“How about I tell you over lunch?”
When they walked into the Golden Oar, Josie sighed. “I'm going to love living here. You know,” she said as they were seated in a table right off the water, “I've lived in the city most of my life and just last month, after I lost my cell phone, I realized it wasn't all that bad being cut off from the world. Those two weeks without my phone or computer were the most peaceful I've had in years.” She looked down at her menu. “I'm thinking of getting rid of them permanently.”
Sara laughed. “You could really live without playing Mortal Kombat every day?” Sara shook her head. “I don't think so. By the way, what did you do for those two weeks? And don't tell me you went without.”
Josie looked down at her menu, avoiding eye contact.
“Josie?” Her friend looked up at her with a smile.
“Fine. I went to the library every night.” Sara laughed.
Just when they were finishing up with their lunch, a familiar face showed up. She hadn't expected to see Allen walk in the door with a pretty blonde. Both of them had huge smiles pasted on their faces. The shock of seeing the couple must have shown on her face.
“What? What's wrong?” Josie looked over her shoulder and tried to find what was causing Sara pain.
“Nothing.” Sara tried to make herself smaller, so that he wouldn't notice her. How could she have been such a fool? There was no way a man like him would ever commit to someone like her. She was a child compared to him. He probably had a new woman every month. There were certainly enough in town to keep him busy. Her chest hurt a little and her eyes were beginning to water. “Let's just go.” She watched out of the corner of her eye as the couple took a seat at the bar area. When they disappeared behind the fish tank, the very same one he'd kissed her against just over a week ago, she tossed money down on the table and quickly walked out the door.
She should have known. What was she thinking?
When they were finally in their own house again, Josie stopped her from going into her own room.
“Okay, are you going to tell me what that couple has to do with you looking like someone took a sword to your chest? Who was that?”
She sighed. “Fine.” Knowing her friend wouldn't let it go any time soon, she sat down on the couch and folded her legs underneath her. Grabbing the throw pillow, she hugged it to her chest.
“I've been seeing him, Allen, for a few weeks. I thought it was exclusive. Apparently I was wrong.”
Josie sat down across from her. “That scum bucket!” She got back up. “I'm going to go down there—”
“No!” Sara held her hand up. “No, you don't. Last time you got involved in my love life, you ended up getting a restraining order against you.”
Her friend sat back down. “Yeah, but it was totally worth it. Besides, I'd never egged a car before. It's a lot harder than you'd think. Some of those little suckers didn't break the first time.” She smiled and crossed her legs over themselves, easily folding herself into a little pretzel.
Sara sighed. “It's just…I thought Allen was different. He's the first man that has ever pursued me. You know what I mean? I wasn't looking for a relationship. I had the bakery business to start, my family to deal with. Then there's this whole stalker bit.”
Josie sat up a little. “I thought that was over.”
Sara shook her head. “I've received a few emails again.” She sighed. “I thought for sure it would end when I moved back down here. I was sure it would end, but the emails are coming more frequently now.
“O-M-G! What about the break in?”
Sara looked at her friend. Her eyes were huge, her face showed shock.
“What do you mean? Do you think the stalker broke in and trashed my place?”
Josie nodded her head.
“No.” Sara shook her head. “It doesn't fit his profile. I called Detective Price. He says the stalker would have left one of his calling cards. Like he did when he broke into my apartment.”
She shivered inwardly, remembering.
“Well, I'm glad, then.” Josie rested her chin on her hands. “Tell me all about this Allen. No, wait.” Josie quickly got up and went into their small kitchen. A minute later, she came back with a bottle of wine and two glasses.
“Too bad we don't have any of your cheesecake to go with this.” She set the glasses down and started opening the wine.
“There's some in the freezer. You can set it out to thaw and we can have it later.”
“Woohoo!” Josie rushed back into the kitchen.
Three hours later, Josie had Sara laughing so hard, she almost forgot all about seeing Allen and the blonde. Almost.
“Then I was like…You can't have a penis-shaped cake for your divorce party made here.”
“You did not!” Sara clapped her hands.
“Oh, yes, I did.” Josie took another sip of her wine. “Did you know they sell cake pans in penis shapes at the mall? I still have the pan if you want to…” Sara laughed. Yes, having Josie here was just what she needed.
Chapter Eleven
Allen stood and knocked on the bakery's back door. He'd tried the front, but when he'd heard the loud music coming from the kitchen, he'd walked around back. Finally, the door flew open, and he was greeted by a short Asian woman with bright blue hair.
“Who are you?” He frowned, trying to look into the back room. The woman's smile dropped to a frown.
