by LuAnn McLane
• • •
“Well, now, someone sure is glowing today,” Joy observed, and wiggled her eyebrows. “Does it have something to do with a certain hot young Italian?”
Gabby sat down at the craft table and cradled her mug of coffee in her hands. “It might.”
“Oh, give a girl more than that,” Joy protested while snipping off a length of red ribbon for the Get Well Soon flower arrangement she’d been working on.
“Reese asked if we could be exclusive.”
“And?”
Gabby smiled. “I said yes.”
“Well . . . duh.” Joy tapped her smiley face coffee mug to Gabby’s. “Congratulations! I think it’s lovely that you have somebody special in your life. You’ve certainly got a lot to offer.”
“Thank you, Joy. By the way, I love the arrangement you’re doing. Daisies are such simple but cheerful flowers, don’t you think? They’re my favorite.”
“Yes, and I also think that you’re changing the subject awfully quickly. Care to tell me what’s hovering in the back of your mind?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You are a terrible liar.”
Gabby shrugged.
“Let me guess. You’re a little bit scared.” She held her thumb and index finger an inch apart.
Gabby blew out a sigh. “How stupid is that?”
“Ah, sweetie . . .” Joy poked a fern into the bouquet. “Not stupid at all, Gabby. You’re afraid that allowing yourself to feel happiness is opening the door for it to be snatched away from you.” Joy’s green eyes suddenly clouded over.
“Sounds like you’re speaking from experience,” Gabby gently inquired.
Joy nodded slowly and her hands trembled so much that the daisies shook as if in a sudden breeze. “My handsome young Eddie was taken from me in the war. I kissed him good-bye at the train station . . .” She put the flowers down. “And he never came back, even though, of course, he promised me he would.”
Gabby’s heart squeezed in sympathy. “Oh, Joy, I’m so sorry. Were you . . . were you married?”
Joy inhaled a shaky breath. “He was going to propose when he came home on leave for Christmas. My father told me he’d asked for my hand in marriage. You see, my birthday is Christmas Day. That’s why my mother named me Joy.” She smiled but her lips trembled. “Eddie wanted to propose on Christmas Day, but he never got the chance.” She shook her head. “Let’s just say I’m not a big fan of the holiday season or my damned birthday. Turned my name into a bit of a mockery,” she added with a sad chuckle. “And to this day the sight of a train makes my heart lurch.”
“Oh . . .” Gabby felt tears well up in her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
“And I’ve been afraid to love like that ever since.” She raised her hands skyward. “And now I’m an old lady. Such a waste, wouldn’t you say?”
Gabby reached over and took Joy’s hand, turned it over, and put her fingers on her wrist.
“What are you doing, child?”
“Checking for a pulse. Yep, you’re alive. You still have time to find love. And you have somebody very interested in making you happy.”
Joy gave her a watery chuckle. “You’re a sassy one today. Where did you learn that from?”
“I’m looking at her.”
Joy laughed while wiping at tears and Gabby did the same thing. “Would you just look at us? Just a pair of fraidy cats.” She placed her palms on the table and gave Gabby a serious look. “I say we need to . . . grow a couple.”
Gabby tossed her head back and laughed and then showed Joy her knuckles. “Fist bump.”
Joy tapped her fist to Gabby’s.
“Hey, I’m going to ask Tessa and some of the girls to go to Jeff Greenfield’s CD release party at Sully’s. Do you want to go too?”
“Sure. I’ll even wear my red cowboy hat.”
“Great, let’s close up early so we can walk down there and get a good seat. I’m sure most of Cricket Creek will be there to hear their hometown boy country star. Luckily we don’t have any weddings to prepare for this weekend.”
“I think you’re right. It will be packed.”
“But hey, if Clyde happens to ask you to go, then I want you to go with him, though, okay?”
Joy closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. “Okay.”
“Thank you, Joy.”
“For what, sweetie?”
“For letting me know that I’m not the only one with fear holding me back. Talking about it sure does help.”
“Fear is a powerful emotion,” Joy agreed.
“But so is love,” Gabby said, thinking about how sincere Reese had been when he told her he’d do anything to make her happy. Including waiting.
Joy made a show of dusting her hands together. “Well, now that we got that settled we’d better get to work on these orders.”
Gabby smiled. “You’re right. Let’s crank up the music and bust these orders out.”
“Oh, and I forgot to tell you that we just got an additional order from Lee Ann Daugherty, who just opened Tea for Two up on Main Street.”
“Oh, right, next to the toy store and candy shop?”
Joy nodded. “Lee Ann is such a lovely lady. I hope that her new shop does really well. She’s wanted to do this for a long time now. I think she’s also going to serve light lunches.”
“Well, we will have to go sometime soon. We’ll wear dresses and big floppy hats,” Gabby added with a smile. “Speaking of lunch, Reese is bringing us some food later. I made him promise to bring salads.”
“Bless your heart! I’ve been doing my water aerobics class with Savannah at Whisper’s Edge, but that pizza is just too doggone good to pass up when he brings it here. He’s such a good boy, Gabby. I’m happy for you. Now, if his handsome devil uncle would come to his senses and go after Trish, all of our love lives will be on the upswing.” But then she put a hand on her chest. “Oh, how did Tessa take it when she got the roses from her husband?”
