Page 16 of Reckless (Adventures in Love 3)
Chapter 6
JADE
I drive down Main Street in town with Cybil sitting in the passenger seat and search for a place to park. With Halloween just around the corner, everyone seems to have gone all out decorating for the holiday. It looks like a postcard with both sides of the street lined with brick buildings and antique-looking signs hanging above the doors, pumpkins painted on the windows, and ghosts suspended off the black lampposts that line the road.
“Oh, there’s a spot.” Cybil points to a car backing out a few feet ahead of us, so I flip on my blinker and wait for it to leave before I pull into the now-empty space.
“How far is the law office?”
“Just a minute’s walk down the street.” She motions to my left, so I grab my hat and put it on over my hair, then lift my purse from the back seat. After we get out, we meet on the sidewalk, then both walk quickly to get out of the cold.
“Can we stop and get a coffee when we’re done?” I ask as we pass a coffee shop with a gold black bear etched into the glass window.
“Yes.” She comes to a stop in front of a plain white door next to the coffee shop and turns the handle. “And if we do take this space, we’ll have access to the best coffee in town every day, since it’s right next door.”
“This is it?” I look at the window next to the door and notice that it’s got the blinds down and closed and no sign in the window.
“This is it.” She opens the door, and when we step inside, the older woman sitting at the desk looks up and smiles at us.
“Cybil.” She greets my friend with a warm, familiar smile. “Where is that baby of yours?”
“At home with her dad,” Cybil says, then motions to me. “Sandy, this is my best friend, Jade; Jade, this is Sandy, Blake’s grandmother.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” I smile.
“You as well.” She pushes out of her chair, then grabs her sweater, which is draped over the back, and puts it on. “Gene told me that you girls were coming to have a look around, so while you’re here, I’m going to pop next door to grab a coffee.”
“Sure,” Cybil says, then asks, “are you still going to be working for Gene when he moves his office to his house?”
“Nope, I’m going to retire and spend some time with my new husband.” She smiles. “We’re thinking about buying one of those RVs and traveling around the US a few months out of the year.”
“That sounds fun.”
“I think so too.” She winks and then gives Cybil’s arm a squeeze. “Stop by next door when you’re done and let me know.”
“I will,” Cybil tells her.
Then Sandy’s eyes come to me. “It was nice meeting you, Jade.”
“You too.” I smile back, then watch her leave.
“So this is it.” Cybil motions around the room, then heads through a doorway right behind the desk Sandy was at, and I find that it’s another room not much bigger than the front one. “So what do we think?” Cybil asks as I go back into the front room and open a door there, finding a small bathroom.
“I like it, and it’s bigger than the space I had back home. How do you feel about it?” The space is not overly large, but it does have potential.
“I like it too. I also wonder how difficult it would be for Tanner to take down the wall between the two rooms so that we can open up the space.” She walks to the doorway between the rooms and looks from one side to the other. “If he can do it without too much trouble, it would really open up the space and give us a lot more options when it comes to the layout of everything.”
“But can we do that?”
“What do you mean?” She frowns at me.
“I mean, we would be renting the space, and this building is old. I don’t know that we can just take out a wall because we want to.”
“Oh.” Her frown grows deeper as she looks around once more. “Well, if we can’t, we could put a couch back here along with some shelves for books, then another wall of shelves in the front, and use the rest of the space for the vendors who are going to be selling out of the store.”
“How much is the rent on this place a month?” I walk to the window that looks out to the street and open the blinds.
“I think it’s just about two thousand dollars, but that includes the electricity, water, and garbage.”
“That’s a lot of money, Cybil,” I say quietly, turning to face her as my stomach sinks.
“Yeah, but it’s also a great location right in the middle of town.”
