Sweet Baklava (22 page)

The next morning Paula hopped out of bed before the alarm went off. The night before, Mildred had shown her the schedule for production. The woman was organized to a fault.

"I don't want anyone working too many hours," Paula reminded her. "The job is repetitive, and I don't want folks burning out."

Mildred laughed. "Trust me, burning out on candle making isn't gonna happen here."

Paula grinned. "You're doing a great job."

"What's this I hear about you hiring a high school kid to work at your store? Do you think she'll be able to do the job?"

Word sure did travel fast. "I need another pair of hands in the shop for just a few hours a week."

"I could've done that."

Obviously, Mildred didn't know the full details about what had transpired. "But I need you here."

Mildred placed her hands on her hips and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Without my organization, this whole operation would fall apart."

"I wanted to talk to you about the new locations we're considering."

Paula spent an hour discussing what they needed to make the candles and soaps. At first Mildred balked at moving from the Senior Center, but Paula said she'd continue donating money for their cause. That seemed to satisfy her.

On her way to the shop, Paula's mind raced with all the changes. She'd never envisioned having more wholesale business than retail. Having retail customers was fun and interesting, but the wholesale orders paid the bills and enabled her to help other people.

When she arrived at the shop, she made her way from the back to the front. A few minutes after she unlocked the front door, the bell jingled and she glanced up.

"Hi, Paula." Kate walked toward her as though on a mission. "You and I need to clear the air."

P
aula braced herself for a tongue-lashing. She'd never forget the time Kate lit into her back in high school, letting her know she was playing out of her league with Nick.

She plastered on a smile. "What's up, Kate?"

"My daughter. Something has come over her, and I want to know what you did."

"What I did?"

Kate bobbed her head. "Yeah. What have you done to her?"

Paula's shoulders tightened. What happened to the happy woman she'd talked to yesterday? Was this a threat? She couldn't tell. "Um, I've just been helping her study."

"After we got home, I told her to come clean. She gave me the details about when she got busted trying to swipe some stuff from your shop." Kate glanced around the store then turned back to face Paula.

"I thought we cleared this up yesterday," Paula said.

"Yeah, but you and I both know that was all for show. For Nick and his mother. Now it's just me and you. Why didn't you call the cops when you caught Amanda? You had every right."

Paula stared at Kate in disbelief. This was a conversation she never expected to have. "As far as I know, she didn't get away with anything. She came clean and didn't try to deny what she'd done."

A look of pride flickered across Kate's face. "My daughter might be a thief, but at least she's honest."

"And smart too," Paula reminded her.

"That's what I wanted to discuss with you. Why are you doing all this for Amanda? What do you want from her?"

Paula glanced down at the counter as she pondered what to say. She couldn't very well mention that Amanda reminded her of herself when she was younger. Kate never tried to hide the fact that she always thought Paula was a loser. Finally, she looked Kate in the eye.

"I saw something special in Amanda. There's a spark of intelligence that let me know she had something going on. I think she might have wanted to get caught because she's smart enough to have gotten away with a few candles and soaps."

Kate bobbed her head. "Yeah, her father was always pretty smart, and I'm not stupid. I guess she comes by that from both sides."

"Thank you for agreeing to let her work for me."

Kate snorted. "You've always been a little weird like that. I'll probably never understand why you would want a thief working in your store."

"I don't think, deep down, that she's a thief."

"Either you're being naïve, or you see something no one else can. Her father and I have beaten ourselves up over what to do about that girl. He wanted to send her away to a camp for bad girls, and he certainly has the money to do that, but I didn't want her to be around other kids who could teach her more bad stuff."

Paula could imagine Sam Dunbar wanting to get rid of his daughter. After all, everyone but Paula knew she was his daughter, and if she continued getting into trouble, it might hurt business. Suddenly, an idea flickered through her mind. This might be a good time . . .

"How would you feel about Amanda going to church with me sometime?"

"Church? Get real. You're kidding, right?" She flapped her hand. "If those church people find out she's my daughter, they'll probably toss her to the street."

"No, they'd never do that."

"So you think church is the answer, huh?" Kate chewed on her bottom lip. "I doubt Amanda will agree to go to church with you or anyone."

