Chapter Ten
Ever since returning from his day trip to Tampa with Addie, Caleb had been floating on cloud nine. Everything had gone so smoothly, and although he and Rayna still had a lot of work to do in order to catch up on each other’s lives, he was very optimistic. In life, a person could never have too much love in their lives. And since Rayna had never given birth to any other children, Caleb knew how important he was in her life. God had truly blessed both of them!
In addition to Rayna, Addie was a huge focus in his world. The feelings she stirred up inside him made his heart feel as if it was about to burst. And even though he was still a bit gun shy about love, he knew he was falling. Hard.
He arrived at the Blue Bayou bright and early. They were testing out breakfast service. As soon as he drove up, Caleb saw a line outside the door. He shook his head and chuckled. This was amazing! They didn’t even open up their doors for another fifteen minutes. He let himself in through the back. Paolo and Nicola, the sous-chef, were at the counter doing prep work. A spicy smell wafted in the air. Chorizo?
“I think we should open up the doors,” Caleb said. “We have a line out there.” He couldn’t stop from grinning.
“Rita just got here. She’s about to open up,” Nicola said.
Paolo smiled at him. “It was a great idea to do breakfast service, boss.”
“We’re growing pretty fast, aren’t we?” Nicola asked. “People are really buzzing about the place now that we’ve expanded our hours.”
“I know. Thanks to Addie we’ve breathed new life into the place,” Caleb said, acknowledging Addie’s contributions. “She’s been a Godsend.”
Paolo sent him a knowing glance. This time Caleb didn’t mind one little bit. He didn’t care if the whole world knew how he felt about Addie. It was a pretty epic feeling. Now that he had reconciled with the past, he needed to push past his fears of falling in love. Being burned by Felicity had nothing to do with Addie. She shouldn’t have to pay the price for another woman’s duplicity.
“I had to sign for a letter for you yesterday. I put it on your desk. It looks official,” Paolo said, looking up from chopping onions and green peppers.
“Thanks, Paolo. And thanks for covering for me while I was away. It’s a great feeling to know the place is in safe hands when I’m not here,” Caleb said, clapping his friend on the shoulder.
“Any time,” Paolo said, turning his attention back to his prep work.
Caleb excused himself and headed toward his office. He had a few pieces of mail sitting on his desk. He picked up a large envelope, frowning as he saw it was from Sebastian Fontaine and his corporation. Caleb slitted open the envelope and pulled out a letter. He began to read it, sinking down into his chair as the words leaped out at him.
I am interested in buying your portion of the Blue Bayou. A strangled sound burst from his lips. Caleb kept reading. Since the Fontaine Corporation owns the other portion of the property, it is advisable that you sell rather than become involved in prolonged litigation.
The letter fell from Caleb’s fingers. Shock roared through him like a runaway train on the tracks. How could this be happening? The Blue Bayou belonged to him. And Addie. Did Addie know about this? Was she in cahoots with her father to steal the restaurant away from him? No way! Clearly she didn’t know anything about this. She would have given him a heads up at the very least.
The sound of the door opening caused him to swing his head up. Addie was standing on the threshold with a smile etched on her face. She was holding a little bag with the emblem of a cupcake shop from around the corner. Tasty Treats. It was Caleb’s addiction. Normally, the sight of her standing there bearing cupcakes would cause him to smile. But after reading Sebastian’s letter, all he felt was anger and confusion.
“I come bearing treats,” Addie announced, holding the bag high up in the air.
All he could do was stare at her. He felt too numb from shock to speak.
She closed the door behind her and walked over toward his desk. Midway, she stopped in her tracks. “Caleb, what’s wrong? Has something happened?”
“You could say that.” He leaned down and picked up the letter from the floor. He waved it in her direction. “It seems the Fontaine Corporation wants to buy the Blue Bayou.”
Addie let out a shocked sound. “Oh no,” she said, covering her face with her hands.
“Please tell me that you didn’t know anything about this.” He studied Addie’s expression. His heart sank as he saw the guilty look creep over her face. She opened her mouth to say something, then shut it.
He sat back in his chair, feeling weary and shell shocked. Addie had known about her father’s intentions toward his restaurant. And she hadn’t said a word to warn him about it.
“You don’t need to answer. It’s written all over your face.” Caleb angrily spit out the words. “I guess blood is thicker than water.”
“Caleb, please listen to me. I knew nothing about my father’s agenda. I just found out a few days ago.”
Caleb slapped his hand down on the desk. “A few days ago! Yet you never breathed a word about it.”
“We went to Tampa and you were so happy. I didn’t want to rain on your parade. I had no idea he would really go through with it.”
