Smitten (22 page)
Reese stared at her. “You’re hardly one to talk about who is dressed appropriately in Smitten, but I’ll give you a free pass on Amy. What a nightmare. Can you believe she brought up Sawyer and me?”
“I imagine there’s going to be more of that with him coming back to town. They’ll probably want to interview you as his past girlfriend. Maybe Amy did you a favor by reminding you to have an answer ready.”
“Probably, but I hardly have any dirt on the guy. He’s been gone for years. He’s not even my friend on Facebook.”
“I’m no fan of a man who doesn’t see what I see in you, Reese, but I’m glad Sawyer’s coming back. We need him.”
“Speaking of distant pasts, I never thought about you and Zak before all this remodeling happened,” Reese said.
“That’s something you and Zak have in common.”
“I kind of like the idea. He’d be—”
“Don’t say it. He’s like a big brother and now a landlord, and that’s all he’ll ever be.”
“Touchy, touchy. It’s not like we have single men to spare in this town. I think Natalie grabbed up the only one available.”
“Well, Zak is one you can cross off my list. Yours, too, if you’re smart. I wonder if they’ll get back together while she’s here.” Julia’s gaze fixated on the perky Amy.
“You heard her say she was engaged.”
“A boyfriend. Not engaged,” Julia corrected.
“See, you were listening. Don’t go borrowing trouble, and now that I know you’ve got feelings for Zak, I’d say you should make your move tonight at the fireworks.”
“I don’t have feelings for Zak!”
“Denial is so cute.”
“The parade’s starting. Here come the Garner Sisters playing their stringed instruments. Ah, I’m home!”
Truthfully, the older women’s presence ruffled Julia’s romantic view of her future alone. Maybe independence wasn’t entirely sunshine and lollipops. She didn’t have a sister, for one thing, plus she had no musical talent. Natalie was practically engaged. Shelby was too sweet to be single forever, and Reese would meet some handsome brick of a man on the running path someday. So that left . . . cats for Julia. Lots and lots of cats.
The future didn’t look bright for her as an aging esthetician in Smitten. What if she didn’t age well? Would anyone come to her for a facial after a certain age? If she allowed herself to muse on that thought too long, Zak’s face came to mind. Her mother always said it was a blessing to not want what you couldn’t have.
“I’m going for a walk,” Julia said. And though she never would have admitted it, her legs strode toward Zak’s grill. Maybe it was to check if that’s where Amy was headed, and maybe it wasn’t, but she couldn’t have fought the urge if she’d tried.
Zak stood on the outside porch of his restaurant and waited for the festivities to start. He was too far from town to see all the fun, but the sounds would travel toward him. The noise of a Smitten celebration always made him feel part of something bigger. He should have taken the entire day off instead of the afternoon to help barbecue at the town picnic.
He imagined what Julia was doing up the street and what she might have worn to the parade. Something entirely inappropriate and traffic-stopping, no doubt. If he were honest, her very presence was all he cared about that day. Standing on the porch took him closer to her without the temptation that seeing her provided.
Every year the parade was led by Smitten’s own Garner Sisters, Natalie’s great-aunts, who played stringed instruments together in the square. They rode on a giant flatbed truck with patriotic streamers glued to every exposed area. Zak smiled at the thought of the scene, which never changed year after year. He supposed that’s what he loved about Smitten.
A cheerful roar erupted in the crowd from town, and he knew the parade had begun. Carson had left to help Natalie with the coffee shop, and Zak felt alone. He wasn’t in the mood to work. A familiar figure walked toward the restaurant, and it wasn’t long before he recognized it as Amy Hastings. A thousand thoughts rushed through his head, the loudest being,
What could I have been thinking?
Amy, the most popular girl in school, made Zak cool with her presence, but he’d grown weary of explaining simple things to her. It wasn’t fair to say she was dumb, but she was shallow. If life was a highway, Amy was its on-ramp. Hard to get up to speed in the short amount of road available.
She wore high heels, a tank top, and jeans on her long legs. Where Julia made the stilettos look sweet and about her style, Amy made them look as if she were asking for trouble.
He realized at that moment she’d noticed him.
“Zak Grant, you’re not at the parade.”
“Hey, Amy. Lot of work to do on the restaurant.”
“Did you get my suggestions via e-mail?”
“I did. I don’t think they’d really work here, but I appreciated the advice.”
“That’s why I came. I knew you wouldn’t listen to anything I had to say. I’m a professional, Zak. I make good money doing this.”
“Oh, I believe it. Smitten’s just different, that’s all.”
“The restaurant business is universal. That’s why my plans work so well. They increase revenue, Zak. I can show you proof.”
“I’m sure you can, but I’ve got the spa coming in, so I don’t imagine you’ve got a lot of plans for a spa and grill.”
“It’s been done. Of course, you’ll see more spa fare on the menu. Not a lot of meat—except for perhaps raw tuna, maybe scallops.”
“Why are you here, Amy?”
“I told you. I’m here to help with the restaurant design.
You ignored my e-mails.”
“I didn’t ignore them. I didn’t want the help.”
“Always and forever, Zak.”
Amy’s presence made Zak uncomfortable. He knew she had a boyfriend back in Los Angeles, but he also knew she had an insatiable desire for attention, and he didn’t have time for her drama. “Say hi to your parents for me. I’m going to get back to work.”
