Still Yours

by Cara Roman

  "Last time I walked in to see you doing that was that first month we actually turned a profit." Dani said caught up in Leigha's unencumbered joy. "I take it we have some decent applicants in that stack?"

  "We sure do. I honestly wish we could hire half of them on the spot. Coffee shop experience, check. Bakery experience, check. References, check." She said pulling applications from the stack and waving them around excitedly. "And, that's just right here. I haven't even finished reading the online ones yet! So, hell yes I'm pretty excited!"

  Dani walked over and quickly scanned through the papers. She nodded setting two of them aside. "I like these two, forward me any of the promising bakers from your inbox. I'll call them in for interviews." Dani paused, her head slightly tilted to the side. "Did you ever think we would get here?" She gestured with her hands and added, "I mean, I know we dreamed it, sure. But I kind of wondered if it would always just be the two of us holding the place together through sheer will and stubbornness."

  "To be honest, I wouldn't have even thought about it. This place was everything to me, my whole life, and working day in and day out, until I fell into bed completely exhausted, suited me just fine." Leigha admitted. "Now, I want to have it all. I want to grow our business, but I also want a life. I want us both to have more to our lives."

  Dani nodded wisely. "Seems to me like you might just have it all already, you just have to let yourself." When Leigha nodded Dani pulled away from the doorway, "I'm gonna take Silas to see that new super hero movie tonight. We need a night out. He's been talking about it for weeks. He can geek out on the action, and I'll stuff my face full of popcorn and call it a win. Catch you later." She tapped the applications against her hand with a grin before walking out.

  Leigha combed through her email quickly, sending two more of them Dani's way. She had a list of five people to interview for up front, and Dani had four tentatively to help in the kitchen. Feeling pretty good about it she worked her way down the list calling people back for interviews. Locking up she took the deposit to the bank. The late afternoon sun was shining brightly, even if the air was still just this side of chilly. It didn't matter, in Michigan if the sun was shining it was a good day. Winter was long, gray, and perpetually dreary. Springs arrival not only woke the spindly looking trees up from their long nap, it brought some much needed light back to into people's faces. Leigha stood next to her car, her face tilted up towards the warm rays, and closed her eyes. Inhaling, she absorbed the joy drifting through the light. Her life was falling into place in ways she wouldn't have thought possible last season, and she was ready to embrace it.

  "Love sure does look good on you, my dear." Mrs. Bowman said, surprising Leigha. "I am glad Ridge tore down that silly wall you spent all those years building."

  To damn happy to bother being embarrassed Leigha opened her eyes and grinned at the retired teacher. "Thanks, I am too."

  "I always knew that boy would be back." Mrs. Bowman added.

  "Really?"

  "Absolutely, always." Mrs. Bowman repeated with a decisive nod.

  "Whys that?" Leigha asked, her face filling with confusion.

  "Even back then it was plain for anyone with eyes to see, you two were just meant. Growing up the way he did, a boy without a father he had a fire inside of him burning to make something of himself. If he had stayed I don't think either one of you would have found the happiness I can see pouring out of you now. He needed to show himself he was worthy." Mrs. Bowman said giving Leigha's hand a pat that could only be described as grandmotherly.

  "Ridge was always worth it to me." Leigha said softly.

  "Yes, dear, I'm sure he was. It takes some men awhile to catch up though."

  "He told me that he never stopped loving me, the whole time he was gone. Even through his whole marriage." Leigha found herself admitting, the words slipping out before she could think twice.

  "I've no doubt he was telling you the God's honest truth." Mrs. Bowman nodded sagely. "Feelings that deep don't ever go away, even if you want them to."

  "He was married. He had a wife." Leigha said. That was something that still bothered her, how could he love her and marry another woman.

  "Doesn't that make you wonder what that must have cost his soul, saying those vows to another?" She said squeezing Leigha's hand. "Well, I've got to get going, some of the girls are coming over tonight to play cards." With a wiggle of her brows she walked off to her car a couple spaces away.