“Are you serious? You’re the one who told me how single minded Sebastian is about business. He’s ruthless. And this place means the world to me. Do you have any idea of how much work has gone into building this place up?”
Addie’s lips quivered. For a moment he hesitated. He hated seeing her upset, but the thought of losing the Blue Bayou made him feel sick to his stomach. He had worked so hard to achieve his dream. What had he been thinking to borrow money from Sebastian Fontaine in the first place? Now, he was between a rock and a hard place.
“I’m not going to let this go down without a fight, Addie. So you can tell your father I’m not interested in his offer or his threats.” Caleb ripped up the letter and tossed it in the trash.
Addie took a few steps closer to him. “Caleb, if we put our heads together we can stop him in his tracks.”
Caleb shook his head. “I don’t need your help, Addie. You’ve done enough already don’t you think?”
“You don’t really think I had anything to do with this, do you? I love working here with you. I love being your partner.”
His head felt so muddled. As a man who’d been burned before by the woman he loved, he didn’t know what to think. It would kill him if Sebastian swooped in and took his business away from him. And it hurt that Addie hadn’t given him a heads up so he wasn’t blindsided by the letter. “I don’t know what to think. I just know your father is threatening to take this place away from me and he’s using your stake in this place as leverage.”
Addie shook her head. She threw her hands in the air. “I-I can’t believe this. If you really think that of me after everything, I shouldn’t even be here right now. I’m in love with you, Caleb. I wouldn’t hurt you for the world.”
She locked gazes with him. Her eyes begged him to stop her from leaving, but he couldn’t summon the words. He was too angry. And he felt like an idiot for trusting Addie so completely. Surely she could have intervened with her father? Why hadn’t she done anything to stop this? Why hadn’t she told him? He looked away from her and placed his head in his hands.
When he heard the sound of a door closing he realized Addie was gone. All he felt was emptiness. He wanted to chase after her, to apologize for his sharp tongue. But he felt so out of sorts. He didn’t know what to believe or whether his trust in her had been misplaced. Was he being played for a fool again by a woman he deeply cared about? Or had he just made the biggest mistake of his life?
**
Addie left the bistro through a veil of tears. She couldn’t believe her father had sent Caleb paperwork in an attempt to intimidate him into selling the restaurant. It was the worst possible thing he could have done to make Caleb mistrust her. She didn’t even know what to do. She couldn’t go back to the restaurant and face Caleb knowing how he now felt about her. He didn’t trust her. And she had been incredibly vulnerable and told him she loved him. His reaction had been nothing more than a blank, stony face. Her heart was crushed.
Her goal had been to live life out loud. Falling in love with Caleb fell into that category. But he didn’t love her back. It had been obvious by the look on his face. He’d been unmoved by her declaration. It was funny though. She still loved him, despite him thinking the worst of her. Despite his failure to take her in his arms and tell her he believed in her. Caleb was a good man who had been blindsided by her father’s business manipulations. Sometimes good people acted poorly. They failed to live up to their own standards. It didn’t make her love Caleb any less.
She took a deep breath. There was only one thing to do at this moment. It was the only way she could protect Caleb and the Blue Bayou. It was the surest way of making certain that Caleb’s dreams weren’t taken away from him. He’d lost enough for one lifetime. Addie would move heaven and earth so that Caleb didn’t lose anything else.
**
Throughout the day, all Caleb could think about was Addie. He missed her presence at the bistro. He was so distracted by the events of this morning he’d found it necessary to leave the Blue Bayou in order to clear his head. Paolo didn’t say much to him, but he could tell by the way he was looking at him that he knew something about the trouble between him and Addie.
Caleb ended up driving around aimlessly. He didn’t know what to do with himself. He finally ended up at the harbor, sitting on a bench and looking out across the water. He idly fed the seagulls who were all too happy to snatch up pieces of bread. It bothered him so much that he’d lashed out at her. He hadn’t trusted her. He’d allowed his past with Felicity to color his relationship with Addie. She was nothing like Felicity! Not in a million years!
She had professed her love to him and he’d sat there like a fool and said nothing. Why hadn’t he acknowledged it? He wasn’t sure if it had been anger or fear. So much had happened over the past few days. He had reconnected with his mother. He had come to the realization that he loved Addie. Everything in his life was happening so quickly. Knowing that the Blue Bayou might be taken from him had knocked him off his feet. It had been a paralyzing sensation.
He knew Addie wasn’t capable of deception. She was loving and warm and loyal. Clearly she hadn’t known anything about her father’s plans for the property. Now that he’d simmered down he was able to see things more clearly. He winced at the way he had spoken to Addie. How could he have lost control so badly? He prayed Addie would forgive him.
