Love In Logan Beach
Rose had to think about that. “You want an answer now? Off the top of my head?”
“Not every nail and wall-color choice, just what would it look like?”
Rose thought for a long moment. Pushing the envelope aside, she searched for paper. Inside a drawer, she found a yellow legal pad and pulled it out. She began drawing squares to indicate areas of the floor. She chose the bridal department to begin with. David watched her. Between them was a desk light. He looked over it and bobbed his head several times as he followed her train of thought.
“Lights would be here to showcase the display case.”
He got up and moved around, pulling his chair so he sat next to her.
Rose felt all the air in the room leave it. She felt the heat of his body, smelled the aftershave he used. Her eyes closed a moment and she took in the erotic nature of it. David asked a question, drawing her back to the task. She didn’t hear it.
“What was that?” she asked.
“What is in this area?” He used his finger to circle a large open area.
Rose drew a 3-D circle. “This is where the bride stands to show off her dress.” Drawing basic lines at right angles to represent chairs, and arches to represent a walkway, she said, “The bride comes down this aisle and steps onto the pedestal. Any family or friends with her will see her in a ceremony setting.”
“I like it,” he said.
His hand dropped on her shoulder. Rose’s throat went dry and she could feel the heat of his touch through her suit jacket and blouse, searing into her skin.
“Maybe we’ll give some of this to the designer and see what she thinks.”
A knife plunging into Rose’s gut would have felt better than his words. These were her thoughts. She hadn’t expected him to take them and give them away. She pushed the pad toward him in a dismissive manner. He got what he wanted, now someone else could take over the business of putting it together, changing it to their way of thinking. Rose expected nothing to be the same as her vision of the department.
“We haven’t really gone over my duties yet,” she said.
“You’re the assistant manager. I suppose your duties are the same as they were under the Bachs.”
“That was a fully stocked store with employees already hired. I dealt with buyers, personnel, shipping, mail order, budgets, payroll, everything the Bachs didn’t handle.”
“You can do the same here.”
“That’s an open catalog,” Rose said.
“If you need help, hire someone. You’re the assistant manager,” he repeated.
Cocking her head, Rose scrutinized David Thorn. She didn’t know him, didn’t understand his motives. She wondered if he was really trusting her, or if he wanted to see what she would do with the authority he gave her. She’d had this job before and she was comfortable with it. She could do whatever the store needed.
And she’d prove it.
* * *
David left for the day wondering about Rosanna. As he pulled his car into the rush hour traffic, Rosanna was still on his mind. She remained an enigma to him. Usually he read people easily. He’d been trained to observe them, get at the underlying causes of problems or secrets they held. But with her it was like trying to open an oyster with a toothpick.
He hadn’t realized where he was driving and when he saw the small sign reading Legal Aid Office, David stopped. He hadn’t met any lawyers since he arrived in Logan Beach and this was a perfect time.
Inside, the place was crowded, even at six o’clock in the evening. The office seemed to accommodate those who couldn’t come during the nine-to-five workday.
“May I help you?” asked a large woman wearing a bad wig. She sat behind a high desk and looked him up and down in a gesture that said he didn’t appear to look like the usual people who come to a legal-aid office.
“I’m an attorney and stopped by to say hello and introduce myself.” He handed her his card.
She glanced at it and then up at him. “House of Thorn,” she said. “Isn’t that the new store that’s going up across town?”
“It is.”
“Are you representing them in some action?”
“No, I guess I wasn’t very clear. I’m not introducing myself as someone’s lawyer.”
“Then are you here to help?” she asked.
David hadn’t thought of helping. He’d just come to meet other colleagues in his profession. But the question caught him off guard.
“I don’t think I can. I am with the store, just didn’t know any other lawyers in Logan Beach. How many work here?”
“Not nearly enough,” she said as a man approached the desk. “Perfect timing. Paul, meet Mr. Thorn of the House of Thorn. He’s a lawyer and wants to meet some other lawyers. This is Paul Varga—he runs the place.”
The two shook hands. “Are you here to volunteer?”
“I take it you’re shorthanded,” David said, since he’d been asked the same question within two minutes of entering the building.
“Very.”
“I’d like to help you out, but my hands are full right now.”
“Well, maybe some time in the future. Stop by anytime. We can always put you to work.”
Someone came up to Paul and his attention was gone. David realized he’d been dismissed. It wasn’t something that happened to him often. Paul was busy. People called to him from every direction. There wasn’t much time to talk to someone not willing to help.
David nodded to the woman behind the desk and left the building. He slipped into the driver’s seat, but didn’t start the engine. His office in New York was clean and tidy, with law books and a waiting room. This place was little more than a warehouse with mismatched chairs and working men and women waiting for a straw of help.
