He ignored her protests and carefully pulled the containers out of the fridge, piling them one atop another. “I already offered you a table in my store. You’re going to use it. We’ll put up a sign sending your customers across the street.”
“You don’t have to do this,” Claire said in a small voice. But the color had returned to her cheeks and the spark to her eyes. “Your offer applied when I had a space to offer you as well. Cross-promotion, remember? Now I have nothing, and I don’t want to take away from your sale.”
He smiled at her, teasing a smile out of her in return. “But you forget. If we send all your customers to my store, I’ll be benefitting too.” He nodded to Maxi, spurring both women into action. “Come on. We have customers waiting.”
She hesitated a moment before turning to follow her friend out of her store. Hailey had already grabbed the sandwich board and was making a sign.
At the door, Claire paused and turned to look at him. “Thank you.”
He needed nothing else.
Hailey watched Rob Bradford as he gathered the cupcakes. This was the guy Claire had seen as the enemy? More like a knight in shining armor. He didn’t have to help them out. He could have just stayed over in his bakery and let the disaster put them out of business. Hailey was sure their customers would have found their way across the street without a sign at Sandcastles.
“So, what’s your plan?” Hailey asked.
“I’m going to set up some tables for the cupcakes, and you guys can sell from there. Does that sound good? If you have a better idea, I’m all ears.”
Hailey appreciated that he wanted her input. “That’s a great idea and very generous. I was wondering, though. Maybe we could bring some of the ingredients for more cupcakes. The cabinets didn’t get wet, and the more we sell, the more money Claire can make toward fixing this.” Hailey gestured toward the ceiling.
“Good point. Let’s bring them.”
Hailey started gathering ingredients. “I hope she won’t be out of business for too long.”And I won’t be without a paycheck for too long.
“Oh, don’t you worry. I can rearrange my store so she can sell from there.” His brow creased with concern as he glanced at Hailey. “Naturally, I’ll need extra help. I’ll pay you to work the same hours you do here, maybe a little extra since you’ll be helping the bread customers too.”
Hailey liked the guy. He was perceptive and very sweet. He must really have a crush on Claire to go to all that trouble.
“We can make do with one storefront until Claire gets the pipes fixed. Unless Claire doesn’t want to.” Rob looked up from the cupcakes at Hailey. “Do you think she’ll ever stop seeing me as the enemy?”
Hailey had a feeling she already had, but a little encouragement from Hailey couldn’t hurt. “Maybe I can help with that.” Hailey piled the baking ingredients she’d collected on top of the cupcake containers in Rob’s arms. “Now let’s get across the street. We have a lot of work to do if we are going to pull this sale off.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Maxi had called Jane on the way to Claire’s cottage, and she showed up as Maxi was blow-drying Claire’s hair. Claire sat in the vanity chair in her bedroom wrapped in a terry robe. Even though her shop had just been ruined, she actually didn’t feel so bad.
Jane pulled open the closet. “Maybe you should wear something less—” Jane glanced down at Claire’s wet clothing now on the floor. “Dowdy.”
“My clothes aren’t dowdy.” Claire looked at the pile uncertainly.
“Well, it wouldn’t hurt to put on something a little nicer than a gray T-shirt. I mean you will be waiting on half the town, and you want to make a nice impression.”
Claire pushed Maxi away as she tried to curl her hair. “I think everyone in town knows me already.” She didn’t miss the look that Maxi and Jane exchanged in the mirror. She knew what they were up to. They were trying to make her look nice for Rob Bradford. Claire was much too mature for that sort of thing. Besides, she liked the way she looked already.
“I’m really sorry this happened,” Jane pulled out a pretty pink short-sleeved shirt with turquoise trim around the neck and arms and laid it on the bed.
Claire’s heart plummeted. Despite her hopeful feelings that Rob’s generous offer might save the cupcake sale, the fact still remained that her shop was ruined. How could her business survive?
“Might be a blessing in disguise.” Maxi placed a mascara wand and lipstick in front of Claire.
“How to you figure that?” Claire asked, ignoring the makeup in front of her.
“Insurance.” Maxi opened the mascara and put it in Claire’s hand.
“Insurance?” Claire started to apply automatically, curious about Maxi’s statement.
“You have insurance for Sandcastles, right? Well, before this, you were going to fix the pipes on your dime, but now that the pipes have burst, you can put in a claim and let the insurance company pay for it.”
“Good thinking. Get some use out of those high premiums you pay.” Jane pulled out a pair of off-white linen capri’s with thin turquoise stripes. “So, it turns out Rob really is a nice guy. I hate to say I told you so.”
