by Natalie Ann
“I think that’d be great,” she said. “I haven’t been there in years. I can check out some vendors for spices and flavors too.”
She’d been thinking of doing that but hadn’t wanted to go alone and Kennedy was either at the spa or park. It was going to be something she’d bring up to her mother or Riley but now didn’t have to.
“Perfect. How about we plan on leaving no later than eight which will get us there around when they open?”
“Works for me. We’ll eat around six at my parents, but I can’t see us being there for more than a few hours, giving us plenty of time to get back.”
When the oven timer went off, she pulled out the cookies and pushed another tray in. “Those smell wonderful,” he said.
“Once they cool, I’ll put this tray in a box for you to take.”
“Pushing me out the door?” he asked.
She looked up at him since his voice had dropped and she couldn’t get a feel for his tone. “Of course not. It was only a statement.”
“I’m just picking on you.”
“How’s your dad doing today?”
“Better. Everyone is thrilled he has only one more to go.”
“I’m sure you’re thrilled too.”
“Yes and no,” he said. “I don’t like seeing him like that. Anyone like it, but he’s been better at doing what he’s told. But once it’s done...well.”
“I know,” she said. “We’ll put that on the backburner. We know it’s there. How are things going with your father and you?”
“Fine. Not much has changed,” he said.
“You don’t say much anymore so I wasn’t sure if you were still fighting as much or not.”
“Not really. We’ve gotten into a rhythm. I guess he’s mellowed somewhat.”
“That’s good. Do you think you two can work out your differences?”
He shrugged. “I’ve tried. It’s in his court. No clue where his mind is at and I’m not even bringing it up anymore. It shouldn’t be our focus either.”
“No. Just having a conversation,” she said.
“I like that we do. And thanks for asking. I don’t talk much about it because I didn’t want it to bring what we have down. Fun, right?” he said.
“Fun,” she said and held the tears a second time.
28
Remember Everything
“You’re early,” Taryn said when Justin was in her kitchen at seven thirty the next morning.
“I was excited about today,” he said. “Don’t rush if you aren’t ready. Finish your coffee.”
“I’m almost ready. Just killing time. It was nice to not have to get up to do much today.”
“No dessert going to your parents for dinner later?” he asked.
“The cake is baked. I did it last night. I just need to assemble it.” She couldn’t sleep last night and figured she might as well waste time doing that. She was pretty sure they’d be back with plenty enough time for her to frost the cake.
“Yum.” He moved over to give her a kiss. “What did you make?”
“Vanilla cinnamon cake with an apple compote between the layers. I’ll make a caramel Swiss meringue frosting for it too. I figured we are getting close to fall for all those flavors to come out.”
“I love pumpkin, apple, and cinnamon. Anything fall flavored. Apple pie happens to be one of my favorite things.”
“You have a lot of favorite things,” she said, poking him in the side.
“And you remember them all I bet.”
“Of course.” She was going to remember everything about him for the rest of her life. Not just because of the child she was carrying but the love in her heart.
Last night she’d cried herself to sleep when she finally got in bed. She knew she’d been stupid and let herself fall in love with Justin when she tried to hold it back. If she wasn’t carrying his child she figured she might be able to move on without him at some point, but that wouldn’t be the case now.
Nope, she’d forever have this tie with him.
Now she just had to figure out when to tell him and she was leaning on waiting longer. She didn’t want him to feel the pressure to change his life or his plans. Once he knew what he was doing, she’d tell him.
The last thing she wanted was any type of pity or guilt that he seemed to have piled on his back his whole life from his father.
“I’m going to grab a coffee to go,” he said.
“If you’re hungry there are a few tarts in the container over there from the other day. Triple berry.”
She’d made them for the park on Thursday but had a craving and kept some in the house for her. After eating two last night she’d thought she was going to puke and was hoping someone took them off her hands or she’d be throwing them out so she didn’t gorge on them again.
“I’m always hungry for your sweets,” he said.
She walked down the hall to go to the bathroom quick and grab her comfortable sandals knowing they’d be walking.
“I’m ready,” she said.
When they were in the car she realized the silence was getting to her when normally it never did.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “You can’t seem to sit still.”
“Nothing. Just thinking and planning things in my mind.”
“Jobs you’ve got coming up?” he asked. “Tell me about them.”
Sure, she could lie and say it was that. “I’ve got some things to do for Labor Day parties in a few weeks. A couple of businesses have placed orders for events. The park will slow down once the summer season is over but will still stay open five days a week.”
“What days will he close?” he asked.
“Monday and Tuesday for now. Then he’ll close down Wednesday and Thursday once November hits. Maybe just Wednesday. Logan is toying around with having paintball leagues outside as well as inside. So if he does that, it would be after hours. That type of thing. So he could just open up for a few hours a night.”
“That sounds like a blast. What will you do if he’s closed down during the week more?” he asked.
