by Rachel Hanna
“Have you ever lied? Let he who is without sin cast the…”
“Addy, don’t start quoting the Bible to me.”
“But it’s true. We’ve all lied! You can’t just throw away this amazing woman that you so obviously love and not fight for her.”
“I don’t know. I need some time to think.”
“Well, think fast, dear brother, because her flight leaves soon and she’s going to be driving to the airport. In fact, I don’t know where she is right now.”
Brad spent two hours driving all over January Cove looking for Ronni’s car, but he couldn’t find it. She was gone. She had to be. Her room at the B&B was cleaned out, and none of the Parker siblings or their partners had seen her.
In an effort not to drive himself crazy, he drove to the Lamont. He needed something to distract him. As he drove up, he was shocked to see her car sitting there, parked behind the dumpster.
At first, he was worried something had happened to her, so he ran to the car but she wasn’t inside. The only other place she could be was inside the building, so he keyed the side door and walked into the lobby.
She wasn’t in the lobby and she wasn’t in the conference room. He was starting to get a little worried, to be honest, so he checked Theater A but she wasn’t there either.
Next, he ran quickly around the building looking for her. Very little crime ever happened in January Cove, but there was a first for everything.
His heart rate picked up as he ran outside and looked around the mini golf course and the new go-cart ramps that were being built. Where was she?
The only place he hadn’t checked yet was Theater B, so he ran through the lobby once again and pulled the door open. And there she was. Thank God, he thought, as he took a deep breath.
He wasn’t prepared for what he saw. She was sitting in one of the seats watching “The Blue Alien”. He walked slowly around to the side and noticed she was crying. Her face was stained with tears as she wiped her eyes with a tissue.
“Ronni?” he said just loud enough for her to hear him over the movie. She didn’t have the sound turned up very loud at all, but he still had to raise his voice. It startled her and she jumped up, thankful to see it was Brad but then a look of sadness mixed with anger took over her face.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, more rhetorically than anything, before sitting down again and staring blankly at the screen.
“You liked this movie enough to watch it again?” Brad asked with a smile. The smile was wasted, though, because she wasn’t looking in his direction at all.
“No. Actually, I think it’s the dumbest movie I’ve ever seen.”
Brad walked closer. “Then why are you watching it?”
“None of your damn business,” she said before she stood up and walked toward the lobby quickly. He had to run to catch up, but he finally caught her in the conference room.
“Ronni, why were you watching that movie?” he pressed.
“Why does it matter, Brad?” she asked, tears pouring from her eyes. “You hate me, or at least you don’t love me anymore, so why are you so worried about what movies I watch?” She blew her nose into the tissue and threw it in the trashcan before grabbing another one out of the box she had nestled under her arm.
“I’m so sorry, Ronni,” he said softly as he put his hand on her shoulder. She didn’t move.
“Sorry for what?” she asked, sounding like she had a bowling ball stuffed in her nose.
“For being a first class jackass.”
She slowly turned around to face him, her nose red from blowing it and her eyes red from crying. “I’m listening…”
“Sit down,” he said, leading her to the chair. He sat in another chair and pulled it in front of her, his knees touching hers. “I’ve been a fool, and I’m so sorry. My sister set me straight.”
“She did?”
“I’m not perfect. You’re not perfect. But you didn’t set out to hurt me, and I know that now. Can I have another chance?” he asked as he reached for her hand.
“Even if I wanted to give you another chance, I’m leaving tonight. I’m going home, Brad.”
“I know that’s the plan, but you don’t have to go home. Stay here with me. We have something special, Ronni.”
“I’m sorry, Brad. I do love you, but I have to go home. My life is there.”
The air felt like it had just been sucked from his lungs. He’d apologized and professed his love yet again, but she was still leaving.
“I don’t understand. Why are you still leaving?” he asked, standing up and pacing the room like the Parker man that he was.
“I have a job and an apartment and a dog at my friend’s house.”
“So get a new job and an apartment here, and I’ll buy you a big bag of dog food.”
“Brad, be serious.”
“I am being serious.”
“I can’t stay here. The opportunities are so limited with my career…”
“Then I’ll come with you,” he said. She stood up and held his hands in hers.
“I’ve enjoyed getting to know you, and I can’t believe how fast I fell in love with you. But this wasn’t going to work from the start. I’m a West coast kind of girl, and you’re a Southern gentleman with sea water running through his veins. I’ll always love you, Brad Parker, but this is where our story ends.”
A knife through his heart would’ve felt better right now.
“Goodbye, Brad,” she said softly into his ear before kissing his cheek. “Thank you for loving me.”
And with that, Ronni Blair walked out of the conference room, out of the Lamont and straight out of his life.
Two weeks has passed, and Brad still wasn’t used to working with the new guy that the Drake Corporation had sent to take Ronni’s place. His name was Dave, and his picture was right next to the word “nerd” in the dictionary.
He hadn’t heard a word from Ronni since she left. Not a text or a phone call or an email. Nothing.
