Love Finds You in Carmel by-the-Sea, California

by Sandra D. Bricker

  “Hey!” she exclaimed.

  “You’re spending your whole life trying to build a life you saw in a movie.”

  “Put it back. That’s none of your business.”

  “Maybe not, but I’m not blind, Annie. I can see the forest for the trees, even if you can’t. If Evan hadn’t met and fallen in love with Jenny, do you think you’d be sitting in your kitchen crying over him? Would you even give him another thought beyond what movie you’re going to see together on Friday night?”

  Annie looked up at him with wide-open, tear-filled eyes.

  “No. You wouldn’t. He’s been your excuse to avoid something real for so long that now—”

  “Stop it, Nick.”

  He tossed the paper to the tabletop and stared at it for several beats. “I’ll stop, Annie. I’ll be glad to stop. But just hear this one thing. Life does not have to be huge and over-the-top to be fulfilling. Every day doesn’t have to be out-of-the-ordinary spectacular to be inspiring.”

  Annie thought of Gram and the Scripture verse about the gentle whisper of God. A pattern seemed to be forming.

  “There is a—a joy in sharing simple things with someone special, in finding your own way and following the path that was laid out for you. There is a joy in the journey that you are totally missing. That list won’t—” He paused, and Annie looked up at him. “Oh, forget it.”

  And with that, Nick walked out the back door and closed it behind him.

  Sherman stood there looking at it, as if wondering if it would open again. Then, with an irritated glance at Annie over his shoulder, he plunked down to the floor to take a nap.

  She wondered if he might have taken note of the fact that she always seemed to drive men away.

  Looks like it’s getting a little old for Sherman too.

  “Nicky, it’s beautiful!”

  “I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to bring you out to see it.”

  Nick leaned against the lookout railing as Jenny snapped a few pictures to send to Tess. The Lone Cypress tree had been perched out upon that bluff for more than two centuries, now supported from plummeting into the Pacific Ocean by a sturdy line of cable.

  Before Nick made the move to Carmel, he’d been a tourist to the area like everyone else, and 17-Mile Drive was just another bullet point on the list of sights worth seeing. It started in Pacific Grove at Esplanade, and for a small fee, excursionists could rubberneck past manicured lawns, mansions, and pristine golf courses, most notably the pinnacle: world-renowned Pebble Beach golf course.

  The seventeen-mile trek could take anywhere from twenty minutes to a couple of hours, depending on the number of stops made at the various turnouts. Nick hadn’t planned to make any stops at all that first afternoon until he felt the call of the Lone Cypress tree, and standing there above it he’d made the decision to leave Chicago behind and accept the job offer from the Monterey Police Department. That cypress had been calling his name ever since.

  “Do you think Aunt Tess will be able to make the trip for my wedding?” Jenny asked him, still snapping digital photos of the scenery. “It wouldn’t be the same without her.”

  “I can’t imagine her missing it,” Nick commented.

  “I can hardly wait to introduce her to Evan. Aren’t you excited for her to meet Annie? You two are becoming quite a couple, aren’t you?”

  Nick smiled. “I wouldn’t call us much of a couple, Jen.”

  “No?”

  He shook his head. “No.”

  “Well, what are you going to do about that?”

  Nick turned toward Jenny and lowered his sunglasses to the bridge of his nose. “It takes two to tango, and Annie doesn’t appear to have much interest in finishing the dance with me.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” she replied, letting her camera flop to the end of the strap around her neck. “She’s crazy about you.”

  “Annie’s very complicated.”

  “And you’re not?”

  Nick chuckled. “She’s got issues.”

  “This, from the Issue King.”

  Shaking his head, he turned back toward his friend the cypress and wondered why it hadn’t been until that very moment that he realized the reasoning behind his connection with the solitude of that tree.

  “If you want Annie, Nicky, go get her.”

  He nodded dismissively.

  “I’m not kidding. Get off your big tush and do something.”

  Nick pushed his sunglasses back into place and turned around. “Let’s just see how it plays out, kiddo. Are you ready to head back?

  Annie couldn’t bear the thought of another day at home, alone with her thoughts, and returning to work seemed like the perfect solution. Several new cases awaited processing, arrangements for the move needed to be made, there were files to box up, and (best of all!) not much time for self-analysis or pity parties.

  Deke informed her that Nick would no longer come to the office. He’d report back to his duties as a police officer before the end of the week. His curtness on the subject told Annie that they had talked, adding to her humiliation. She chose to give that reality the cold shoulder, though. Ignoring everything about her own life outside of work, at least for that one day, would act like the makeup she’d applied over her black eye. Still there, but hopefully not as noticeable.

  Deke and Annie ordered sandwiches from the deli around the corner, and they shared them at his desk at noon while discussing the details of the upcoming move.

  “We’ll want to be sure to keep the files separate as we pack them,” he pointed out. “Closed cases; those in progress; and consults. That way getting settled in the new place will move quickly.”

  “Have you seen the office yet?” she asked him, taking a bite of her turkey sub.

  “Offices,” he corrected. “Plural. It’s four rooms.”

