Chapter Three

Bridget was ready to pull her hair out. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t keep up with the store’s spreadsheets. She could track the expenses and sales, which products were purchased, but she still never seemed to have enough to keep pace with the different items. She just couldn’t predict what people were going to buy on any given day. Sometimes she’d think she saw a trend for a particular soap and make extra only to have a lotion be the next best seller. Or she’d think a particular lotion would do well at a festival based on the sales from the previous event, but have it sit on her table all day.

And of course, no matter what she did with trying to anticipate sales, it seemed she couldn’t get more than barely making ends meet. Maybe she should think about taking out an ad in the local paper again. Although the last time had ended with a group outside with signs about her being a witch. Sales had plummeted for a month. She had to figure something out, but what?

The chime rang and she looked up at Jack entering the shop. Her heart stuttered in her chest. For a woman who’d never found flannel appealing, he sure did look fine in it. The cloth clung to his muscles in a way she found very stimulating. Blinking, she cleared her thoughts. “Hi, what brings you this way?”

He shuffled over to the counter with a smile. “I was checking out the downtown area and thought I’d say hello. And I need more of your beard stuff.”

With raised eyebrows, she suppressed her smile and urge to say, “I told you so,” to him. Instead, she crossed over to the shelves on the right and grabbed a tub. “Here you go.” She held it out to him.

“Thanks. It really does wonders. Even if I skip a day, my skin doesn’t itch anymore, but I like how soft my hair feels with it.”

She almost reached up to touch his face. Almost. Her hand actually twitched at her side, but she curled her fingers into a fist. “I’m glad it works so well for you.”

“What’re you working on?” He gestured to her computer and she grimaced.

“Spreadsheets. I just can’t seem to keep things in order no matter how hard I try.”

He scooted around the counter and glanced at the screen. “Do you want some advice?” The look in his eyes was hesitant.

“I’ll take whatever help I can get. I’m at my wit’s end at this point.” She glanced over her shoulder at the stairs to Gran’s apartment. “Honestly, I’m barely making ends meet. I’m not sure how much longer I can keep this store going.” Her eyes stung and she swallowed hard at the lump in her throat.

Jack reached over and grasped her hand. “It’s going to be okay.” His voice was soft and almost undid her. “I know this is hard, but I’m pretty good at this kind of thing. You won’t be the reason your family store closes, I promise.”

She bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling. Inhaling a deep breath, she nodded. “Okay,” she said when she could speak without her voice shaking. “What do you suggest?”

“Well, if I may?” He pointed to her screen and she nodded. Jack angled it toward him and pulled up a web browser. After a moment of typing, he shifted it back to her. “The first thing I’d recommend is downloading this software. It’s one that’s good for tracking business expenses and sales and doesn’t cost a crazy amount. This will help you track your outgoing payments, track invoices and bills, see sales figures. It can even help you plot trends of what products are hot, if there’s any seasonality to them, that kind of thing.”

“What about between events? Like I had one a couple of weekends ago and I thought since I sold my lavender soap so fast at that festival, the same would happen in St. Helens last Saturday. But it didn’t. Instead my lemongrass one flew off the table.”

“Did you go to that event in St. Helens last year, too?”

She nodded.

“Then yeah, it might have helped you see what was sold last year and be able to prep for what products to bring this year. Separate towns will draw in different audiences so the hot items might not be the same.”

“I hadn’t thought about it that way. I guess I should have paid better attention, but I also don’t know that I could have teased the information out from my old spreadsheets.” She gave him a sheepish smile. “I should have listened to your advice earlier. I’m sorry I didn’t.”

Shrugging, Jack smiled back. “You didn’t know me back then. I was being presumptuous. I’m not offended.” He blew out a breath. “Now, let’s look at your revenue sources. What do you do besides the shop and festivals?”

She drew her brows together. “What do you mean? I make all the products myself to cut down on expenses.”

“No, do you sell anywhere else? What about a website? You could ship products all over the country.”

“Well, I could, but that would mean having customers all over the country. I don’t have those.”

“What about people who come to those festivals? They don’t live nearby and maybe they want a refill once they run out of what they purchased at your booth. And maybe they have friends they rave to about Three Sisters’ lotion. And you could hand out cards at these events with your website and store address on it. People are willing to go the distance when it’s something they love.”

