What She Did

He had no idea. Chelsea seemed the opposite of Mia, but first impressions could be deceiving. He’d learned that the hard way, too.

Still fresh from his breakup and betrayal, Nate knew better than to jump back into the dating saddle—no matter how much his heart seemed to have other ideas when it came to the town’s newest resident. Casual and consensual sex was another story altogether. He’d had plenty of that in the past few months since the breakup.

Lately, his opinion of it was changing.

“HE WAS NICE.” Chelsea’s mother winked at her.

“Don’t get any ideas,” Chelsea warned. She took her daughter’s hand, ignoring the disappointment rumbling around in her chest that the cowboy had left. She didn’t have time to mess around with an attraction. There was work to do and, for the first time in four years, she felt a twinge of excitement and a whole heap of nervous energy. But it was good.

“You look...” Linda paused. “Happy.”

“Aunt Maddie did us a huge favor with this house and the business. There’s enough money to get things off the ground. I know it’ll be work, but I’m up for it.” If she budgeted super tight, they should be okay. Her money was planned down to the penny. There wasn’t a whole lot of play, which worried her about her mother’s episode this morning. Chelsea hoped the health incident had been brought on by Linda missing her morning medication and not something more serious, such as her condition getting worse.

And just because she’d become expert at handling curve balls didn’t mean she wouldn’t mind an occasional straight path. What she needed was a fast track to success. But she knew building a business took time.

Shoot. That reminded her. She should’ve mentioned her business to the cowboy. He seemed like he knew everyone and it wouldn’t hurt to start getting word out about her new pizza place that would open in six weeks.

Speaking of which, the delivery men would soon be at her restaurant site to install her fire pit and she needed to get a move on.

Chelsea checked her cell, making sure no one had called. And a little part of her wished Nate Kent would have. There was another text from Renaldo, this time asking if he could come see her new house.

Seriously?

“Ready, Sky?”

Her daughter’s eyes brightened as she nodded. “Can we get him?”

“Oh, no, honey. The fireman has to work and be ready to help other people on a moment’s notice.” Skylar’s confused face stared up at Chelsea and her mother laughed. And then it dawned on Chelsea why. “You mean a puppy don’t you?” Sky had been asking for a male puppy after reading a popular book about a yellow lab together.

“Uh-huh.” Skylar nodded. “What else?”

Linda clucked her tongue and Chelsea refused to react. She wasn’t giving in and letting her mother know how embarrassed she was. The woman would have a field day. She might be ill but her mind was sharp—a little too quick-witted for Chelsea’s liking.

“Let’s get you bundled up,” Chelsea said to Skylar. “It’s cold outside and the truck heater is taking another day off.”

“Maybe you should take the day off, Momma.” Sky’s eyes were huge and they twinkled.

“I have important work to do.” It felt good to say that. Even better to mean it.

Renaldo did not get to win. Not as long as Chelsea could help it. If he made good on his promise, she’d never work in another five-star restaurant for the rest of her career.

With the inheritance, she didn’t intend to need to.

There was plenty to do and even more to worry about. But a light feeling filled her for the first time in longer than she could remember. Four years ago, she’d held her baby in her arms and wondered how on earth she’d be able to support her. Four years ago, she’d made a promise to that sleeping angel to figure out a way to come out on top. Four years ago, Chelsea had no idea the journey that was about to begin. She’d made it this far and, rather than focus on what she didn’t have, she’d decided to be grateful for what she did.

Chelsea retrieved Skylar’s winter coat from the same closet that had been a source of trouble this morning. Hair prickled at the base of her neck. She tried to shake off the creepy-crawly feeling but failed. Maybe she’d have concrete poured into that crawl space to seal it off.

“Ready, Sky?” Chelsea turned to find her daughter skipping toward her down the hall, a wide smile on her face. To be a kid again and able to bounce back from every setback in life so fast. Chelsea could learn a thing or two about not holding on to the past, she thought as she wrapped the coat around her daughter.

“Can we go to the man’s house?” Skylar’s face lit up.

Chelsea didn’t have it in her to dash the hope of her child, but she didn’t want to set false expectations, either.

“Right now, we need to get you to school. We’ll figure out the rest later.” Those last six words had become her new mantra.

School drop-off went smoothly and Chelsea figured she owed Nate Kent a pizza on the house at her grand opening considering he was probably the reason. Skylar had met her teacher with an eager smile and most likely the strong hope that Henry would be showing up.

The delivery truck showed within minutes of Chelsea’s arrival at what would be her new restaurant. The place needed a major overhaul, and would get it in the coming weeks. The location on Main Street would be perfect and she didn’t mind some sweat equity if it meant she could have her own space again.

There was enough room for a dozen four-top tables for guests wanting to dine in. A small construction crew would show up tomorrow to knock out one of the walls to the outside to create a half wall on one side so customers could dine outside with a full view to the inside.

Three hours later, the oven was installed and Chelsea had cleaned out a corner in the back of the restaurant that would make a perfect office. She could have the same contractors put up Sheetrock, leaving space for a window so she could keep an eye on the kitchen.

She had another forty-five minutes before she had to leave to pick up Skylar.

Glancing around, she couldn’t help but smile. She was dirty from head to toe from cleaning up the construction zone. But this was progress.

Chelsea picked up the broom. She had time to give the floor another sweep.

How crazy was it that a day could start out like this one had and turn into one of the most gratifying?

She finished sweeping, leaned the broom against the wall and then checked her phone. Another text from Renaldo had come in. If he thought she was going to answer any of these, he was eating fruit off the crazy tree. For a half second she thought about changing her number. It would be a hassle but it might be worth it.

If he kept on, she would have no choice. For now, she decided not to add any fuel to the fire and see what happened.

Lighter in step, she grabbed her purse and fished out her keys.

It was still light outside at three twenty-five in the afternoon, but not for long. Another couple of hours and it’d be dark. Part of Chelsea hoped that Skylar would be so worn out by her first day that she’d be ready for an early dinner, a hot bath and bed.

Chelsea laughed.

Yeah, right.

That was about as likely as Skylar getting a job and pitching in to pay the bills.

Locking the door to her place—her new restaurant—caused tears to well in her eyes. Happy tears.

She turned toward her pickup. She gasped and took a step back, only to be stopped by the industrial metal door.

Travis’s flat smile was more like a sneer.

“Baby, you’ve been hard to track down.”

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