An Unexpected Love (Treasured Dreams Book 3) (2 page)

“Yes,” I blurted, feeling like that one word had released the block in my throat. “If I sign the contract with Moxie, then there are all sorts of things that could go wrong. I mean, after reading the contract I know they want at least two hundred pieces of jewelry initially, including earrings, necklaces, and bracelets. That’s a lot of new product to create. Sure, they will be duplicates of the original design of that line, but with that heavy of an order the quality would probably suffer. Is it really worth jeopardizing quality for quantity?”

He raised his palms. “Holly—”

“Plus there’s the added cost of supplies. I’d need to use everything I have in stock to make the first pieces for the store, and . . . I don’t know. It’s just too scary.” A chilled breeze whipped by, blowing my wild curls around my face. My eyes stung, but I was pretty sure that wasn’t caused by the cold wind. “What if no one even buys my stuff?”

“I don’t think that will happen.” His eyes filled with emotion as he reached toward me, and tucked my hair behind my ears. “Your designs are incredible. Like the butterfly charm you’re wearing right now. The pattern of the stones is unique, and the colors are vibrant. Just looking at that one piece brings on a lot of emotion, as if a piece of the artist is in the design.”

An incredulous laugh escaped my lips. “That might not be such a good thing since I made the butterfly this morning while this quandary swirled around my brain. My muse probably chose the butterfly because they’re in hibernation right now, which is where I’d like to be.”

He chuckled at my sad attempt of a joke. “I’m sorry you’re upset, angel. I want you to know that no matter what you decide about the contract, I’ll be here to support you. How long do you have until you need to make a decision?”

“Only until five o’clock today.” I dropped my forehead against his shoulder, then buried my face in his warm neck.

He pressed a kiss to the side of my head. “That doesn’t give you much time.”

“I know.” I mumbled, feeling my chest tighten. I lifted my head. “Until now, I’ve been this dinky little farmer’s market/craft show seller, which I’ve loved with all of my heart. But to have my jewelry available in a popular store and online? If the items didn’t sell, that kind of rejection would be devastating to me.”

Dave sat quiet a long time, with his arm around my waist. It felt like a comfortable, contemplative silence, and I hoped the perfect decision would come to me. No such luck. A bubble of laughter came out, and soon I rolled over giggling almost uncontrollably.

“Whoa there,” he said, pulling me back from the edge of the cliff, even though I wasn’t nearly close enough to go over. “What’s so funny?”

I got my laughter under control—clearly I was losing it—and sucked in a few hiccup-ish breaths. “It’s just . . . my mom actually thinks I should sign the contract with Moxie. As you know, she and I rarely agree on how my life should go. So if my mom thinks this deal is a
good
idea, then I should probably turn down the offer and run away screaming.”

Dave caught my cheek in the palm of his hand, and his mouth curved upward. “Maybe she just really believes in you. Like I do.”

With the back of my head against the cold ground, I stared up into the eyes of my boyfriend, who I never even thought I’d find, and knew he meant every word he said. He believed in me. Maybe my mom did, too. Still, there were so many things that Dave
didn’t
know about me—probably because I hadn’t shared them with him. Maybe it was time to clue him in on my humiliating past.

“We should get going.” I sat up, dusting myself off. “I didn’t bring my cell phone and there’s a call I need to make soon. If this contract was a good idea, then I’d be more excited about it.”

He gazed back at me, and his eyes held no judgment. “You’ve made your decision then?” he asked, slinging his backpack over his shoulders.

“Yes.” I nodded, leading the way down the trail. What I had to tell him now wasn’t going to be easy. I didn’t like to
think
of that time in my life, let alone talk about it. But if Dave could give me his unconditional support like this, then he deserved to know all of me—the good and the bad. I glanced over at him. “I haven’t told you about this pivotal moment of my childhood,” I said, my voice cracking just a little.

“I’m listening.” He gave me a side-glance, as he looped his thumbs through the backpack’s straps.

