“Susan and Rick Collins. They live not far from here and are great friends of Bella’s. She called and passed on the invitation and I said I’d pass it on to you.”
“Nice. Thanks.”
“So, how’s it all going? You seem to be flying through it all. I thought you’d do the common areas first and then the shop. And before you say anything, I don’t care how it works. I’m not getting involved in any way other than as your sister so lose that pout.”
“Sorry.” April shook her shoulders and wiggled her fingers to let the tension release. “I, uh, look, can I ask you something?”
Mari rolled her eyes. “Like you need to ask permission.”
“I think I upset David this morning.” She gave a very quick version of the incident doing her best not to make it look like it was as bad as it was.
Mari’s eyes bugged her mouth dropped open. “You didn’t?”
“It wasn’t exactly all my fault. He should have been looking where he was going, for goodness sake. That’s twice now. He ran into me with coffee and then walked into my paint. How is that all my fault?”
“Oh, April. When are you going to learn not to rush into things? You should’ve given it a bit more thought. There’s no hurry to do that painting. Concentrate on your shop first and do that later when you’re more settled. Surely Tommy told you that?”
“I don’t remember. I was so happy to get the opportunity I may have missed that bit.” She dug her fingers into her hair and tugged at the messy curls. “I have to take the blame, don’t I?”
“If you want to make up with him, yes. I think you’re at fault, and not only because I know how you race around at a hundred miles an hour. This shop was a new chance for you to make a change in your life. Slow down and breathe before you rush in.”
“Yes, Mari.” Her sister was right and April knew it, but she would make a point of getting at least some of the job done sooner rather than later. April had been arguing with herself all day over it and kept coming back to the same conclusion. But first she had to calm the waters between her and the other tenant. “I’ll make it up to him, promise.”
“Good. Now let go of the angst and enjoy what you have here. It’ll be fine, you’ll see.” Mari pulled a scrap of paper out of her pocket. “This is Susan’s address. All you need to bring is a salad or something of that nature. They’re taking care of the meat and drinks.” She rattled off the details of what she was taking before she left. Being included made up for the awkward start to April’s day.
She raised her arms over her head and stretched, loosening the kinks in her neck, waved at the car that tooted its horn as it passed the shop before she shut the door. The locals were friendly here.
April ran her hand over her dog’s ears. “And that, Hamish, is why living in a small town is such a good idea.”
She cleaned up her painting equipment and headed upstairs. It was tempting to go and make sure David was okay and not still in a mood but she decided it might be wiser to keep her distance. April wasn’t sure trying to befriend someone like him would work out well for her. It might be easier to keep things on a more formal footing but, thinking about it, that went against the grain. April wasn’t the formal kind of girl. She tried to settle down and relax but found herself arguing two sides of the idea running through her head. Just how far did she have to go with her apology?
Frustrated, she gave up trying to reason with herself and grabbed a bottle of wine from the refrigerator, two mismatched but beautiful crystal glasses and a bag of mixed salted nuts and headed downstairs, Hamish hot on her heels. She plonked herself down at the table in the common area and waited to see if David would walk through the kitchen to get to his car while the big dog settled under the table. She didn’t have to wait for long. First Helen came through. She gave April a smile, looked as though she wanted to say something and then thought better of it muttering a “good night” as she slipped out the door.
When David came out, he had his briefcase tucked under his arm, a brown paper bag in his hand and was trying to push his glasses back onto his nose with the back of his hand.
He sucked in his breath when he spied her. “Um, April.” He glanced around, no doubt wondering where the paint was lest he stumble into another batch. “Hi.”
She stood up. “I have an apology to make.” She cleared her throat and looked him in the eye. “I’m very sorry about the incident earlier. You’re right, I should have planned it out a bit better but I let my enthusiasm get the better of me. You may as well know up front that it’s a huge failing of mine.” She tucked her hands behind her back and gave him a smile desperately trying to settle the wobble in her voice. She wasn’t used to apologizing for her outlandish behavior, preferring to think she could get away with whatever she wanted being the baby of the family. It’d worked so far in life but she noticed a change in the air of late. “I figured that since the owners were good enough to give me the shop at a discounted rate because I offered to paint the place, I should get into it right away. I didn’t stop to think that it might impact your business.”
He
