Belle stood in the entrance of the building, the second of two sites the agent had initially chosen to show her. The first one hadn’t resonated with her at all. She just hadn’t been able to picture it as the new home for the business. She’d hoped that the second one would be better, but this building was also challenging her to see past the mess it was currently in to visualize the possibilities.
“I know. I know,” the agent said as she waved a hand at the space. “It’s rough, but I think it would transform beautifully into what you want. They can rip out this front area, and it will be similar to what you have now with the foyer opening up through the second floor. Then the offices and consultation rooms would be on the second floor.”
The agent definitely seemed more excited about this property than the previous one, and Belle felt a return of the hope she’d felt at the initial meeting with Mitch, Tristan, and the agent. The first property the agent had shown her had left her feeling just like the many other ones she’d seen had—discouraged and hopeless. But this one…maybe.
“Can they really do that kind of magic?” Belle asked. “And stay within my budget?”
“The building has been on the market for a while now, and I think the owners will consider most reasonable offers.” The agent waved her forward. “Let’s just have a walk around so you can see a bit more of what I’m talking about.”
Belle wasn’t sure she’d be able to send pictures of this to her mom without also sending along some artist’s renderings so that her Mom wouldn’t outright reject it. She also wasn’t convinced that Mitch’s company really could do the necessary work and still come in on budget.
She so desperately wanted this process to be over. They’d been gearing up for their busiest time of the year when this curveball had caught them completely off guard. Instead of allowing them to renew their lease, as in previous years, the landlord had been quite adamant that they needed to move. Her step-dad had even offered to buy the building, but that offer had been rejected. Belle wished she knew why it was happening.
The way the landlord was ejecting them from the building with just nine months’ notice made it feel personal. She supposed they were lucky to have the time they did to relocate, but considering that they’d been good tenants for almost fifteen years, she would have thought the building owner would have been willing to give them more than nine months.
“If you’d like, I can see about sending a floor plan of the building to Tristan, so he can design a layout that would help you visualize a bit better what the renovated area could look like.”
Belle nodded. “That would be helpful. Not just for me, but to send to my mom who, even though she’s basically turned the business over to my sister and me, still wants to have input in major business decisions.”
“Sounds good. I’ll go ahead and let Tristan know he should proceed with a design plan. And if you have any more questions about it, please feel free to call me. In the meantime, I’ll continue to look for other possible locations.” Once they were back outside on the sidewalk, the agent offered her hand. “I’ll be in touch.”
“Thank you for your time,” Belle said before heading to her car.
She sat for a few minutes looking around the neighborhood. The nicest thing she could see about the building in its current condition was that it offered a view of the river. Parking wouldn’t be too bad either since the business rarely had crowds of people needing spots. They almost required more parking stalls for staff than they did for customers.
The agent had seemed quite convinced that the inside could be turned from rundown to bridal, but Belle still wasn’t so sure herself. She knew the place would be a hard no from her mom, but they weren’t in a position where they could afford to be too picky. Not if they wanted to keep both the wedding planning and dress selling sides of the business open.
Belle wanted this to be someone else’s decision. If it were her own business, the decision wouldn’t be so difficult, but she knew her mom was going to want to have a say even though she’d been out of the business for four years now. She’d want to have a say and yet would leave the final decision to Belle…as long as she made the right one.
With a sigh, Belle pulled away from the curb and headed back to the shop. She was almost there when her phone rang. The phone was attached to the holder on her dashboard so she could see that it was Mitch Callaghan calling. After a hesitation that she couldn’t explain, Belle instructed Siri to answer the call.
“Hi, Belle, it’s Mitch.” The man’s voice came through the Bluetooth speaker in her car.
Uncertain why he’d be calling, Belle said, “Hi, Mitch. How’s it going?”
“Can’t complain. Well, I could, but I won’t.” He paused. “I’m actually calling because I just spoke with Cassidy, and she mentioned you were on the fence about the place on Waterfront Drive.”
“Yes. I’m afraid I’m a bit challenged when it comes to visualizing possibilities rather than allowing realities to leave me feeling hopeless.”