He’d screwed up the courage to ask Dave about her one time, but all he got in return was that she’d made it back to California and was busy with a new project.
The Lamont project was in its final stages and would open in just about three weeks. The public was getting excited, and plans were being made for more tourist attractions in January Cove in the future.
But today was a day off from work as Brad and the family gathered for family dinner at the house that now belonged to Aaron. He and Tessa were still happily planning their October wedding in a few weeks.
“So, this is my dress,” Tessa said, holding a magazine close to her chest as she showed Jenna. “Don’t you dare look, Aaron Parker!” she chided as Aaron playfully pretended that he was trying to look.
“Oh, it’s gorgeous, Tessa,” Jenna cooed.
They were all full of food and stories as they sat on the screened porch. It was weird not to have Adele there, but she’d been traveling for a couple of weeks now and was checking in via text regularly. Right now they were in Maine, and she was as happy as they’d ever seen her.
“Hey, let’s get Mom on Skype for a minute,” Kyle said to Jenna. She smiled and nodded.
“Why are we getting Mom on Skype?” Brad asked.
“Well, don’t you miss her?” Jenna asked, poking him in the side. Yes, he missed his mother, but the woman he really missed was on the other coast.
After a few failed attempts, Adele appeared on the iPad. Everyone said hello, and she looked so well rested and happy. Content was a good word for it. They could see the ocean in the background and Harrison was sitting right beside her.
“Hey, Mom! Do you miss us?” Kyle asked.
“Of course, my sweeties!”
“How’s the trip going?” Aaron asked.
“Oh, wonderful. We’ve had such a good time. We stopped in Colonial Williamsburg a few days ago. And today we’re hanging here on the beach, drinking margaritas and eating ham sandwiches.”
“Sounds like a
celebrity lifestyle you got there, Mom,” Jackson said with a laugh. “Margaritas and ham sandwiches…” he whispered to Rebecca.
“Well, Mom, Jenna and I wanted to call you because we actually have an announcement to make to the whole family.”
“How exciting! What is it, dear?” Adele said, inching closer to the screen.
“We’re pregnant!” Jenna squealed like she was about to burst.
The room erupted in laughter and more squeals, from the women mainly, and Adele grinned from the other side of the screen.
“I’m so excited for you both. I can’t wait to meet him or her!”
“Thanks, Mom. We’ll let you get back to your drunken ham sandwich party,” Kyle said. Adele shook her finger at the screen.
“Kyle Parker…”
“Yes, Mom. I’m sorry…” he said before he ended the call.
“Congratulations, guys. I’m so happy for you,” Brad said smiling. He was happy for them, but he was also sad for himself. Everyone was moving forward, and his life seemed to being moving backward.
As they all talked and planned, Brad slipped outside into the garden. He felt close to his mother there, looking at all of her roses and herbs still growing as if she was here. But even she was living her dream, and he seemed stuck on start.
“Hey, brother,” he heard Addison say from behind him. She held his precious little niece, Anna Grace, in her arms. She was getting so big. How did time pass so quickly the older he got? Except for the last two weeks. Those passed like he was walking through quicksand.
“Hey,” he said. He pulled a stray dead leaf off one of the shrubs and tossed it into the grass.
“You okay?”
“Nope.” Honesty was the best policy, right?
“I figured. Have you heard from her?”
“Nope.”
“Want to be alone?” she asked.
“Yep,” he said. He smiled at her, and she just hugged him quietly for a moment before turning back to the house.
So many times in his life, he’d been at a fork in the road, but this time he had no power over which path to take. She didn’t want to stay, and she didn’t want him to come with her. He had no choice but to get over her.
But he couldn’t imagine ever being able to do that.
Chapter 12
Rebecca stood in the kitchen of her new rental home. The little aqua blue beach house was across the street from Jolt, allowing her to keep an eye on her business day and night. She literally had a thirty foot commute to work.
“Last box!” Jackson yelled as he walked through the front door from across the street. No moving vans were needed for this move. Leo would be back from his mission trip later today, and he would be so surprised that they had moved across the street.
She knew he’d love the place. He got his very own room and a deck overlooking the water. What more could a teenage boy need?
“I’m exhausted,” Rebecca said as she fell onto the sofa.
“Well, it’s done, and now I get to live everyday with the prettiest girl on the planet,” he said as he slid down beside her.
“Are you glad we did this?” she asked, leaning her head into the side of his chest.
“Absolutely. You?”
“I’m thrilled.”
“So do you give me permission to one day ask you to marry me, Rebecca?” he asked, surprising her. She sat up and squinted her eyes at him.
“Are you asking me?”
“No. We just moved. Too much for one day,” he said laughing.
“True.”
“I just want permission to ask. One day.”
“You have my permission,” she said as she slid back down.
“Good.”
Brad drove up to the ferry landing after getting a call from Clay. It had now been five weeks since Ronni left, and it hadn’t gotten any easier. The Lamont project was done and set to open in a few days, but he could barely drive past it now. Sheer determination and the need for his paycheck were the only things that got him through the rest of the job.