I gave him a weak smile. “When I was in middle school, I signed up to participate in my first craft show. My class was raising money for our trip to Washington D.C. and the students voted to have a craft show instead of a bake sale. I had the best idea for designing my booth. I wanted to make and sell friendship bracelets, since they were all the rage back then. Everyone loved them, even the boys, and I was sure I’d make a ton of money for the class. So I purchased all different colors of embroidery floss, and worked hard after school and on weekends creating the bracelets.”

“That sounds great.” He smiled over at me as we rounded the corner to turn past the fork in the trail where I’d taken the same safe route earlier. “You were an entrepreneur even at twelve. That just shows how ready you were to launch your business when you came here.”

“That’s not the point, sadly. I wish the results of my fundraising efforts were that I felt secure about setting myself up as business owner, but the opposite happened,” I said, my heart pounding against my ribcage so hard that I finally stopped beside a huckleberry bush to catch my breath.

Even though it had been almost two decades, the memory resurfaced still feeling terribly painful after all of these years. Part of me wanted to hide from the incident, but a bigger part of me wanted to share this with Dave. It would be a huge step forward in our relationship. As an adult, nobody besides my mom knew what had happened to me.

“Tell me the rest,” he said, brushing my hair back from my face. “Let it all out, angel.”

My throat tightened. “Like I said, I worked hard on my display. My mom bought me all sorts of art supplies so I could put up advertising around town. On the day of the craft fair, I got to school early so I could set up in the gym. The booth looked amazing. My mom even took a picture . . .” I paused, my cheeks heating as I remembered that humiliating event. “I came across the photo she took the same day I got the offer from Moxie, and it reminded me of what happened.”

“What?” he asked.

“After putting my heart into all that work, I didn’t sell one bracelet.” My stomach dropped, and I stared at the scaly trunk of a Western White Pine tree in front of me. “A girl in my class, Cara Caruthers, had told everyone that I’d bathed the strands of the bracelets in cat pee before I made them.”

“Cat pee?” he asked, his tone incredulous.

“Yep.” My gaze traveled upward, following the two-hundred-plus feet of the tree to its top. I admired the tree’s ability to stand strong and majestically year after year. I’d thought I had that kind of strength, but right now all I felt was fear. “People from my class said Cara swore I’d told her cat pee was my secret for making great bracelets.”

“People believed her?”

“Apparently so.” I shrugged, glancing at Dave’s surprised expression, and then starting back down the path. “I’d thought Cara was my friend, so I hoped the rumor had been a mistake or something. When I confirmed it was true, I felt determined not to let her mean spirit get the best of me.” I stopped and groaned at the memory of what happened next. “This is so pathetic . . .”

“What is?” he asked, his voice soft.

Tears burned the backs of my eyes. “I decided if nobody would come to my booth, I’d take my bracelets through the aisles of the craft fair and sell them to the students who were walking around. By that point everyone had heard Cara’s story, though. I still couldn’t sell any of the bracelets, and a few students made cutting remarks to me.”

His jaw pulsed. “Kids can be so cruel.”

“No joke,” I replied, nausea building in my belly. “That was bad, but when I got back to my booth, all of the remaining bracelets were gone. Someone had stolen them.”

Dave blew out a breath. “I’m a thirty-year-old man but I’m wishing I could go back in time and guard that booth for you. Trust me, nobody would be touching those bracelets unless they were purchasing one.”

“My hero,” I said, slipping my hand into this. We hiked further down the trail, hands clasped together, arms swinging back and forth. “Guess what else? I found out later that Cara had taken the bracelets and sold them as her own. Not only had she ruined my efforts to raise money for our class, but she’d also taken credit for my work. Such a double whammy.”

“I’m sorry that happened to you,” he said, his tone sincere.

