With her hair already pulled back, she’d be ready to serve food to this noisy crowd. Her feelings of apprehension would disappear as long as she was behind the counter, using food as a buffer. When she served people, giving them something to fill their empty stomachs, she’d feel more comfortable and relaxed.
“Hey, you’re holding up the line!” A woman snapped behind Rhea. Rhea opened her eyes, shocked that the line had moved while she’d been daydreaming. Sighing, she grabbed a tray, slapping it onto the counter in front of her.
*
Martin entered the cafeteria, glancing around the crowd. The conference director told him that the rest of the conference speakers wouldn’t arrive until the following morning. He shook his head. Why had he let Trina talk him into speaking at this singles retreat? Was he being too cynical? Maybe the Lord wanted him here to minister to others, and he needed to accept that and do the best that he could.
He also needed to speak to Raven. If he sat down with her, calmly explaining his opinion, she might finally understand, and stop calling him so much. Perhaps Raven was a stubborn woman who refused to accept the truth. In time, she’d have to learn that he was simply not interested in her and that she’d misunderstood his intentions.
Everybody seemed to be talking at once, enveloping the cafeteria in a cacophony of noise. He placed his hands over his ears. He had so much to do, including studying for his exam in divinity school. After he ate some dinner, found Raven, explained everything to her, then he’d get back to his room and study before focusing on his duties at the retreat.
He looked through the throngs of people. Where was Raven?
He spotted a woman peeking into the cafeteria. There she was! Wait. She resembled Raven, but…something was different about her. She sported glasses over her brown eyes, and her coffee-colored hair was pulled back into a bun. Staring at her from head to toe, he took in her entire appearance.
She wore a loose-fitting outfit, not something he thought Raven would wear. She stood in line, closing her eyes. What was she doing? Was she tired? After being nudged by another attendee, she frowned before slamming her tray onto the counter.
After she’d gotten her food, she clutched her tray, gazing into the sea of faces dominating the noisy cafeteria. She looked like a scared child searching for her mother. Should he rescue her? She carried her meal, sitting at the end of one of the long, rectangular tables. A few of the people sitting beside her tried to talk to her, but she mumbled something before focusing on her food. There was an empty spot beside her. Hopefully, he’d be able to sit there once he got his dinner.
Why did she look so different? Why was she acting so shy? Was she upset about something? Was that really Raven? He stared for a few minutes. Of course it was Raven. It had to be her. Maybe she usually wore contact lenses and that’s why she was wearing glasses. Perhaps she’d been in a rush and didn’t have time to style her hair before dinner.
A beautiful brown-skinned woman sauntered beside him, swaying her slim hips. Layers of makeup caked her beautiful face. He scrunched his nose. Why did she have to wear so much perfume? She licked her lips before speaking. “Hi, I can’t believe my luck.”
He smiled at her. “Excuse me?”
Batting her eyelashes, she grinned, showing pearly white teeth. “Aren’t you Pastor Martin Lane, one of the speakers?”
Still smiling, he nodded, questioning if it was the Lord’s will for him to speak at this retreat. “Yes, it’s nice to meet you.” They shook hands before moving forward in the line. He selected one of the brown trays, eyeing the attractive display of food being served by the cafeteria ladies.
As fast as he could, he took his fried chicken dinner, escaping the overly-made-up, annoying woman. He immediately spotted Raven. Why was she still sitting alone? Eating her food, she stared down at her plate. Was she afraid to make eye contact with the rest of the crowd?
He approached, placing his tray on the table. “Raven?”
Her head snapped up, and her glasses slid down her cute nose. A few wisps of hair tumbled from her bun. Her lips parted slightly and a crumb from the fried chicken rested at the side of her mouth. She dropped her fork on the floor, and he rushed to pick it up for her. Their fingers touched, causing warm sparks of delight to dance over his skin.