  “Oooh,” she nodded. “We’ll actually have space for a conference room. I’ll need to start dressing up every day. Maybe you should wear a tie.”

  “The day that happens…” He trailed off with a laugh. “Listen, Annie, I want to talk to you about your future plans.”

  Her heart thumped. “What do you mean?”

  “I’d like to see about getting you licensed.”

  She considered his words. “Really?”

  “Assuming that’s something that still interests you.”

  “Yes!” she exclaimed. “Very much, Deke.”

  “Good. There are a couple of ways to go about it. The state requires three years or six thousand hours of compensated experience before you can apply—unless you acquire a degree in either criminal law or criminal justice, which can be subbed for a portion of your time in the field. Now, I’d be willing to pay for your schooling in order to speed up the process, if you think you’d like to go that route.”

  “Yes!”

  “Then do some research today. Find out which school you want, and if you have to attend in person or can do online course work. You let me know what works best for you, and we’ll sort that out.”

  “Deke, thank you.”

  “You’ve really proven yourself in these months, Annie. I’ll tell you the truth; when I hired you, I figured you would just be a passable receptionist who might be able to fill in with some grunt work now and then. But you’ve got a future in the business, Annie. Nick says you were indispensable to him while he kept things going for me. He says you’ve got what it takes, and I agree with him.”

  “I’m glad to know he said that,” she admitted. “I won’t let either of you down.”

  “I know you won’t,” he told her. “And with your taking classes and gearing up for licensing, we’ll want to hire someone for the front-office stuff. You can’t be spending your time filing and answering the phones too, and I’d like to have someone in place by the time we move into the new offices.”

  “I’ll place an ad.”

  “Well,” he said, pausing for a moment, “actually, I have someone in mind.”

  “Really? Wh
o?”

  “Your friend Tyra.”

  Annie looked at him curiously. She almost thought he might be blushing beneath that dark skin of his.

  “I had the chance to get to know her a little when you were in the hospital, and I was thinking she has a very nice presence. She’d be very good in the front office.”

  “I think so too,” she told him, grinning. The idea of helping Tyra out of the Equity Now tangle of headsets set Annie’s smile muscles to quivering.

  “She has those two little ones to think about, so we can offer her something a little more substantial than what she’s making over at that place where you used to work.”

  “That would be awesome! Tyra will be excellent for what you have in mind.”

  “I’ll leave all of that to you,” he said with a wave of his hand. “You call her and make the offer. Take care of training her. Make sure she feels right at home.”

  “Are you sure? I thought maybe you’d like an excuse to call her yourself.”

  Deke narrowed his eyes and stared her down. Then, with a shrug, he shook his head. “Nah. You take care of it. I have too many other fish to fry.”

  “Okay. I’ll call her after her shift this afternoon.”

  “Good.”

  “Great.”

  He finished up his sandwich and tossed the remnants into the trash. Out of nowhere, he looked up at Annie and asked, “Now what are we going to do about you and Bench?”

  “What about us?”

  “You’re on the outs. And there’s no need for it. You need to nip it in the bud before it gets out of hand.”

  Nick never struck Annie as a big communicator, but at that moment she realized he’d apparently been sharing with Deke.

  “You told him you love him, didn’t you? So act like it. This reaction to Evan and Jenny is natural, but it doesn’t mean anything to—”

  “I’m sorry,” she interrupted. “What? I told him what?”

  “That you love him.”

  “Who?”

  “Bench.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “Sure you did.”

  “I didn’t. When?”

  “At the hospital.”

  “I told him no such thing.”

  “Annie, you told him you love him. That’s not something you toss around lightly with a guy like Nick.”

  “I agree, and I wouldn’t. Toss it around lightly, I mean. I didn’t tell him that, Deke.”

  “Well, he says you did.”

  “Why would he say something like that?”

  “You’d better ask him.”

  “Are you sure you didn’t misunderstand, Deke? He told you that I said I was in love with him?”

  “Yep.”

  “He’s the one who’s interested in me. Penélope Cruz told me so.”

  “Penélope Cr— Oh, never mind. You said you love him. Bench told me.”

  “Well, he lied.”

  “Not likely.”

  “Then I’m lying?” she challenged.

  “Not likely either.”

  “What, then? Somebody has amnesia?”

  Deke shrugged, and he drained the last of his drink before tossing the paper cup into the trash. “Better talk to him, don’t you think?”

  Talk to him? Where does a girl start a conversation like that one?

  “Now, you’ve got lots to do this afternoon. Skedaddle.”

  Annie wished she could skedaddle all the way to Montana just then.

  Nick said I told him I’m in love with him??

  There had to be some mistake.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.”

  Strother Martin, Cool Hand Luke, 1967

  Tyra took the job offer with full-on celebration. Annie recognized the relief and joy in her declaration about presenting her resignation the very next morning. Tyra had been one of the longtimers whose number hadn’t come up with the layoffs. But wouldn’t Jasmine be surprised when another Equity Now employee hit the road, this time by choice and for greener pastures? It did Annie’s heart good to be the one who blazed that trail for Tyra.

