Empty Net Page 127


“What the f**k is wrong with me?” she asked out loud to no one at all.

After a few more minutes of dry heaving, and reapplying, she finally made it down stairs to grab her bag, and paperwork before leaving. She had a meeting with her realtor about the building she wanted for Audrey Jane’s. It was on West End, right beside a busy restaurant chain. The space was perfect, and huge, with a kitchen already in the back. She was beyond excited! Now, if only she could only stop puking, life would be a heck a lot better.

When Audrey arrived at the vacant building, she parked her car and made her way around the busy Applebee’s. Outside of the red brick building stood James Justice, her realtor and also Shea’s brother-in-law. James smiled as Audrey approached him, holding out her hand when she reached him.

“Audrey, so great to see you again,” he said with a smile. James had been her family’s realtor for years. He helped with all of Rocky Top’s realtor needs, and now he was going to help Audrey make her dream a reality.

“Hey, James, how’s the kiddos?”

“Great, Ryan is getting huge, acts more like Shea each day, and Amelia is perfect. Beautiful, just like her mother,” he said, opening the door for her.

“Aw, that’s great. How is Grace? I haven’t seen her since the Christmas thing at the arena, she was working and I didn’t get to talk to her much.”

“She is good,” he informed her as he hit the lights, “she is busy, like always, but good.”

“Good, tell her I said, ‘hi’,” Audrey gushed with a grin.

“Well do, I have to say, Audrey, you are just glowing, are you excited?”

Audrey giggled, “I am!”

“Awesome, let’s check out this space. I really think it is what you need for Audrey Jane’s.”

And on he went, into his realtor spiel, but it wasn’t a load of crap. She couldn’t help but agree with everything he said. The windows were wide and would be great for displaying. The floor plan was wide, so she could have a dine-in area, and also a play area for kids. The ceilings were high, with beautiful chandeliers hanging from them. The chandeliers were missing parts on them but that was fixable. She would want them pink anyways. Everything was paintable, and the lease would only be for six months if she wanted it to be and a year at the most. It was doable, and she loved it.

A lot.

“I’m gonna call my boyfriend,” she said as she stood in the middle of the room.

“Well, I need to run out to another appointment, so just lock up on the way out and I’ll come by and put the box back on when I pass by. Text me what you think, and if you decide something today, just call me and we’ll get started.”

“Alright,” she said with a grin, hugging his tightly, “Thanks so much, James.”

“No problem, talk to you soon.”

Audrey watched as he left, and then dialed Tate’s number.

“Hey baby,” he answered.

“Hey.”

“How you feeling?”

“Like poo on a stick.”

“That is intense,” he laughed.

“Who you telling?” she laughed along with him, “Anyways, I think I am standing in the middle of Audrey Jane’s.”

“Really? Are you at the place on West End?”

“I am, and I love it, Tate, a lot.”

“Well get it, baby,” he eagerly said, “Don’t wait, someone could come in behind you and get it.”

Audrey paused, biting on her lip, “I kinda wanted you to see it.”

“Can you put a hold on it until Saturday?”

“I don’t know,” she whined, “I took a whole bunch of pictures, I’ll send them to you.”

“Sounds good, I’ll be waiting.”

Twenty minutes later, Tate called her back and said, “Get it, it is beautiful.”

“I know. So you agree? I would call Fallon, but she is up there with y’all.”

“Yeah, I say do it, I will show her the pictures too, she will be back Wednesday, she can come see it then, but, baby, it is what you want.”

“It is,” she agreed, nodding her head, “I’m gonna do it.”

“Awesome, I’m so proud of you,” he said as Audrey grinned widely.

“Thanks,” she gushed, spinning around, but she soon stopped, realizing that was a horrible idea. “Ugh, Tate, I’ll call you back,” she groaned before she ran back to the bathroom and promptly puked. She started to dry heaving again, and she kind of wished she would have eaten something just so she wouldn’t dry heave anymore. Holding her stomach, she stood up, washing her mouth out before going back out into the space.

Her space.

Audrey Jane’s.

Even with her nausea, she couldn’t help the little hop she did or the pep in her step as she sashayed out of the building. After locking up, she turned and ran right into a familiar face.

“Audrey!” Elli gushed, hugging her tightly, “Aren’t you a breath of fresh air! I love that jacket.”

Audrey smiled as she looked Elli over. She was wearing a thick black jacket so Audrey wasn’t able to see her baby belly, but it was easy to tell she was pregnant. Her face was rounding out, and she was glowing. “Hey! What are you doing?”

“Walking to my car, I had an OBGYN appointment,” she said pointing to the building beside her future cupcakery. Glancing over at the building, Audrey watched as a lady with a baby stroller came out and then walked pass them. Could Audrey deal with watching pregnant women and moms walk by her cupcakery every day? It had the chance of depressing her but in a way it was good, because pregnant women love cupcakes.

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