CHAPTER Fifteen:

   Work was far less stressful when Lauren knew Willow was in capable hands. Aunt Betsy had to look after both a girl and a puppy now, but she didn’t seem to mind.

   Lauren had several visitors at work. First, Chuck came and set up a schedule for her. He was planning on being away, but he laid out everything she needed to do while he was gone.

   Amanda came in, to brag about her date with Raymond, and how she was having another one that evening. Lauren wouldn’t talk to her about it. If Amanda wanted to believe he’d changed, she could. But she would be disappointed.

   Grant hadn’t stopped in. Lauren smiled and thought that he must be out fighting crime somewhere. Maybe two of the ladies at the knitting club had gotten into a spat and stabbed each other with their needles. 

   Two customers entered the store, pulling her out of her imagination. Raymond and Foster Howland. Just who I’d wanted to see, she thought sarcastically.

   Foster’s glossy blond hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and she wore black leather pants. They were uncomfortable in the humid weather, but they were stylish, and that’s all she cared about. 

   “What?” Raymond returned Lauren’s glare. “Is it illegal to enter a store?”

   Lauren plastered a smile on her face. “Of course not. I was just admiring your bruise. It’s such a lovely colour now.”

   He instinctively reached up and touched it, wincing as he did so. It had started fading to a greenish-yellow colour. The swelling was gone.

   Foster went towards the fridges, and he followed her. Lauren was glad she didn’t have to look at his infuriating face anymore. 

   Foster reappeared, carrying a bottle of expensive smoothie, but he wasn’t trailing behind her. 

   “That’ll be five dollars.”

   The sound of something shattering distracted the two of them before she could pay. Had someone broken a window?

   Lauren ran towards the noise and skidded to a stop in front of Raymond. His hands were planted firmly on his hips, and his expression was almost sheepish. Tiny green shards were scattered across the floor.

   “What happened?” Lauren froze and put a hand over her mouth in horror.

   The jade sculpture.

   Mrs. Tilney had ordered it specially, from some artisan place. It had arrived the day before. They had paid two hundred dollars for it, but it was one sale for more.

   “Oh, Raymond!” Foster moved up to him. “Are you all right?”

   “Oh, Raymond?!” A red flush covered Lauren’s face. “He’s not the one shattered all over the floor. Though I wish he was!”
   He rubbed his arm. “Yes, Foster. Thank you for your concern, I’m fine.”

   “Do you know how much this cost?” Lauren fell to the floor and tried to piece it together. It was hopeless. “You’re going to pay the costs!”

   Raymond shrugged, letting a lazy grin slide over his face. “It was sitting too far off the display. That’s your fault, you shouldn’t have been so careless. I barely touched it.”

   He turned and began to saunter across the store, as though the conversation was over. Lauren pushed to her feet, burning with fury.

   “You are a liar! This was not an accident.” She looked around the store and lowered her voice. “You know I’m struggling with my debts. Either pay for this now or get out of the store and never come back.”

   A little voice of warning flashed through her head, she knew she needed to calm down. The siblings were getting the upper hand because of their cool.

   “What’s wrong with you, Lauren? Why so moody? It’s just a statue.” Foster flipped her ponytail and picked up the price tag. “Come on, you wouldn’t even spend that during a day at the mall.”

   Raymond watched Lauren carefully, his blue eyes cold and calculating. “I’m not paying you a cent.” He stepped closer. “And you know what? If Amanda was here, she’d side with me. It was your fault.”
   Lauren’s head pounded. “Don’t you talk about her. Amanda is not your friend,” she jabbed a finger at him.

   “Is that so? Lately, she seems to be quite...” He scoffed and raised an eyebrow. “Friendly with me. Not so much with you though. Did she tell you about our date tonight?’

   White stars seemed to swim in Lauren’s vision. She couldn’t contradict what he’d said. 

   Foster chuckled. “It might be worth noting that our parents are good friends with the president of the university she applied to. You wouldn’t want to do anything to ruin her chances, would you?”

   “If you hurt Amanda. You’ll regret it.” Lauren raised her hand to slap the smug look off Raymond’s face.

   Before her palm could make contact, he caught it and twisted her arm. She whimpered as pain seared through her wrist. The siblings turned and stalked out the door, Foster leading the way.

   The door shut behind them, and Lauren sank to the ground. Her wrist throbbed. There was no way she was going to be lifting bales at the farm in the evening. Sobs shook her shoulder, and she pressed her good hand over her face. 

   Worse than the pain was the realization. She couldn’t do anything about Raymond, but her sarcastic comments were only making things worse. If she’d only bit them back, maybe none of this would have happened. Then she’d almost slapped him. Where had that come from?

   Maybe he had been right. Maybe she had moved the statue out of place. She couldn’t remember doing so, but maybe in her rush, she’d forgotten. 