“So now I need to have a website, too? I don’t even know where to start with that. Aren’t those expensive to create and maintain?”

“That depends. You can design a simple site on your own. There are websites specifically for that. Or you can hire a designer and have them put something together and help maintain it for you. Since you’re just starting out, I would go with the simpler option and then you can always upgrade as things improve on the revenue front.”

“Still seems to be daunting, but I guess I can look into it.”

“I could come over on Saturday and help you with it?”

She shook her head. “I have a festival in Bacona. I’m booked every Saturday through the end of October.”

“How about Sunday, then? We could tinker around with ideas and options? From there you could choose what you like, get it finalized and go live.”

“You don’t mind?” She felt bad that he was investing all this time helping her today then again on Sunday, too. Surely this wasn’t that exciting to him.

Jack shook his head and lifted one side of his mouth into a smile. “I really don’t. I enjoy this kind of thing. It’s what I did as my main work focus before coming here. I’ve done more on the administrative side of businesses than physical work like logging. I have to admit as hard as it’s been, I like being a lumberjack. It’s a nice change of pace and I’m already in way better shape than when I arrived.”

“Oh, I think you were plenty in shape when I first saw you. Although I will admit, I can see a bit of a difference.” She ran her eyes over his shoulders and chest again. Yeah, that flannel treated him well. It really emphasized the size of him.

A low chuckle met her ears and she flushed. Damn, she hadn’t been subtle about that, now had she?

“Well, hot damn. You’ve been checking me out.” He puffed up his chest with a grin.

Bridget smacked his arm then winced. He was built. “Oh, stop it. Like you need a bigger ego.”

“A man never gets tired of a woman, particularly one as beautiful as you, paying him a compliment. I’m not too proud.”

Embarrassed, she ducked around the counter to distract herself from what she’d just said to him and what he’d told her in response. A guy could find a woman attractive—that didn’t equate to him wanting to date her. She busied herself by straightening up and getting ready to close the shop for the night. “Sunday would be good. I’ll make you dinner as a thank you. Cornelius can come over, too.” Grabbing up her coat, she turned back to Jack. “I’m ready to head home. Thanks for all of your advice. I’ll download that software tonight to get things changed over.”

He joined her and she locked up behind them. “Where are you parked?”

He lifted his chin toward the parking garage ahead. “Up there. You?”

“Same. It’s too convenient to not.” They started walking and she inhaled the crisp, autumn air. “I love this time of year.”

Jack glanced at her and nodded. “It is nice. Although the pumpkin spice overload is a bit much.”

She pressed a hand over her heart. “What? You dare mock pumpkin spice? I love it!”

He laughed and stepped closer to her to let another pedestrian go by.

“Witch,” the guy snapped as he passed them.

Bridget jolted in surprise and her spirits tumbled to the ground. She hadn’t been on guard like she normally was when leaving or arriving at the store. Jack had provided a pleasant distraction and she never would have thought someone would make a comment to her with him next to her.

“Hey, asshole—”

She put a hand on Jack’s arm, stopping his words. “Don’t. It’s not worth it.”

“What’s wrong with him that he would think it’s okay to call you that?”

“I… Who knows? People are weird and rude sometimes. You learn to let things go or the anger will eat you up inside.” Bridget shrugged and fiddled with her scarf. She couldn’t meet his gaze, afraid he would see she was more upset than she let on. He didn’t need to get dragged into her town drama.

“But he can’t just say that to you.” He glared at the man’s retreating back.

She tugged him forward. “He can. And I can choose not to let it get to me. Yes, I’m putting on a braver face because you’re with me. But thank you for being here. It does help me not get too in my feelings over this. Come on, don’t let a stranger ruin your day. He’s going to go around being a jerk for the rest of his life. You don’t have to let that impact your evening.”

He stared at her for a minute with an intensity that had shivers dancing down her back. “You’re right. Spending this afternoon with you was great and that jackass isn’t going to destroy that.” He set his jaw and glared behind them once more. Then he gestured ahead and walked her to her car.

“See you on Sunday?” she asked. This encounter had left her uncertain of whether he’d want to hang out with her again or not.

He nodded and the tension in her shoulders loosened.