Gabby shook her head sadly. “It was hard for her and for Reese too. I’ve always been confused over why in the world he deserted them like that. I remember thinking they had such a nice family and wishing my mother would find somebody as good as Mike Parker. It blows my mind when I think of it.”
“It would be a good thing for them to get some answers.” Joy shook her head. “But I don’t know how he could begin to show his face in this town after what he did. People in Cricket Creek have long memories. He’s not likely to be well received if he ever did decide to come back.”
Gabby nodded, remembering the anguish on Reese’s face when he came in and saw the flowers. “You’re right about that,” she agreed as she went over and turned on some music. But for now she was going to think happy thoughts. Gabby smiled. She had a boyfriend. She was loved. And it felt amazing. Lunch could not come soon enough even if it was just a salad.
20
Beginning Again
TONY THUMBED THROUGH THE COOKING LIGHT MAGAZINE absently, dog-earing a few recipes that he thought had promise. He wasn’t much on changing authentic Italian dishes, but Tessa insisted that they should have a least a few lighter selections to offer to those trying to watch their weight and eat healthy. Tony sighed as he absently flipped through the pages. Being laid up like this threatened to bore him out of his skull. He picked up his phone and considered texting Tessa once more about how things were going, but she’d already said if he texted her one more time she was coming over to whack him in the head with a spoon.
Tony’s brain kept drifting in the direction of Trish. He tried to tell himself it was because he was bored, but he knew better. God, the kiss had been amazing. He groaned, drawing a head lift from Digger, who was in as much need of exercise as he was.
“This just sucks.” Tony tossed the magazine down and picked up the remote, hoping to find
something of interest. And then he heard it. A woman’s scream. “Trish? What the hell?”
Digger scrambled to his feet and gave Tony a “what are you waiting for?” look before running toward the back door. When another scream split the air, Tony’s heart started pounding. Like Digger, he scrambled to his feet, knocking the damned ice bag to the floor. He hobbled as fast as he could while grimacing in pain, but the scream of distress had him moving pretty damned fast.
Tony immediately spotted Trish with her back plastered to the side of the garage. Judging from the small spade she clutched in her hand, it appeared as if she’d been gardening but something had obviously scared the daylights out of her. When she pointed the spade in a threatening manner, Tony ran toward her, ignoring the stab of pain each time his injured ankle felt the impact of the ground. And then he saw it. A long black snake suddenly reared its head upward, hissing at Trish.
This time her scream became more of a whimper as if she thought if she screamed the snake would strike. Tony knew the ugly thing was harmless, but he could see the stark terror on her face and so he hurried forward. She finally tore her gaze from the snake and looked over at Tony and Digger.
“Trish, it’s okay. It’s more scared of you than you are of it,” he told her calmly, but she only gave him a terrified shake of her head.
“It . . . its tongue is out,” she squeaked. “I think it’s going to bite me!”
“Stay put. I’ll get it.”
“Don’t touch it!” she pleaded, and when he moved closer she pushed herself so hard against the garage that Tony would have chuckled if he didn’t feel so sorry for her. “It might bite you. And keep Digger away!”
Tony moved forward as fast as he could and even though he wasn’t fond of snakes and pretty damned scared, he wasn’t about to let her know it. Looking around, he spotted a stick. After picking it up he ignored his thumping heart and quickly slid the stick under the middle of the snake and gave it a hefty toss toward the open field leading to the woods. Digger ran out to investigate and Tony hobbled over toward Trish. He tossed the stick aside. “You okay?”
She nodded, but he noticed that when she reached up to push a blond curl from her cheek that her fingers trembled. “I just loathe snakes. I mean I’m simply terrified.” She gave him a sheepish look and tried to smile. “Thanks for coming to the rescue. Again.”
“Raccoons, snakes? What next? Sasquatch?” When her eyes rounded he chuckled and realized that he liked coming to her rescue.
“Hopefully, not a spider.” She shuddered. “Or a rodent.”
“Well, you’re near the woods and the river. There’s bound to be spiders and snakes. Surely you figured that?”
Trish slid to the ground and put her elbows on her knees. She inhaled a shaky breath. “I didn’t think past getting out of Cincinnati.” She shook her head. “Funny, but I always thought of myself as being a rather outdoorsy person. I guess this is a bit more rural than the suburbs.”
“Yeah, animals generally love being near the water. But seriously, most are harmless.”
She flicked a glance at him. “You must think I’m such a dingbat.”
Tony laughed, really laughed, and thought she was so damned cute. “I haven’t heard that term in a while. I don’t consider you a dingbat.”
“A dork, then?” she muttered.
Tony lifted one shoulder and then sat down next to her. “Maybe a dork. . . .”
“You weren’t supposed to agree with me.” She gave him a shove and then pointed the spade at him.
Tony was happy to see her sass return. For a minute she looked close to tears and he really didn’t know what he’d do if she started crying. “Okay, a cute dork, though.”