   It was too late to do anything about it. No one else was going to pay for it. 

The door jingled and she pulled herself up out of the pathetic heap she’d been on the floor. She turned to the wall and wiped her eyes. It was company policy to keep personal matters away from the customers. 

   “Be there in a moment.” Her voice was rough, even though she tried to sound normal.

She smoothed back her hair and turned to find the broom.

   “Is everything all right, Lauren?” Grant asked, surprising her.

   “Yes, just fine.” She prayed her eyes weren’t too red-rimmed, but tears were threatening to overflow again.

   She pushed past him and headed towards the storage room to find a broom.

   “I saw the Howland siblings leaving. They looked far too pleased with themselves.” His gaze swept the floor, taking in the scene. “Was this their doing?”

   “It was a mistake. That’s all. A mistake.” Lauren took a moment in the safety of the back room to compose herself. She splashed cold water on her face, then grabbed the broom with her good hand and hurried back. 

   Grant watched as she swept the shards into a pile. A frown darkened his face. 

   “This is all getting to be too much for you. With Willow and the debt and all.”        Concern was etched in the lines of his face. “Let me help you. I have a good stash of savings, and they’re just sitting in the bank.”

   “I have to do this myself.” Lauren continued sweeping.

   “You don’t need to prove anything to anyone. I hope you realize that. We all know you are strong.”

   Lauren grasped the broom with both hands and continued her effort with more vigour. The handle caught on the corner of a shelf, pushing against her wrist. “Ouch!” She hissed, then caught herself. 

   “What happened to your arm?”

   “You know how clumsy I am.” Lauren wouldn’t look him in the eyes. “I twisted it by accident.”

   He stepped closer. “Let me see.”

   She protested but reluctantly held it out. He pressed his fingers against her wrist, and her face screwed up in pain. He winced too.

   “This is probably a sprain. You should have it checked out.”

   “It’ll be fine.” She turned away, but he caught her shoulder and stopped her. 

   “Raymond did it.”

   “It was my fault.”

   It wasn’t exactly a lie, she told herself. She had been going to slap him, so it was technically her fault. If she’d just left him alone, he would have left her alone. 

   “Then how did it happen?”

   She picked up the dustpan and carried it across the store. He followed on her heels. 

   “It doesn’t matter.”
   “Lauren, stop. It does matter.”

   She rolled her eyes and rummaged around the back room for a bucket. One peeked out from behind a box. 

   “Did you hear the news?
   “No.” His eyebrows were knit together, but he let her change the topic. 

   She dumped the shards of jade into the bucket. “We got a puppy.”

   “What?” His expression softened, he almost looked like his usual self. “When? Why haven’t I been invited over to me the new addition to your family yet?”

   “Grant Stevens, I hereby invite you to come over sometime, and meet Westley Quinley.” Lauren smiled at him. 

   He smiled back. “Only if you tell me what happened.”

   Before she could say anything more, Riley burst into the store. Her face was pinched and she came over and looked into the bucket.

   “Is that jade?” She said it too quickly to have been ignorant of what had happened.

Truth be told, she’d met the Howland siblings in the parking lot. They’d related the story through laughter, and in return, she’d given them a piece of her mind.

   “Wow.” Riley picked up a piece and held it up to the light. “I’ve been looking for some for a while now. For a project. Would you mind if I took this off your hands?”

   “Of course not.” Lauren knew it wouldn’t be needed at the store anymore, and she didn’t want to keep it in her sight. “Just take the whole bucket. 

   “Don’t be silly. This is valuable.” She smiled. “Just got my paycheck, and I am ready to splurge. How about two-fifty, and a free puppy check-up?”

   Lauren gaped at her, then glanced back at Grant. He winked at her. 

   “I think that means she accepts your offer.” His smile was wide.

   Thank you, Lord, Lauren prayed silently. That was one problem solved.

 

ef

 

   After a long day of work, Lauren stood in the kitchen, staring at the phone with narrowed eyes.

   In the living room, Willow lay on the couch, fast asleep. Her cheeks were flushed with sleep and sunshine. Playing with Westley all day had tired her out.

   Lauren knew things couldn’t go on as they, were but it didn’t make the task in front of her any easier. Before she could second guess, she picked up the phone and dialled the number. The phone rang twice, then three times and she was about to lose her nerve and hang up. 

   “Hello?” Claire Howland’s voice was clipped, as always.

   “Hello,” Lauren tried to sound sweet. “May I please speak to Raymond?”

   She hoped he wasn’t home.

   “Just a moment.” Claire set down the phone and called for her son.

   Lauren glanced through the doorway to make sure Willow was still asleep. Heated words sounded on the other side of the line. Just my luck, she thought. He was in a bad mood.