He needed to help. David felt the calling of his profession. He knew Thorn’s was his priority. Things were going well and they were on schedule, but there was a lot of overseeing to do. He couldn’t possibly leave everything to Rosanna.
Reaching for the ignition, he stopped, his finger on the start button. He didn’t press it, but took his foot off the brake and opened the car door.
Chapter 3
Rose stayed in her office long after David had gone. There were two ways she could interpret David’s comments about giving her preliminary plan to the designers. She could let it go and have them redo the floors to their desire. Or she could present her own version of what the House of Thorn Logan Beach should look like. The idea was practically resolved in her mind before she finished formulating it.
Thank goodness it was Friday. She had the weekend to create her model. Longer than that, and her window of opportunity might close.
It took her the entire weekend to complete, as she started working late at night on Friday, and finished up on Monday morning before going to work. She had both a 3-D computer simulation of the entire store and a physical model of the first three floors.
Getting the model to the office was a precarious trip, but she arrived without a mishap. Setting it up in the conference room, along with her laptop, she covered the model, then made a cup of coffee and went over her presentation before David arrived.
Even though she heard the door of the office open and close, his presence at the conference room door surprised her.
“What’s this?” he asked, coming into the room.
“I want to show you something, but get your coffee and settle first.”
She knew he had no appointments.
At least he hadn’t mentioned any. David was good about keeping her up-to-date and letting her know when he was leaving the office.
“I had coffee on the way in.”
“Then sit down. I have something I want to present.”
He entered the room, taking a seat near the computer and across from her.
“One of the comments you made last week was to ask me what I would do if the store was completely mine and I could design it the way I wanted it.”
Glancing at David, she wanted to know what he was thinking. Her heart beat a little faster and she knew it wasn’t due to her being nervous about her presentation. Each time she saw him her body did things that surprised her, things she knew shouldn’t happen.
David nodded for her to continue.
“This is a computer rendering of the six retail floors.” Her voice was several notes higher than normal. She took a moment to clear her throat.
She tapped a key on the computer and the entire outside facade of the store was projected on the screen at the end of the polished conference table.
David faced the screen, sitting forward in his seat.
“This may not be your vision of the store, but I wanted to start at the beginning.”
There were large display windows with miniature models in them wearing the latest summer fashions. Rose’s 3-D model had real dolls she found in a thrift store.
David nodded, but didn’t give an opinion.
She went on. Every few minutes, as she added more and more floors to the store and explained where everything would be placed and how the lighting would display it, David nodded. He asked a question now and then. She tried to read his expression, but he had his lawyer face on.
Rose continued. She was proud of the design. When she got into the project, she found it didn’t tire her out. It inspired her. When the Bachs retired, her plan was to change some of the departments, but with Thorn’s she had a blank slate. She visited the other stores online, incorporating some of the recurring layouts and creating others. She thought about crowd flow and the natural movement of people from one department to another.
David had said it was scientific and she kept that in mind as she completed her presentation.
“I’ve made a mock-up of the first three floors,” she said when she finished the computer simulation.
Unveiling the three-dimensional model, she stood behind it. David came around to look at it.
“Is this done to scale?” he asked, his first question in a long time. She heard the awe in his voice and didn’t know if it meant he approved or was just surprised.
“You must have worked for days on this.”
“Just the weekend,” she said, keeping to herself the number of hours she’d put in. Unfortunately, she yawned at that moment, putting her hand up to stifle it and hoping he didn’t see it.
David turned the model around, perusing it from every angle. He stooped down, leveling his eye with the model.
“This is beautiful. You should have told me you were an artist.”
He glanced at Rose and she smiled, yet she didn’t want to be complimented on the art. She wanted him to like the layout, approve the design and at least let some of it be used.
“If I approve this, do you think, among your duties, you can work with the designers to implement it?”
Rose blinked, unsure of what she’d inferred.
“Are you giving me approval?” Her voice was more tentative than she would have liked it to be.
“Not yet.” He shook his head. “Email me a copy of the proposal and I’ll present it to the Board and get back to you.”
Rose’s face fell, but she quickly lifted her chin and looked David square in the eye. She knew what his comment meant. He needed time to find a reason to reject it. She knew it was good—better than good—but it wasn’t created by the House of Thorn or any of their agents.
“Don’t get me wrong, Rosanna. It’s a great design.”
Rose nodded absently. “What about the designers?”
“I wish I’d met you before I hired them. I could have saved the family a lot of money.”
Rose smiled for real then.
“One thing,” he said.
She froze, feeling like “here it comes.”
“The outside of the building.”
“Yes?” she prompted.
“Because of the previous storms, we’ve committed to shoring up the foundation. The windows are made of special glass that can resist hurricane-force winds. The building, while it will have the look of the other Thorn stores, will be different than what you have here.”
Rose nodded. “That sounds like a good thing.”
“And the lettering of the logo.” He put his finger on the word Thorn’s.
