Joy and Tiers (22 page)

“Kiera, this is the craziest roller coaster ride ever,” I try to explain as the girls are helping me do laundry and clean up my house after my unscheduled trip to Texas. “One minute, I can’t stand him and he’s pushing buttons I never even knew I had and the next minute, it’s like he’s my greatest cheerleader. All I know is I would’ve never survived this trip without him.” 

 “Heather, Tara and I have been trying to tell you that for years,” Kiera says with a shrug. “At one point, I think even my dad tried to talk some sense into you.”

“Yeah, but I thought maybe your opinions of him were skewed because you knew all about our long sordid history. But, Ty was just coming in to all of this as a virtual stranger and he came out of it with the same impression. So, it’s been a real eye-opener for me. Who knows, if I hang around Tyler long enough I might just become less tongue tied around my dad and tell them what I really think.”

“It would be a refreshing change of pace for you. I wonder what your family would think if they were ever introduced to the Heather that we all know and love?” Tara asks as she looks me over carefully. “Speaking of that, I like this new you. It’s less artificial and more real. It’s the Heather we all knew was in there under all the makeup and vintage clothes. You’re actually showing glimpses of your true self.”

As I process the implications of Tara’s statement, I blush a deep shade of red.

Kiera just laughs at me. “Oh, have I ever been there! But, unlike some people, I’m not going to demand you tell me every single detail— unless of course you want to tell us. On the other hand, it might be awkward for me to know since Tyler is Jeff’s best friend.”

Hmm, I could have some real fun with this. “So… I suppose that means you don’t want to hear how we had hot, monkey sex for hours on end while we were away?” I ask, working hard to keep my expression innocent.

Kiera chokes on her Nantucket Nectar— serves her right for drinking that stuff, why can’t she drink a good old-fashioned pop like the rest of us?

“Pardon me?” she asks when she stops wheezing. “I think I’ve listened to too much of Mindy’s One Direction and Justin Bieber and it’s beginning to affect my hearing. I don’t think I heard you correctly.”

I smirk at her as I reply, “Nope, you heard me just fine.”

Tara interrupts me and declares, “You talk big but unfortunately you’re not telling the truth. So, what were you really doing in Texas?”

I should have known Tara is more accurate than any polygraph machine and I wouldn’t be able to get away with it. I just laugh and say, “I’m just kidding—although we did have some epic make out sessions, there was no sex involved. He did help me draw up some plans for the new bakery. Do you want to see them?”

Kiera nods vigorously as she exclaims, “Of course we would, silly woman! This is more exciting than hearing about your alleged sex life.”

I pull out the drawings Tyler and I made. The simultaneous gasps from Kiera and Tara confirm my suspicions that we are on the right track.

“I give you Joy and Tiers,” I announce with pride. The emotion of saying it out loud is more powerful than I expect and I start to tear up.

“What’s that?” Tara asks pointing to the other tube.

“Oh, it’s just something that I got from Madison. I’m not sure what it is. I think it’s something from my grandmother’s estate but I’m not really sure,” I explain.

“Well, don’t keep us in suspense. Open it,” Tara directs.

“Okay, hold your horses, I will. But, I don’t want to break something. Whatever’s in here looks really fragile.”

As I open it, I’m stunned to see pictures very much like the ones Tyler and I developed. They are much older, of course, and done in pen and ink. Yet they are incredibly similar. Across the top written in my grandma’s neat penmanship, it says
Heather’s Fine Bakery
.

Unable to contain myself any longer, I collapse to the floor in a puddle of tears and begin to sob. Tara gets on her knees behind me and wraps her arms around me in a tight hug. She just clings to me. Obviously, being around Aidan has really helped her with her comfort level around people. Kiera brings me a glass of water and a warm, wet washrag. I wipe my face and begin to collect myself.