   “What do you want?” He picked up the phone and spat out the words.

   “Hey.” Lauren cleared her throat and mustered up all the courage she could manage. “Listen, I don’t understand why you hate me so much.”
   There was silence on the other side of the line.

   “I understand that we both don’t like each other, I haven’t always been kind to you.”

   After an awkward moment, she heard shuffling on the other side of the line.

   “That’s why you called? To have some kind of heart to heart?” He asked, scoffing.

   “Listen, let’s call it a truce. About the incident today, maybe I misplaced the statue.” She shook her head. “Maybe you pushed it on purpose. Whatever happened, it’s done now. I should not have reacted the way I did. Sorry.”

   She studied the pattern on the tiles on the floor and waited for his scalding response. 

   “Well...” When he finally spoke, his voice almost sounded remorseful. Almost. “Whatever. I have to go.”

   “Okay. Do you have anything you want to say?”

   He hung up. That went well, thought Lauren sarcastically. He didn’t apologize, but she hadn’t expected him to.

   All she could hope was that it might smooth things over between them. He’d leave her alone, and she’d leave him alone. It wasn’t likely, but at least now she could say she had tried. 

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   Charlotte had never been good at apologies. She’d had many opportunities to practice because she was good at getting herself in situations where they were needed. But she never practiced. It was easier to run away.

   This time, she felt that she had crossed a line. Lacey had shown her only kindness. She expected nothing but a slammed door in her face, but she had to do something. The jealousy and foolishness that had taken control of her couldn’t be excused.

   The apartment building was quiet. She pushed the button for the second floor and watched the silver elevator doors slowly slide shut. It reminded her of an event not so long before. 

   Don’t come back when you hit rock bottom. We. Are. Done.

   Were his words coming true? It sure seemed like she’d hit rock bottom.

   The bell dinged, and the doors opened again. Charlotte walked into the hallway with reluctant steps, then knocked at the door. It opened a crack, and someone looked at her, then it opened wider.

   “Can I help you?” A man with green eyes and a skeptical expression looked at her.

   “Yes, is Lacey here?” Charlotte avoided his gaze.

   “Of course!” His face warmed, a smile brightening his countenance. “You must be Charlotte Quinley. My wife told me how thrilled she was that you had dropped in.”

   “Oh.” She swallowed the knot in her throat. 

   So, he knew. And no doubt he knew more than that she’d dropped in. But he was ushering her inside.

   “I’m Kevin.” He reached out a welcoming hand, and she shook it.

   They stood in the hallway, and for the first time, Charlotte noticed the paintings hanging from the walls. One pictured a colourful vase of flowers, and the other was of a teacup, all cracked and broken. Thin gold veins held the pieces together.

   “Who’s there, honey?” Lacey’s voice sounded from the living room.

   Charlotte began to get nervous again. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

   “It’s your friend! Charlotte!” Kevin called back. He led her towards the living room.

   They stopped in the doorway. She wouldn’t look over at the sofa, where she knew Lacey was sitting.

   “I was so worried about you!” The woman jumped up and enveloped her in a bear hug.

   Charlotte half-heartedly returned it. She wanted to turn and leave, especially after receiving such a warm welcome. If they were angry with her, it would have made it easier.

   “Come, let’s sit down.” Lacey led her to the sofa.

   “Thank you.” She whispered as she sat down.

   Kevin sent his wife a look of encouragement, then slipped out of the room so the women could have some privacy.

   “I’m so sorry,” Lacey began. “I tend to babble on about myself. It wasn’t my intention to brag or put you down. Please forgive me.”

   Did I hear her correctly? Charlotte stared at her. She didn’t deserve an apology. After all, she’d been the one storming out while shouting insults. Lacey had only been gracious.

   “Actually,” Charlotte blinked at her, and tripped over her own words, “the reason I’m here is to apologize. It was very rude and cruel of me to say what I did.”

   “You were honest with me, and I’m thankful for that,” Lacey said softly. “I’m glad you told me what was on your heart.”

   Charlotte’s cheeks reddened, as her own words were recalled to mind.

   “It wasn’t true. If I were perfectly honest, I would have told you that I was jealous. This week has been... a dead-end street. And I saw everything you have, and I was jealous.” 

   "Oh, Charlotte.” Lacey’s eyes glistened. “I know how you’ve struggled. Kevin and I have discussed it. If you want, we can try to make your week less of a dead-end road. I know you want to get back to your daughter. If we can help speed that up, please let us.”

   “You’d still want to help me?” Charlotte raised her eyebrows. 

   Lacey nodded. 

   “Thank you.” It was Charlotte’s turn to hug her friend. Her smile was genuine this time. “I don’t deserve this, and I don’t deserve you.”