Rose smiled. “I couldn’t find the right font.”
“I’ll have to pass this by the board, my family, and see what they think,” he repeated.
Rose’s heart hammered and her face burned as if she was on a hot beach, but she was pragmatic. Board, she thought. Even if they were his family, they would never approve a project already in progress, one they’d laid out money for a team of designers to complete. She’d been excited for a moment, but now she knew she didn’t stand a chance. It didn’t matter that hers was better, she’d wasted time and energy thinking David would even seriously consider it. Still, in the back of her mind, she held out a tiny amount of hope.
“I can fix that logo before you go if you know the font name,” she said evenly.
“I’ll find out and let you know.”
He stood up from his crouched position.
“Good job, Rosanna.”
“Rose,” she said. “My friends call me Rose.”
“Rose,” he repeated, his voice barely above a whisper, yet it seemed to roar in her mind.
* * *
The benefit of the doubt. Rose heard a message her father used to give her when she was young and he’d take her to his office. When there was a problem related to people, he advised her to always give them the benefit that they might be right, or at least have a viable reason for whatever the issue was.
So she was going to believe that David had given her proposal its due when he presented it to the board.
Rose yawned. It has been a long weekend. Blinking, she tried to focus on the task list that appeared to grow with each ticking minute. Getting up, she headed for the kitchenette. She poured what had to be her hundredth cup of coffee in the last seventy-two hours. When she returned there was a note on her desk.
She picked up the white piece of paper and read out loud the three words on it.
“Go for it.”
With the paper still in her hand, she went into David’s office. She needed to know what it meant. It had only been an hour since she’d finished presenting. How could he have called a meeting, even if it was with family, and have a decision this fast?
“What does this mean?” Rose asked, extending her hand with the note in it.
David smiled. “You have a go.”
Rose said nothing for a moment. She was stunned.
“H-how?” she stammered. “I mean when? There wasn’t enough time.” She stopped because she was rambling. Her mind was rambling.
“I called the board. Or rather I emailed them. They said any changes I wanted to make were my decision.”
Rose’s mouth dropped open as the full impact of what she was hearing processed in her brain. Clamping her hand over her mouth, Rose kept herself from screaming.
“I can see that makes you happy,” David said. “Your eyes are as bright as the sun.”
Rose stifled a laugh. It came out as almost a sneeze.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized.
“No need. I know exactly how you feel.”
Rose nodded and as she headed toward her office, she knew he couldn’t possibly understand how she felt. She stopped and looked at the ceiling, but she was really looking to the heavens. Closing her eyes, she whispered a prayer. “Thank you, Daddy,” she said.
Standing there for several seconds, she thought about David. He wasn’t as bad as she initially thought. Maybe it was his family and not him who’d bought Bach’s. That thought brought her out of her reverie and she moved.
She should have been riding on air. David had just given her the go-ahead, but she’d been living on adrenaline and coffee for a few days. Returning to her office, she sat down and suddenly a long weekend of pushing herself to create and finish in time to present her ideas slammed into her like a sprinting runner bent on getting to the front of the pack.
At her desk, she rested her head and closed her eyes a moment. Sleep stole over her in seconds...
Her chair slid backward, crashing against the wall and jerking her awake.
David yanked her door open and rushed inside.
“Are you all right?” he asked, concern evident in his voice.
Rose was still trying to get her bearings and didn’t immediately focus on him. So she was unprepared when he pulled her chair around and went down on one knee so he was level with her.
Rose tried to keep the distress from her face, but she was too tired.
“I’m all right,” she said. “Just a little tired.”
“You’re going home,” David announced. His don’t-argue-with-me voice penetrated her mind, but she ignored it.
Pushing back, she said, “I don’t need to go home. I have a ton of things to do and with the addition of the—”
“Every one of them can wait until tomorrow. You’ve worked the entire weekend, night and day, it appears, so you’re going home.”
Rose accepted the argument. The thought of taking a nap seemed like the best idea in the world. But she didn’t want him to think she was incapable of handling her responsibilities.
David must have read her expression, because he answered her concern as if she’d voiced it.
“No one will think ill of you for taking a comp day. We all need them now and then.”
There was no one except the two of them, but Rose didn’t point that out. She nodded and moved to stand, but he was directly in her path. David got up and his hand went under arm, helping her to her feet. Rose felt steadier than she had before he appeared in her office, but she didn’t protest his touch. It was warm and she wanted to put her hand over his and turn to face him. Stifling the urge, she stood and pulled away, using the need to gather her purse and briefcase as a reason to remove the contact between their two bodies.
* * *
Logan Beach wasn’t a large place, even though its population swelled in the summer to thousands.
“Is it all right if I ask you a question?” Rose asked when they were driving in his car.
“Sure.”
