James Ethridge's Intro

It was April 2, and James had finished all the repairs on the old building near the Gentry Bakery. When Salika Gentry had approached him about the building and asked how much would he charge to fix it up, he knew that it would have been cheaper to tear down the place and build a new one, but he also knew that they could not afford that. When she said it was a present for her daughter, Jerusha, so that she could open a dress shop, then he gave her a discount. It would be his present to Jerusha, and she wouldn't have to know about him liking her. She was out of his league he knew that. But he wanted to contribute. And having her mother ask him the price he just gave her a small amount for the price. Now it was all finished. It looked like a brand new building. He even had painted it for Jerusha. Now it was time to give Salika the keys so that Jerusha could receive her birthday present.

As Salika stepped out of the bakery, she breathed a huge sigh of relief. She knew that her daughter had been expecting to hear her ma to greet her with a "Happy Birthday" when she came downstairs, but Salika had opted for her usual greeting instead, hoping to keep Jerusha's birthday present a surprise for a little longer. She hurried next door to the freshly remodeled building and tapped lightly on the door. A moment later it was opened by James.

"Is everything ready?" she asked excitedly.

"All done. Just waiting for you to bring Jerusha over before I hang the sign." James told her, pointing over to the freshly painted sign that read, "Jerusha's Dress Shop."

"Okay, I'll go get her." Salika said and hurried back to the bakery.

Jerusha was placing a tray of cinnamon rolls under the glass counter in the store, when Salika entered the bakery.

"Jerusha, set that down and come with me." Salika said hurriedly. She waited only long enough for Jerusha to set the tray down, before grabbing her daughter's and practically dragging her out of the bakery.

"Mama what's going on? Why are we coming over here? " Jerusha asked as Salika entered the building next door. As she was pulled inside and the door closed behind her, Jerusha became aware of someone else standing in the room with them.

The man that had quietly admired her for so long, handed her something with a cloth covering it. When she removed the cloth she was stunned. She couldn't believe the words on the board that she held in her hands.

"What? What's this?" Jerusha stammered as her eyes filled with tears.

"You can't very well have a dress shop and not have a sign for it." Salika told her.

"I, I don't understand. Mama we can't a-" Jerusha started to say, before Salika placed a gentle hand over her mouth.

"You need not fret over the cost. That's only for me to know. You just contend yourself to turning some of those sketches of yours into dresses.''

As Salika said "Happy Birthday" Jerusha couldn't hold back the tears of joy.

"I'll make you proud, Mamma. I promise. I'll do my best and take good care of this shop. Thank you so much."

Seeing how happy the shop had made Jerusha made all his loses worthwhile. No one would know that he took a loss at fixing up this place. No one would know that this was also his birthday gift to her.

"Uh.. Excuse me, but I could help you move your sewing stuff in here if you want me too." James offered.

"Why, why sure." Jerusha stammered still overwhelmed by what her ma had done.

"I'll leave you two to decide where you're things will be going, I've got shopping to do and a bakery to run." Salika said and after giving Jerusha a quick hug exited the building.

James and Jerusha spent the day moving her sewing stuff over and setting the shop up so that it could open the next day. Jerusha was so excited she wanted to get opened as soon as possible.