"That's one of the things I told Amanda I wanted her to do to make up for trying to take stuff."

"I don't know." Kate flipped her hair over her shoulder. "We've never been all that churchy."

Paula smiled. "Being churchy isn't required. Besides, there are some nice kids who go there."

"If they're the ones from school, they won't have anything to do with her."

"Maybe not. A few of the kids go to Tarpon Springs High School, but since it's in Crystal Beach, most are from Palm Harbor University High School. I think she'll make friends."

Kate frowned as she thought about it. "I don't know. You're asking an awful lot."

"You don't have to make a decision right now. The offer will always be open."

"Okay . . . thanks." Kate walked around the store, picked up a candle and sniffed it, then put it back down. She glanced over her shoulder at Paula with a curious expression.

"How would you like to go to church with me?" Paula blurted.

"Now I know you've lost your mind. Are you insane?"

Paula shrugged. "Maybe."

"Why would you want to be seen with me? Won't your church friends get upset, knowing you brought the town bad girl to a holy place?"

"It's not like that at all." Paula came around from behind the counter. "Besides, most people there don't know you."

Kate flicked her wrist again and grunted. "I'll never understand any of that church stuff. Besides, God will probably faint if I show up in church."

"Oh, I think God will be happy to see you there."

"Why would you ask me to go, Paula? Are you trying to set me up for something? I mean, I wasn't exactly your best friend in school."

"We've been out of school a long time, Kate. I'm over it."

Kate snickered. "Yeah, I guess you are." She turned over a candle, studied the price tag, then put it back down.

Paula decided to give Kate some time to think rather than try to persuade her to go. "It's up to you, Kate. I'd love to have you be my guest at church, but I don't want to force it on you."

"Tell you what," Kate said. "I'll drop Amanda off at your house on Sunday morning, and she can tell me about it later."

"Okay, that's fine," Paula said. At least now Kate trusted her with Amanda. "Now I have a question for you."

Kate looked leery. "What?"

Paula pulled one of her new candles out from behind the counter. "I've been working on some new scents, and I'm still undecided about this one."

"Let me take a whiff." Kate lifted the candle to her nose, closed her eyes, and inhaled. Paula held her breath until Kate opened her eyes and smiled. "It smells delicious. What is it?"

"It's a blend of lemon and vanilla. I wasn't sure if it was the right balance."

"I think it's perfect. When will you have it for sale?"

"Not for a few months."

The disappointment on Kate's face touched Paula.

"Too bad." She tried to hand the candle back to Paula.

"Keep it. I made a batch of them in different molds, so I have more."

Kate lifted her eyebrows. "Are you sure?" She dropped the candle into her bag. "How much do you want?"

"It's a gift."

"Nothing's free. What do you want from me?"

Paula understood exactly where Kate was coming from, and she didn't want to step on her pride. "I just appreciate your opinion. Consider it payment for that."

Kate hesitated before nodding. "Okay, thanks." She glanced at her watch. "I guess I better run. I'm supposed to be picking up some doughnuts for the office."

After Kate left, Paula rehashed their interaction. Something had changed between them, and she was relieved.

A while later Nick stopped by with lunch. "Uncle Apollo wanted me to bring you this."

Paula opened the bag. "Yum. Spanakopita."

"So I hear Kate paid you a visit this morning."

She laughed. "Nothing gets by you, does it?"

"Not if it happens on the sponge docks. Is everything okay?"

Paula nodded. "She was checking me out to make sure my intentions were good for her daughter."

"That takes a lot of nerve after what happened."

"I don't know. I think I would have done the same thing if I'd been in her shoes. In spite of the way she behaves, she loves Amanda."

Nick tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. "She loves her so much she told her to get lost."

"Yeah, that does seem rather drastic," Paula admitted. "They have somewhat of a tumultuous relationship, don't they?"

"Oh yeah."

"I bet there's other stuff we don't know about—at least not yet. Amanda still has some mighty rough edges."

"You're probably right. I'm sure you'll get it out of Amanda eventually. You're good at doing that."

"Grandma used to say guilt was the biggest torture, and it would eventually get people to talk," Paula said.

"Your grandma was smart."