She jerked her hand away. He wasn’t this attracted to Raven when he’d seen her before. He took a deep breath. She smelled heavenly. She seemed prettier, in an old-fashioned way, and more timid. The urge to kiss her slammed into his gut and he backed away, surprised at his sudden arousal.
Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself, setting his tray on the table. He sat, realizing she stared at him — she acted as if she’d never met him before. He cleared his throat, lifted his fork. “Raven, did you need me to get you another fork?”
She blinked, stared at her dirty fork. Then she shook her head and unrolled fresh silverware from a napkin. “No, for some stupid reason, I got two sets while I was in line.”
He bowed his head, prayed over his meal. He opened his eyes and enjoyed a bite of chicken. “I’m sorry for staring but…you look so different than the last time I saw you. You’re wearing glasses…”
She winced, dropped her fork into her mashed potatoes. “I’m not Raven. I’m her twin sister, Rhea.”
Whoa! He swallowed his food, his heart skipping a beat. So Raven had a twin and she’d never mentioned it before? Between bites of fried chicken and mashed potatoes, she explained something about Raven being in an accident. She mentioned it was too late for Raven to get a refund, so, she’d come in her place. “That’s why I’m here. Sorry to disappoint you; I know you were expecting my sister.”
She pushed her glasses up, glancing around the crowd, squeezing her napkin. Why was she so nervous?
He touched her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She leaned toward him. “I hate crowds. I haven’t been to a social event in years.”
The urge to whisk her away from all these people came over him. Where could they go? The grounds were unfamiliar to him, and somebody had mentioned that there was some kind of rule against having somebody of the opposite sex alone in your room during the evening hours.
She took a sip of water, glanced at him, and caught him staring.
He said the first thing that popped into his head. “You didn’t have to come. You could’ve told your sister no.”
“It’s…complicated.”
So, she didn’t want to tell him why she felt she had to come? Why would she want to keep her reasons for attending a secret?
He cleared his throat, finishing the food on his plate. “I’m shocked. Raven never told me she had a twin.”
She sipped her water. After she’d set her glass down, she paused, as if she were processing what she needed to say. “My sister and I…well…we don’t always initially mention we have a twin.”
He nodded. He could understand not initially mentioning that. Two of the members of his church were twin boys. They struggled to be independent from one another, always emphasizing their differences. They seemed to spite that they were twins. “How badly was Raven hurt in the accident?”
She finished her chicken, wiping her fingers on a napkin. One big difference between Rhea and Raven was that Rhea really enjoyed her food! Raven had been so nit-picky about food that her attitude had spoiled one of their meals. She’d had the nerve to tell him that he’d made bad choices when he’d ordered from the menu.
Rhea gave Martin a run-down of Raven’s injuries.
“She won’t be able to go to work for a while?” This accident sounded pretty bad. He’d wanted to contact Raven and tell her to stop bothering him, but, hearing that she’d just been banged up in a bad car accident…maybe he should wait until she healed before trying to reason with her again.
“She’ll be out of work for weeks. That’ll be hard on her. Raven loves working. I know she’ll be restless while she recuperates.”
“I’ll pray for her healing. I
t must be hard for her to be in bed with a broken leg and injured ribs.”
“Yes, it’ll be hard for her.”
He finished his soda and pushed his tray away. Rhea frowned, her pretty brown eyes apprehensive. What would she look like if she smiled? Why was she frowning? “Is something wrong?”
“Martin, can I ask you something?”
He shrugged. “Sure.”
“Why did you come to this retreat?”
“Well, I…” Martin sniffed. What was that nauseating smell? The attractive, overly-made-up woman he’d seen in the cafeteria line leaned over the table. She glared at Rhea before focusing on Martin. “I never got a chance to tell you my name earlier.”
Rolling his eyes, Martin leaned back into his seat, rubbing his itchy nose. Choking back a sneeze, he resisted telling her that her perfume made him sick.
*
“I’m Zora.” She offered Martin her hand, and Rhea tried not to groan. “I’d wanted to sit with you, but you left before I had a chance to say anything.”
