Page 35 of Quintessentially

The phone goes dead.

ChapterFourteen

Kandace

“You look like something the cat dragged in,” Chloe says, handing me a paper cup of coffee from the diner.

It’s only ten minutes before the store opens. On Saturday, we open at nine. Traffic in town is picking up as out-of-towners drive from one festival to the next. The diner was too crowded to get coffee when I first arrived.

“Thank you.” I take the coffee and hum. “Yeah, I feel like shit.”

“Are you sick?” my friend asks with concern. “Maybe you’re pregnant.”

I shoot her a death stare. “Since I haven’t had sex in six years, I’m going to eliminate that possibility.” Taking a sip, I shake my head. “I found Mom’s wine stash.” My lips quirk. “And since there was only one glass in the open bottle, I opened the second.”

“And how much did you leave?”

“Wine stoppers are for quitters.”

Chloe laughs. “You have a hangover.”

“Shh. Not so loud.”

My friend’s voice rings through the storeroom. “Kandace Sheers has the second hangover of her life.”

“And the way I feel, there will never be a third.”

“Mick got a call…but you don’t look up to hearing about it.”

“A call?” I ask. “From whom?”

Changing the subject, Chloe looks around. “What do you want me to do? I’m here all day to help. Mick is helping Ricky with baling. He left before I woke. By tonight he’ll be drowning his sore muscles in beer.”

“Help checking people out, watching the customers, and restocking the shelves if necessary—basically, everything.” My lips come together. “I wish I could pay you.”

“Oh, girl, once this place is yours, you can pay me in merchandise. Have you tried Judy’s creations?” She goes to the shelf and picks up a jar of lip balm and loosens the top. “I love this scent.”

I sit on one of the stools behind the cash register. “It’s not going to be mine.”

She turns to me. “Don’t say that.”

“It’s the truth. I saw him last night.”

“Him?”

My head shakes as I fight the bubbling cauldron of wine and coffee in my stomach. “You know who. I spent all day yesterday updating the inventory numbers because Mr. Murphy sent me an email telling me that he needed it.”

“And Dax showed up?”

Closing my eyes, I see him standing in nothing but basketball shorts. When I open them, Chloe is staring at me. I take a breath and try to explain. “Ruth and I stored some items for the store in her basement. She didn’t use the basement and” —I shrug— “the upstairs here is dirty. Her house worked. After she died, I’ve been too busy. I forgot things were there, so when I saw I was missing items on the inventory sheet, I remembered. Last night, I went to her house and let myself in.”

“Don’t tell me, Dax is staying there.”

“Yes. I was a dirty, sweaty, and tired mess, and he finds me in Ruth’s basement going through boxes.” I let myself have a small grin. “You’re right.”

“About?”

I shake my head. “Not soft.”

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