Bittersweet Surrender (22 page)

“As you know, the teen coffee shop at the church is finished.”

Scott nodded, wondering what this had to do with him.

“Pastor thought it would be nice if they named the coffee shop after Ivy. In her honor.” Her lips broke into a smile. “Of course, I knew you would be all for the idea. He wants to bring it before the board for a vote.”

His stomach plunged. Not that he didn't want his wife to be remembered, but if word got out about the embezzlement and he allowed her name to go up for the coffee shop . . . Well, he just didn't feel good about it. But seeing the hope in Magnolia's face, could he deny her this? Ivy was her only child. She needed this. Who was he to stop her?

Still, an embezzler . . .

Just then Amber ran into the room, breathless. “Scott, we have a leak in the laundry room. Water is squirting everywhere out of a back hose.”

“I'm on it,” he said, rising. “I'm sorry, Magnolia. I'll talk to you later.”

Before she could blink, Scott was out the door, thanking God for the interruption. He needed time to think this through. And he knew there would be no easy answer.

It was only after he reached the laundry room that he remembered the ruby ring in the little velvet bag in his desk drawer. Not a great place for something valuable, but he had hoped it would jog his memory to ask Magnolia about it. Then, when he had the chance, he had forgotten.

He needed to deal with that. And soon.

“Did you talk to Scott much this after
noon?” Magnolia asked Carly later that night over tea.

Carly shook her head. “We were fairly busy today. Why do you ask?”

Magnolia explained the situation with the coffeehouse. “I thought he'd get right back to me, but I haven't heard a word.” Her soft cheeks sagged with the downturn of her lips. “Sometimes I think he's forgotten Ivy already.”

Carly gasped. “Magnolia, you know that isn't true. How can you say such a thing?”

Magnolia's face looked pinched, as though a bunion was bothering her.

“Because it's true. He never had time for her when she was alive, and he has no time for her now that she's gone.”

“Magnolia, please don't talk about Scott in that way. You know how much I loved Ivy. But I care about Scott too. I knew them both well, and they were in love.”

Magnolia lifted her chin, a stubborn stance she rarely used. “Well, why hasn't he called? Why wouldn't he want the coffee shop named after my daughter? Because of guilt, that's why. It would be a constant reminder of—”

Carly held up her hand. “I will not let you go on, Magnolia. I love you, and I loved Ivy. I also love Scott. There will be no bashing him in my house.”

Carly felt proud of herself for defending Scott this way. It was hard for her to speak her mind, but on this she had no trouble.

Magnolia said nothing. She merely picked up her cup and saucer and left the room.

Carly had a feeling this wasn't over by a long shot.

“Amber wants to see if she can change her
hours from eight to three instead of five. With her son home from school for the summer, she wanted to spend some time with him. Then, when school starts, she'd be able to be home when he got off the bus,” Scott said as he clicked keys on his computer.

Carly cringed. Change didn't come easily for her. She wanted things to run like a well-oiled machine, and the minute someone upset the normal flow of things, the bubble always had a rippling effect.

“What did you tell her?” Carly asked.

“Told her I would let you know. After all, this is your business.”

Most owners would probably resent their employees talking business things over with their accountant, but Carly was fine with it. Even though Scott didn't have a financial investment in the business, he was a big help to her in handling situations as they cropped up. Yet, the fact it was Amber bothered her a little. They were friends, after all, so why didn't Amber come to her? Things had been a little different between them since Carly found Amber at the other spa. Amber seemed a little embarrassed by it all. In reality, it didn't bother Carly. She just wished she could help Amber more.

“Scott, you know I value your opinion on the business. What do you think I should do? I want to help her with family time, but I also want to do what's best for the business, so I'm not sure.” Carly supposed the extra hours Amber got at the Smitten Spa enabled her to take fewer hours with Carly. Somehow this made the request even more irksome.

“Hey, how about hiring Jake's daughter? She gets off school around then. She could come in and work an hour or two a day. Wouldn't take much from her schoolwork, and it would give her a little cash flow.”

Carly brightened. That was exactly why she enjoyed bouncing off ideas with Scott. “That's a great idea, Scott.”

Pulling out a couple of pistachios, she shelled and popped one into her mouth. “I don't know what kind of worker she is, though. And what if it doesn't work out? Would that mess up things between me and Jake?”

“Oh, don't go there. Give the kid a break. If she doesn't want to work she'll tell you no.”

“Maybe.” Carly thought a little longer. “You're right,” she said brightly. “It just might work. I'll call her tonight.”

“Good.” Scott's index finger tapped on his lips as he studied his computer screen. Whatever he was working on had his full attention.

Carly wondered if she should bring up the matter of the coffee shop being named after Ivy. She didn't want to upset him. Maybe she'd just see if she could pull it out of him, get him to talk it over with her so she could offer Magnolia a shred of hope. It seemed Magnolia's world was caught up in Ivy and that worried Carly.

“So I was talking to Magnolia last night,” she said, stuffing a file folder back in the cabinet. That was a smart thing to say. She talked to Magnolia every night.

“Um-hum,” Scott said, not so much as lifting a fleeting glance in her direction.

“She said something about you were supposed to call her.” Carly peeked at him over the top of another folder.

He turned toward her. “Did she tell you what it was about?”

Carly's lashes dropped. She stared at her folder and tried to act nonchalant. “Oh, something about the coffee shop?”

He positively turned to stone.

“Scott, what's wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong. I just think it shouldn't be named for an individual, but rather the church as a whole.”

