Carpe Bead'em (25 page)

“It’s the bottom part of the guest
bedroom door. Or as you refer to it, Lucy’s bedroom door, aka Aunt Grace and
Uncle Jimmy’s temporary home.” Gently he places it back on the floor next to
the couch, like a weapon.

I can’t hold my laughter in. I snort
with delight.

“Are you losing your mind? Have you been
hanging around them too long?” Wilson shouts. “I came home to Uncle Jimmy
sawing it off. He took the door off the hinges, took the door outside and sawed
it off because he doesn’t like the way it drags the carpet when he opens or
closes the door.” He reaches down and picks it up again. “Three inches, Hallie.
Now there is a huge gap between the floor and the door. Three inches, to be
specific. Doesn’t he realize the carpet is a rug?”

I don’t laugh or say a word. I march
upstairs to find Uncle Jimmy refilling our bonding glass.

“Get upstairs and get your things.
You’re going home.” He doesn’t protest. He gets up and goes upstairs. “You can
keep the robe.”

We drive in silence back to their
building. Luckily the extermination is complete and everyone can move back in.

With her head hung low, Aunt Grace
follows Uncle Jimmy into their apartment building. I’ve had enough.

What happened to three quiet months
away? It’s been anything but that. My secret crush on Bo did crash and burn. My
favorite job is now a chore. My beading hobby is consuming every ounce of free
time. My girlfriends are going in different directions. My running … well, my
running is down the drain. At least I have Henry.

On my way home from taking Aunt Grace
and Uncle Jimmy home, I drive through Hyde Park and notice light on at One Bead
at a Time. Through the window I can see Dee cleaning. I pull into a parking
space in front of the store and park.

“Need some help?” I open the door.

I’m more than willing to clean because
there is no way I can go home and relax after my evening.

She throws a cleaning rag at me. “Go for
it. What’s got you wound tight?”

I tell her about Judith Light, and my
problem with Aunt Grace and Uncle Jimmy.

“What are you going to do?” Dee is
separating the beads back into their appropriate bins.

“I'm going to give Gucci my full twelve
weeks here. That is all I committed to.” I help gather the trash bags around
the tables. “Do you think I have the talent to pull this off?”

Doubt creeps in. This is the first time
in my life I’ve to rely on myself for a paycheck, not a corporation.

“Are you kidding me?” Dee put her arm
around my shoulders. “I saw the talent the first day you strung that one bead. I
wouldn’t have asked you to sell your designs in my store if I thought they were
bad.” She sprays down the tables and wipes them off. “And to think it all
started here.”

It feels good to hear a compliment after
the day I’ve had. “You do know your name is in the magazine’s advertising section
from the photo shoot?”

The delight is apparent. “Looks like you
need to be making me some new jewelry.” We work in silence for the next few
minutes.

“I’m going to tell people I taught you
everything you know. I might even go on the Jerry Springer show.”

“Truth be told, this wouldn’t have been
possible if it weren’t for your encouragement. Thank you.” It’s important for
her to know how much she means to me. “I’m forever indebted to you.”

A knock on the glass echoes. We look
over at the teenager with her hands pressed up against the clean glass.

The clock on the wall reads nine at
night, which isn’t too late for the group of teenagers to be out in the square
on this warm summer night.

“I was walking by and noticed you were
here,” she says. “I want to order a bracelet and see if you can have it done by
next week. It’s my mom’s birthday gift.”

“Hold on.” I go back in and scribble my
name and number on a piece of paper. “This is my address, stop by. I want to
talk to you too.”

She takes the paper and rips it in half.

“This is my number in case you need it.”
She quickly writes it down. “See you soon.”

Natalie.

She looks like a Natalie with her long
dark eyelashes and black hair. In fact she kind of reminds me of the actress
Natalie Wood.

 I watch her run down the street,
catching up with the group of girls near the fountain. I notice her short orange
Adidas shorts, gray tank, tennis shoes and long dark ponytail. Just a normal
teenager.

“What’s was that?” Dee put the sweeper
away.

“She has a cool idea for a bracelet that
we are going to discuss.”

Even though I trust Dee, I keep my ideas
to myself. I have a few designs specifically for moms that I need to work on.
It would be perfect for Natalie’s gift to her mom.

Chapter Forty
Six

“There’s nothing we can do to keep you?”
Charlie asks after I told him I won’t be returning to Gucci after my twelve weeks
are up.

“No, sir.” The lump in my throat is
bigger, almost cutting my airway off. I know Beatrice is a great replacement.
I’ve trained her to the best of my ability. Charlie isn’t quite sold, however.

“I agree she’s come a long way,” he
says, “but this is her first job with us and she needs to know the company
inside and out.”

“Sir, if you think I know everything
about Gucci, I’d love for you to meet Beatrice in person. She’s a quick learner
and knows more than I do. Even the International line.”

It’s true. She’s been telling me what
Europe and Italy are doing. I shoo her in my office, shut the door so they can
talk, and man the phones in her absence. Buttons here, buttons there, green
ones, red ones. I have no idea what to do. I just push the blinking ones.

“Gucci boutique, this is Hallie. How can
I assist you?” This is actually a little fun.

I would never be able to be Miss Happy
Go Lucky all the time, but for the moment it’s entertaining me.

“First, you can have dinner with me.” My
heart skips a beat hearing Bo’s voice. “Next week, I am coming to work on the
Burger Beer deal. What do you say?”