“Thanks.” I shrugged. “I’m sure everyone has their own tragic childhood story. Maybe there’s something about that kind of blow when you’re young that stays with you for the rest of your life. But I failed and that’s what hurts the most.”

“I can’t imagine what that must’ve been like for you.” He stopped suddenly just before we reached the rock we stood on earlier, and dropped his backpack to the ground. He slipped his arms around me and pulled me close. He pressed his lips to my cheek, his breath warm against my ear. “I’m glad you shared that story with me,” he whispered.

“Me, too.” I melted against him and the heavy weight on my shoulders lifted, making my burdens seem so much lighter. “I know that happened a long time ago and that kids can be mean. But that doesn’t erase that feeling of failure that hit me when I saw that photo of my booth again. I’d been thrilled about the offer from Moxie until I saw that picture again. My business is going well enough, and I don’t think the risk of failing is worth the potential reward.”

He pulled back a little. Instead of looking disappointed in me, his eyes lit up. “So you were excited about the offer from Moxie initially?”

“Yes . . .” My eyes widened. I was chickening out on expanding my dream, and being a complete wimp because of a thief from eighteen years ago who had made up a rumor about cat pee and had stolen my bracelets. Why did Dave look happy about that?

He squeezed my hands between his, shaking them up and down as if he couldn’t contain his excitement. “Even though what happened to you was terrible, do you know what’s ironic about it?” His smile widened. “That girl, Cara, must’ve thought an awful lot of your work if she sold the bracelets and passed them off as her own. Right? Maybe she was envious of your talent and handled it badly, which wouldn’t excuse what she did. But that would mean that you
succeeded
in creating products so desirable, even the quintessential mean girl had to have them.”

Adrenaline shot through my veins and I blinked, ducking my head as I realized what he said might be right. “I-I never thought of it that way.”

“Do you know what else?” He lifted up my chin, so I met his gaze. “You and I were talking earlier about your creative method and how each piece of jewelry you make contains a part of your soul. I don’t think it’s an accident that you created that butterfly charm this morning. And I certainly don’t think you chose a butterfly because you wanted to hibernate or hide.”

My fingers flew to my charm. “Really?”

“Your subconscious knows you’re in transition. For instance, there’s a long time where the caterpillar is busy building up its resources before it makes its chrysalis.”

My brows quirked. “Um. . . Are you saying I’m a caterpillar living in a cocoon? Because that doesn’t exactly feel like a compliment.”

He shook his head. “No, you weren’t inspired to create a caterpillar charm. Did you? When the time is right, the caterpillar
emerges
and becomes a beautiful butterfly. You’ve been building up resources in your business, building your clientele, and when you’re ready your business, Treasured Creations, will emerge into something bigger than it is now.”

My heart caught in my chest. His faith in me meant more than he could ever know. I swallowed hard against the lump that had formed in my throat.

“You know,” I said slowly. “There are so many things I’ll lose if I
don’t
accept the contract. Like the ability to make enough money to set aside to buy a house someday.”

“Having a little more money would be a nice perk,” he agreed.

“And making enough to start saving for retirement,” I said, standing taller. “In addition, Moxie can provide me with a bigger audience and I’d love to reach more people to share my creations with them.”

“You do have an amazing talent.” He ran his thumb along the back of my hand, sending tingles up my arm as he gently pulled me closer.

“All of my designs have to do with the joy of living in this small town. Our town, you know? I mean, when you get right down to it, that’s what I’d be sharing.”

He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my palm. “I definitely think that’s something worth sharing.”

“When I think of it all that way there’s no reason
not
to accept the contract.” I swiveled, pulling Dave up onto the rock we stood on earlier. With him beside me, I looked out over the valley again and the lake glimmered in the distance, the same deep shade of blue as one of the stones I’d put in my charm. Exhilaration flowed through me and this time there was no anxiety.

Dave’s arm tightened around me. “The view is beautiful, isn’t it? We’re so lucky, Holly. I want you to know that whatever you decide with your business, I support you.”