  Leigha thought about that as she watched Mrs. Bowman pull out of the parking lot. She was jealous of Suzy, sure. Who wouldn't be? She would always have a part of Ridge that Leigha never could. That was easy to admit to herself as she finally sat down in her car. Maybe a tiny part of her still worried Ridge would decide Suzy was who he wanted after all. After hearing what Mrs. Bowman had to say on the matter Leigha just wasn't sure anymore The older woman was a fountain of wisdom to be sure. She was practically an institution in their small town for a reason. It was definitely going to take some time for Leigha to digest what she had told her.

  Leigha's phone rang as she was pulling up into her driveway. Putting her car in park Leigha leaned over and dug through the contents of her purse. Pulling it out she answered it moments before it would have dumped the caller into her voicemail greeting.

  "Hey." Leigha said quickly.

  "Hey Sugar. How was your day?" She could hear the smile in his voice, and just that had her body already tingling with need.

  "Pretty good. I set up some interviews for tomorrow, so I'm really hoping Caffeinated Sprinkles will be growing pretty soon." Leigha said letting her head tip back into the seat.

  "You sound a little nervous about that." Ridge said.

  "Not so much nervous, as ready to be there already. I want the interviews over. Now that we are taking this step I just want it done with. I honestly can't wait until I can schedule myself some days off. Which is something I never thought I would say."

  "So I take it Dani was on board with the whole thing?" He asked, his deep voice sounding so damn warm but with a powerful punch that went straight to your gut, just like good whiskey.

  Leigha was so caught up listening to the way Ridge's voice ebbed and flowed through her mind that she lost the thread of what he was saying. "Leigha?" She heard. "You still with me babe?"

  "Always. I was just enjoying the sound of your voice." Leigha purred, and then rushed on, "yeah, it turns out that Dani needed the help too. She always makes juggling work and time with Silas look so effortless, that apparently even I was fooled. She is probably even happier about this whole thing than I am."

  "I'm on my way over." Ridge said. She could hear him moving around his house quickly.

  "Wait, what? I thought you were going to try and get some writing done tonight?" Leigha asked confused.

  "You think I didn't catch what you said Sugar?"

  "Which part?" Leigha asked struggling to catch up replaying her words back in her head.

  "You lost what I was saying because you were just listening to me." Ridge explained, Leigha heard the distinctive sound of his front door shutting.

  "Well you do have quite a voice Ridge, its kind of well documented by now. I'm not the only woman who enjoys the sound of it."

  "No, you're not. But you don't realize how you sounded, do you? Your voice got all low and smoky just like it does when I'm inside you. Which means that I'm rock hard right now, and I'm thinking that the only song I'd be writing tonight is not one they will be able to play on country radio." Leigha heard his truck start up.

  "I'll be waiting." Leigha said rushing into her house.

  "Damn right you will." Ridge all but growled as he hung up the phone.

  Chapter 29

  Time flew by so fast that the days felt like one blurred into the next until the whole week was one continuous wave. Training new employees was always as interesting as it was challenging. Leigha was trying to remember all of the little things that were second nature to her by now. Every night when she
finally closed her eyes a million things she was absolutely sure she had forgotten to explain assaulted her tired brain. She would toss and turn for hours before the relentless exhaustion claimed her. In a moment she thought was pure genius threw together a training manual, sent to Dani to look over and add anything she could think of. The next time Caffeinated Sprinkles hired new people they would be one hundred percent covered, or at least that was the plan. The four new employees, two front counter, and two back in the kitchen brought them officially up to a staff of seven.

  It took Leigha less time than she would have thought to be comfortable with the changes though. Her Mom stopped by for a bite, meaning a bit of chat, Friday morning. Leigha was able to sit with her Mom at one of their cute little tables without running back behind the counter every few minutes to help customers. It was glorious.

  "I've already got my DVR set to record the awards, you know. Your Dad is telling everyone who will listen that his baby girl is going to be on the TV." Her Mom said as she sipped her coffee.

