AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thea?” Warren Kang greeted me with a warm smile.
“Hey, Warren! What are you doing on this side of the notch?” I asked, rounding the counter to hug him.
When had I seen Warren last? It’d be a few months, though with the holidays, that wasn’t a surprise. I’d known him since he’d moved to New Hampshire in high school. In a place where anyone who couldn’t trace their heritage back at least two generations was called an out-of-towner, Warren had charmed his way into the cloistered community. He stuck around after graduation, becoming the most successful real estate agent in the area. With his extroverted personality and good looks, the job had been a natural fit.
“I’m in town on business and wanted to stop by and say hi,” he said, enveloping me in a cloud of sandalwood and lemon before letting go. “I heard Mrs. Evans moved away.”
“Yep, went down to Ohio to be with her grandkids. Abandoned me.” I shook my head, stepping out of his arms and leaning on the countertop.
“I’m sorry to hear she left, but I’m glad she’s spending more time with her family.”
“Me, too,” I admitted. “So, what business are you up to?”
Warren was easy on the eyes. Tall, bright brown eyes, and a mischievous grin. He also had the best gossip. Even better, he loved spreading that gossip around.
“I’ve got a buyer interested in mixed use space.”
“Mixed use space?”
“Yeah, the woman is a candy maker. She does most of her business online, but wants a storefront. Apparently, the husband works online, so they’re moving to the mountains.”
“And she doesn’t want a shop in Pierce?”
While the city council had been desperate to make Franklin Notch half as attractive as Pierce, the quaint little tourist village on the other side of the mountain, I didn’t have any illusions about Franklin Notch’s appeal to tourists: none. We were out of the way and run down compared to our richer neighbor.
“No, building prices have skyrocketed since Pierce won the contract to film that Christmas movie. Her husband has money and they can afford a house in Pierce or a storefront in Pierce. Not both.”
“So, Franklin Notch is the consolation prize for Willa Wonka?”
Warren laughed. “If I can find a storefront and an apartment in their budget. When did downtown get so packed?”
Packed? The observation took me off guard. The empty storefronts and boarded-up shops from my childhood had one by one opened up as coffee shops and dry goods stores. A mental inventory of downtown revealed that, sure enough, none of them were currently empty. “Huh. Isn’t that strange? I hadn’t even noticed.”
“I stopped by to check out that shop next to the tattoo parlor? The one in the back. It’s the only thing close to what she’s looking for in town.”
The tiny row of shotgun houses behind Main Street had originally been built for low-income housing, but an apartment complex just outside of town with four times the capacity filled that need. After sitting empty for years, the city council bought the block and turned them into incubators: little shops for burgeoning businesses.
“I love those shops,” I sighed. “But I don’t know if you could fit a commercial kitchen in there.”
Warren shook his head. “You definitely can’t. And there’s no foot traffic. So, that spot is out. I’m honestly starting to think I’m asking for the impossible.”
“Hey, Warren,” I asked tentatively, a poorly formed plan coming together in my brain. “What’s your buyer’s budget?”
“Why?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Did you know that this shop used to be a restaurant? Decades ago, before my grandma bought it. Obviously, all the equipment is gone, but the hookups are still there. I’m not positive, but I think this property is still zoned for mixed-use. The upstairs used to be an apartment. It’s just storage now.”
He cocked his head, eyes wide. “Really? Are you thinking of getting out of town?”
“No,” I shook my head. “But now that Mrs. Evans is gone, I don’t really have a reason to keep the shop open. I’d rather just put my effort into clothing and I don’t need all this space for clothes.”
Technically, I could fill the space. I just didn’t need to.
“I don’t want to close up a storefront on Main Street, but if I sold this place, I could move into the incubators in the back.”
Warren straightened, a smile forming on his lips. “So, you want me to sell this place and get you into the other shop?”
I nodded. “I don’t want to move unless this place sells. God knows I don’t need more payments. But yeah, if you can get a fair price, I want to move.”
