LITMIR.BIZ

       Chapter Two

      The next morning, Harper unlocked the front door for Blessings Bridal and let Zoey go in first. She paused and looked along the street. It was the same familiar road—sun dappled with intermittent trees spreading long branches over the asphalt. All was quiet, as it normally was this time of day, the only sound that of a chattering squirrel. A police cruiser eased slowly down the street. The officer—a woman—gave her a quick wave.

      Harper had slept terribly the night before. Her father was worried now—which was to be expected even after she’d assured him that she had it all under control. And now Harper was faced with the paperwork from the insurance company.

      “Let me help you, sweetheart,” her father had said. “I’m retired, not dead!”

      But Harper didn’t want his help; she needed to take care of the robbery paperwork on her own. If she was going to be opening a second store in Comfort Creek—a maternity shop—she’d better prove to more than just herself that she could handle the stress and the demands. There had been more than one well-meaning person who had questioned if she could raise a young child while running this shop... So while it was all well and good to say she had nothing to prove to anyone, she did.

      Running Blessings Bridal was satisfying in its own right, but she wanted more—a store with her own name on the bottom line, not her father’s. Besides, this store was all that her father had to will to Harper and Heidi, and since it would be the bulk of their inheritance, that was going to be complicated. Eventually, at least. The second shop, Blessings Maternity, was going to be Harper’s first personal foray into the business world, and she wanted it so badly that she could taste it.

      “It’s all messed up!” Zoey said, looking around the store. Harper pulled the door shut and locked it after them. She and Gabe had boarded over the broken window yesterday, and the glass and mess was mostly cleaned up. The display case still sat vacant.

      “I know, sweetie. Someone broke in. I told you about that, right? So now we have to clean it up.” Harper put the boxed wedding dress on the counter. She’d brought it home with her last night—not taking any chances on a family heirloom—but the sewing machine and all the tools she’d need for the fitting were here in the shop.

      Zoey went to the display case and sighed. “The crowns are gone.”

      Zoey loved the tiaras, and when the shop was closed, Harper would let her try them on in front of the full-length mirror. It had started when Andrea would visit after hours, and Zoey would sit on her mother’s lap and stare at her reflection with a crystal tiara on her little head.

      “I know. The insurance company will give us money so we can get more. You can help me choose them.”

      “Today?” Zoey asked hopefully.

      “Not today. We’re going to do a fitting for Aunt Heidi’s wedding dress,” Harper said. “And you get to help.”

      Since the store was temporarily closed, Harper had pulled Zoey out of preschool for a few days. Preschool had been a constant for Zoey from before her mother passed away, but a few days of girl time would be good for them, too, Harper decided. Besides, it was broad daylight, and she highly doubted that anyone would come back to rob the place at this time of day.

      “It’s our wedding dress, right?” Zoey was still working out how all of this worked.

      “Yes, it’s our dress. My grandmother wore that dress when she got married a very long time ago. And now Aunt Heidi is going to wear it for her wedding. And maybe you’ll even wear it for yours.”

      If there was enough of it left. If Heidi didn’t demand so many alterations that there was nothing salvageable for another bride...

      “Grandma Jane...” Zoey said softly.

      “No, Great-Grandma Kemp.” Harper sighed. Six months wasn’t really long enough for Zoey to embrace all the extra family, let alone fully understand what ancestors were. She was four. She knew about the family she saw on a regular basis, which included Andrea’s mom, Grandma Jane, and Harper’s mom, Grandma Georgia. Having two grandmas was as much as Zoey seemed able to wrap her mind around right now. And having a new mother...

      Harper opened the box on the counter and looked down at the familiar material. It was a gown from 1950—A-line taffeta covered in lace with sheer lace sleeves and décolletage. The dress had fit their grandmother at ankle length, but Grandma Kemp had been a petite woman, and Heidi was significantly taller, so Harper was guessing it would fit her sister at a tea length—perfect for today’s fashion.

      There was a tap at the front door, and Harper looked up to see Heidi through the unbroken window. She wore a leather jacket and a pair of jeans, a floppy leather bag tossed over one shoulder. A pair of sunglasses was perched on top of her short-cropped auburn hair.

      “Auntie Heidi!” Zoey announced, and Harper crossed the store and unlocked the door. As Heidi came inside, she glanced around. She’d dropped by yesterday and seen the state of things—as had a quarter of the town—so it wasn’t a shock.

      “So where’s Gabe?” Heidi asked.

      “I don’t know. He’s not going to be here every second,” Harper replied. “The police are doing a lot of drive-bys, though.”

      “Hmm.” Heidi ruffled Zoey’s hair. “And how’s my favorite flower girl?”

      “I’m good!” Zoey sang out. She was excited to be in Heidi’s wedding, and Harper was grateful to her sister for including her new daughter. Anything that made Zoey feel more accepted and at home was a plus.

      While Heidi deposited her bag and sunglasses on a nearby chair, Harper pulled the antique dress out of the box. It had been stored impeccably over the years, and while the lace had darkened over time, it was still a stunning dress by any standard.

      “Is he still as good-looking as he used to be?” Heidi asked.

      “Good looks only go so far,” Harper replied. But yes, he was—more so. He’d matured into a ruggedly handsome man with a steely gaze that could make a woman’s stomach flip. But what use was that when a man’s character didn’t match up?

      “Does he...know?” Heidi murmured as Zoey took the sunglasses to the mirror to try them on.

      “No.” Harper knew what her sister was asking, and she didn’t want to say too much within Zoey’s hearing distance. “He seems completely oblivious.”

      “Are you going to tell him?” Heidi glanced toward Zoey, too, but the girl seemed rapt in her game of dress up.

      “I don’t know,” Harper admitted quietly. “I feel like I should. He deserves to know at least, doesn’t he?”

      “Andrea didn’t think so.” Heidi met Harper’s gaze and held it.

      “That was a personal grudge, though,” Harper said. Andrea had been deeply hurt by Gabe’s inability to commit to her, and she’d never been able to forgive him. She said he hadn’t wanted to be a husband or a father, and she was protecting her daughter from the ultimate rejection. But Zoey was his daughter, and meeting her in person might change that.

      “Something can be both personal and the right choice,” Heidi replied softly.

      “One day, Zoey’s going to ask about her dad, and what then?” Harper asked. She couldn’t lie to her daughter, and without a really good reason otherwise, Harper couldn’t lie to Gabe, either. “I’d hoped to be able to put off thinking about Gabe until another time. But with him in town, I’m going to have to face this sooner than I thought.”

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