“Cassidy said she was getting floorplans for Tris so that he could work up a possible design plan for you to see.”
“Isn’t that a waste of his time if I haven’t definitely decided to buy the building?” Belle pulled into her spot at the shop but didn’t get out of the car.
Mitch chuckled. “No. You don’t have to worry about that. Tris lives to design, and the more challenging the project, the more he loves it. I just want you to feel free to ask any of us any questions you have. We’re used to seeing projects go from a wreck to perfection, but I can see how it might be harder for you since you’re not as familiar with that process as we are.”
“Why are you so determined to help me out?” It wasn’t until she asked the question that Belle realized it really was something that had been in the back of her mind since the meeting at C&M.
“Good question,” Mitch said with a chuckle. “I think part of it was seeing how the idea of renovating and moving stressed you out. I knew that we could probably help you make it a slightly less stressful process. Seems like maybe we haven’t managed to do that quite yet.”
“It’s not your fault,” Belle assured him as she sank back in her seat. “I’m afraid it’s going to take me a bit of time to lose the stress that’s built up over the past several weeks. And honestly, that disaster of a place on Waterfront didn’t help.”
“Uh, yeah. It is a bit of a mess, but it has a lot of potential.”
“Potential to blow my budget?” Belle asked because that was about all she could see with the places she’d looked at so far.
Though at one point in her life, she’d had a much more positive outlook, she’d settled into a more realistic viewpoint in recent years. Lately, however, she’d been more negative, and her sisters had taken great delight in pointing that out over the past couple of weeks.
“Well, it won’t be cheap, but I think with Tristan’s design and our company doing the work, the renovation will be right at budget, if not under.” Mitch paused. “I know it’s a lot to ask—to trust us to do this for you—but I really think that we can do it. Tristan and I talked at length about this when Cassidy mentioned that she thought this building might work for you. I even spent some time this morning with Ethan, the guy who does all our quotes, and he agreed that we should be able to do the necessary work and stay within your budget.”
Belle found that she really wanted to believe him. If for no other reason than it would mean that her search was over. “I still don’t understand. We haven’t even settled on an agreement. Why are you doing all of this for me? For us?”
“You’re right. It is a bit out of the ordinary, and if you’d feel more comfortable, we’ll take a step back and wait for you to contact us. I know that more pressure is the very last thing you need right now. You’ve got my number. Just give me a call if you want to move forward with us. If not, no hard feelings.”
“Wait.” Belle rubbed her forehead, trying to quiet the mess of thoughts buzzing in her head. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to appear ungrateful. I actually have some hope for the first time since I started this process, but that doesn’t mean I’m still not feeling overwhelmed by it all.”
“I understand.” And from the tone of his voice, he really did seem sympathetic to how she was feeling. “Like I said, just take your time and give us a call if you want to move forward.”
“Thank you.” When the call ended, Belle took several deep breaths. She still had the afternoon to get through, but she wasn’t sure how to calm the cacophony in her head. So, she took her buzzing thoughts into the building and what awaited her for the rest of the day.
“Belle-belle,” Jasmine called out as she headed past the front desk.
“What’s up, Jazz?” Belle asked, hoping it wasn’t yet another problem that she needed to solve. She had really hoped for about five minutes with a hot cup of coffee before needing to deal with something else.
“Here.” Her younger sister held out a file. “I went through your to-do list for today and picked up what I could. Everything I took care of is highlighted.”
“Seriously?” Belle took the file and flipped it open. She skimmed over the list, pleasantly surprised to see that Jasmine had managed to make her way through over half of the tasks.
Jasmine had come around the desk to join her. “I know you’re under a lot of pressure, and some of that has been because I wasn’t able to do my job with bridezilla.”
Belle bumped her shoulder against Jasmine’s. “It’s okay, sweetie. That was a bad situation.”
“I know, but I should be able to handle those. I shouldn’t need to go running to my big sister to take care of the difficult situations for me.”