Martin shook Zora’s hand, gesturing toward Rhea. “Have you met Rhea? I’d already made plans to eat dinner with her.”
Zora looked directly at Rhea, her hazel eyes shooting daggers. Rhea met Zora’s intense gaze, refusing to look away. What was Zora’s problem? Did she honestly think that her rudeness toward other women would help her to capture Martin’s interest? If she spoke to the conference director, would it be possible for her to switch rooms? Rhea continued to return Zora’s stare. “Zora, are you okay? You look upset.”
Zora’s mouth dropped open, and she glanced at Martin. Martin frowned, focusing on Zora and Rhea, as if trying to figure out what was going on between them.
Zora grabbed Rhea’s arm. Rhea jerked away. “That hurts. Don’t touch me.”
Zora continued glaring at Rhea. “I need to talk to you, now.”
Martin cleared his throat. “Is there a problem?”
Rhea sighed. She’d promised Raven that she’d spend time with Martin, but she couldn’t do that if Zora was bothering her. She stood up, answering Martin’s question. “No problem. Zora is my roommate. I need to talk to her for a minute.”
Zora attempted to grab Rhea’s arm again, but Rhea slapped her hand away as they went into the lobby. They stopped, facing each other. “I don’t appreciate you making the moves on Martin. I came here to talk to him and you knew that.”
“How would I have known that?”
“Lots of the women here want to meet him. You just didn’t want him to meet me first.” How ludicrous! Why would a lot of women want to meet Martin? He was just an attendee at this retreat. He wasn’t the only single man at this event. The way Zora talked, she seemed to believe that Martin was famous. Was there something about Martin that Raven forgot to mention? She eyed Rhea. “You don’t have a chance to score with him.”
She couldn’t believe she was standing here talking to this juvenile, emotionally-distraught woman. “I don’t have time for this. If you don’t stop, I’m telling the conference director about your hostile attitude.”
“There you are!” Desiree ran into the lobby, her large hips jiggling. “You should’ve waited for me.”
Rhea turned toward Desiree, and the woman gave her an apologetic smile. “Zora, have you calmed down yet?”
“You wouldn’t believe what she did!” she pointed at Rhea, her eyes still blazing.
Desiree touched Zora’s shoulder, speaking in a low voice, almost as if she were soothing a wayward child. “Zora, you need to calm down. You can’t let yourself get so upset.”
Zora stomped her foot. “But, she—”
Rhea eyed Desiree. “I’m going back into the cafeteria. Desiree, I’ll talk to you later.”
She entered the cafeteria. Another woman was now seated in Rhea’s vacant chair, chatting with Martin. Glancing around the cafeteria, she realized that out of the one-hundred attendees, there were only about ten males in the group. Martin was the most striking man out of the males at the retreat, which meant it wouldn’t be easy to talk to him the way Raven wanted her to.
Martin spotted Rhea. He stood and said something to the woman sitting at the table, before rushing over to her. “How about we go someplace to talk?”
Rhea nodded. “That’s a good idea.” After she spoke with Martin, she could call Raven to let her know what he’d said about their relationship. She scanned the cafeteria. Where would they go?
Martin folded his muscular arms in front of his chest, his brown eyes sparkling with warmth. Rhea swallowed, catching a whiff of his fragrant cologne. Her heart thudded while Martin touched her elbow, guiding her into the cafeteria lobby. She breathed with relief when she saw that Zora had left. They left the building, and Martin gestured down the wooded path. “There’s a jogging trail. At the end of the trail there’s a bench. Let’s go sit and finish our conversation.”
“Okay.” Her heart thudded as she followed him outside. Weak sunlight spilled onto the grounds, and ducks and geese swam on the tranquil water.
She breathed deeply, trying to calm herself. They finally arrived at the spot. The wooden bench was old and splintered and it creaked beneath their weight. She sighed, closing her eyes. This was probably the most immature task she’d ever done on her sister’s behalf. If she didn’t need the loan so desperately, this whole situation might be funny. She imagined Raven’s horrified expression when she discovered Martin was not interested in her. She opened her eyes and glanced at Martin.
