Secretly Smitten (22 page)

M
orning at the lake was always postcard-perfect. The shingled cabins across the lake reflected a mirror image of themselves over the water. The soothing image negated everything Zoe was feeling, and she was reminded that when times looked their darkest, God was at work. Cupid’s Arrow had been a success, but at what cost? She came away from the window and saw her mother carrying a tea tray.

“What are you looking for?” Anna asked.

Zoe sat down on the small love seat. “I was hoping William might come by, actually.”

“I have a feeling William might be done with Smitten and its women.”

“Don’t make me feel worse, Mom.”

“He did try to tell you, Zoe.”

“I couldn’t have known everyone in Smitten was going to show up!”

“This is a supportive town.”

“I’ve got to come up with the money to fix the wiring. My contract promises that there will be weekly events for members, and I’ve been warned I can’t open the business doors again until I’ve met with the fire department.”

“Zoe, I’m not sure why things happen the way they do, but you did break the law.”

“I didn’t. Not technically. I had the fire department’s approval.”

“But didn’t William tell you that the building wasn’t up to code for a gathering—even a small one?”

“Whose side are you on?”

“There are no sides here, Zoe.” Her mother backed down the way she always did. Anna hated conflict.

Zoe looked at the tea tray. Her mom had set out small cookies and linen napkins that Zoe didn’t even know she possessed.

“That’s all my stuff, from my kitchen?”

Anna nodded. “If you weren’t so busy cooking for everyone and using Tupperware, you’d know you have some very nice things from your grandmother and your aunts. You might think about inviting William here to dinner sometime.”

Zoe’s stomach fluttered at the mention of his name before she remembered his face at the grand opening the night before. And the way Carson spoke to him, and the way he left without a word. William had been right, but she knew Carson—he wasn’t the sort of man to accept excuses. And though she barely knew him, something told her William wasn’t the type to offer them.

“If I have to refund everyone’s money, Cupid’s Arrow is dead. Even with the fire department showing up last night and cutting everything short, I had seventy-seven signups.” She poured herself a cup of tea. “Maybe they felt sorry for me.”

“Or maybe they saw that you can deliver what you promised. You always were the girl who wanted to make sure everyone was having fun at a party. You couldn’t stand to see someone alone in a corner. People know that heart, and they want to give back. Maybe find a love of their own.”

Zoe sat down on the sofa and poured two cups of tea. Her mother sat beside her. “What if I made a mistake? What if I wasted my time and all my money on this, and last night was it? Then I’ve lost everything and I might not be able to stay in town, Mom. I might need to go somewhere else to find a job to support myself.”

“This is just a setback, Zoe. Don’t make it a catastrophe. You’ve already got members signed up on the website, so it can’t be about the parties alone. People want to connect, and that’s proof.”

“What if it’s not just a ‘setback’ for William? Carson looked pretty intense last night talking to him.”

“I’m sure William will simply tell Carson that he told you of the law.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think he’d do that. I just don’t think he’d let me take the blame.”

“Well, he’s not stupid, Zoe. He wouldn’t lose his job over you not doing as you’re told.”

Zoe wished she could be so sure.

Her mother made it sound so easy, but the setback made Zoe question everything. Maybe Smitten wasn’t going to be the same town anymore. Maybe with the addition of William and the new ways of the world, she’d be nobody in the scheme of her beloved town. Made obsolete by the ripe age of twenty-seven.

“What if I misheard God? Maybe he didn’t want me to do this, and I rushed into it.”

“Maybe,” her mother said as she set down her teacup. “If that’s the case, God has something for you to learn from it. Look for the lesson. Sometimes the lesson is the gift.”

“Mom, you sound like a greeting card. This is serious!” Zoe sipped her tea and tried to find comfort in the view. The lake was still glass-smooth. All of her internal struggles didn’t make one ripple on the lake outside.

“Mom, what really bothers me is that I put all those people in danger last night. That’s what William had been trying to tell me. If I really cared about people, I wouldn’t have gone through with the event just because it was convenient for me.”

Her mother came close and enveloped her with an arm, pulling her into a hug from the side. “Zoe, not everyone in Smitten has been to Shelby’s School of Manners. Those people didn’t all RSVP. You had no way of knowing you’d have that kind of turnout, and those wires have been there for nearly a century. There was no reason to believe they’d suddenly go up in flames last night. And they didn’t go up in flames either. The threat of danger is not danger.”

Zoe nodded. “I think it is to a man like William. I thought he just liked rules, but now I think it’s because he’s seen the darker side of businesses not working safely.”

“He probably has. Next time you’ll have someone posted at the door, and you’ll ensure people let you know they’re coming by turning away those who haven’t responded. You can always make phone calls the day of an event and ask.”

“If there is a next time. I have to come up with the money to fix the wiring, and that’s more than everything I made last night.”

She heard the slam of a car door and looked out to see Carson walking up the path, a black notebook in hand. A wave of fresh fear washed over her.

“What does Carson want?” Anna asked.

“No doubt to tell me I’m out of business.” She opened the door before he knocked.

His eyebrows were raised. “Zoe.”

“Good morning, Carson.”

“I’m here on business,” he said in a stern voice.

“I figured. Come sit down and have some tea.”

“No tea for me.” He looked around as if to note the condition of his cabin. “Good morning, Anna.”

“Carson,” her mother said. “Sit down, won’t you?”

“I’ve inspected the building this morning with the fire chief.” He took a seat.

“And?”

“Fireman Brand approved you for opening, but the truth is, you never should have been allowed to inhabit the building until the electrical was fixed.”