“Hey, man. What’s up?” Brad asked when he saw Clay.
“I need some help.”
“With?”
“We had a wedding on the island last night, but it was so late I had to leave all the rental chairs there. Mind riding over with me and helping me load them up?”
It was a weird request since he’d never known Clay to just leave rental chairs on the island like that, but he had a new baby he probably wanted to get home to.
“Sure.”
Clay started the ferry, and they began the short drive over.
“So, how are you doing, dude? Haven’t seen you around much lately.”
“I’m hanging in there, I guess,” Brad said as he opened a soda and leaned against the railing.
“Heard from Ronni?”
“No. And I wish everyone would quit asking me that.”
“Sorry,” Clay said, a hint of a smirk on his face. Brad kind of wanted to punch him.
They rode in silence for the rest of the way, but when Clay pulled up, Brad didn’t see any chairs.
“Where are the chairs?”
“Oh, we had the wedding on the other side,” Clay said as he roped off the ferry.
“Huh? On the rocky side?”
“Yeah. Weird, I know. But the couple apparently had a special moment over there so we did what they asked.” Clay started walking toward the beach while Brad followed behind him still confused about the location of the chairs.
When they crossed through the trees and to the rocky side of the beach, there were still no chairs.
“Dude, where are the chairs? I’ve got stuff to do.”
“Oh, dang it. I must have loaded them last night and forgot,” Clay said, now not making eye contact and hurriedly heading toward the ferry.
“Where are you going?” Brad called, trying to keep up.
“Help! Help!” a female voice called from the left side of where he was. Given the choice of following Clay or helping a damsel in distress, Brad ran toward the damsel’s voice.
It was a familiar voice, now that he thought about it.
“Did someone call for help?” he said loudly as he walked to the edge of the wooded area.
“Up here!” the voice said.
Ronni.
Sitting in a tree.
Sitting in THEIR tree.
“Ronni?” he breathed out, both excited and relieved to see her and confused at her being in a tree. In January Cove. And not in California.
“Hey, Brad,” she said with a big grin on her face. “Wanna help me down from here?”
“Last time I tried that, you got hurt.”
“Well, in fairness, I did jump.”
He walked to the bottom of the tree and reached up as she gingerly slid down into his arms. His waiting, aching, lonely arms.
She felt perfect in his arms. She fit against him like she was made for him, and he didn’t even realize how much he missed her until he could feel her heart beating against his chest again.
For a moment, he just held her, smelling her hair and feeling the warmth of her against him. Realizing she was probably just there for the grand opening, he let her go and stepped back.
“How are you?” he said.
“Good. How are you?”
He wanted to say “good” but he didn’t want to lie.
“Horrible.”
“What’s wrong?” she asked, stepping forward to close the gap between them.
“Well, you see, there was this woman. This amazing, beautiful, smart, funny woman. She was totally perfect for me. We had an argument, but we made up. But then she chose a different life that didn’t have me in it. And I miss her. And I love her.”
There it was. The most vulnerable moment in his life.
“Wow. That’s a sad story. How does it end?”
“She left.”
“That’s not how I heard the ending of that story. I heard that she went home, figured out that it wasn’
t her home anymore because he wasn’t there, packed her stuff, loaded up her dog and all of her worldly possessions and drove all the way to January Cove to her new rental apartment above a place called Jolt.”
Brad’s heart literally skipped a beat. His eyes met hers, and she was smiling. She looked happy and relaxed and at home.
“What?”
Ronni stepped forward, careful not to trip on the rocks and ruin the moment, and put her hands on his upper arms.
“Brad Parker, I love you. I tried to go back to my life, but it wasn’t my life anymore. I just had to make sure. So, I talked to my boss and he agreed to relocate me here. I’ll be running day-to-day operations of the Lamont and overseeing new tourist attractions along the coast.”
“Are you serious?” he said, struggling not to cry. He was a man’s man, after all.
“Totally serious. So, I’m here for good. I’d love to be your girlfriend… if you’ll have me,” she said softly.
“I’d have you right here if I didn’t know Clay was standing right over there!” he called out.
“Gross,” Clay called back. “I’ll come back later!”
“Way later,” Brad called before he turned his attention and his lips to the love of his life.
Prologue
She stood in front of the house, her insides trembling. This was it. This was the moment she’d been waiting for. Everything about her life was about to change, and she was going to be with the man she loved more than anything.
They would finally be together after over a year of texting and occasionally talking on the phone. No more staring at his picture every night on her computer screen before she fell asleep, wishing and hoping he could be there holding her as she drifted off to sleep. No more wondering what it would be like to hold his hand or have him give her a great big bear hug after a long, hard day.
Everyone had made fun of her. Everyone had questioned her. But they were all wrong; they had to be. Never had she gambled so much in her life by taking everything she owned across the country to a tiny little beach town for one reason only – love.
She felt paralyzed in place, like her feet were stuck in two large blocks of cement instead of placed on the top of a non-sticky sidewalk. She couldn’t seem to get herself to move forward, to finally knock on the door and end all the suspense.