LITMIR.BIZ

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only was Sweet Things owned by his cousin’s new wife, Lynn, but he’d quickly discovered that the woman made the best cookies, pies, pastries and cupcakes he’d ever put in his mouth. If Mitch hadn’t beaten him to it, he’d have courted Lynn himself, not that he’d mentioned that to his cousin. He needed Mitch as an ally, not an enemy.

      Thank goodness, though, ever since Gabe had arrived in town, Mitch had insisted on starting their mornings here over coffee and pastry warm from the oven as they planned how Gabe was going to fit into the company. His cousin filled him in on the work needed on the neighboring properties. Lynn joined them from time to time, but she was usually far too busy baking to take a break just past the crack of dawn.

      At full daylight and after getting his fill of coffee and pastries, Gabe walked the length of Main Street with Mitch, trying to get a feel not only for downtown Serenity as it currently existed, but for his cousin’s vision.

      The historic brick town hall at one end of the large, tree-lined green housed the city’s offices. Wharton’s, which had been in business as far back as Gabe could remember as a combination pharmacy and soda fountain, anchored one side of Main Street. A hardware store revitalized by Ronnie Sullivan anchored the other side.

      Sweet Things was in that block, along with Chic, the stylish women’s boutique next door. The remaining storefronts were empty and mostly boarded up, victims of the economic downturn and of the tendency in too many small communities for business to flee to the outskirts of town and more modern strip malls. The one exception in the next block was the relatively new and apparently wildly successful country radio station with its studio window facing the green so the on-air hosts could report on Serenity’s many holiday festivals and everyday happenings.

      Gabe had been able to view the recent progress with appreciation, but he was still mindful that a lot more was needed before downtown Serenity could be described as thriving.

      This morning—his first official day on the job—he studied Mitch over his mug of coffee. “You really think turning this town around is possible?”

      “I’m counting on it,” Mitch said. “Our town manager, Tom McDonald, believes it’s possible and is doing everything he can to lure new business to town. I want to be sure there are up-to-date properties available to rent when the prospective business owners come to look things over. I want downtown to be irresistible. I want them to see it immediately as a better bet than one of those strip malls that have started popping up along the highway outside of town.”

      Gabe smiled. “Were you always this idealistic and ambitious?”

      “I don’t see it as ambition. I see it as a chance to do something for a town I love, the town where I’ve built my life. I don’t want to see downtown die the way it has in so many towns.” Mitch shrugged. “Maybe that is idealistic.”

      “I hate to tell you, pal, but that ship has sailed. Right now, this downtown is on life support at best.”

      “I know a few people, my wife among them, who’d tell you otherwise,” Mitch retorted. “And Dana Sue Sullivan, whose restaurant lures people from all over the state, would pick a major fight with you if she heard you say that. Sullivan’s may not be right on Main Street, but her success speaks for itself.”

      Gabe laughed. “Well, I’m not about to take on Dana Sue. I’ve heard too many stories about her temper. But Lynn is what they call a pie-eyed optimist. She married you, didn’t she? What does that say about her judgment?”

      Mitch didn’t take offense at his teasing. He laughed with him.

      “She took a chance on me, all right,” Mitch said. “I thank my lucky stars for it. After Amy died and the boys were away at college, I was a lost soul for a while.” His expression sobered. “I wish you’d come over for dinner one night, instead of existing on pizza. You know you’re welcome anytime.”

      “I know that,” Gabe said. “But you’re still a newlywed. I don’t want to intrude.”

      “We’re past the honeymoon stage,” Mitch said, though the appreciative glance he cast in his wife’s direction as she came out of the back to wait on a customer said otherwise. So did the touches he couldn’t resist making every time she was in close proximity. “We’ve been together almost a year now. And with Lynn’s two kids underfoot, it’s not as if we have a lot of privacy, anyway.”

      “In my book a year still makes you a newlywed.”

      Mitch gave him a knowing look. “And in my book, you’re just making excuses. You’re family, Gabe. You’re not an outsider. I know you didn’t feel that way as a kid and I’m as sorry as I can be about the way the rest of the family treated your mother.”

      Gabe waved off the apology. “You were just a kid yourself. You had no control over what the adults did and thought. Besides, I get where they were coming from. My mom had her share of problems. Drinking was the least of it.”

      Mitch winced. “I came way too close to relying on alcohol myself after I lost Amy,” he revealed quietly, startling Gabe. “I’d like to think I wouldn’t have judged your mother for that weakness.”

      Gabe wondered if there was some hereditary inclination that seemed to steer Franklins toward booze. “I took a brush with it myself after Mom died,” he said. “Even though I knew firsthand where that path could lead. Now that I’ve got my feet back under me and can see what dangerous decisions I was making, I feel a lot more sympathy for her myself than I did when I was living with it. I can also see a lot more clearly that she sure as heck had an addiction to the wrong sort of men. It was a bad combination.”

      “But those shouldn’t have become your problems, too,” Mitch said. “You took them on when the family should have been there to support both of you, instead of passing judgment. It wasn’t right that you got labeled a troublemaker for trying to protect your mom.”

      “Water under the bridge,” Gabe insisted. “Can we stop talking about this, please? You’ve more than made up for the past by giving me this job.”

      Mitch dismissed the sentiment. “I have to admit that I’m still a little surprised that you wanted to come back to Serenity. You were awfully eager to put the town and your family behind you when you took off after your mom died.”

      Gabe shrugged. “Seemed to me like the best place to get a second chance would be in the same place where you blew the first one. I guess I was finally ready to face the past, instead of running from it. Maybe I can shake those ghosts that seem to go with me wherever I am.”

      “A very mature outlook.”

      Gabe laughed. “Yeah, well, I imagine that’s a surprise for you, too. It sure is to me. Maybe hitting forty somehow turned me into a grown-up.” He set out determinedly to change the subject once and for all. “Now, what’s on the agenda for today? You’ve given me enough time to get settled in. I’m anxious to get started and prove you didn’t make the wrong decision by taking me on. I filled you in on my experience, but you haven’t seen my work firsthand. I meant what I told you—if it doesn’t measure up, you can tell me that straight-out, okay?”

      “That’s not likely,” Mitch said. “Your job history speaks for itself. I know some of those men you worked for around the state.”

      “Did you speak to them? That’s why I gave you their names.”

      “No need. I trust you,” Mitch claimed, giving Gabe’s sometimes shaky self-esteem a needed boost.

      Just then, the door opened and Adelia Hernandez stepped into the bakery. If anything, Gabe thought she was even prettier with her long hair tousled by the wind and wearing a dress that showed off her shapely legs. That crazy pulse of his skipped a couple of beats.

      Apparently the reaction wasn’t entirely one-sided. When she spotted him, her cheeks flushed and her step faltered.

      Naturally Mitch noticed Adelia’s discomfort and Gabe’s fascination. His eyes narrowed.

      “You two know

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