“I’ll be there.” The smile he flashed sent a giddy wave through her stomach. Goodness, but she needed to get a hold of herself. They were friends and she needed to focus on her business, not dating.

 

* * * *

 

The following Sunday, Jack stood sweating outside Bridget’s door despite the cool, drizzly weather. Why he was so tied up in knots over helping Bridget out was beyond him. He was a wealthy, attractive, successful businessman who had women throwing themselves in his path to get his attention. He’d been named one of Seattle’s top ten most eligible bachelors, for crying out loud! Not that Bridget knew any of this. She thought he was another lumberjack in town for seasonal work and was more of an average kind of guy. He needed to locate that confidence he normally exuded to keep himself from letting a little crush get out of control.

He wiped his damp palms on his jeans and knocked on the door while plastering his thousand-watt smile on his face as it swung open.

“Whoa,” a girl said and held up her hand in front of her eyes. “Dim the pearly whites, dude!” She laughed and winked. “You must be Jack. I’m Becca, Bridget’s cousin.”

“The one with the farm.”

“You’ve been paying attention. Well done. Come on in, Bridge is just checking the pot roast in the oven. Where’s Cornelius?”

“He’s coming over closer to dinner time.” He stepped in and the scent of delicious herbs and garlic and meat hit him right in the stomach. “Oh, man. That smells amazing.” His belly gave a little rumble.

Bridget wandered in and smiled. “Thanks. It’s looking good. A few more hours and it’ll be perfect.”

“A few more hours?” he echoed, lifting his brows halfway up his forehead.

“Low and slow, baby. Low and slow.” She giggled and blushed. “Besides, it’s only mid-afternoon.”

A wide grin crossed his face. He liked her flirty attitude today. Becca snorted and walked into the living room, dropping down on the rug next to the coffee table. Bridget followed and he trailed after.

“We’ve been working on the site all morning,” Bridget said as she sat on the overstuffed couch and turned her laptop toward him.

He was impressed with what they had come up with so far. “This looks good. I like the grayscale with pink accents. It works well with the pictures you’ve posted.” He clicked through the different pages and nodded. “About, products, purchase, contact,” he murmured and lifted his eyes. “Where’s your calendar or events page?”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” Bridget said. “That’s a really good idea. It’ll tell people where I’ll be for the festival season and any others.”

“I’d add FAQs, too.”

“I don’t have any frequently asked questions though. At least not yet.”

“Sure you do. What do you get asked at the store all the time? What about at the craft fairs? I’m sure people have tons of questions about your products.”

“Oh.” She sat back. “That makes sense. I guess I do have FAQs.” She grabbed the computer and started clicking and typing and muttering to herself.

“She’ll be busy for a little while,” her cousin said and side-eyed him. “Tell me about yourself.” She propped one elbow on her knee and rested her chin on her fist.

He let out a nervous laugh. He wanted to get Bridget’s cousin to like him and be on Team Jack. “What do you want to know?”

“Everything,” she said flatly.

“Well, I’m new to town, working at the logging company and doing this kind of work for the first time. I’ve done construction before, but this is another level of pain I’ve never experienced before. I came from Seattle and my family still lives there.”

“Siblings?”

“I have a younger sister. She’s married and has twin girls who just turned six years old a few weeks ago.” He grinned, thinking about their wild-animal-themed party. Those girls were going to take the world by storm when they grew up and he couldn’t wait to watch.

“Why do you look so familiar?”

“Huh?” A slow trickle of low-lying panic dripped through his veins. “I look familiar?”

Becca peered at him. “Yeah.” She glanced back at Bridget. “Bridge, doesn’t your Jack look familiar?”

Bridget jerked her eyes up with a startled jolt. “What? He’s not mine.”

But wasn’t that a tempting idea? He could get used to being hers to do with as she pleased. Jack was pretty sure he’d be pleased, too.

Becca chuckled. “Whatever. His face is familiar, right?”

Emerald-green eyes framed by outrageous lashes traced his features. His heart pounded with each passing second. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Jack looks like Jack.”

Inside, he sighed with relief. “Maybe I just have one of those generic faces.”

Becca narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. “Maybe.”