  "I highly doubt that you will even see me Mom." Leigha said laughing. "I'm just his date, nobody special."

  "Really, darling? Do you honestly think that nobody will be paying attention to who he has on his arm? I know to you he is just Ridge, but to a whole lot of people he is the Ridge Bradley country music superstar extraordinaire. Speculation is already running rampant. His ex wife is preforming too which has the rumor mill in a right tizzy already." Leigha's Mom gently grabbed her hand and added, "not to mention this will be your first foray into that part of his life."

  "Way to make me even more nervous than I already was Mom." Leigha muttered.

  "I figured you might be, this is a big step, and you haven't been back together very long."

  "To have Ridge in my life I have to accept all that comes with his life." Leigha said, repeating the mantra that had been on a constant loop inside of her head ever since she had agreed to be his date at the award show.

  "Yes, you do. But that doesn't mean you're going to immediately like it, and that's alright. Being famous was never one of your dreams." Her Mom looked outside lost in thought a moment. "Ridge was though. He was woven into every single plan you had for your future. This isn't about all the glitz and the glam, as fun as I'm sure it will be. You're going in support of your man, and honey Ridge is yours, heart and soul. Some women have to smile pretty at company dinners next to their men, this is basically the same thing, all be it on a much grander scale."

  "He keeps telling me how happy he is that I'm coming with him. He does this all the time, but I'm starting to get the impression he is just as nervous as I am this time." Leigha confided.

  "Of course he is. You said that he told you he knew it wasn't right with Suzy. This is the big reveal. He is showing the world, at least his corner of it, who he really is inside." Her mom said with a smile.

  "I guess I didn't think of it like that, but you're right. Bringing me is basically pinning his heart on his sleeve for everyone to see. What if it doesn't go the way he hopes Mom?" Leigha said working the end of her long braid through her fingertips nervously.

  "Neither one of you have control over everything. I'm sure there will be people who don't think you should be with him, who think he shouldn't have divorced Suzy. And plenty of people who just want him single forever so they think there is a chance for them. You can't worry about any of that. Your job is to make him feel how much he means to you, same as its his job to show you how important you are to him. Do you remember that summer he sang a couple of songs at the fair? He spent weeks rehearsing, while you printed up posters and hung them all over town. Everyone knew Ridge was singing because you told them they didn't want to miss it. You supported him then, this is the same thing. Instead of plastering posters everywhere you're going to be wearing a beautiful dress and walking the red carpet by his side."

  "He dedicated the show to me that night." Leigha said losing herself in the memory of how that had felt back then.

  Seventeen years old, filled with so much love and pride she could have lit up the night sky so bright you would think it was mid-day. Leigha stood there with all their friends watching Ridge swagger across the stage to the microphone. He smiled right down at her and said with a wink, "this is for my girl, without her none of you would probably even be here." A laugh went across the crowd, but the background noise faded away as Ridge started to play. All Leigha saw was Ridge.

  "While everyone else was looking up at the stage, I only saw you. The look on your face as you watched him, well it will stay with me forever." She said with a shake of her head and a sigh. "Don't you worry about the awards. Just enjoy getting to know this part of Ridge, and enjoy being with him."

  "Thanks, Mom. I'll try." Leigha said as her Mom stood up to go. She wrapped her arms around her and hugged tight.

  Later that night Leigha was sitting in Dani's living room waiting for her friend to come back from kissing Silas goodnight. Dani looked tired but happy as she walked out, shutting the door behind her softly. Leigha waiting to speak until Dani sat down on the couch and had a chance to take a sip of her wine.

  "Well? How do you think this week went?" Leigha asked.

  Dani laughed, "just about jumping out of your skin with impatience aren't you?"

  "I thought I was holding it together quite nicely actually." Leigha said sticking her nose up in the air a moment before the laugh bubbled up her throat. "Okay, patience was never my strongest attribute."