I go back over to the table to examine my grandmother’s plans. A date catches my eye. A chill travels up my spine when I realize that I was only nine years old when she had these drafted for me. I carefully lay hers side-by-side with the ones I drew up with Tyler. There are some stylistic differences, but the basic concept is strikingly similar. 

“So, if these came from your grandma, where did you get these other drawings?” Kiera asks as she studies both sets.

“Would you believe Tyler drew these for me?” I explain with pride in my voice.

“He did?" Tara and Kiera exclaim simultaneously.

“Who knew a heart of an artist beats under all that muscle of your G.I. Joe?” teases Tara.

“I know it shocked me. I had no idea he was this talented. Talk about hiding your light under a bushel. He’d like you to believe all he does is issue tickets for underage drinking and pot smokers and break up a few bar fights now and then,” I remark.

A look of astonishment crosses Kiera’s face as she tentatively remarks, “You guys haven’t really honestly talked about what he does on the job, have you?”

“Not really. Every once in a while, he’ll make a cryptic remark here and there. But, he doesn’t really talk about his job all that much,” I confess.

“The confidentiality thing is hard on Jeff too, but don’t let Ty fool you. His job is extremely tough and complicated. He’s only sharing the tip of the iceberg,” Kiera advises. “So, when he does talk, you need to
really
listen. I’ve been friends with him a while and I didn’t even know he had this talent.”

“He said something about being an architecture major when he was in college,” I explain.

Tara is studying the drawings very carefully, she looks at me with a look of admiration on her face and says absentmindedly, “Huh, I wonder why he quit? Because this shows more than just technical skill. He could have been absolutely brilliant. So, what are you planning to do with these?” She says as she traces the graceful lines with her fingers.

“I don’t know really.” I answer honestly. “I wasn’t expecting to get any money for my grandma’s estate and now I have enough to make my wildest dreams come true. Unfortunately, I have to run a business plan through my family as a condition of getting the money. So, I have to find a specific location and develop a marketing plan. I guess I’ll probably need to find myself some staff as well. I’m hoping Piper will want to make the move to a physical location with me. I don’t know yet whether I’ll need to hire more staff or not because I don’t know how large my location will be.”

“Did you know the candy store next to Gwendolyn’s floral shop is planning to go out of business? They are going to go back to Ohio to take care of their aging parents. I don’t know if they would have the ovens that you would need for a bakery, but you could always ask Gwendolyn,” Kiera suggests.

“That’s cool, but how would Gwendolyn know about the ovens? Besides, there’s probably a waiting list for that place. The location is the perfect retail space for a little restaurant.” 

Kiera and Tara look at each other in surprise and laugh as they say in unison, “You haven’t heard?”

“Heard what?” I ask, in confusion.

“Gwendolyn bought the whole building with her divorce settlement from Kevin ‘The-Jerk-Wad’. When she leased her place, she was smart enough to ask for first purchase rights if the landlord ever wanted to sell and the timing just happened to be absolutely perfect. So, she got it for a song because she’d been such a long term tenant,” Kiera explains.

 “Do you think she would be interested in renting it to me even though the only experience I have is on a food truck?” I ask, almost afraid to get my hopes up.

 “Probably,” Kiera answers, nodding her head. “Gwendolyn is an honorary member of the Girlfriend Posse now and one of your biggest fans. She would want to see you succeed. Why wouldn’t she rent to you? You’ve turned your food truck into an amazing success.”

“Should I call her, or would it be too presumptuous?” I press, barely able to contain my excitement.

Tara just rolls her eyes at me, “Just call already. You know you’re not going to do any more laundry after the conversation we’ve just had. You might as well call your hunk of a boyfriend and let him know about your grandma’s plans and show Gwendolyn too. If I know anything about Gwendolyn, I suspect you all will be meeting with her favorite decorator before the end of the week. But, if it were me, I would just use Donda. That girl has some mad skill.”

“I know about a certain little girl’s bedroom that tells me you’ve got some pretty mad skill too,” I retort.

