Blossom Street Brides (Blossom Street #10)(2)

Lauren removed her raincoat and stuck it in the back office along with her purse. Right away she helped Elisa get out the semiprecious stones. Despite the down economy, the store continued to do well. Elisa, Garry, and Lauren—all working full-time, along with a few part-time sales associates—were a good team.

“Garry will be in sometime this afternoon,” Elisa explained as she set out the semiprecious stones. “He’s got a meeting at the school for one of the boys, and then he’s headed to lunch with the Rotary Club.”

Garry was the company expert when it came to men’s and women’s watches. Lauren headed up their diamond sales, and Elisa handled just about everything else.

“I heard from my sister,” Lauren said casually as she set the jewels in the display case, locking them inside. “Carol and Jason are pregnant.” She made sure she sounded pleased and excited for her younger sibling.

“That’s great.”

“It is,” Lauren agreed. “It’s just wonderful. Mom and Dad are over the moon. Their first grandchild.”

Elisa paused and focused her attention on Lauren. “You sound like you’re ready to cry.”

“I could break into sobs at the drop of a pin,” she admitted, and tried to laugh it off, but the only sound that came out was reminiscent of something one might hear on the Sci-Fi channel. She quickly got hold of herself. “Tell me, Elisa, and please be honest. Is there something wrong with me?” Because Elisa was her friend, she expected the truth.

“Wrong?”

“Am I annoying?”

“Not at all.” Elisa sounded shocked that Lauren would suggest such a thing.

“Do I have a domineering or unpleasant personality?”

“No way.”

“Do I bore you?”

“No.” Her friend shook her head.

“Am I unattractive?”

This question produced a laugh. “Hardly. Have you looked in a mirror lately? You’re gorgeous—tall and slim, with your stunning blue eyes and that dark hair. I swear there must be some Scottish blood in you somewhere. Half the men who come in this shop leave half in love with you.”

Her friend’s words were a balm to her wounded pride. “Then why am I still single?”

Elisa didn’t hesitate. “Because Todd Hampton is an idiot.” She gently squeezed Lauren’s forearm. “You’ve been much too patient with him. You need to give Todd an ultimatum,” she suggested. “He loves you. All he needs now is a gentle shove in the right direction. Tell him it’s time; you’ve been patient to this point, but you aren’t willing to continue without a firm commitment.”

An ultimatum for Todd—Lauren had reached the same conclusion but then rethought the matter. The fact was, she’d spent the majority of the night tossing and turning, mulling over her options with Todd. She’d teetered back and forth with the relationship, wondering what would be best. She hated the idea of forcing him to set a date, and then wondered why she’d been so willing to let matters drag.

“The thing is …” Lauren didn’t get the opportunity to finish her sentence when Elisa’s cellphone chirped.

“It’s Katie.” Elisa grabbed it before the second chirp.

Lauren knew the shop owner had been anxiously awaiting a call from her oldest child. Katie was a college freshman, and Elisa had undergone separation anxiety sending her only daughter away to school, which was less than three hundred miles away in Pullman, Washington. Elisa worried incessantly over Katie’s diet, studies, partying, alcohol, and dating. If Katie didn’t contact her mother at some point during the day, Elisa was convinced her child had fallen victim to any number of dreadful possibilities.

“Katie, why haven’t you called?” Elisa demanded. “You didn’t answer the text message I sent, and—”

Elisa paused, then let out a loud gasp and hurried into the small office, quickly closing the door. Lauren couldn’t help but wonder what that was about. Her friend tended to be something of a drama queen. Even with the office door closed, Lauren could hear Elisa, although she couldn’t make out what she was saying.

The possibilities raced through Lauren’s mind. More than likely, it was something minor. Katie might have flunked an important test. Or, she needed extra money put into her bank account. Quite possibly, she hadn’t turned in her library books on time and had allowed the fine to accumulate. Lauren liked Katie and considered the teenager levelheaded and responsible. As a friend and employer, Elisa was great, but as a mother, she was a bit fixated.

Ten minutes later, Elisa reappeared, as white as a sun-bleached sheet.

“Elisa,” Lauren asked tentatively. “Is everything all right with Katie?”

Her friend didn’t answer and then simply shook her head.

“Do you need to sit down?”

Elisa nodded.

Lauren scooted over a stool, and Elisa sank onto it in slow motion.

“Do you want me to call Garry?”

That got an immediate response that came as a shout: “No … no!”

“Can I get you coffee?”

“I need something way stronger than coffee. Way stronger.”

Lauren didn’t think they kept anything more potent at the store, unless it was for a special sales event. Even then it was champagne, and Lauren suspected Elisa wasn’t in the mood to celebrate with a glass of bubbly. “Can you tell me what’s wrong?”