  "Nope. Definitely down there some where near the bottom of the list." Dani replied laughing too. "As exhausting as its been for us, I think it went better than I expected. All four of the new hire's are working out. I was a little worried that we would end up with at least one dud in the bunch."

  "Me too actually. But they all got it." Leigha said tucking her legs comfortably underneath her.

  "They really do. I'm already mentally planning my first day off. I'm gonna drop Silas off at school then spend the rest of my day taking a gloriously uninterrupted nap." Dani said with an exaggerated sigh.

  "You would be bored within five minutes, and you know it." Leigha said.

  "Probably. Its a damn nice fantasy though." Dani leaned back further into the cushions. "But in all seriousness, I think we got it handled Leigha."

  "I was almost hoping that it wouldn't work out." Leigha admitted with a tiny shrug.

  "Yeah, I know. But that's only because you know once you take this step with Ridge the two of you are all but written in stone." Dani said gently.

  "Which really shouldn't bother me. We have said the I love you's again." Leigha said, her teeth nervously working her bottom lip.

  "Yeah, but this is you embracing that part of his life that in a very real sense stole him away from you. He chose his dream, his music career over you once." She paused, letting that settle in. "Whats to say he won't do it again?" Dani asked.

  "Because even then he couldn't escape me. He told me I was always in his thoughts. That he always missed me, every single day. It wasn't as easy for him as I thought it was. And I know he loves me, its real, and its deep, and I'm really tired of being scared of it." Leigha argued, jumping to Ridge's defense.

  "About damn time." Dani said grinning. "Of course he isn't going to make that mistake again."

  "Did you seriously just make me argue my own self doubt?" Leigha said, impressed.

  "Mmmhhhmm." Dani nodded her head. "Now that you're done being dumb, lets talk about what you're going to wear!"

  Chapter 30

  Standing up from her cushy seat in first class Leigha smiled. It had been a long week without Ridge. He called her every single night, and was always just a text away. But she missed seeing her man. Feeling the warmth of his skin under her fingertips, the way his deliciously masculine smell invaded her senses whenever she was close to him. Of course he was a busy man, and intellectually she completely got that. He had a very full schedule leading up to the award show, press to do, rehearsals, fittings, meetings with the labe
l. It honestly all sounded like a pain in the ass to her, but it was a part of his world, and he seemed to thrive in it. But at night when the shadows danced across her room she stared at them admitting to herself that she wasn't fully herself without him anymore. Maybe she never really was, she just hadn't noticed. The best parts of her reflected the best in him. They were intertwined, at the core of their souls. Leigha didn't want to be that clingy woman that couldn't live a moment without him by her side. But damn it, she missed him.

  Grabbing the stylish, but roomy navy zippered oversize tote bag with the black leather straps that she bought specifically for this trip she disembarked off the plane with everyone else. Ridge was supposed to send someone to pick her up, since he wasn't exactly the kind of guy who could just hang around an airport unnoticed. Ridge walking around the airport would cause quite a stir. Imagining something close to the hysteria surrounding The Beatles, Leigha found herself laughing thinking about it. Especially since this was Nashville, the hub of country music, and he was one of the most loved artists. The guy in front of her looked over his shoulder at her, wondering what was so funny. She just shook her head at him, he gave her a slightly confused shrug, but he turned back around and kept walking.

  It wasn't very hard to spot her ride. He was an absolute mountain of a man, a full head taller than everyone else in the crowded airport, with shoulders wide enough to make a linebacker jealous. To her thinking there were two types of security. The ones that specialized in blending in, so ordinary that your gaze just slid past them without even noticing, and the ones that everyone noticed and knew they would have no problem breaking faces. This guy definitely fell into the latter category. He had wavy hair that he probably thought was brown, but was really bronze, and a full red beard covering his face. As soon as she made eye contact with him he started walking over to her. If he looked intimidating while standing still, it was nothing compared to the vibe he gave off when in motion. Every single muscle working together in tandem like some kind of dangerous predatory grace. Simply put, this was a man that you never wanted to fuck with.