“So, they’re just planning to leave all this equipment behind?” I ask as I look around at the 20 quart mixers and industrial food processors. 

“Yes, they said they have no use for them. They wanted me to try to sell all of it for them. I was going to try to go on eBay or Craigslist and see what I could get for all of this stuff,” Gwendolyn replies.

“Don’t you have a new tenant lined up?” I inquire carefully, not wanting to appear overly anxious.

“No, honestly I was hoping that they might change their mind. They’ve been here for so long that I didn’t want them to lose their family business,” Gwendolyn explains sheepishly. “I was hoping if I didn’t do anything, the situation might just resolve itself.”

“Well, I don’t know if you’re willing to take a risk on a new business but I have an idea for you. My grandmother just passed away and left me a pretty substantial pot of money with the caveat that I start a bakery with the proceeds. I think a bakery that specializes in special occasion cakes would complement a florist very well. I graduated in the top of my class at culinary school and I specialize in pastries and baked goods. My grandmother has had this dream of me opening a bakery since I was nine years old.”

“That sounds lovely, dear.” Gwendolyn replies. “I think you’ll do a fine job. I was eating at your food truck long before I was introduced to you. Your barbecue brisket slider is one of my favorites and your strawberry cheesecake is heaven on earth. Imagine my surprise when Jeffrey introduced you as Kiera’s best friend. I think you should meet with Justice Gardener. I’d have you talk with Jeffrey, but he considers himself my attorney now and I think he can get in trouble if he gives us both advice. So, I think you should talk to William instead. But, I think we can come up with an agreement that’s beneficial to us both. May I see those plans again? These are quite remarkable. Are you sure these were drawn nearly 20 years apart?” Gwendolyn inquires as she studies the plans side-by-side.

“Positive,” I confirm as I watch her go over the plans with a fine toothed comb. “I watched Tyler draw these right in front of me.”

“He did?” She says, sounding surprised. “What a clever boy! I knew there’s more to him than he lets on. He must like you a lot to put his heart and soul into these sketches.”

Her observation makes my heart skip a beat as I consider its veracity. It’s true. Despite all of his assertions to the contrary, Tyler has done everything in his power to cement our bonds and make them very, very permanent. He has shared things with me that he doesn’t usually share with anyone else. In fact, he’s been quite open with me about a lot of things from his recent past to his very ancient past. He has done everything in his power to make his feelings known about me. Even, when it makes me feel uncomfortable to know how he’s feeling.

“Gwendolyn, is it okay if I ask you a question?” I ask. “This isn’t related to the business. This is very personal. I’m not very close to my mom, and I don’t know who else to ask.”

“Of course dear. I don’t mind. But, you might want to take my advice with a grain of salt. As you might have noticed, I’m not the best at relationships.”

“Oh, that’s okay. I’d rather have that kind of advice. Because it’s real world and not just something they can replicate in a lab somewhere because it makes a good research paper,” I respond with a quirky smile.

“That’s me for sure. Just call me Ms. Real-Life-School-of-Hard-Knocks.”

“You’ve probably guessed by now that I kind of have a thing for Tyler,” I admit sheepishly. “But, I’m not really sure where we stand. He just helped me through a really difficult time in my life and I’d like to do the same for him but I don’t know if I have the right to. To make matters worse, he might not even like what I have to say. It might drive a wedge between us before we even start to get to know each other. I don’t want to ruin a good thing.”

“Well, if there’s anything I learned in the whole debacle of my farce of a marriage it’s that secrets are poisonous. If you guys have any chance at success, you need to be telling the truth to each other right up front.” Gwendolyn advises.

 “What if the truth has the potential to hurt him, but withholding it has the potential to hurt others?” I ask, deep despair clawing at my gut.

 “Do you feel you can trust Tyler? Is he the type of man that would take the truth without striking back and hurting you?” Gwendolyn probes with a look of concern on her face.