“You’re a trained lawyer. How did you come to manage the Logan Beach store? Wasn’t the New York legal scene more your style?”
David negotiated around a tractor trailer and made a left turn before speaking. “About a year ago, my parents called a family meeting. There are five of us. My two brothers and twin cousins. The twins were raised by my parents and are more like brothers than cousins. Our parents announced their retirement.”
“Ah,” Rose commented.
“It wasn’t going to happen that fast. My mother is a visionary. She started out as a stay-at-home mom, but wanted more to life than rearing children. She loved to cook. So she started selling cakes from her kitchen in DC.”
“DC? I thought you were from New York.”
“No,” David said. He stopped at a light and glanced at Rose. She didn’t look as tired as when he’d found her asleep at her desk. “We moved to New York after she started baking. My father was transferred there and she had a few clients in Washington who recommended her to stores in New York. That was the beginning. Eventually the business grew so that she had to move production out of our house and into a small store, where she added ice cream and cold drinks to her menu.”
David remembered those days. He loved the ice cream.
“Soon it was evident she needed help. We all helped out after school and in the summer, but we were probably eating more than we sold.”
Rose laughed at that.
“My father quit his job when the store was making more profits than he made as a retail salesman. And he was tired of always traveling, especially after his brother died suddenly and my twin cousins came to live with us.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.”
David felt the depth of emotion in her words. She must have lost loved ones, too.
“That must have been hard on you as a family.”
“It was, but I think because we had one another—we got through the grief faster than those who have no one.” Before he realized what he’d said, the words were out. He wasn’t sure if Rose had anyone, but he didn’t get the impression that she did, at least no one close. And so many people were going through the same trauma as she was.
“Go on,” Rose prompted. “How did you get from a baked-goods store to a department chain?”
“My uncle left a small retail business that my father took over. People in the retail store would ask about ordering from the bakery and my father would take their orders and pass them on. It was my mother who came up with the idea of putting a bakery in the retail store, giving people a one-stop-shopping experience.”
“Good idea,” Rose said. “That’s a staple of the House of Thorn.”
“Every Thorn store has a bakery. The idea proved to be a perfect arrangement. After a while the bakeries were doing equal business with the retail store. My parents decided to open more stores, one at a time until, in addition to the original bakery, they had five stores in as many states and my father was back on the road, managing them.”
“So did you decide to help out by managing the new Logan Beach store?”
He shook his head. “That’s where the family meeting came into play.”
Rose leaned her head back on the seat, her neck rolling until she faced him. He felt a small twinge of awareness under her scrutiny.
“When the twins went to college, my parents announced they planned to retire after the twins graduated. They would stay in business until then. After that they planned to go on an around-the-world cruise and the empire would pass to the next generation.”
“So obviously the twins graduated.”
“Two years ago.”
He looked at her. Her eyes were closed, but they opened, looking directly into his. David turned back to concentrate on the traffic.
“When they asked which stores we wanted to manage, I chose this one.”
“Why?”
“I love Logan Beach. All my memories here are fond ones. I expect to make more in the future.”
The drive from the store to Rose’s apartment was only twenty minutes. Their conversation hit a lull and when David glanced at her again, she’d fallen asleep. He smiled at her and pulled her head against his shoulder.
David drove slowly, not wanting to wake her. He also wanted to prolong the drive. He couldn’t believe what she’d done with the plans for the store. The design was better than good. Smiling to himself, he thought of their argument over the placement of display cases, and the best method of directing the flow of customers, yet she’d incorporated it into her design. It wasn’t a battle or a war that he’d won, but he felt it was a crack in the glass case she’d protected herself with.
Pulling up in front of her apartment, David cut the engine and looked sideways. Rose didn’t move. He leaned over and released her seat belt. She fell against him.
Her breath was warm on his neck and he didn’t immediately move back or push her head away. He turned his face slightly, taking a more comfortable position, one that was a prelude to his mouth seeking hers.
David stopped himself. He knew if he moved another inch he’d kiss her, and while the thought was foremost in his mind, the timing was wrong.
“Rose,” he whispered.
She stirred, yet remained asleep.
“Rose,” he said again, this time his voice a little stronger.
Her eyes opened and she looked up. It only took a moment for her to realize where she was. Quickly, she pushed back and shifted in her seat.
David knew she would react that way, yet he’d hoped she wouldn’t.
“Excuse me, I must have dozed off. I guess I’m more tired than I thought.” She glanced out the window. “We’re here.”
“I’ll see you in.”
“There’s no need of that,” Rose insisted.
“You were asleep in seconds. I want to make sure you get to your apartment safely.” He didn’t wait for her to agree or disagree. He was out of the car and coming around to her side. The truth was, he wanted to make sure she got safely inside.
The hallway was still dim, but his eyes adjusted quickly. He followed her up the steps and stopped at her door.