“Well, thank you for this,” Belle said, closing the file. “I really appreciate it.”
“We need to talk again about an assistant for you,” Jasmine said as Belle headed for her office. “I think it’s time.”
For the first time, Belle didn’t immediately dismiss the suggestion. However, would it just create double the work for her? She’d still be checking up on an assistant, worried that they wouldn’t do things to the standard required. While Belle hadn’t been sure about taking over for her mom, the fact still remained that it was her family’s business, and their reputation was everything.
All four of them had worked in the business and learned it from the bottom up—with the exception of doing alterations. So the thought of bringing in someone from the outside to help with details that only she and her mom or sisters had ever dealt with was a bit daunting.
A wedding wasn’t something you could drop the ball on without a high possibility of ruining someone’s special day. Anyone they brought into the business had to be able to handle the weight of that responsibility.
In her office, Belle dumped her stuff on the desk and went to grab a cup of coffee. She put on some soothing music then sat down in her chair. With her eyes closed, she took small sips of coffee, relishing the rich, dark taste as she tried to calm her thoughts. Though her to-do list had shrunk a bit because of Jasmine’s help, it was still quite lengthy. But before tackling it, she had to try to set aside her thoughts from the morning and refocus on the weddings that needed her attention.
As she leaned back in her chair with her mug cupped in her hands, Belle heard Mitch’s voice in her head, reassuring her that they could help make the process less stressful. The memory of his soothing tone and the confidence in his voice did something to her. In the midst of the chaos in her mind, she was drawn to his certainty. His belief in how things were going to turn out. His confidence.
Other people had tried to offer the same assurances to her, but for some reason, she actually believed Mitch. Could he really help calm the thoughts buzzing in her head by taking over the stress of the renovation and move?
Mitch stared at the design Tristan had worked up for the Waterfront property that Cassidy had showed Belle. They were a great example of how Tristan could transform a space with unique and innovative designs. Though it had been a couple of days since his last conversation with Belle, Mitch was holding out hope that she’d want to go ahead. He’d told Tristan to hold off on doing the design until they had a green light from Belle, but his younger brother had been intrigued enough with the project that he’d gone ahead and worked on it in his free time.
“Could we bring this in on budget, Tris?” Mitch asked.
Tristan was seated on the other end of the couch with his laptop on the coffee table in front of them, a 3D version of the plans up on the screen. He looked up from the cup of hot chocolate he held in his hands. “Yeah. We’d have to be careful with costs, for sure, and I would recommend a super thorough inspection of the place before they buy it, but if everything passes inspection, we should be able to meet budget.”
Mitch knew that with the age of the building, they’d have to look carefully at things like the water pipes, electrical panels and the foundation to make sure there wouldn’t be any costly surprises once they started the renovations. Cassidy figured that Belle could get a good deal on the place, but he still didn’t want any additional costs to surface once the reno was moving ahead. Nothing stressed a client out more than unexpected costs.
“This really looks incredible,” Mitch said as he picked up his own mug, his gaze on the laptop’s screen. He settled back onto the couch and took a sip of his coffee. “I hope that she can see the potential of the place.”
“Is it likely she’ll back away from it all?”
Mitch sighed. “I don’t know. I think she’s pretty overwhelmed by it all, to be honest.”
“You’re not usually so involved with a project at this stage.” Tristan regarded him for a moment before saying, “You seem to be…interested in her and her situation.”
“I am a bit intrigued by her,” Mitch admitted. “Did I tell you that she picked up on the fact that I wasn’t Gabe even though she didn’t know that Gabe had an identical twin? Meanwhile, Shelly still isn’t certain who is who when she first sees us.”
Tristan chuckled. “So you prefer a more observant woman, is that what you’re saying?”
“If you had someone else on the planet who looked just like you, you’d understand the appeal. Especially when you’ve been told that your twin is more dynamic and outgoing than you are.” Mitch frowned. It was rare he complained about being an identical twin since the good far outweighed the bad, but sometimes he got a little tired of feeling like he was a muted version of Gabe.
