Blue Ridge Reunion

“Gram came down with pneumonia a few weeks ago,” Paul explained, pulling some dining chairs over so they could all sit near Will. Winking at her, he added, “Personally, I think she was just looking for an excuse to stay in bed and do crossword puzzles all day.”

“Oh, you,” she protested, playfully smacking the back of his head.

A few weeks, Chelsea mused while Olivia dished up barbecue for Will and then herself. The time frame rang a bell, and she turned to Paul with newfound respect. “Is that why you came back from Oregon?”

“Mostly I missed Gram’s peach cobbler. It’s still the best I ever had.”

“I could never keep this one full,” she said with an adoring look at him. “The whole time he was growing up, the more I cooked, the more he ate.”

“Hey, I’m the middle kid. I had to keep getting bigger so they wouldn’t all pound me.”

“Are your brothers still around?” Chelsea asked.

His eyes darkened to near black, but he quickly masked his reaction with a grin. “Most of ’em. Connor and Greg live over in Cambridge with their families, and Jason’s busy loading up my secret weapon for the mill.”

“What about Scott?”

Dead silence. It felt as if something had sucked all the air out of the room, and Chelsea wished she could disappear from sight under the old floorboards.

“Scott’s still finding his way,” Olivia answered quietly. “Lemonade, dear?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Deciding not to risk any more blunders, Chelsea sipped her cool drink and listened to the Barretts discuss the goings-on around the town she’d left behind so long ago. While they talked, she gained a fresh appreciation for the commitment Paul had made, seemingly without a second thought.

His vision for the mill seemed long-term, which meant he wasn’t planning on going anywhere. He probably had a life out West, but he was forsaking that to be where he was needed most. Sitting here in this sunny room, being entertained by the local gossip, she was struck by a random thought that rattled her right down to her toes.

This was love.

This was what it meant to put someone else before yourself, to value their happiness and well-being as much as you did your own. While Chelsea had always admired and respected her father, as a teenager she’d accepted that his one-track mind was focused on making his bank as profitable as possible. These days they worked in the same building, but they seldom shared moments like this one. To her knowledge, Theo Barnes had never eaten takeout from paper plates and debated whether the new highway project was a good use of county funds or a complete waste of money.

While she was considering that, Paul’s phone rang, and he checked the screen. “Fred,” he told her, hitting the answer button. “Hey, there. Thanks for getting back to me. Chelsea Barnes is in town, and her fancy new car won’t start. It’s at the mill, and I’m hoping you can help us out so she can get back to Roanoke sometime today.” He glanced up at the antique schoolhouse clock on the wall. “Half hour’s fine. See ya then.”

Chelsea was perplexed by their short exchange. Granted, she wasn’t Miss Fix-It, but from what she’d heard, Paul hadn’t offered the mechanic the slightest bit of useful information. “You didn’t tell him a thing. How does he know what to bring?”

“I said ‘fancy’ and ‘new,’” Paul pointed out matter-of-factly. “He’ll know.”

“But—”

“Do you always hassle people who’re trying to help you?”

Folding his arms, he leaned back in his chair and cocked his head in a pose that made her think of Boyd when she’d met him that morning. The idea of Paul beginning to resemble his canine friend was more amusing than it should have been, and she couldn’t help smiling.

“That’s so much better,” he praised her with a wide grin. “You really oughta smile more often. It looks good on you.”

Maybe when her career started improving, she’d be able to follow his cavalier—and slightly chauvinistic—advice. But she was where she was, and until she clawed her way up to where she wanted to be, she’d be sticking to the serious route. Since she had no intention of sharing the reasons for her attitude with him or anyone else, she forced a polite smile. “Thank you.”

“Ouch,” he replied with a chuckle. “That’s a mind-your-own-business brush-off if ever I heard one. Anything you wanna tell me?”

Not in this lifetime, she wanted to shoot back. Of course, a Southern lady never spoke to anyone that way, so she settled for “No.”

He gave her a long, dubious look before standing. “Then we should head out to meet Fred. He’ll get you back on the road in no time.”

“So nice to see you, dear.” Olivia stood and embraced Chelsea again. “Be sure to come by for a visit next time you’re in town.”

“And bring more barbecue,” Will added eagerly.

That wasn’t likely to happen, but Chelsea forced a smile and managed to say her goodbyes without a hitch in her voice. As she and Paul walked through the kitchen, she hated to think of how disappointed his grandparents would be when the bank got a good look at the figures on Paul’s loan application and turned him down flat.

Outside, she took in the view of a neighborhood that hadn’t changed much since her childhood. Sturdy homes, old but well cared for, lined the street like sentinels from another time. Standing by the truck, she inhaled the scent of gardens overflowing with gardenias and roses, with the exotic aroma of jasmine mixed in for effect. “Mmm...that smells good.”

Paul sniffed quickly and shrugged. “I guess so. I’m here all the time, so I guess I don’t notice it anymore.”

“I don’t remember this part of town being so pretty. It’s really nice.”

Closing her door, he balanced his hands on the window frame and gave her a long, slow smile. “Yeah, it is.”

For a few moments, they gazed at each other through the open window, almost as if they’d never met before. In a way, she realized, that was true. The brash football captain and the shy bookworm they’d once been existed in the past, and the people who’d replaced them were all but strangers.

Could they become more than that? a tiny voice in her head wondered.

