Where I Belong

by Charlene Bright

  “His accident?”

  “He was in a head-on collision when he was in his early twenties. Back before seatbelt laws. He was thrown through the windshield and landed about fifty feet from the car on his back. He’s a paraplegic now, but from what I hear about how he was back then, it’s a miracle he’s alive.”

  “Oh, wow, that’s terrible. Can he take care of himself?”

  “Oh yeah, he does really well now. Something about the head injury changed him a little, I guess. I didn’t know him back then, but everyone in town says he was always the life of the party. It’s like pulling teeth now to get him out of the farm.”

  “The poor thing.” She picked up a strawberry off her plate and said, “What was it you were telling Mrs. Larson about foxes?”

  “Oh … that’s actually why I was late that first day.” He told her about Hooter finding the foxes and what they’d been through keeping them alive since. “Uncle Mac likes to blame the ‘bringing home strays’ on me and my mother, but he’s taken to those babies like nothing I’ve ever seen. I worry about taking them from him.” When he finished talking, he noticed Sophie had put her food down and had a stricken look on her face. “What’s wrong?”

  She shook her head. “I just feel so bad. I treated you so poorly and here you were saving baby animals—”

  He laughed. “I’m no saint, trust me. I should have at least called you.”

  “And I should have listened when you tried to tell me what happened. I’m really sorry.”

  “It’s forgotten,” he said. “And you weren’t that bad. Eat your fruit.” She smiled and started eating again. “So your mom tells me that you’ve been planning this B&B since you were little. What was it that fascinated you so much about it?”

  “Honestly, I’m not sure. I think it was just that weekend we spent at the one in New Hampshire—everyone there seemed so happy. I’ve always been really kind of domestic. I love to cook and bake, and I make my own soaps and grow my own spices and herbs …”

  “Really? I do too.”

  “You cook and bake and make soap?”

  He laughed. “Um … kind of, not really, and no way. I meant me ‘too’ about the growing herbs part. I use mine to make salves and things.”

  “Really? How did you learn to do that?”

  “My mom. She was really good at that stuff. When she passed away, she left me her journals with her recipes.”

  “What happened to your parents, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “Dad passed away of a heart attack at sixty-two. Two years later, Mom followed. I honestly think her heart was broken. She loved him so much.”

  “That’s sad and beautiful at the same time.”

  He smiled and suddenly had that urge to kiss her again. “So, a bed and breakfast because you’re domestic … a lot of women just turn that into marriage and children.”

  “If you haven’t noticed, I’m not a lot of women.”

  He tried not to let her see the overwhelming desire he was feeling as he looked at her and said, “I have noticed that, yes. So do you not ever want to have a family of your own?”

  “I would never say never, but given that option right this minute, I’d say no. It might sound silly to someone on the outside, but I’ve dreamt about and planned this business for so long that I just have to make it a reality first. You see how it worries my mother to death that I don’t want to take a day off. Just imagine me with a husband and a couple of kids who need my attention.”

  Drake had been trying not to imagine that very thing since practically the day he met her. He was overwhelmed by the incredible attraction he felt. At the same time, he was pretty sure that he wouldn’t be the man she’d choose if she ever did decide to settle down. One good thing about being complacent with his life, it was fairly easy for him to convince himself to just be happy with the fact that he got to see her every day. And after today, becoming friends with her seemed like a real possibility. Never being one who needed to hurry things, he decided to keep that desire to kiss her in check and just see where this new friendship of theirs went.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “You sure have been smiling a lot this evening.” Sophie and her mom were making dinner together, and she had just been thinking about something Drake had said earlier that made her smile.

  “Are you complaining? I thought that was your whole big ploy when you set me up this morning.”

  “Set you up? Whatever do you mean? I told you that I remembered I’d made a hair appointment—”

  Sophie laughed. “You’re a terrible liar.”

  “Did you have fun?”

  Sophie smiled again in spite of herself. She did have fun—much more than she’d had in a long time. “Admit you set me up.”

  Brenda laughed. “Fine, I set you up. I thought you’d have more fun with Drake than with me. Now, your turn, admit you had fun.”

  “I had fun. It was a lot of fun and I definitely needed it, so thank you for your sneaky ways.”

  “You’re welcome. So tell me about it.”

  Sophie breaded the fish and told her mother about the green mountains and the apple orchards. As she talked, she could almost see it and smell it all over again. It was all so beautiful. She had to admit, only to herself of course, that as she saw it all in her mind’s eye, she saw it all as a backdrop to Drake’s gorgeous smile. “Did you know that he has a disabled uncle?”

  “He mentioned an uncle to me; I don’t believe he told me he was disabled.”

  “He’s paraplegic. Drake says he does a lot for himself, but I get the feeling Drake does a lot for him, too. He also seems to be quite the animal lover.” She lowered the fish into the skillet with the warming olive oil on the stove.

  Brenda waited until she’d covered it with a lid before she said, “You seem to be warming up to Drake.”

  Sophie shook her head. She wondered why all of a sudden her mother seemed to want to play matchmaker; she’d never done that before. Was she afraid that Sophie’s biological clock was ticking?

