Page 44 of The Runaway Bride of Blossom Branch

He shrugged. “A couple of nights. Maybe three. Something came up that needs to be dealt with in person.”

“I see.”

“What’s going on tomorrow?” he said. “Will it keep?”

“No. It won’t.” She gnawed her lip. She could handle her leap of faith without Harry. Of course, she could. But all else aside, she valued his opinion. “I need to show you something downtown. Could we go right now?”

“It’s late,” he muttered.

“Please, Harry. We don’t have to walk. We can take your car, so it will be quick.”

“You want to tell me where we’re going?”

“I’d rather show you.” She headed for the house. “I’m going to grab my phone, and then I’m ready.”

“I’ve got my keys on me. I’ll meet you at the car.”

Five minutes later they were headed toward the center of town. At this time of night, the streets were empty. The famous gazebo loomed in the moonlight, its shape unmistakable.

“Where am I headed?” Harry asked.

“You can park at the curb. There on the left.”

They got out. Harry locked the car door. “I’m confused,” he said.

Cate’s heart sank. The storefront she had been so excited about looked old and a little shabby at night. Not a single light had been left on inside, though she hadn’t expected one. But it was going to be hard to whip up Harry’s enthusiasm under these circumstances.

“This is it,” Cate said. “It went on the market yesterday, I think. The listing agent showed me around.”

Harry pulled her toward a nearby bench and sat. “Back up, Cate. You’ve lost me.”

“You told me in so many words that I’m the only one who can decide what my future will be.”

“Okay.”

“Well, Jason and I were planning to open an art gallery in Buckhead. That was going to be our grand business venture. Both sets of parents gave us cash gifts as a wedding present. But we were pooling our money. Real estate would have been ferociously expensive in that zip code. I can’t manage it without him.”

“You’re asking me for a loan?”

“Good grief, no. I’m asking you if it would be foolish for me to buy this building. It was a furniture store until recently. The couple who owned it used the upstairs for inventory storage. But the Realtor pointed out I could easily make the second floor into an apartment.”

Harry was both silent and still. In fact, he might have been a statue. The bench was standard size. Only a few inches separated them. Was the man even breathing?

Despite the moonlight, this spot was shadowed by the buildings behind them. Cate had no clue what he was thinking.

Finally, he spoke. “You’re going to leave Atlanta? Move to Blossom Branch?”

Twelve

Cate hadn’t been thinking in those terms, though perhaps she should have. “Move? Well, no. I don’t think so,” she said. “Once everything is established, I’ll probably hire a good manager and staff. All my friends and family are in Atlanta. But I could easily spend a night or two here every couple of weeks.”

She realized she had hopelessly bobbled her pitch. It would have been so much easier if she could have given Harry the grand tour...and sketched out her ideas along the way.

He stirred, rotating his head on his neck. His sigh was not a good sign. “I hate to burst your bubble, Cate, but I’m not sure an art gallery is exactly right for this town.”

After a split second of shocked silence, she had to laugh. “I’ve done all this backward. Not an art gallery. I’m thinking of a specialty boutique where people could buy a baby gift or a graduation present. Small household items. Seasonal decorations. And maybe alittlebit of art. Small watercolors, stuff like that. I thought I could call the store Just Peachy.”

Already, in her mind’s eye, she could see the gold lettering on the front window. She bubbled with excitement thinking about it.

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