They stopped outside Clarissa’s bedroom door.
“Knock, knock!” Liana called as she peeked into the bedroom. “Can I come in?”
“Sure!” Clarissa called back.
The cat jumped off her chest and raced off to plot world domination…or sleep.
“Your aunt said you’re under the weather,” Liana said, plunking down a large wicker basket. “I’m sorry to hear that. I bet all that investigating you were doing made you get run down. In a weird way, I feel responsible!”
“Don’t be silly. You had nothing to do with me getting sick,” Clarissa replied. She propped herself up on her elbows and peered into the wicker basket. “What have you got there?” she asked curiously.
“It’s a token of my appreciation,” Liana replied. “Thanks to you, Just Desserts is open for business again. I brought you one of everything to say thank you for everything you did. If you hadn’t gotten to the bottom of the mystery peanut, who knows how long I would have been shut down for. I owe you.”
“Did you say you brought me one of everything?”
“Yep, you have every item from the menu. I threw in a few new experimental recipes, too.”
“That is completely unnecessary – and totally awesome!” Clarissa exclaimed. “Thank you!”
“Hello?” a familiar voice called from the entryway. “Clarissa, are you home?”
Clarissa’s heart skipped a beat. “In here, Parker!” she called.
“Oh, hi!” he said, appearing in the bedroom door. He stood there uncertainly, looking from Clarissa to Liana and back again. “Are you sick?” he finally asked when he realized his girlfriend was in bed with a cold compress on her forehead.
“Just a bit run down,” Clarissa said.
“Your front door was wide open when I got here,” Parker informed her.
“Oh, my aunt kept talking about picking wildflowers in the forest,” Clarissa recalled. “Knowing her, she probably wandered out into the woods and forgot to shut the door behind her. She can be a bit absentminded sometimes, you know.”
“I know,” Parker grinned. He glanced over at Liana. “Am I interrupting something?”
“No!” Liana assured him. “In fact, I was just leaving. I have to get back to the coffee shop.”
Once Liana was gone, Clarissa motioned for Parker to come closer.
“I won’t bite,” she promised. “And I don’t think I’m contagious.”
“I don’t care if you are,” Parker replied.
He crossed the room and leaned down to kiss Clarissa. This time it wasn’t a kiss on the cheek – it was a kiss on the mouth. Clearly he wasn’t afraid of catching her germs! He sat down at the edge of the bed and took her hand.
“I hate that you’re sick. Can I get you anything?” he offered.
“Nope, I have everything I need right here,” Clarissa smiled. “To what do I owe this visit?”
“Oh, that. This might sound weird, but I think you have my number blocked.”
“Huh? No I don’t,” Clarissa began.
Then she recalled her confrontation in the grocery store.
“Oh,” she nodded. “I may have told a little white lie when I was trying to get Gigi Prescott to let her guard down. I told her you were my cheating, good-for-nothing ex and asked her to help me block your number.”
“And you forgot to un-block my number,” Parker concluded.
“Yes. Sorry!”
“No problem,” he chuckled. “I’m just glad that’s all it was. I’m getting such mixed messages around town! Some people are still congratulating me on my upcoming nuptials. Others are calling me the scum of the earth and whispering about me behind my back. It’s…interesting.”
“Oh no,” Clarissa moaned. “I figured everyone in Sugarcomb Lake would have heard about my grocery store speech by now. I guess I was wrong! I’m so sorry!”
“It’s fine, I’m not too bothered by it,” Parker shrugged. “As long as I’m in your good books, that’s all that matters.” He gave her a charming grin that made her pulse race. “I am still in your good books, right Clarissa?”
Her heart fluttered when Parker said her name – it sounded so good rolling off his tongue. “Yes!” she assured him. “You’re always in my good books.” A feeling of warmth spread over her and she was pretty sure it wasn’t due to her fever!
“I was trying to call you to see if you’re free this weekend. Say, Saturday night around eight?” Parker suggested. “If you’re feeling better by then, that is.”
“Oh I’m sure I’ll be back to normal long before then,” Clarissa told him. “Saturday night at eight sounds great to me. What are we doing?”
“I was thinking it’s been a while since we’ve had a real, uninterrupted romantic date,” Parker replied mysteriously with a gleam in his eye. “I’m going to keep the details to myself, if you don’t mind. I’d prefer to surprise you.”
Chapter 20
Clarissa had expected a romantic date night in Green City. She had figured Parker would pick her up and drive her to the downtown district. There, they would enjoy hors d’oeuvres at an art show, sip wine on a patio at sunset or indulge in sushi at a trendy restaurant.
But Parker didn’t drive her to Green City.
Instead, he drove her to Main Street in Sugarcomb Lake.
It was practically right around the corner from Clarissa’s house! She was puzzled, because not much was open in town on a Saturday night. Unless Parker’s idea of a romantic date night was a greasy truck stop meal, she had no idea what he was planning.