“I'm Josie, Sara's new manager and B-F-F. I know who you are and Sara doesn't want to see you.” She started shutting the door in Allen's face. He'd never had to do it his entire life, but for the first time, he stuck his foot in the door and was rewarded with a sharp pain shooting up his foot and leg when Josie slammed the new heavy metal door shut on it.
“Ouch!” He winced at the pain.
“Serves you right for sticking your foot in the door.” She stood back and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Why doesn't Sara want to see me?” He pushed the door opened. Josie tried to shut it again.
“Fine, come on in.” She waved her hands around. He noticed the front of her apron was covered with flour and she had a smudge of it on her chin.
When he walked in to the kitchen, he noticed Sara wasn't there. “Where is she?”
“She's not here.” Josie crossed her arms over her chest again.
“Well, why didn't you just say that?” He started walking towards the back door.
“Humph.” Josie frowned at him.
“Okay, spill.” Allen turned back towards her and mimicked her stance.
“What?”
“Listen, if you are really Sara's B-F-F, then you will tell me why she has been avoiding me the last week.”
Josie shook her head. Then she said, “You didn't hear it from me, but if I had caught my boyfriend with a blonde bimbo on his arm, I would have torn said arm from his body.” She smiled as he gave her a confused look.
“Blonde bimbo? I haven't been with a blonde bimbo since…Well, never.” He unfolded his arms and frowned even more at her. Now her eyebrows shot up and she put her hands on her hips.
“I was there. I saw you walking into the Golden Oar with a tall, skanky looking blonde the day I arrived in town.”
Allen thought about it, then he started laughing and didn't stop until Sara rushed in from the other room where she had been hiding with her ear plastered to the door.
“How dare you. How dare you come into my store and laugh at something like that.” Her face was flushed, her hair was wild, and she had flour on her apron, in her hair, and on her face. It actually looked like the pair of them had been having a flour war before he'd arrived.
He stopped laughing long enough to smile at her. He walked over and took her shoulders. She tried to pull away, but he held her still. “Were you really jealous?”
“No!” She denied it and shoved his hand off her shoulder. He easily put it back and started pulling her towards him.
“Sure you were. Do you know what it does to
me to know that you were jealous? Especially since it was my sister you saw me with.” He chuckled again.
“Sister? You said your sister lives in—”
“Maine. She does. She was in California for a business trip and rented a car for the weekend to visit. We tried stopping by the bakery before we went to eat at the restaurant, but you weren't here. I really wish you could have met her.” He pulled her closer and held her.
“That was your sister?” Josie asked. He could hear the doubt in her voice. He pulled back and pulled out his cell phone and flipped to an image of Dawn and the kids.
Josie took his phone and smiled, then he handed it to Sara who stared at it for the longest time. He could see a tear slip down her cheek, so he slowly took the phone from her. “You were really that jealous?”
She nodded then shook her head. “I was hurt.”
“I'm sorry.” He pulled her close, not seeing that Josie had walked out of the kitchen so they could be alone. “I tried calling you after lunch to see if you were available to meet her. But I guess at that time you were already blocking my calls.” He kissed the top of her head as she nodded.
He pulled back and looked into her eyes. How he'd missed seeing her, holding her. A whole week had gone by and he'd been so busy at work, he hadn't had time to even stop by during lunch. “I'm thinking this”—he waved between them—“is an exclusive deal. I don't mess around if I'm seeing someone, and I hope you feel the same way.” She nodded her head and he smiled. “Good. Now that we have our first fight behind us, tell me what that wonderful smell is.” She laughed. “I've missed you, but more importantly,” he smiled, “I've missed your baking.” She laughed harder and punched his shoulder lightly.
“I'd like to see you again, soon. I have an early shift again tomorrow, but I have Saturday off. Maybe we could go on that picnic to Haystack rock?”
She bit her bottom lip. “Hang on.” She walked to the door and poked her head out. “Josie? Can you take the interview on Saturday?”
He heard Josie say, “Yes, go for it.” Sara laughed and turned back to him, nodding her head.
“Good.” He walked towards her. “So, tell me where you found such a bulldog of a best friend.”
“I heard that,” Josie said from the front room, causing them to laugh.
Saturday rolled around and Allen drove the winding road with a smile on his face. Sara sat next to him and in the back seat sat a huge basket of homemade sandwiches, soup, and what he could only hope were chocolate chip cookies.
“Did you know that back in the 70s a whale beached itself and died in Florence, just south of here. Well, the small town tried to figure out a way to get rid of the huge, smelling creature, and they decided the best way was to dynamite it.”
He looked over at her. “They didn't.”
She nodded her head. “Since it had never been done, they didn't know how much dynamite to use and ended up using too much.” He chuckled. “There were whale parts for hundreds of miles.” He laughed.
“You're making that up.” She shook her head.