  “I am warming up to him, Mom … as a friend. He’s a nice guy and I had fun with him today, but don’t get it into your pretty little head that it’s going any further than that.”

  Brenda took the plates and silverware off the counter and carried them to the center island. As she set them out, she said, “Okay, I promise not to push either of you, but can I ask you why?”

  Sophie lifted the lid and used the tongs to turn the fish. She was quiet for a long time, trying to decide how to word her feelings so that they didn’t upset her mother. When she put the lid down and turned around, she said, “Mom … now is just not a good time for me to get in a relationship.”

  “But you do plan on it someday?”

  Sophie took her mother’s hand, then led her over to the island and sat down. Brenda settled down on the other stool and Sophie asked her, “Why is this suddenly an issue for you, Mom?”

  “It’s not an ‘issue.’ I just hate seeing you so unhappy.”

  “You think that I’m unhappy?”

  “You hardly ever smile anymore. You have such a beautiful smile, it’s a shame.”

  Sophie squeezed her mother’s hand. “I’m sorry I’ve given you that impression and made you worry. I am happy though, Mom! I’m so happy! This is what I’ve always wanted. I’m just really feeling a lot of pressure right now. I know that outwardly I don’t show it, but I am so grateful for everything I have … most especially you. I will try harder—”

  “It’s not about me, Sophie. I know you love me and I feel blessed to be a part of this with you. I’m just afraid you’re going to let your youth pass you by, and once that happens, you can’t get it back.”

  Sophie nodded. “I hear you, Mom. In four weeks, this place will be up and running, and I will start spending some time getting to know some of the folks in town and try to make some new friends.”

  “You promise?”

  Sophie smiled. “Pinky promise,” she said, holding her litt
le finger out. Brenda took it with hers the way they used to when Sophie was a little girl. “Now, let’s eat some fish and talk about your future for a change.”

  Brenda snorted and Sophie laughed. She had to admit that she felt much lighter than she had in weeks. Nothing had really changed other than she’d let her guard down for a few hours. Maybe there was something to be said for deviating from the plan every now and again.

  ****

  Drake finished loading the last of his vegetables and herbs in the truck and had just helped Hooter up into the bed. When Hooter was younger, there’d be no stopping him from jumping in and out of the truck, but he was getting up there in age, so sometimes he needed a little boost. He was about to head up to see if his uncle wanted to go when he heard Mac calling to him from the house. Drake walked the five hundred feet and found Mac sitting on the front porch holding the kits, one in each hand. “What’s wrong?” he said before he noticed Mac was smiling from ear to ear.

  “Watch …” He held the one in his right hand up, and the cute little guy stretched out his long nose and nuzzled Mac’s.

  “Oh wow. That’s cute.”

  “Wait! Watch this …” He held the other one up. Instead of going for Mac’s nose, that one laid a kiss right on his lips. Drake cracked up.

  “How long did it take you to teach them that?”

  “I didn’t teach either one of them. The little boogers just started doing it on their own every time I picked them up.” He tried to look annoyed as he said it, but the little guy in his right hand climbed up his arm and snuggled into his chest right next to his armpit. Drake could see him visibly melting. God, he hated the thought of how upset Mac was going to be when they had to leave.

  “That’s awesome,” he said. He almost told him that Sam would be back on Wednesday, but he just didn’t have the heart. “You want to go to the market with me this morning?”

  “Nah … I better stay back and make sure these guys eat and take care of their other business.”

  Drake smiled. “Okay. Do you have anything you want me to take for you?”

  “Yeah, if you don’t mind. There are a couple of new carvings on the table in the shop.”

  “Okay, I’ll bring us some lunch when I get back.” Mac was already immersed in conversation with one of the kits and hardly noticed Drake leaving. Drake went around to the woodshop, and when he opened the door and saw what was on the table, tears actually stung the corners of his eyes. Mac had carved a replica of each kit as well as one of them curled together sleeping. They were lifelike and beautiful, and there was no way that Drake was going to sell them. He took them with him; he’d bring the money back to Mac, but they would go into his private collection, the one in his house that Mac rarely saw because he refused to leave his own.

  Any time Drake took one of Mac’s carvings into town and it didn’t sell, he bought it. They were genuinely beautiful works of art, but unless it was tourist season, the folks in Brook Haven didn’t often have a lot of money to spend on non-essentials. Drake had a collection of at least a dozen … and now he had three more.

  He made it into town just in time to set up his table before he had his first customer. Hooter had wandered off to say hello, and Drake didn’t worry about him; everyone in town knew the old yellow Lab.

  “Hi, Drake!”

  “Hey, Karen, how’s the shoulder?”

  “It’s so much better thanks to that salve you gave me last week.” Karen lived alone in a house at the edge of the woods with no electricity or running water. Drake gave her a camp stove a while back to cook on, and the nice folks who owned the grocery store kept her supplied with fresh water and anything non-perishable that they would have to throw out. She always had a different ailment, and Drake had come to suspect over the years that most of her pain came from the inside and manifested itself in body aches.

  “I’m glad to hear that. My mama swore by it for her joint pain.”

