, tradition lived on. My daddy usually attended these meetings, discussing trends and ways to advance our businesses, but I was taking over today as the de facto leader. I had news that would impact the town and changes weren’t always easily accepted.
The room was packed when I walked in, and Anna Kate was there in the back with the Belles. Anna Kate was the current leader/head Belle, my momma, Amelia “Amy” Sutton, who held the coveted Steward position, Penelope Crenshaw, Alice Delford, Coraline Parnell, and Naomi Walden with Verity and Aubree Outlaw and my sister who had once been the leader, rounding out the group to nine. The Suttontowne Belles had been around since the Colonel’s time, actually started by his wife, Caroline. There was a long standing tradition of Sutton women involved in the establishment to keep the history and traditions of Suttontowne alive, in addition to helping with town events.
Anna Kate smugly patted the chair next to her, but I gave a quick shake of my head. I needed to be up front since I was going to be talking. I was too aware of Sky also in the crowd. She was sitting a few rows up from Anna Kate next to her manager, the bubbly Jordan Summers, a transplant like Sky and now married to one of the town’s deputies.
I went to the front of the room and stood behind the podium. The room quieted and I said, “Thank y’all for attending. I have a few announcements and some important changes to come. First, our Suttontowne Days was not as brisk as last year and we might think of alternatives to presenting our products to the outlying populations and garnering interest in our town.”
Someone in the front row chimed in. “Maybe we could look to collaborating with Tarltown. I know they have been our rival in the past, but with economic situations as they are, we might want to bury the hatchet.”
“Over my dead body,” someone else grumbled and the room erupted into conversation.
“We can discuss that,” I said bringing the din down. “We are planning on making changes to our store and take the focus off our nuts and making it more general, selling niche and specialty products we think our customers would love. We’re open to vendors. We’ll be closing the store for a brief time to renovate. Are there any questions?”
Sky stood. “I don’t have any questions, but I do have something to add. Since you’re closing the store and renovating, I wanted to bring up the fact that our facades are a bit dated and worn. I think it would be a great idea to redo them. Also, our town is so beautiful and quaint. To go with that theme, I thought store owners could landscape the front of the buildings as well. Boone, I’m sure you could come up with an affordable plan.”
Boone who was sitting next to Sky and Brax nodded. “Easy as pie, sugar.”
“Also, the Suttontowne Days is a good concept, but limited. I was thinking why not do a Harvest Festival with Sutton pecans the focus. We could all benefit from statewide exposure and all our agricultural business owners would benefit. Charlie’s grocery comes to mind.”