“Nope.” She smiled and looked out the window. “Did you know…?” The rest of the drive up the coast went much like that, funny story after funny story. He didn't know where she got all her history, but some of it was hilarious.
They arrived at Cannon Beach around eleven. A cold breeze was coming in off the water, but the sun was out and there were only a handful of clouds in the sky. Deciding to enjoy the beach first, they took a long stroll up and down the coast. There was a large group of kids flying huge colorful kites, and families walked or ran along the water. Some had even brought their dogs.
“I should have brought Beast.” He frowned a little. The dog was getting bigger and had way too much energy for something its size.
Sara smiled. “How is he doing? I bet he's grown.”
“Too much. He's become quite the guard dog, though.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, someone tried to break in New Year’s night. He must have scared them off.”
“Well, that's good.” Her hair was tied back away from her face, but the wind kept blowing strands around. He stopped her and pulled her closer when they got near the big rock.
“I've missed you.” He put his hands on either side of her face and enjoyed the softness of her skin.
“I missed you, too.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and rose up to place a soft kiss on his lips. He pulled her closer, not wanting anything between them, not even the breeze.
“I want to be with you, again. Can you stay with me tonight?” He looked down at her, his emotions written clearly in his eyes. He ached for her.
She smiled and nodded. “Josie will take care of the shop until tomorrow afternoon. We open in about a week and there's still so much left to do.”
They started walking towards the car to gather their lunch. “You're lucky to have Josie with you.” He still hadn't decided what to make of her best friend. He liked the fact that she was protective.
“I was so excited when she said that she'd move down here. I can't imagine running the bakery without her. I wouldn't want to.” She smiled and carried the blanket and the thermos of soup while he gathered the large picnic basket.
“Have you hired anyone else?”
She shook her head. “Josie is interviewing two bakers today. One's from Edgeview and the other is a girl I went to school with. To be honest, I'm glad I'm not there. I didn't want to tell her that I just can't stand her.” Sara laughed. “I have a few more interviews on Monday, but it's really getting close and I'm starting to get worried.”
“You'll find someone.” He stopped and looked around. “What about here?”
She looked around and nodded. They were by some pointed rocks that blocked a lot of the wind. Setting the thermos down, she shook out the blanket and straightened it as he set the basket down.
They ate cold sandwiches and warm soup on the beach and lay back to watch the clouds pass by. Then they nibbled on the Death by Chocolate cookies she'd specially made for today.
“I've found a new favorite. These are better than my mother's homemade chocolate cookies.” He took his third and bit into the richness. “Death by Chocolate, huh?” He chuckled.
“Yeah, I have a few other great names. There's my favorite, Nut-N-Special. They're these yummy caramel nut bars with chocolate chunks.”
He laughed. “How do you come up with everything?” When she looked at him questioningly, he continued. “The names, the recipes, you know…what to make?” She smiled.
“That's the easy part. Most recipes have been handed down to me. Some I've come up with on my own. There are hundreds of recipes out there, you just have to try and find the one that works best.”
“Trial and error.” He smiled and continued to rub her hair between his fingers. He thought he could just stay there like this all day, but when he felt her shiver, he sat up and they headed back to his truck.
The drive back was a lot quieter than the drive there. Sara seemed to be thinking and he let her. Then she turned to him and asked, “Why the Coastguard?”
He looked over at her. “Well, when I retired from the SEALs, I knew there were only a handful of things I wanted to do. This was the top of the list.”
“Why?”
“I love being a pilot. I love being a teacher even more.” He smiled. Yeah, that part he hadn't counted on. “I like molding young minds and bodies into being the best at what we do.” He chuckled. “Actually, it's quite funny that I'm enjoying it so much, since I gave all my teachers hell when I was younger.”
“What boy didn't?” She smiled.
“I remember my first day teaching. I think I was more nervous than my students. But when I got them in the pool doing drills, I realized that this was where I belonged.”
“It's the same for me in the kitchen.” She smiled and looked out the window. “Since I was young I would take over cooking dinner, baking. My mother learned early, after she found out I was go
od at it, to just steer clear and let me take over.”
“How does she feel about you moving out?”
“Oh, she was sad. Actually, she wondered why Josie didn't just move in to the extra bedroom.” Sara laughed. “I didn't have the heart to tell her that taking care of them is exhausting. Not that I mind,” she quickly put in. “It's just that I need to focus on the bakery right now.”
“I know what you mean. It's nice to have family close, but nicer when they don't rely on you so much. When I first got back from Afghanistan, I moved back in with my folks. My father took it as a sign that he no longer had to do anything around the house. I ended up rebuilding the deck and fixing the roof instead of going to my classes.”
My Sweet Valentine Page 11