Chapter 18

When Flynn and June left, the very uncomfortable-looking driver in the semi following them back to the main road, Clara strode over to join Hargreaves by the lab’s door. She heard a door slam and turned to see Arthur leaving the house. His coat was unbuttoned, something that indicated his current state of mind.

“That son of a bitch,” Arthur said, inclining his chin toward a barn. “I’m going to talk to him.”

She pulled on his arm. “To what end? Arthur, think. This isn’t our fight. It’s Annie’s. We are here to help, and you going mano-a-mano with Tom isn’t helpful. Although I wish it were otherwise.”

“I would be your second, sir,” Hargreaves said, folding his arms across his chest.

“I wouldn’t duel with Tom. I’d knock his lights out.” Arthur’s mouth tipped up. “But I thank you for the offer, Hargreaves.”

God, she loved these two men. 

She pulled Arthur in for a kiss, after which he gave her a puzzled look and said, “What was that for?”

Hargreaves averted his eyes, always proper. She thought about hugging him spontaneously as well, but it would only discomfit him. “Just because.”

Arthur kissed her again, probably also “just because,” and she smiled. 

“So what’s our plan?” Arthur asked. “Annie told me Flynn and June were hopefully parking the portable on a nearby farm.”

“Yes, they left moments ago,” Clara said, fingering her diamonds.

Her husband cast a tired glance back at the house. “I’m doubting the soundness of this whole matter, Clara. No business order is worth this kind of conflict in a family. Tom’s putting up roadblocks every which way, and it can’t be good for Annie’s girls to be torn between them.”

“That’s not your call, dear,” Clara said. “Annie sees this Christmas order—and the possibility of selling her company—as her chance to take control of her life and her future. A woman needs to have options. She can’t darn well let a bully tear them away from her.” 

A bully like Tom, who reminded her a bit too much of Reinhold, her deceased husband. 

Arthur hugged her to him. “I didn’t mean to stir you up. It’s only… Christ, Clara. Do you think Tom would ever evict them?”

“I frankly don’t know,” she said, looping her arm through his as if they were about to take a stroll through the countryside, “but we need to be prepared for the possibility, and that requires a new battle plan.”

Hargreaves nodded. “If I may, Madam. In looking for rental locations for the holiday baskets, I came across a few houses that have been available for some time. I believe the young couple would appreciate the privacy such a residence would provide. I would be happy to arrange for a short-term rental for Master Flynn.”

Flynn absolutely loved surprises—always had, according to his siblings. She wanted to send up a cheer. “You always know just what to do, Hargreaves, and it would be a wonderful Christmas present and a happy surprise in the midst of all this turmoil. Thank you, Hargreaves.”

“It’ll send tongues wagging, but that’s the way of small towns,” Arthur said. “And with the in-laws next door, Flynn’s going to need his own place if they end up staying here awhile.” 

“Miss Caitlyn will be joining us soon, I understand,” Hargreaves said. “She is aware of her brother’s style and taste more than anyone. I would be happy to work with her to arrange it.”

“Wonderful, Hargreaves,” Clara said. “In the meantime, I will see about arranging for Flynn and Annie to get away for a day or so, if we can fit it into the production schedule. Now, are we all set to rights here?”

“I’m still angry,” Arthur said gruffly.

She kissed his cold cheek. “I am too. Come. Let’s take it out on the bath salts. We don’t want to throw Annie’s schedule off, after all.”

Showing Arthur how to measure the bath salts proved easy, and she took over Flynn’s station, feeling confident she could make the body butter. Heaven knew she’d been watching him make it, hoping to exchange roles.

The first batch took her a while, but she soon found her rhythm, finding some pleasure in watching the oils and butters whip together into a veritable frosting for the body.

Other than Clara’s beater, Arthur’s litany of curses was the only other sound in the room, but she was too unsettled still by earlier events to laugh at him.

When Flynn returned to the lab, he didn’t look at all like the happy-go-lucky nephew she was used to. In fact, his usually bright green eyes looked hard. He stepped aside to let June enter before him.

“I’m here to volunteer,” the older woman said, taking off her coat. “If someone would be kind enough to show me what to do.”

Clara gave her a bright smile. “It’s good to have you here, June. I know it will mean a lot to Annie.”

She gave a perfunctory nod. “It’s a little thing in the face of what happened today.”

Hargreaves took her coat. “I would be happy to show you how to make the bath salts, Mrs. Loudermilk. Mr. Hale has taken over for Madam, but I know it would be uplifting to Ms. Loudermilk if we were to exceed our quota today.”

“Indeed, it would, Hargreaves,” Clara said, moved to see Arthur was helping June set up a station next to him. 

Flynn walked over to Clara’s side. “No word from Annie yet, huh?”

“No, she’s still with her daughters,” Clara said, making room for Flynn. “I would love to work next to you, nephew. Would you care to wager who can make more body butter until we call it quits today? I personally have always found a wager useful for focus and efficiency.”

Arthur snorted. “Our side wagers are some of my happiest moments, my dear.”

He was a rake to mention them. They were the kind a couple only spoke of behind closed doors. “I had something else in mind. I thought perhaps I could help you and Annie go away this weekend, Flynn. The holiday baskets are important, but so is your relationship. Plus, you’ll both need a break.”

“I can spend the night at the house with the girls,” June volunteered, her mouth lifting and then falling again. “If Tom doesn’t like it, he can… I probably shouldn’t say. I feel like I should apologize again for his behavior.”

Clara had been married to a horrible man and understood that feeling all too well. “June, if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the person who feels the need to apologize for another’s behavior is someone I would like to call a friend.”

Her mouth lifted into a soft smile. “I would love that, Clara. Thank you.”

“I suppose you can be mine too,” Arthur said, nudging the woman playfully. “Although some people think I’m a curmudgeon.”

Little did Arthur know she and his grandchildren in Dare Valley had gotten him vanity plates for his new retirement convertible as a Christmas present with the letters QRMUDGEN. She’d laughed so hard she’d cried when Jill had suggested it.

“You seem pretty nice, Arthur.” June faced Flynn head on. “I hope I can be your friend as well.”

He smiled like the Flynn of old. “I think we became that today, June.”

Somehow Clara knew their closer alliance with this woman would be a game changer for all of them.