“Um…” I stutter.

He completely catches me off guard.
There is a week to plan and come up with a smart-ass dig and put everything out
there on the line. Set the boundaries as running partners only.

“Sure,” I say. I don’t tell him about me
leaving Gucci. I’m sure Piper will do enough talking for all three of us. “Give
me a call when you get in town and we’ll take it from there.”

The other blinking lights, on the phone,
is a good excuse for me to get off. The longer he talks, the less angry I am at
him.

Beatrice can’t thank me enough when she
gets of the conference call with Charlie.

“I think I am going to explode.”

“Out of all the associates I’ve worked
with over the years, you deserve this.” I take both of her hands in mine.

Beatrice is on cloud nine the entire
day. The boutique is busy. We ended the day on a good note with a lot of sells.

I take my time driving to Hyde Park.
When I pull into the driveway, I’m shocked to not only see Lucy, but she’s
pulling weeds out of the flower bed.

“Lucy?” I question.

There are dead leaves crumbled in her
hair when she looks back at me. I sit down next to her in the grass. This is
obviously a time for an intervention.

Henry scratches on the door when he
hears my voice. He bounds out into Lucy’s lap when I open the door, giving her
kisses.

“Luce, what’s wrong?” I place my hand on
her back.

“I think it’s over,” she whispers under
her breath and looks up with her red puffy eyes. “Beck and I are over. He
really is going to stay in Mason Crossing.”

“I’m sorry.” I wish I had more words to
comfort her.

“I don’t want to move back there and
become my parents. Why in the world would I want to do that?” She’s sobbing
now.

“I wouldn’t want to be your parents
either, but why would you have to be?” I pick a few dandelions, toss them out
into the yard.

I can’t imagine Lucy cooking and running
the vacuum each night, which is exactly what her mom does. I love her mom and
she’s been a second mom to me, but she’s a little too June Cleaver.

“You need to put some distance between
you and Beck. You need to go home and work. You’ll make the right decision on
your time, not Beck’s, not your parents. Yours.” I reassure her.

“I‘m going back to Chicago tomorrow
morning.” There is firmness in her voice.

 I follow her inside as she gets her
suitcase. She’s reached the stage in her life where the road is splitting off.
She is sad, but strong, at the same time.

I rush down the stairs when the doorbell
rings. I forgot about Natalie coming by to talk with me a little more about her
idea for her mom’s birthday present.

She has six siblings with six different
birthstones. Her idea is amazing. She wants simple seven-millimeter sterling
silver beads with each of their birthstones evenly sprinkled throughout the
bracelet
.

Genius.
Why haven’t I
thought of that for moms?

“Natalie, you are amazing.” I look at
the design I had sketched in my notebook. “We can definitely come up with it.
Plus I’m going to show you how to do it.”

Natalie looks up and smiles. “I was
hoping you could show me. I want her to know I made it and came up with the
idea.”

I’m envious of Natalie. She has her mom,
dad and siblings to go home to. She loves her family. It makes me think of Aunt
Grace.

She is my family and the image of her
walking with her head down into her apartment building is weighing heavy on my
mind. She doesn’t look in the best health and I know I should treat her better
I do, but sometimes she pushes my buttons the wrong way. Unfortunately it never
ends with her.

“I was wondering,” I say, “if you want
to work for me.”

Natalie is mature for her age, but fun
and has an eye for fashion, which is proven in the short shorts, tight t-shirt,
scarf wrapped around her neck, long knee socks and Chuck Taylor tennis shoes
with a slew of Beadnicks bracelets she wearing.

“I’d love to!” She jumps at the chance.
She is fidgeting with her bracelets. “I love your jewelry. What will I do, sort
the beads? Where is the store going to be?”

She is talking and asking questions
faster than I can process them.

“Hold up.” I put my hand in front of
her. “Actually in a couple weeks I’ll be moving back to Chicago. I plan on
keeping Dee supplied with bracelets, the simple ones we have in the store. I
need your eyes to tell me what’s going on in the fashion world and what
teenagers are looking for. I’m also talking with Nordstrom’s and Saks about
carrying a spring line. That means I’ll need lots of ideas and maybe a few
trips to Chicago. Plus you can make your own designs and we can market to teens.”

Natalie is a big part of Beadnicks’
success with the teenage population here. Plus her mother’s bracelet is a
no-brainer. I would’ve never come up with the idea since I don’t have a mom to
make any jewelry for.

My mom.

What constitutes my mom? Aunt Grace
stepped in as my mom on a second notice. No one ever asked her if she wanted
me. She never once let me go hungry. Why haven’t I made Aunt Grace a bracelet?

 “I think I want to make one for each of
my four sisters. They’d love to have a birthstone bracelet.” Natalie’s voice
brings me back from my thoughts.

The bracelet Natalie has in mind for her
mom is an easy bracelet. In fact, it’s the easiest bracelet I’ve ever made.
It’s a good starting bracelet, especially for a teenager. Straight circular
beading on wire.

“Birthstone bracelet.” I think about
marketing it just as that. “I can call these birthstone bracelet for teenagers
and mother’s bracelet for the moms.”

She agrees, and we have several
bracelets made in just under an hour.

I want to call her parents and set up a
meeting so I can share my ideas about Natalie and the future of Beadnicks in
Cincinnati. If I’m going to be in two cities, I’ll definitely need her help.
She’s going to be an integral part to the teen line and the mother bracelet
idea I have.