“I’ll still work and go in. Logan will be there doing maintenance around the park anyway. But I’ll answer the calls that might come in that get bypassed by the machine. It takes me a few days to get all the receipts in from Friday, Saturday and Sunday as it is, then I’ve got to run to the bank and process reports. Plenty of work, but not as much as before.”
“But you don’t have to be there to do it, right?”
“No. I’ll go in Mondays for sure to get everything and prepare the deposit. But I could work from home on Tuesday and Wednesday if I wanted. I’ll figure it out.”
Once news got out in her family about her pregnancy everyone would be on her case like chipmunks on nuts fallen from a tree to cut back her workload. She knew that.
But she needed to make a living too. She wasn’t stupid and wouldn’t overdo it by any means. Might as well put away for a rainy day while she could because a storm was brewing.
She wasn’t about to ask Justin for anything and she wouldn’t have to. He’d do the right thing and it didn’t sit well with her either over that.
None of this was sitting well with her and if she didn’t get it out of her brain she was going to get sick and that was the last thing she needed to do in the car.
The rest of the two-hour trip was just spent talking about current events, some of how well his father was doing, how his sister and mother finally got their massages. Little things. Light things. Fun things.
Yep, that word again. What they’d said they were supposed to have that didn’t quite pan out like they’d planned.
“Looks like we’ve got a good parking spot,” he said. “Glad we left a little earlier.”
“It’s going to be a great day for this. Not too hot or sunny.”
He threaded their fingers together. Not a move he made often. She was going to enjoy it while she could.
The two of them made their way to Church Street and s
tarted to walk in and out of the shops. There were so many things to look at, but her eyes were going right toward spices and baked goods. Ideas for new things.
When they were in a spice store, Justin had picked up a bottle of rose water. “Do you put this in anything?” he asked. “It smells like soap.”
“It tastes like it too if you use too much. No. I’m not that kind of a baker.”
“What kind?” he asked.
“Some people love more out of the box flavors. You need to know your audience. Lake Placid isn’t catering toward that. I’ve used things like that in Tampa, but it’s not a huge seller. I stick with more homey things.” She reached for some dried chili peppers. “But these will go good in chocolate, so I’m going to try that for sure.”
“I might be able to get on board with that.”
“You seem to be able to get on board with anything,” she said. “The calm guy who never loses it.”
“I’m not so sure I’m that agreeable,” he pointed out.
Her smile dropped. She’d been testing the water but didn’t know why she was. “I know. Just joking.”
They spent the next few hours walking around and picking up things. Not just spices and baked goods, but a few fall decorations for her apartment. It was still kind of plain and if she had a kid coming, wouldn’t it be nice to have pumpkins and scarecrows around. She’d have to get in that mindset now as a mother to make things more fun.
By the time they grabbed a quick lunch and returned to Lake Placid, it was a little before four. “How long do you need to get your cake ready?” he asked.
“Not long. Just have to make the frosting, but that will be about thirty minutes or so and melt the caramel to add.”
“I’ve got to watch you do this. I’ve never seen you do much more than small things.”
“There isn’t anything exciting about this. I’m not decorating the cake. Though I’m going to toast and candy the pecans to add to it. That was a good find today and it will taste awesome on top. That will be my only decoration I think.”
“It’s all about flavors today, right?”
She laughed. “You’ve heard me say that enough times, huh?”
“I remember everything about you just like you do me.”
And it was statements like that that made her wonder and question where his mind was at. How he was going to be able to just drive away from her life so easily.
Maybe he won’t.
Maybe he was feeling some of the things she was.
When her eyes started to itch and she feared the telltale tears were going to come, she decided to change the subject.
“So anything interesting at work?” she asked. “Other than removing objects from undesirable places and knives from thighs?”
“Ah, the knife in the thigh was my first interesting case. Do you still have the knife here?” he asked.
She pulled a drawer open and set it on the counter. “I don’t use it often. Just when I’m spreading frosting thin or need to touch things up. Really more for touching up.”
He picked it up and put it back in the drawer. “Let’s leave it there for now.” His hand went to the scar on her thigh and gave it a little rub. “Not that I don’t have fond memories of how we met.”
She laughed. That would be an interesting story to tell her child.
Urgh, she couldn’t seem to stop. She hadn’t even been to the doctor yet.
She didn’t know when she was due. She was just assuming it all happened when the condom broke.
That appointment was next week and she’d know more then. An in-store pregnancy test taken days ago was all she was going by.
“I’m sure that is mild compared to what you’ve done or seen before,” she said.
“You name it, I’ve seen it and dealt with it. Around here it’s a lot of illnesses and injuries more than anything. It’s more steady than slow, but not as many rushes as I’d thought. Had an Olympian in last week with some pretty bad injuries after he’d crashed in training.”
“And you can’t say who, I know. Not that I’d know anyway. I don’t follow that much but know there are a lot of them here.”