“Ellie Draper rented it to me on the condition that it not cost her any money. I should have made those repairs and checked them out with an electrician.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “It wasn’t Fireman Brand’s fault.”

“Fireman Brand warned Ellie of the conditions. She was told to make the arrangements.”

“No, we had an agreement, Ellie and I. I just didn’t know about the electrical until—”

“Wait. You knew about the electrical?”

She nodded but wouldn’t look at Carson. “William Singer told me earlier in the week, but I didn’t have the money and told him so. He told me it wasn’t illegal, but that it wasn’t safe. I didn’t think he had the guts to go through with shutting me down. Guess I was right.”

Carson got that disappointed look on his face. The one her mother gave her when she’d knowingly done something wrong. Shame flooded her face, and she could feel its intense heat.

“I see.”

“I listened to Fireman Brand because he gave me the answer I wanted.”

“Well, the inspection department will soon be more vigilant in its inspections.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, Fireman Brand and his cohorts are currently studying the code intensely. There will be a test.”

Great. Now she’d sent the firemen back to school. No doubt she wouldn’t be signing any hot firemen for her business. “Will William need to approve everything?”

“You misunderstand. William Singer has tendered his resignation, and I’ve accepted it. Ellie will have to update the space if she intends to rent it at all. I don’t think you realize how dangerous that situation could have been, Zoe.”

“What?”

“Ellie is responsible as the owner. No matter what kind of deal she made with you, she can’t legally rent out an unsafe building.”

“No, what did you say about Mr. Singer?”

“He’s leaving us. It’s a mutual agreement. If he’s going to make deals with city business owners, well, that’s exactly the problem we’ve had in the past. We can’t have a good ol’ boys network and continue to grow the city’s tourism revenue. One lawsuit could ruin us all. And if word got back to the railroad . . .”

“A good ol’ boys network?” Zoe felt overwhelmed and light-headed. She’d known the law. She’d known what William told her was the truth, and yet she’d relied on Smitten’s old ways. She’d taken advantage. “William was fired because of this? I mean, it can’t be a good ol’ boys network if William was involved. He just got here, and like I said, he told me I wasn’t ready to open, but I had so much invested already—”

“As I said, we mutually decided to end his tenure here. I think his services are not what we’re looking for. We need a fresh start. Someone who isn’t afraid to do the hard tasks.”

Zoe shook her head frantically. “No, he wasn’t afraid. He told me the law. William shouldn’t be fired!”

Carson gave her a look.

“Or let go, or mutually anything. He told me the law. I ignored it.”

And worse yet, she’d allowed what could have been William’s feelings for her to override his intuition. In fact, if she was honest, she’d been manipulative. She didn’t dare tell Carson about their upcoming date, though, or William might be accused of even worse.

“The fact is, Zoe, he could have turned you in and prevented the event. That’s the kind of decision we need our new city manager to make.”

“But if the event hadn’t been so big, no one would have known about the electrical. This is my fault, Carson. You have to allow me to make it right. Please!”

“It’s not about whose fault it is, Zoe. It’s that we brought Mr. Singer on to uphold the laws and take our city into the black. We wanted him to work with the railroad and bring it here. This is the simplest of his duties. If he can’t do this, we can hardly expect him to get the railroad and manage the city budget.”

“You can. I took advantage!” She looked out the window and saw that William was packing his car. “Carson, please give William another chance!” She stared at the carpet while she added the truth. “I flirted my way out of the issue.”

Her mother smiled proudly. “So you did notice him!”

“Maybe you’d like to be on the search committee for our next city manager.”

“No!” she shouted, louder than she’d meant to. “We don’t need a new city manager.” As she watched out the window, she saw William walking out the door of his cabin with a suitcase. “Oh no, I’ve got to go.”

She swung open the door and bounded down the steps. She watched as William loaded the suitcase into his trunk and walked around to the driver’s side door. “William!” she shouted. “William!”

With the lake in front of her, she was certain her voice carried across the entire area, but he didn’t turn. Instead, he glanced back at the cabin, then got into the car.

The lakefront cabins were strung like a necklace of pearls along the water, and the road itself was shaped like a horseshoe. Zoe turned in between the cabins, determined to cut him off as he circled the road. She ran over the grassy knoll and came down the hill before his car appeared.

She approached the small, white picket fence that surrounded the property and took a running leap over it—and landed with a slide on her backside on the gravel roadway. William’s car appeared suddenly, and he slammed on the brakes, skidding over the rocky path so that his car stopped mere inches from her.

He jumped out of his car and came toward her. “Zoe?”

She nodded. “It’s me.”

“Zoe, I almost killed you. What on earth are you doing? You scared the daylights out of me.”

She took his offered hand and allowed him to help her up. His arms wrapped around her waist, and she rested her head against his chest. It felt solid against her ear, and the rapid, consistent thump of his heart confirmed his words.

“You were fired?”

“Mutually resigned, if you don’t mind.” He cupped her cheek in his hand. “Are you sure you’re all right? You took quite a leap.”

She waited breathlessly as he touched her, hopeful that he’d kiss her again. But once she nodded that she was okay, he dropped his hand and stepped away. She stepped toward him again. “You were just going to leave without saying good-bye? We have a date tonight. Were you going to stand me up?”

He chuckled. “I didn’t think you’d miss me all that much.”

“You tried to prove to me that you were a man of character. Good enough for Cupid’s Arrow—and yet you were going to leave town while we had a date set up. That does not bode well for your character.”

“No, it doesn’t, but I wasn’t really trying to join Cupid’s Arrow. I was only trying to get on the owner’s good side.”