Something told him she wasn’t buying it, but as long as she didn’t recognize him from all the pictures the Seattle paparazzi took, he was happy. Time to change the subject.

“What about you? Tell me about your farm.”

Lifting a shoulder, she said, “Not much to tell. I took over the farm from my parents, who’ve retired to Southern California. The farm has cows and sheep and goats, plus a few different crops. I sell most of it locally and give a fair amount to Gran and Bridget for products for the shop. Oh, and I’m the town lesbian.”

He paused. Did she get extra prejudice from the people in town for being gay? “Do you enjoy running a farm? Or did you just feel obligated to take it over because it’s your family’s?”

“Both. I do enjoy it. I love the animals and the work is rewarding. And there’s also a bit of family obligation. It’s my dad’s family’s farm, so it’s been around for a while. Not as long as Three Sisters, but almost eighty years.”

“Now you get to uphold a double legacy.”

She nodded once. “I guess I do.”

Bridget turned the laptop around again. “How’s this?”

They both looked over the new additions to the website and gave their approval.

“Beautiful job, Bridget,” Jack said with a proud smile.

Another flush touched her cheeks, but she returned his expression. “Thank you. I appreciate your nudge to modernize the shop. I needed that.”

Warmth blossomed in his chest and if her cousin hadn’t been sitting right next to them, he’d have asked her out right then and there. However, Becca was watching, and he didn’t let his feelings get the best of him.

 

* * * *

 

Bridget sat in idle happiness as she looked around at her full dining room table. Cornelius had joined their group and dinner had cooked perfectly. The roast was tender enough to fall apart at the slightest touch and the roasted potatoes’ and root vegetables’ seasoning was perfect. Bridget found the entire day to be one of the best she’d had in a long time.

Her new website had gone live, and that she could share the joy of that moment with friends made it all the sweeter. As they chatted around the table, a small yawn escaped her as the warm food, wine and long weekend caught up with her.

“I think we should head out and let poor little B get some rest,” Cornelius announced as he caught her.

“No, no,” she protested. “I’m fine. I’m enjoying having company tonight.”

Becca stood anyway. “I do need to get home. Animals don’t sleep in. Ever.” She cast a sly glance at Jack, then turned to Cornelius. “Before I go, can you check something for me with my truck?”

Cornelius blinked at her from behind his black frame glasses. “Huh?”

She yanked at his arm. “Outside. I need your help.” She dragged him toward the door. “Bye, Bridge! Talk to you soon.”

“Bye.” She waved, perplexed by her cousin’s abrupt departure and kidnapping of Cornelius.

Then Becca flashed her a quick expression at the last moment. She waggled her brows and tilted her head in Jack’s direction.

Thankfully, he wasn’t paying attention. Instead he was stacking dishes for her.

“Go for it,” Becca mouthed with a wide grin.

Bridget pressed her hands to her heated cheeks and shook her head in disbelief. How could her cousin be so obvious? And besides, Jack wasn’t interested in her like that. He’d had plenty of opportunities to ask her out if he had wanted. “I’ve got the clean-up this time. No big deal.”

He cleared his throat. “I guess I should head out then, too.”

“Thanks again for all your help with…everything. The new software has been a game changer and I’ve had a lot fewer headaches over the past few days.”

He flashed that smile that made her knees tremble. “That’s great, but you’re giving me too much credit. I just made a few suggestions.”

“Well, I still appreciate it.”

Jack stepped closer and she looked up at him with wide eyes. Would she ever get over how handsome he was? For a second he leaned in her direction, but then he scrunched and crinkled up his face. What the—

He whirled to the side, threw his arm over his nose and let out a thundering sneeze.

“Holy wow!” She yelped. “That was the loudest sneeze ever. Are you okay?”

Nodding, he rubbed the tip of his nose on his sleeve and lowered his arm. “Yeah, sorry about that.” The edges of his ears turned red.

She chuckled. “No problem. I was wondering if I smelled funny or something when you squished your face up like that. I guess not. Or maybe yes given your reaction.”

An awkward laugh escaped him. “Definitely not you. Just me. Always playing it cool.” Jack rubbed the back of his neck. “Anyway, thanks again for dinner. I’ll see you around.”

“Good night,” she said as they walked to the door. As it shut behind him, she sighed. So much for thinking he was into her.