"Yes, she was very smart." So smart she'd managed to keep her daughter from leaving her husband as long as she was alive. Less than a year after they buried Grandma, Paula came home from school one day and discovered her stuff packed in a car. Her mother informed her they were moving to Florida— without Dad.

"So how did your visit with Kate go?"

Paula shrugged. "I think okay. She's dropping Amanda off at my place on Sunday before church."

Nick lifted one eyebrow. "So you're taking Amanda to church? Are you sure you wanna do this?"

She looked him in the eye. "Yeah, why not?"

Nick knew exactly what was going on. Paula saw herself in Amanda, and she wanted to do the same thing for the girl that someone had done for her. Only with Paula, it happened at a much younger age—at a more malleable time of her life.

"Want me to pick both of you up?"

"No, I think it would be better for me to take Amanda, just the two of us. Besides, I'm kind of hoping Kate might decide to join us."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. I asked her if she'd like to go."

Nick chuckled. "And what did she say?"

"She seemed to think I'd lost my mind."

Nick was inclined to agree with Kate, but he'd also known Paula long enough to understand what she was doing. "I guess miracles do happen."

"Yes, and you're looking at one."

Maybe so, but in his eyes she was more of an angel who came into his life when he needed her. Before Paula, Nick felt like he could have whatever he wanted, but nothing made him happy. Once they started seeing each other, he didn't want as much, and everything made him happy. That hadn't changed as long as he was with her.

"So do you want me to get there early and save seats for you and Amanda?"

Paula looked around her shop then turned to face him. "That would be nice."

"Would you like to hang out afterward?"

She laughed as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Let's just play that by ear, okay?"

"Okay." It was obviously time for him to leave. He backed toward the door. "See you on Sunday."

Paula smiled and nodded. "Since Amanda hasn't been there before, maybe you should pick a spot somewhere toward the back. I don't want to make her nervous by sitting too close to the front."

Over the next few days Nick tried to put Paula out of his mind, but that was impossible. The harder he tried, the more her image popped up in his head. He loved her now more than ever, and he knew nothing else in the world mattered more to him than being with her for the rest of their lives. The problem was he only had a couple of weeks left in Tarpon Springs before he had to return to his base in Texas.

True to his word, he saved a seat for Paula and Amanda. He remembered to sit near the back of the church—but not the very back. He kept glancing over his shoulder, waiting for Paula and Amanda. When he spotted Paula leading the way toward him, his heart did a double thump. And when he saw Amanda and Kate right behind her, he almost fell off the seat.

"Hi, Nick," Kate said as she squeezed into the pew. "I bet you're surprised to see me here."

He didn't want to lie, so he just smiled and said, "Hi. I'm glad you could come."

They were lined up in the pew—Nick, Amanda, Paula, and Kate. From a stranger's perspective, they probably looked like a group of happy friends. However, Nick remained stunned as he noticed Paula guiding both Amanda and Kate through the service. He tried to help with Amanda, but Paula was so quick he didn't have to do anything but smile.

After church, Kate shook her head. "I never realized church was like this before. Thank you for talking me into coming. The music was actually very nice."

"You were ready for this," Paula told her, then turned to Amanda. "So what do you think?"

"Can I come back next week?"

"Yes, of course," Paula replied. "Nothing would make me happier than for both of you to continue coming to church."

Nick had no doubt that she meant every word of it. He was about to ask Paula to come to his mother's house for lunch, but she announced that she wanted to treat Amanda and Kate to lunch at the Lucky Dill Deli in Palm Harbor.

"Would you like to join us?" she asked.

He thought for a moment before shaking his head. "Mama is expecting me. Besides, I'm sure the three of you wanna talk girl-talk, and that's just not my thing."

Paula gave him a curious look. He winked and smiled.

"See you tomorrow?" she asked.

"Sure. I'll stop by the shop in the morning. Maybe we can make plans for later in the week."

Paula waved as he left. Before he exited the church, he glanced over his shoulder and saw Paula introducing Kate to some other women. Amanda was a few feet away talking to a couple of kids her age. Yes, Paula was a miracle worker, he thought as he drove home.

Nick had no idea how to do it, but he had to act fast or he'd lose out on Paula. His mother noticed him picking at his food.