  After their conversation, she called Nick to see about getting together for a discussion. It had been several hours since Deke broke the news, but Annie’s brain still buzzed with it. Nick Benchley thought she loved him! And better yet, he thought she had told him so.

  “Hi, Nick,” she said into the voice mail on his cell phone. “It’s Annie. Can you give me a call? I’d like to see you tonight if it’s possible. Give me a call?”

  She tried his home phone just afterward, and Jenny picked up.

  “Annie, how are you?”

  “I’m doing all right. And by the way, congratulations. Evan told me the news.”

  “Thank you. I never could have imagined being this happy.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. Listen, is Nick around?”

  “No, this is his night for YMOE.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Young Men of Excellence. He teaches a workshop the first Wednesday night of the month down at the center.”

  “Really.”

  “Evan’s been going. He says he gets a lot out of it. They’re usually out by eight thirty. I can have him give you a call.”

  “I’d appreciate that.”

  “You know, Annie, Evan’s been joking about wanting you as his best man at the wedding.”

  A pop of laughter burst out of Annie.

  “And I guess if you were, I’d have to have Nicky as my maid of honor.”

  The visual summoned a whole stream of chuckles.

  “So we thought we’d just reverse things. Evan is going to ask Nick to be his best man, and I was wondering if you would be willing to be my maid of honor.”

  Maid of honor at Evan’s wedding.

  The irony felt so heavy that Annie had to sit down.

  “I know you and Evan have something very special,” Jenny told her. “And I want you to know I’m in awe of it. I would never do anything to change it or come between you.”

  “Oh, Jenny.”

  “Seriously, we both want you to be a part of our day. Not just Evan, but me too.”

  “Thank you.”

  “So, will you?”

  Annie knew there was only one possible reply. “Of course.”

  Jenny let out a squeal that hurt Annie’s ear. “Oh, thank you. I’m so happy. Evan will be just thrilled.”

  “If there’s anything I can do as the plans firm up,” Annie said, “just let me know.”

  “Maybe we could go dress shopping in a couple of weeks?”

  Really. What else is there to do but embrace it?

  “We’ll make a day of it.”

  Evan and Jenny equaled a force of nature now, sort of like an approaching hurricane. In that moment, Annie realized it wouldn’t disappear just because she pretended it wasn’t coming. She would board up the windows, buy water and batteries and lots of canned food, and just get over herself, hunker down, and make the best of it. In Deke’s words, she had bigger fish to fry.

  She stopped at home to walk Sherman and change clothes, and by 7:45 she’d followed her inclination and reached Santa Cruz in less than an hour. When she walked through the hall at the center, she could hear Nick’s voice carrying down the corridor and right to her. She took a seat at one of the dozen tables on the cracked linoleum floor to wait for him to finish. A gush of laughter popped out of the room, and she listened as Nick told them to simmer down.

  “Seriously, do you know what I mean?” he asked them. “Do you see how your word really means something, how you have to be man enough to stand by it?”

  A hum of comments followed.

  “Ask yourself this: what ever happened to honor? Look back to a time before us, when honor was something a man was willing to die for. A man’s word was what designed his entire reputation, how he was known to the community around him. Today it’s another thing entirely. We make commitments, but then the time
comes and it’s not convenient anymore. So what do we do? We make excuses. We back out. We let people down.”

  Nick’s voice rang clear, confident and resolute. It pinched her heart a little to listen to him. When he joined the flow of young men leaving the room afterward, she curbed the urge to run over and hug him.

  “Annie, what are you doing here?”

  “Can we talk?”

  “I have to clean up, but we’ve got some coffee made. Want to sit down and have a cup?”

  “I’ll skip the coffee,” she told him. “But if we could have a few minutes, I’d appreciate it.”

  He led her back toward the room he’d just vacated, saying his good-byes to the dozen or so men still trickling out the door.

  “G’night, Raymond,” he said to one of them, before smacking another on the shoulder. “See ya, Jamal.”

  When they reached the doorway, Evan headed out as they went in.

  “Hey, Annie. What are you doing here?”

  “I came to talk to Nick.”

  “Let’s go get coffee or something,” he suggested, but then he read the look on Annie’s face. “Or not. You talk. I’ll see you both later.”

  “Thanks for coming, Evan,” Nick called after him, and Evan waved before heading out the door.

  Nick piled several stacks of handouts and pounded them cleanly together. Without looking up at Annie, he asked, “So what’s so important that you had to come all the way out here?”

  “Deke told me something today,” she began—and she paused to question the wisdom in addressing it with him before she’d thought it all the way through.

  “And?”

  “Well, he said that you told him something…surprising.”

  “Do you want to share it with me?”

  “He says you told him…that…well, that I…love you.”

  “And?”

  “And why did you tell him that?”

  “Uh, because it was rather stunning, and I chose to share it with my best friend.”

  “Nick, why did you tell him I said that?”

  “I just told you.”

  “No, I mean, I didn’t say that. Why are you saying that I did?”