She pushed the thought firmly back into the depths of her brain, where it belonged. Getting to the top of her profession was her only goal right now, and she couldn’t afford any distractions, no matter how handsome they might be.

Paul’s pensive look gave way to the nonchalant one he’d been wearing most of the day. On their way out into the country, they drove beneath enormous trees that had withstood the devastating war that had left so much of Virginia stripped and in ruins. Both sides had done their share of damage, and men had returned to a barren wasteland begging for redemption.

With the need for lumber so high, Gideon Barrett and his two surviving brothers sank their meager fortunes into constructing a mill to turn the area’s plentiful trees into raw material for new houses, stores, even railroad ties.

In its way, the mill had saved the ravaged town from fading into oblivion. It seemed fitting, somehow, that the residents were fighting to save the landmark business that had given rise to the village they called home. Beyond that, she knew helping the Barretts was the right thing to do.

Tossing aside her pledge to remain cautiously neutral, she said, “Okay, I’m on board. It won’t be easy, but I’ll figure out a way to get you the money you need for your furniture business. You have my word on it.”

Sliding her an incredulous look, he asked, “Did I miss something? What happened to the numbers not adding up and all?”

“They still don’t, and I have a hunch they never will. It would be a unique operation, and there’s nothing in the area to compare it to.”

“Which means we can’t prove it’s a profitable idea.”

He’d all but admitted this wasn’t his area of expertise, but she had to give him credit—he caught on fast. “Exactly.”

“You’re the logical type,” he pressed, obviously still confused. “Formulas and algorithms, they’re your thing. What changed your mind?”

Sighing, she met his eyes in the rearview mirror. “I’m doing it for Will.”

“So’m I.” Paul’s grim expression brightened into the crooked grin she remembered from high school. “Looks like we’ve finally got something in common. If Molly finds out, she’ll never let us hear the end of it.”

After resisting his many charms all morning, Chelsea eased up on her well-honed discipline and gave him a genuine smile. “I won’t tell her if you don’t.”

“Deal.”

Chapter Four

Chelsea spent several hours framing Paul’s proposal in as positive a light as she could manage without actually inventing facts. To avoid creating the impression that she was somehow personally invested in the project, she called it Barrett’s Mill Restoration and played up the potential she’d observed during her tour. Five minutes before her presentation, she was still tinkering with the conclusion, choosing her words carefully to ensure they’d leave a lasting impression on her very pragmatic audience.

“A one-of-a-kind enterprise like this will fill a small but lucrative niche in the furniture market,” she stated with confidence, clicking through slides of projections alternated with the most flattering photos from the property. “Barrett’s Mill Furniture isn’t a new venture, but rather the relaunch of an old, well-established business rooted in the Blue Ridge area. The product line will meet the desire of modern customers to feel connected to the nostalgia of days gone by. Backing this unique project would not only benefit Shenandoah Bank and Trust in the profit column, but gain us a valuable reputation as a firm that recognizes potential and invests in the future of our customers.”

When she was finished, Chelsea set down the projector remote and took her seat midway down the polished conference table. Hoping to appear calm, she folded her hands in front of her upright tablet and waited.

Twelve pairs of eyes blinked at each other, roaming around the gathering but studiously avoiding her. Then, almost in unison, they all turned to the man seated in the place of honor at the head of the table. Her father was wearing a thoughtful expression, but from a lifetime of experience, she knew that didn’t mean a thing. As a child, she’d quickly learned it was the normal, relaxed position of a handsome face that disguised a shrewd mind and gave away nothing.

As the silence stretched beyond thirty seconds, Theo Barnes let out a low chuckle. “Not all at once, now. We need to keep this civilized.”

Nervous laughter flitted around the posh conference room, trailing off when he turned his dark eyes on her. At work, she wasn’t his daughter, simply another bright employee charging her way up the corporate ladder, and he treated her accordingly. “You think this is a sound idea?”

Direct and precise, she reminded herself. He responded best to confident answers, even when he disagreed. “Yes, I do.”

“And the numbers?”

“Bear me out, as you can see.”

To prove her point, she pulled up the projection that showed Paul’s business breaking even in two years and turning a profit within three. They were shaded toward the optimistic end of the spectrum, but having witnessed how committed he was to making the mill work, she had no doubt he’d find a way to honor his obligation to the bank. Nodding, her father swiveled his gaze around the committee, silently asking for their input.

“Chelsea, I have to say, I’m very impressed,” said Alex Gordon, a good-looking colleague who dressed like a younger version of her father. Seated to his right in the heir-apparent chair that should have been hers, he gave her a smile that held more than a hint of personal admiration. “Your attention to detail is impeccable, as always.”

“Thank you.”

But you’re not getting a third date, she added silently. Two had been more than enough, thank you very much. Her dad was convinced Alex was the financial genius of his generation, and in her saner moments, she acknowledged he was just the kind of man she was looking for. Polished and self-assured, he shared her interest in all things logical. There just wasn’t a spark between them, at least not for her. Which was probably for the best, because as her father’s hand-chosen protégé, Alex pushed every one of Chelsea’s competitive buttons.

And she had a lot of them.

Now that the discussion had begun, one loan officer questioned her calculations, which Chelsea assured him were accurate. Another doubted the ability of such an out-of-the-way business to earn enough money to repay their loan. She patiently reminded him that the online component would minimize any disadvantage caused by the mill’s remote location. On and on it went, and by the time they were done, she’d been pummeled for nearly half an hour.

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