She could see his point, but she didn't know what it would hurt to have Ivy's name on it. Magnolia's words played back in her mind, but she wouldn't believe for a minute that Scott didn't care about Ivy. If he felt her name shouldn't be used on the coffee shop, he had a good reason.

“The congregation loved Ivy. It would make them happy to give her the honor—”

He stood. “People aren't perfect, Carly. We shouldn't idolize them.” With that he rose from his chair and stomped out of the room, leaving Carly utterly speechless.

Later that evening when Jake came over to
Carly's house, she decided to talk over the idea of Katelyn working at the spa with him first. They found their usual spot on the front porch swing and settled in with a bowl of popcorn.

“What's on this popcorn?” Jake asked, studying a kernel potted with brown debris.

“Flaxseed,” Carly said, straightening her shoulders and lifting her chin. She knew he would be proud of her healthy take on life.

He wasn't. He looked at her as though she was a scientific experiment—gone bad.

“What?” To say his reaction was disappointing was an understatement. “Well, I'm a fan of flaxseed as much as the next health person, but on popcorn?” He winced.

Carly brightened. “I'm very much into healthy eating.” Well, okay, that was a half truth, but she'd recently heard of the health benefits of flaxseed and decided to give it a try.

He flashed a heart-melting grin and winked. “That's my girl.” His fingers wrapped around hers and gave her a squeeze.

My girl?
Did that mean they were engaged? Going steady? Kid sister? What?

“I signed up at the gym today. Worked out for a couple of hours. It felt great to get back into my usual routine. Take care of your body and it will take care of you, I always say.” He grabbed a handful of popcorn and shoved it into his mouth.

Carly wondered where she'd gone wrong with her body but refused to think about it just now. “So where's Katelyn tonight?”

He stiffened, which surprised her.

“She's at home.” He shoveled in more popcorn.

“You know, Jake, you're more than welcome to bring Katelyn over when you come here. She might prefer that to staying at home alone.”

“No offense, Carly, but you've never had children, so I think you'd better leave the parenting to me.”

His tone made her throat constrict. Was this their first fight? “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to overstep my boundary.”

Carly could feel the salt and butter on his fingers when he grabbed her hand again.

“No problem.” He sighed. “Katelyn and I have a lot of problems, and it's just hard to talk about sometimes.”

Carly hesitated, wondering if she should bring up the work thing right now. Maybe she should clear it with Katelyn first to see if the girl even wanted the job. On the other hand, if she mentioned it to Katelyn and her dad didn't want her to do it, what then? Carly decided to plunge ahead.

“Listen, Jake, I don't know if this is something that might help, but we need someone to work at the spa from three thirty till five each day. Scott had mentioned maybe Katelyn would be a good fit. She likes the spa. It wouldn't interfere with school since it's after hours and it's not long enough to interfere with her schoolwork. Might keep her occupied and out of trouble. What do you think?”

He was silent for a moment, and Carly wondered if she had done the right thing by bringing it up. Their night didn't seem to be getting any better.

Jake rubbed his jaw, then looked at her with a grin. “I think that's a great idea.”

Hope shot through her. “Really?”

“Yeah.” He sat taller in the swing. “She loves that kind of stuff, and she needs something to do. Plus, she could stand to earn some money.”

“If it works out and she likes it, we could probably fit her in on some Saturdays too.” Carly was feeling quite pleased with the whole thing. Especially as Jake put his arm back around her and cuddled her closer.

Her day was definitely improving. Carly just hoped Katelyn would be as happy with the idea as they were.

After Jake left, Carly went to bed and thought through the day. She couldn't imagine why Scott would be so set against the coffeehouse being named after Ivy. Was it a matter of humility? Did he think Ivy wouldn't want that? It would be so encouraging for Magnolia.

Her stepmother had hardly said a word through dinner. The whole thing seemed to weigh heavily upon Magnolia's mind. What could it hurt for Scott to give in on this? He could be so stubborn sometimes.

She'd have to be the mediator. She was the only one who had their best interests at heart, and she couldn't see a thing wrong with having the coffee shop named after Ivy. After all, Ivy had given a lot of her time and talents to the church. She loved coffee shops, so it seemed fitting and proper that the church would honor her in this way—to say nothing of Magnolia's and Scott's devotion to the church. What could Scott possibly have against the idea?

Her scrambled thoughts continued throughout the night, giving her a fitful sleep. She'd find a way to make this all work.

There wasn't anything she wouldn't do for Ivy.

fourteen

Scott threw off his covers and thumped out
of bed, making Superman's ears perk up. He'd spent the night thinking and had decided he might need to sell something as well as get a loan for the money Ivy had taken. With Carly's disbursement check coming up, he had little to offer. She would definitely know something was wrong, and he'd have to explain.

How could Ivy do this to her best friend? She had to be desperate about something. Drugs? Wouldn't he have known if she was involved in drugs? He couldn't imagine it in a million years. But then, he couldn't imagine her embezzling money from Carly either.

Pulling open his dresser drawer, he threw on some clothes and walked into the kitchen to start the coffee. Superman yawned and trotted happily along behind. There had to be a solution to all this. If only Scott could figure out what it was.

He picked up the phone to call Brian, then thought better of it. Though he could tell his brother almost anything, he wasn't sure he could share this news about Ivy with anyone—even Brian. It made him feel he was betraying her, dishonoring her memory.

Once the coffee was ready, he poured himself a cup and sat at the table. One thing he knew—he could not let the teen coffeehouse be named after her. It wouldn't be right. If word ever got out, it could put the church in an embarrassing situation, to say nothing of how it would hurt Magnolia and Carly to be reminded of what Ivy did every time they went to church.