  “Your mama was an angel,” she said. “We sure do miss her around here.”

  “Thank you, Karen. I miss her too.”

  “I got a crick in my knee these days …”

  Before she left, Drake had loaded her down with a grocery bag full of vegetables and more salve. He was just wrapping things up with his second customer—a paying one—when he heard a familiar voice.

  “Well, there he is. Where are those wild animals you’ve been hanging on to for me?”

  “Sam! I thought you weren’t coming back until Wednesday.”

  Sam raised an eyebrow. “Well, that’s a nice welcome home if I ever got one,” he said.

  “Sorry. I’m just surprised to see you.”

  “Well, hitting the beach was nice after the conference, but you know me, I’d rather socialize with the animals.”

  Drake smiled. “Yeah, I’ve noticed that about you.”

  “So how are those kits doing?”

  “Well, when I left the farm, Mac had one of them rubbing noses with him and the other giving him kisses.”

  Sam cringed. “You domesticated them?”

  “No … Mac did, I guess. You know he just gets lonely out there. Those little guys have kind of become his companions.”

  “Drake, he can’t keep them.”

  “I know. I’m just having a hard time telling him that.”

  Sam laughed. “I’ll tell him.” Hooter suddenly appeared from somewhere and began to rub his thick coat against Sam’s leg. He smiled at the dog and squatted down to pet him.

  “No, I’ll do it. Just give me a day or two,” Drake told him.

  “The longer he has them, the harder it will be to get them back out into the wild where they belong.” Sam scratched Hooter underneath his chin once more and then stood up.

  “I know,” Drake said with a heavy sigh. Sam raised an eyebrow at him again, and Drake said, “Really, I do. I’ll talk to him when I get home.”

  “All right, call me tomorrow, okay?”

  “Okay.” Drake watched him move on to the next booth to say hello to Mrs. O’ Brien. He blamed himself for this. If he’d been paying more attention, he would have seen how lonely Mac was and gotten him a pet of his own.

  “Why so glum?”

  He looked up at the voice. “Hey, Brooke.” He pulled out the chair next to him and said, “Have a seat and I’ll tell you all my troubles.” Hooter was extremely happy to see her. She sat down in one of the chairs and let Hooter put his big paws up in her lap as she petted him.

  “The doctor is in,” she told Drake. “But you know I charge by the hour. I need the cash too since I can’t seem to convince anyone in this town that I’m a real doctor.”

  He laughed, even though he knew she wasn’t really kidding. Poor Brooke was having trouble getting new patients. People drove for miles to see a doctor they didn’t know because a lot of them still saw Brooke as the girl they’d watched grow up. Drake had been racking his brains trying to figure out how to help her, but he hadn’t really come up with anything yet. Hooter saw another dog and he was off like a shot to investigate.

  As Brooke brushed the yellow hair off her jeans, Drake told her, “You can put the bill on my tab. You know I’m good for it.”

  He grinned at her, and she laughed and said, “That tab goes all the way back to fifth grade. I’m beginning to think you never intend to pay me. At this rate, I’ll starve.”

  He handed her a plastic container full of carrots. “Here, have some vegetables.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Sophie drove down to her mother’s cabin to pick her up. They were going to the farmer’s market. It had actually been Sophie’s idea, and her mother seemed thrilled about it. When she stopped in front of the cabin, she noticed her mother’s limp was less noticeable than it had been the day before.

  “I’m so happy you decided to take the morning off,” Brenda told her as she slid into the passenger seat of the SUV.

  “Yeah, well, I already wasted one whole day.”

  “Wasted? I thought you said you ha
d a good time yesterday.”

  Sophie smiled. “I was kidding, Mom.” Brenda shook her head. What Sophie wasn’t telling her mother was that she hadn’t been able to get Drake out of her head all night long. She thought about him all evening and when she finally fell asleep, she dreamt about him. In her dream, they were married and running the inn together. She’d woken up feeling warm and safe, and it made her wonder about the possibilities. They were a long way from marriage, but she was definitely interested in getting to know him better.

  The two women talked about the website Sophie was working on for the inn on the way into town. Sophie had hired a photographer who would be out on Monday to take some professional photos of the place for her to use in her advertisements.

  “Has Drake started on the main fireplace yet?” Brenda asked. There were quite a few loose stones in the big eight-feet-high-by-six-feet-wide stone fireplace and mantle.

  “He’s waiting for the stones to come in, but I don’t think any of the imperfections will show up in a photo, do you?”

  “Probably not. The fences he did last week out behind my place look really good.”

  Sophie nodded. “Yeah, I went out and looked at them on Friday. They actually look like brand new. He does really good work.” And he looks gorgeous doing it, she added in her mind.

  Sophie drove through town until they came to the street that was blocked off for the market every Sunday morning. She parked the SUV and went around to help her mother step out. “Really, Sophie, I am not an invalid.”

  “I don’t want that ankle to get worse,” she told her. “I wish you would go to the doctor. It shouldn’t still be bothering you so much.”

  Brenda pulled her arm gently from her daughter’s grasp. “Who says that it’s bothering me?”

  “You’re still limping after two weeks.”

  “That’s my bursitis.”