“And how do you think it feels being the younger brother to five guys who epitomize athletic masculinity when I don’t?” Tristan asked as he gestured to himself.
With the exception of Dalton, Tristan was the shortest of them all, although he wasn’t short by any stretch of the imagination. It was just that when the five of them were all six feet and over, Tristan’s one inch under six foot seemed significant—well, to him anyway. Dalton was still shorter than Tristan, but it was possible he’d hit a growth spurt and pass him at some point in the next year or so.
“Does it really bother you that much?” Mitch asked, worried that perhaps they had been inadvertently upsetting Tristan over the years.
Tristan shrugged. “Not really. I mean, I could bulk up if I was interested in that, but I’m just not into working out like the rest of you are. I don’t mind running to keep in shape, and I enjoy the occasional weight-lifting session, but I’m not as committed to it as you guys are.” He paused. “I suppose the only time it really bugs me is if a woman befriends me only to start asking about you guys. I could do without that.”
“Yeah, I think we’ve all experienced that to varying degrees, mostly in relation to Kenton.”
“Yep. I’m glad he’s taken now, even if he isn’t letting the world know that just yet.”
Mitch’s thoughts went back to Belle, and even though he was definitely intrigued with her, he knew that a few things needed to be figured out before he could consider making any sort of move that would indicate he was interested in her. First, of course, was determining her relationship status. Second, he needed to know where she stood with regards to her faith.
Given his tendency to fall in love quickly, he’d learned early on it was in his best interest to find out those two things. There was nothing worse than falling for a girl only to discover she was already taken or that she had no interest in God, because then he couldn’t do anything but try to get over how he felt about her.
If however, he discovered she was available and also shared his faith, Mitch would see if perhaps she’d be interested in spending some time together. Of course, she’d already met Gabe, so maybe she wouldn’t be interested in him.
Mitch gave himself a mental shake. He had to remember that he was seeking God’s will in regards to a wife. That meant that he was doing himself—and God—a disservice by comparing himself unfavorably to Gabe. Though God may have made them outwardly similar, He’d made them unique in personality. That meant there was nothing wrong—nothing muted—about Mitch. And any woman who felt otherwise wasn’t the one for him.
“When do you think Belle will let you know if she wants to move forward?” Tristan asked, pulling Mitch from his musings.
“Not a clue. I told her that I’d leave it up to her to contact us, so I’m not going to bother her.”
Since Tristan had come over for a supper of Chinese take-out, they’d already discussed most the ins and outs of the design he’d brought along. Their conversation moved on to other things. Family. Work. Church. It wasn’t unusual for the two of them to hang out even though Tristan was generally closer with Kenton. But with Kenton, Bennett, and Gabe all having significant others, he and Tristan found that it was just the two of them a lot of the time now. Ryan was still single, but since he lived in Minneapolis, he wasn’t available to hang out very often.
Tristan still lived at their parents’ place while Mitch had a one-bedroom apartment in the family’s apartment building. Things there were going to be undergoing a shuffle soon though. The ground had been broken on Ethan and Makayla’s house since they were quickly outgrowing their three-bedroom apartment on the top floor of the building. With Sierra, Ethan’s younger sister, living with them along with the new baby, they needed space the most. Grace and Olivia, her one-year-old, had moved from her two-bedroom into Bennett’s when they’d gotten married earlier in the year. Mitch had one of the one-bedrooms on the main floor and a family friend, Tami, had the other.
Bennett and Grace’s house would be the next to be built, but in the meantime, they weren’t sure if they wanted to take over Ethan and Makayla’s apartment or just stay in Bennett’s. Mitch had a feeling they were leaning towards staying put as it would be one less move. Which meant there was a three bedroom and a two bedroom up for grabs. He had no idea what was going to happen with Gabe and Maya when they got married. Considering Maya’s financial situation, they could afford to buy a house if they didn’t want to build on the family land where Makayla and Bennett and their spouses were building their homes.
Lots of change was coming for the family. Mitch hoped that, eventually, some of it would involve him—and not just a move by himself from one apartment to another.