“Yeah, no names,” he said. “But he’s out of commission for at least six months.”
She wanted to ask him if he missed the action back home but knew that was a stupid question. He’d said more than enough he was going to miss things here when he went home. If they were so great here, he’d stay. He wasn’t going to. It wasn’t even on his radar.
She’d have to be content with the next month or so and then prepare herself to move on. Just like she was preparing herself for the dinner with her parents shortly.
29
Right In Front Of Them
Justin was trying to figure out what was going on in Taryn’s head. She’d been quiet on and off today. Not so quiet that she wasn’t saying a word, but enough that she wasn’t herself.
He wondered if she was still nervous about this dinner with her parents. He wasn’t nervous. Why would he be? It was not the first time he’d be meeting them, though it’d been years.
And he wasn’t a kid working the counter at the golf course this time, or seeing them at school functions when he was younger.
It still didn’t matter. Taryn had told him she’d explained to her parents what their relationship was, even if he wasn’t so sure it was the same as what they’d agreed on.
He wasn’t sure of anything at this moment and was trying not to put a lot of thought into it.
He still had over a month left that he’d committed to and then he’d figure the rest out. Maybe long distance wouldn’t be that hard?
Not going there right now.
They pulled into Trevor and Riley’s driveway and got out, Taryn carrying the cake he’d been salivating over. Damn, he was sure going to miss that, but at least he wouldn’t have to work out as much for fear of gaining weight. He’d never eaten so many sweets before coming here.
When they walked around back, everyone was there and said hi. He moved forward and shook hands with Taryn’s parents and said it was great to see them again.
“How is your father doing?” Taryn’s mother’s asked. “I’m sorry to hear he isn’t well.”
“He’s doing good. Hanging in there. One more treatment in a week. Last one, thank God. He’ll need six weeks of radiation after, but he’ll have three to four weeks to recover from the last chemo before he starts.”
“That’s great to hear,” Taryn’s father said.
It was and once they got the results of the PET scan being done in two weeks they could all breathe easier.
“It is good news. Been a long road and in some ways it flew by, other ways, it seemed to go on forever.”
“How long are you here for?” Trevor asked, grinning at him. He figured that would come up at some point.
“No definite answer at the moment. Not sure if I’ll stay for all of his radiation treatments, but I’ll see how he handles them. He should be able to drive himself there and back, but it will be more about whether he pushes more than he should.”
He figured he’d stay for the first few weeks at the least. Make sure his reaction to the side effects weren’t too bad. Shouldn’t be too much more than fatigue or actual skin damage at the site.
“It’s hard for a man to lie back and relax when they’ve got things they want to do,” Taryn’s mother said. “Running a business makes it harder.”
“Let’s not go there,” he said, laughing. “But he finally decided to listen to my mother.”
“Not you?” Logan asked from where he was sitting on the deck with a beer in his hand. One he needed to get soon too.
“He listens when he wants to. It takes time, but I think I finally got through to him enough to see reason.”
“Some men are just stubborn,” Taryn said. “And can’t see what is right in front of them.”
He looked over to see the grin on her face and knew there was something hidden in her words. He wasn’t stupid
and maybe they needed to address it all later tonight.
“What kind of cake is that?” Kennedy asked, coming forward to take it out of Taryn’s hands.
“I decided on a touch of home since Dad was here. His favorite.”
“Apple cinnamon?” her father asked.
“Of course, Dad,” Taryn said.
The old chief of police moved forward and put his arm around his youngest daughter and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. “Always were my favorite one. Some man will be lucky to have you.”
“Hey,” Kennedy shouted. “What about me? Logan is happy to have me, right?”
Logan put his beer to his lips and grinned. “Some days I am.”
The rest of the dinner went well. He felt like they all needed to get their little subtle digs in at first and then it was enough.
“Sorry about my family,” Taryn said later when they were at her house.
He didn’t need to ask what she meant. “Don’t worry. I expected it to be worse. They want to know what is going on and I can’t answer them.”
“I’ve told them more than enough what was going on.”
“You’ve said that. But the time is coming to an end and they are still checking. Maybe we should have the conversation too even if I’ve been trying to avoid it.”
“Why?” she asked, pulling him to the couch to sit next to her.
“We said fun.”
“We did,” she agreed. “I’d say we’ve had a lot of it. Today included, minus my interfering family.”
“We’ve talked about the future all along. Or somewhat about it. I have a life elsewhere.”
“You do,” she said quietly.
“My plan is to go home for a week or so after my father’s PET scan. I’ll have my colleagues look it over there, I’ll swap out some clothes, check out my place and so on. I haven’t been home in months, but then I’ll be back.”
“For your dad’s radiation?”
“The start of it,” he said. “I committed to Saranac until the end of September for now. That’s about six weeks away. It’s a good start into my father’s radiation and for me to see how he’s handling it.”