Parker was enjoying watching Clarissa’s reactions. No matter how many questions she asked him, he just smiled and told her to be patient. He parked the car, got out and walked around to her side. He opened the door for her and motioned for her to get out.
Clarissa climbed out of the car and looked around. They were parked in front of the library, which was closed for the night. In fact, most of the businesses in the area were dark. So what in the world had Parker planned?
Suddenly Clarissa heard the unmistakable sound of horses’ hooves clacking against pavement. At first she thought she had to be imagining it. Sugarcomb Lake may have been rural but even so, horses on Main Street weren’t an everyday occurrence!
“Aha, here comes our ride,” Parker said with a grin.
Clarissa turned around to see a horse-drawn carriage coming down the street. It was adorned with miniature white lights and fresh flowers. It looked like something out of a fairytale. All Clarissa could do was look on in wonderment.
The carriage came to a stop right in front of her. The driver tipped his hat to Clarissa.
“Parker, what is this?” she whispered, amazed.
“I hired a local rancher to give us a little moonlight tour of the town,” Parker replied.
“You did that for me?” Clarissa couldn’t help but feel very special and very important.
“I know you’ve talked about going for hayrides in the wintertime as a kid. I wanted to recreate that for you, but I didn’t want to wait for snow,” Parker explained. “I hope this will do.”
“Oh, it will definitely do!” Clarissa beamed.
Parker pulled a white lily off the side of the carriage. “For you,” he said, holding it out.
Happy beyond belief, Clarissa tucked the fragrant lily behind her ear.
Then she let Parker help her into the carriage.
The wind was cool and crisp, but Parker had a nice, cozy blanket waiting on the seat of the carriage. They cuddled up under it, gazing up at the stars. A few minutes into the ride, Parker produced a thermos of hot chocolate. He had really thought of everything!
“This is incredible!” Clarissa murmured appreciatively as they slowly made their way down Main Street. Cars honked and people waved along the way. “I feel like I’m in a one-float parade or something! I can’t believe you did this for me!”
“You deserve it,” Parker replied, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
Just then the horses stopped walki
ng.
When prompted by the driver, the horses continued to stand motionless. Apparently they were about as cooperative as Clarissa’s cat. In other words, they had minds of their own and refused to take orders from humans!
Clarissa and Parker looked over to see what was causing the hold-up. That was when they saw – and smelled – one of the horses relieving itself right there in the middle of Main Street. A moment later, the second horse followed suit.
“Yuck!” Clarissa grimaced as the strong odor invaded her nostrils.
“Okay, so this wasn’t quite the romantic evening I had envisioned,” Parker grumbled.
The driver of the horse-drawn carriage turned around and gave the couple an apologetic look. “I think this might be the end of the tour,” he said. “The horses don’t seem to want to walk any further. Sorry about that.”
“It’s alright,” Parker replied, helping Clarissa down.
“A leisurely stroll under the stars sounds nice, anyway,” she said cheerfully.
Though the evening wasn’t quite going as planned, Clarissa was determined to make the best of it. She didn’t want Parker to be disappointed. She knew he had gone to a lot of effort to plan their date. She appreciated the sentiment. Besides, it was the thought that counted!
Slipping her hand into Parker’s, Clarissa looked up to admire the stars.
Suddenly a raindrop hit her squarely on the forehead. Clarissa jumped in surprise.
“Hmm, I think it might be starting to rain,” she said, wiping her hand across her forehead.
As if right on cue, the sky opened up. It began to pour.
“Darn it!” Parker cursed, taking off his jacket and chivalrously holding it over Clarissa’s head.
“Should we make a run for the car?” she suggested.
“The car is parked three blocks away. We’ll be soaked by the time we get there. Come on,” Parker said, leading Clarissa over to a darkened shop that had a large canopy over the entrance. “We can stay here under the canopy until the rain lets up.”
“Sounds good to me,” Clarissa agreed.
Parker looked uncharacteristically agitated by the unexpected turn of events. “It’s just my luck this would happen,” he complained. “I’m really sorry. I wanted us to have a nice romantic date, but it turned out to be completely the opposite.”
Clarissa cozied up to her boyfriend.
Now that it was pouring out, the street was basically deserted. It felt like they were the only two people in town, or perhaps in the entire universe. From where they stood beneath the canopy, they had an excellent view of the quaint little town. And thanks to the rain, everything smelled fresh and clean.
“I’m so frustrated,” Parker grumbled. “I’ll make this up to you, I promise.”
“That’s really not necessary,” Clarissa smiled, wrapping her arms around Parker.
“It is!”
“Tonight has been romantic,” Clarissa insisted.
“Sure, if your idea of romance is horse poo,” Parker quipped.
“I’m here with you,” Clarissa replied contentedly. “What more could I ask for? In fact if you ask me, tonight has been completely perfect.”
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A Whisper of Magic (A Sugarcomb Lake Cozy Mystery Book 5) Page 13