“Zak, you could at least show me around. I came all the way here to help.”
“Sawyer’s not going to mention the restaurant in interviews, Amy.”
“Why not? Why wouldn’t Sawyer do what he could to get national attention for his buddy’s restaurant? It’s the least he could do. Marketing is everything now. Do you have a Twitter account for the restaurant? You can Tweet when Sawyer is here. That would be huge; it would go out to all his followers.”
“I appreciate that, Amy, but Sawyer’s my friend. If he wants to come here for a quiet meal, I’m not going to advertise that he’s here.”
“In this economy, no one is above marketing. Especially free marketing.”
“Amy, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve been working for a long time this morning so I can get to the barbecue. I need to get back to work.” He clamped the lock down, and Amy grabbed his elbow. He turned to see Julia standing twenty feet away, her gaze turned on the two of them. He called out to her, “Julia!”
But it was too late. She turned and ran back toward town.
Amy giggled. “You’re still leading that poor girl around like a lost puppy, and you think
I
have issues. Have a heart.
Let her go already.”
J
ulia saw the way Amy touched Zak’s elbow. The familiar feeling of rejection washed over her. How many dances had she watched the two of them together? The lavender wreath still hung on the door amid all the chaos of the remodel. She focused on it and the purple flowers and wished she had the faith of little Mia. To trust as a child trusted—somewhere along the line, she’d lost Mia’s blind faith ability, and she mourned its loss as she stared at the wreath. A true, trusting faith seemed like it only belonged to others.
As Zak and Amy noticed her, she turned and ran back toward town. How many times did she have to batter her head against the same wall? Zak Grant didn’t love her. He never would, and it was time she lived in reality, not her dream world.
Julia’s phone rang in that instant, and she silenced it as quickly as possible. “Hello,” she answered breathily.
“Julia, is that you? It’s Devlin.”
She walked around the building to the parking lot behind Sweet Surrender, but the chaos of Smitten’s parade could still be heard. “It’s me. It’s the Fourth of July, so it’s a bit loud here. A lot of celebrating going on, you understand.”
“It’s the Fourth here too, but Manhattan never sleeps, as you know. I’m here at the spa working. We’ve got a big wedding party coming in tonight.”
“Does this call mean you accept my apology? I wouldn’t have brought you out here if I’d known what I do now.”
“I have a business proposition for you.”
“For me?” Her legs felt weak. “Is it in New York?”
“Naturally. I think we both understand where I stand on Smitten at the moment.”
She said nothing about Mrs. Shapiro or the truth according to Zak. She gazed at the warm celebration going on up the street.
She felt torn between two worlds, not really belonging to either.
“It seems your sleuth boyfriend has outed me. I don’t own the spa, I just manage it for Mrs. Shapiro. Not that there’s anything wrong with decent work, but I did allow you to believe the place was mine. I allowed everyone to believe that.
It was better for everyone involved.”
“Yes, I heard that. Though your success can hardly be doubted, Devlin. You’ve made that spa all that it is. I never questioned that. Or your sincerity.”
“Mrs. Shapiro used her husband’s money to invest in the business, and because she’s seen such a great return on it, she wants to open another one. On the West Side. As you know, there are a lot of younger patrons on the West Side, and she’d like to tap into that with a younger, hipper spa created for them.”
“Wow, that’s a great idea!” But something in her stomach didn’t feel the elation her voice carried.
“She wants you to head it up. Just like I head up the spa here in the Upper East Side. As far as anyone knows, it’s your business. You run it, you’re the face behind all its success.
How do you feel about that?”
“I feel . . . I feel completely dumbstruck and honored.”
“That’s what I told her you’d say. So when do you think you can get back here?”
“It’s not that easy, Devlin. Zak has started building the spa, and—”
“Did you ask him to do that?”
“Well, I—he did it to get me started. My friends—”
“Your friends are trying to make something of a nothing town on little more than a wing and a prayer. What I’m offering you . . . what Mrs. Shapiro is offering you, is what you said you wanted. Your own high-end spa. You’ll be equipped with everything I have here, and you’ll cater to a younger audience.
It couldn’t be more perfect for you, Julia. It’s everything that I trained you for.”
“But why didn’t you tell me before you came to Smitten?”
“I didn’t know Mrs. Shapiro wanted to open another spa. I was going to back you with my own money in Smitten, regardless of what your boyfriend thought. I believe in you and your abilities, but I don’t know anything about how small towns work.
I understand the island of Manhattan. I know this is a surefire hit. Would you trade that for what is, at best, a long shot?”
She walked back to the brick sidewalk of Main Street and focused on the green clock and the oversize wreath of faith hanging from beneath the clock’s face. Was faith leaving logic behind and trusting? Or was that nothing more than stupidity? Didn’t God say to be as wise as serpents? That meant using what information you’d been given, not just blindly going forth on a feeling.
“Give me a day to think about it, Devlin. It’s a huge change, and I have to make sure my mother is well enough to be left on her own now.”
“Your mother’s a big girl. She can find the help she needs. She wouldn’t want to hold her daughter back. I’ll give you a day, no more. Mrs. Shapiro is ready to go on this, and don’t think I can’t find a replacement for you. But you know I want you, Julia. It’s not your responsibility to save that town.
You have to think about yourself! What will you do with your future if that town dies again?”
“I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Think about what I said.”