“Weren’t you afraid of the snake? I mean, the thing was several feet long!”
“Nah . . . ,” he lied, thinking he needed to beat his fists against his chest. “I’m sorry the damned thing scared you.”
“I guess I’m scared of a lot of things. What are you scared of, Anthony?”
He looked at her for a moment. Falling for you, he thought but shrugged again and tugged at a long blade of grass. “I guess my biggest fear right now is not making a success of the restaurant.”
She nodded. “Understandable.”
“You?” Tony asked casually but watched her closely.
“Ha.” She picked up a pebble and tossed it. “You might be here a long time if I answered that. You should have asked what I’m not afraid of,” Trish replied in a joking tone, but Tony sensed some truth and it bothered him much more than he wanted it to. He should really get up and hobble back into the house. This was getting personal again and she’d made it clear that she wasn’t ready for personal. He should respect her wishes, but damn if it wasn’t getting more and more difficult to do so. When his arm brushed against her shoulder, he felt a sharp zing of awareness. Her long legs, tanned and bare, made him swallow hard. Her flip-flops exposed a French manicure and a toe ring glinted in the sunshine. He wanted to run his hands down her legs and see if her skin felt as smooth and soft as it looked.
Tony knew he should go and yet he found himself asking, “Why don’t you start with your biggest fear? Other than snakes.”
Trish inhaled a deep breath and at first Tony didn’t think she was going to respond. “Loneliness,” she answered softly. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love this little town and when I moved here it was such a relief to get away from . . . everything.” She tossed another pebble. “But loneliness can be . . . suffocating.”
He surprised himself by answering, “Believe me, I can relate.”
“You have family here. That has to help.”
“Yeah, but it’s not the same as . . . well . . . you know.”
“Yeah. I know.”
Tony looked down and his damned hand took on a life of its own and he reached over and picked up her hand. It was as if he couldn’t control his actions around her.
Or maybe it was that he didn’t want to.
Tony brought her hand to his lips and kissed it briefly but held on. He understood. They sat there for a couple of minutes, silent, thinking, knowing they were moving into dangerous territory. “So, what’s you next biggest fear?”
“Oh no, it’s your turn.”
“I thought I was doing this interview,” he replied, rubbing the top of her hand with his thumb. Feeling her skin, sitting this close and getting a whiff of her perfume danced through his brain and skittered south.
Trish surprised him by answering, “Number two is a strange combination of being afraid of falling in love again . . . and then not ever falling in love again.”
Tony didn’t laugh because he understood once again. Completely.
“I mean, I hope it will happen again.” But then she shrugged. “I guess.”
Tony nodded. “Oh, I get it. After having my heart ripped out of my chest and then used for batting practice, it’s pretty damned scary to step back up to the plate.”
When she nodded glumly Tony had a moment of clarity.
“And that’s bullshit,” he said fiercely.
Trish turned to face him and raised her eyebrows, he guessed at the harsh tone and his admission. “How so?”
“Well, look at you. You’re smart, gorgeous . . . damn, and caring.” He grinned. “And funny, even though you’re not always trying to be,” he added, and got another shove. “Anybody who had you on his arm, in his life, would be one lucky S.O.B. and your ex is a complete dumb-ass. I’m just sayin’.”
“I gave a similar speech to you, Tony. Did she cheat on you?”
He nodded. She’d opened up so much. It was his turn now. “Yeah, she turned on me when the recession hit and the restaurant started to struggle. We would have gotten through it, but she hated not getting to spend like crazy. I responded by working longer, harder. Maybe if—”
“Don’t!”
she said firmly.
“Don’t what?”
“Blame yourself for her cheating. I’ve been down that road and it’s a dead end. There’s never, ever an excuse for infidelity.”
“For a long time that’s all I could think about. What I did wrong that pushed her into the arms of another man.”
“No!” Trish squeezed his hand. “Look, I’m well aware that there’s two sides to every story and no one is perfect.” She pointed at herself. “I’m not perfect. But I do know one thing for sure. There’s nothing we did or didn’t do that gave her or my ex that right. Nothing.”
Tony nodded and had to fight back emotion. After clearing his throat he said, “Thank you for that.”
“Are you still in love with her?” Trish asked softly.
Tony shook his head. “No. I know now that the person I was in love with never really existed. I waited so long to get married, determined to find the right woman to share my life with. It’s so hard to get over all of those lost years. Giving everything I had to someone who didn’t deserve it. Trish, how do you ever get over it? Get rid of the anger and the fear of having the same damned thing happen all over again?”
Trish leaned her head against his arm and sighed. “I sure wish I knew the answer to that question.”
Tony looped his arm over her shoulders. For a long time they sat there in silence. Finally, he said, “I think this is the beginning.”
He felt her head nod against his shoulder and she finally said, “Yeah, me too.”
“So, should we take baby steps? Or one great big flying leap?”
21
A Leap of Faith
“WOULD YOU BE OFFENDED IF I TOLD YOU TO TAKE A flying leap?” Trish asked. She grinned when she felt him shake with laughter.