Page 31 of Candy Cane Dreams
Jack didn't say anything else, but it was obvious that he would much rather be living at the farmhouse than in town at the candy shop.
Kate opened her mouth and then closed it again. She wanted to ask him if he really thought it was necessary for him to make the sacrifice to keep the candy shop open, but it wasn't her place to question that. Maybe there was some way that he could close the shop until Lilly was old enough to make a decision about whether or not she wanted to open it. Jack could keep the recipes safe, or maybe even hire someone to run the shop while he farmed.
Again, that wasn't her business. It wasn't her area.
"I don't want to impose upon you. You probably have a lot of other things you want to be doing."
"We agreed that I was going to help you. I can help you in the candy shop; I can help you with Lilly. I can do both. Even once Lilly goes to bed, I can give you a hand in the shop. I will need to go to bed at a decent hour, though, since I've committed to going to school, even though it's in an unofficial capacity."
"Of course. But that would be amazing. If you could help with Lilly and then help in the shop after she goes to bed, I would be so grateful."
"All right then. I'm looking forward to it. Maybe you can share some of your candy-making secrets with me."
He laughed. "There really aren't any secrets. Although I was thinking about doing some historic candy recipes for the Christmas festival. They'll take a little extra time, and that was where my sticking point was."
"Well, hopefully you're unstuck. I will give you a hand, and if it comes right down to it, I could probably even come into the store before school."
"You need to sleep sometime," Jack said.
Kate smiled at the protective tone in his voice, but she could bat that ball right back at him.
"So do you." He looked a little abashed and then he nodded.
"You're right. Although this is the busy time of year, and I expect to be exhausted by the time it's over. But hopefully, it'll be profitable as well."
His tone dropped a bit, as though he didn't expect that to happen this year.
"Is there another supplier that could pick you up?" she asked, having absolutely no knowledge of that business.
"Maybe. But typically I shop around in summer, if I have to. For the last few years, I haven't needed to, because this supplier has taken everything that I was able to make."
"That's too bad."
No wonder the idea of having the big box store come in was adding stress for him. If he was already struggling, if it just took a few customers, that would be a few too many.
"Honestly, though, I have to remind myself that everything happens in God's time. Not just the suppliers and people who buy candy canes, but whether or not my daughter ever talks again, or whether I end up making candy for the rest of my life, when that wasn't what I expected. God is in control, and His timing is perfect." He lifted his shoulder and put a palm up, as though showing that there was nothing he could do.
"I agree. That's a really hard thing to accept. We want to change things; we want to rail against why we're not getting what we want and then try to manipulate things in order for us to get it, and often that backfires."
"Exactly. Though I do believe that we're supposed to work as hard as we can."
"I agree."
"But then we're to leave the rest in God's hands and not fight and kick and do things that we shouldn't in order to get our way."
"Yeah." She thought about her housing situation. Maybe she would have gone after a house she couldn't afford, borrowed money from someone, or even taken a house that was two hours away, knowing that she shouldn't have, but as she waited, God opened up the perfect opportunity. Of course, she hadn't had to wait exceptionally long. Not like Lilly. She'd been mute for years.
"Yeah. It really is hard not to take matters into our own hands and try to do something that we shouldn't."
They stood there for a moment, both of them lost in their thoughts, before Kate glanced around. "Do you want me to start tonight?"
"I was wrapping up. I need to figure out exactly what my priorities are, but if you show up tomorrow, I will not turn you away."
"All right, sounds good. I will need to attend the regular meetings for the Christmas town festival."
"I know. And I'm excited for you to be in charge of that with Marjorie."
"I guess I would be working with you pretty closely anyway, since you're the featured shop."