She could understand why Raven was physically attracted to him. A light breeze blew, ruffling the leaves on the nearby oak trees. It was so nice to be outside, away from the noisy cafeteria. The peaceful tranquility surrounded her like a ray of warm sunshine. She breathed deeply, not wanting to disturb this peaceful moment by asking Martin about his feelings toward her sister. She still had two more days – she’d ask him about Raven tomorrow.
She glanced at him again and he stared at her, before focusing on the surrounding trees. “I’m sorry for staring at you. You just looked upset and I wondered what was wrong.”
“I probably shouldn’t have come to this retreat.”
“It’s not so bad. Sunday is only a couple of days away. By then, you can go home and put this whole experience behind you.”
Sighing, she stretched her legs in front of her. “You’re right. I have to make it through this weekend. It’ll be difficult, especially since I’m rooming with Zora.”
“Why did she get mad when she saw us eating?”
“I think she has problems. She seems to be close to my other roommate, and she told her that she came to this retreat to go after you.”
“What?” He straightened up, his eyes narrowing.
“That’s what she said. How did she know that you were here if you’ve never met her before?” Perhaps he could shed some light on her confusion.
He glanced at the bay before focusing on Rhea again. “I’m one of the retreat speakers.”
“Really?” Strange. Why hadn’t Raven mentioned this? Perhaps she’d forgotten to tell her since she’d been hurt and drugged after her accident.
He nodded. “My sister Trina volunteered me for the job. Initially, I’d wanted to cancel, but the retreat director was so glad I’d accepted that I couldn’t cancel. I’m surprised you didn’t know—they have me listed on the retreat pamphlet.”
Rhea shrugged. “I haven’t seen the brochure. It’s understandable since I didn’t decide to go until last night.”
“Yes, that’s true.”
“So, why did they want you to speak?”
“Since I work in the church and I’m single, they said that I could give a unique perspective about singleness in the church.”
They sat in silence for a while, the sound of crickets chanting in the late evening air. “Rhea, why do you look so sad?”
She blew air through her lips. “I’m having lots of problems. I just hope that after this weekend, everything will work out.”
“Oh?” He p
aused, as if giving her the opportunity to tell him about her plight. When she remained silent, he spoke. “I’m a pretty good listener.”
Should she tell him about the problems she was having with her business? A flock of birds twittered, flying through the semi-dark sky. She may as well tell him about what she was going through. Her mom always told her that talking to someone about your problems might help you gain perspective. Besides, if she talked about her bakery, it would give them something to discuss so that she could avoid talking about Raven until tomorrow. “I have a bakery. I’ve been running it successfully for two years. A few months back, a new grocery store opened in my town, Maple Grove, and they have a bakery. I’ve lost a lot of customers since the grocery store bakery offers baked goods at a lower price.” She lowered her head into her hand, the back of her skull always hurt when she worried about her bakery.
He placed his hand on her back. The warmth of his fingers penetrated her thin blouse, giving her a shred of comfort. “Are you okay?”
She sat up, leaned back onto the bench, and he dropped his hand away. The warmth from his fingers disappeared, and she winced, missing his brief, comforting touch. “Honestly, I’m not.”
He paused, staring at the bay for a few minutes. “I used to work in the food industry. I might be able to help you.”
She eyed his handsome profile, again a feeling of déjà vu rolled through her. Where had she seen Martin before? The familiar feelings consumed her, and she desperately wanted to ask if they’d previously met. Of course, if she did it would sound like she was hitting on him. Yet, she found herself attracted to Martin. The last thing she needed to complicate her messed-up life was to enhance her attraction to Martin.
“What’s the matter?”
“I’m just thinking that it would take a miracle to fix my crazy life.”
Raspberry Kisses (The Bakery Romance Series Book 1) Page 3