Caleb knew he needed to head back to the bistro. He’d been gone for hours. What if Addie was there? Caleb didn’t know how he was going to face Addie without feeling like a complete fool. All this time he’d been worried about the lines becoming blurred between his professional and his personal lives. Now, he was fully prepared to get down on his hands and knees to beg her for forgiveness.
When he arrived back at the restaurant, Caleb found himself searching the lot for Addie’s car. His heart sank a little bit at the realization that she hadn’t made her way back to the bistro. Her bright yellow VW bug was nowhere to be found. Maybe she wasn’t coming back, he realized. He couldn’t say he blamed her after the way he’d acted.
“Are you all right?” Paolo asked when he came through the back door that led to the kitchen. “Did you and Addie have a fight? She looked just as shell shocked as you look right now when she was here a little while ago.”
“Addie was here?” he asked, hope rising up inside him.
“She came through here about twenty minutes ago, then left,” Paolo explained. “And she wasn’t her usually cheery self. She seemed really down in the dumps.”
Caleb needed to call her. He had to swallow his pride and tell her how wrong he had been. Caleb beat a fast path to his office, craving privacy so he could make the call. God willing, Addie would give him a chance to make things right.
A white envelope with his name scrawled on it was sitting on his desk. His heart began to hammer as he recognized Addie’s handwriting. With trembling hands, he ripped open the envelope and pulled out the letter.
Dear Caleb,
From the beginning of our partnership, I wanted you to know the Blue Bayou was yours. You were the one who breathed life into it. It was your creation. I never meant for you to feel as if it was no longer your own or worry about losing it. I came to the bistro to hone my business skills and to learn the restaurant business. In the process, I fell in love with the bistro…and you.
This is the only way I can show you what you mean to me. I’m giving you my share of the bistro. I want you to have it. I never want you to worry about someone taking it away from you. And now you won’t ever have to wonder if you’re going to lose it. It will belong to you one hundred percent. There’s nothing daddy can do to change that fact.
The day you came into my life was a blessing, Caleb Donahue. I will never forget you or what you’ve done for me.
Yours,
Addie
Tears blurred Caleb’s eyes as he finished the letter. The generosity of Addie’s gift was stunning. He had to go back and read that part over again. The words threatened to bring him to his knees. Addie had given him a tremendous gift. She had seen the desires of his heart and given it to him on a silver platter. Suddenly, he felt incredibly unworthy of it. And of her.
He had doubted her when they had been tested. Shame slithered through him.
He reached into the envelope and pulled out the actual paperwork whereby Addie had given him her half of the bistro. Instead of celebrating, Caleb felt empty. Addie had made this tremendous gesture. For him. She’d told him she was in love with him. Why had he rejected her words of love? There wasn’t an insincere bone in Addie’s entire body.
And he loved her too. He could no longer deny his feelings toward her. Fear had crept in when he’d first realized it a few days ago. Being in love had always been a dicey proposition for Caleb. Time and again he had given his all to a woman, only to be disappointed and heartbroken. Felicity had made him feel that love wasn’t something he could ever truly trust. Being given up by his birth mother had left him with scars. Clearly, he was still struggling with those issues. Even though he had reunited with Rayna, those issues wouldn’t just evaporate. And poor Addie had been the scapegoat.
It wasn’t fair! Addie was the real deal. She was the other half of his heart. He loved her. And he couldn’t imagine a life without her. Now, he just had to figure out a way to make things right with her and claim the life he wanted with the woman of his dreams.
**
Addie made her way down the hall to her father’s office at the Fontaine building. She immediately spotted Delores Fenton, her father’s secretary, sitting at her desk. With her severe bun and imperious expression, Delores was an intimidating figure. Thankfully, Addie had known the woman for years. She was a big teddy bear.
“Good morning, Delores,” Addie said. “Is my father in his office? I know he’s back from Costa Rica.”
“Hi, Addie. He’s in there, but he told me he can’t be interrupted.”
“Sorry, Delores. This is urgent.” Addie breezed past Delores’s desk and stormed through the doors of her father’s office.
He sat up straight in his chair. A thunderous expression was etched on his face. “What in the world?”
Addie pulled herself up to her full height and met her father’s gaze head on. “This is a courtesy visit. I gave Caleb full ownership of the Blue Bayou.”
“You did what?” her father roared.
She tilted her chin up. “You heard me. There’s not a thing wrong with your hearing, daddy.” Addie gulped. She couldn’t believe she’d had the gumption to speak to her father so frankly. If her mother was here she’d have a conniption fit. But Addie wasn’t thinking about getting on her father’s good side. She was determined to speak her mind plainly and stand up for herself.
Humph! In her humble opinion, it was about time.
Sebastian let out a roar. “What did you do that for? Haven’t I taught you anything? You never just give away a property. That’s not the Fontaine way.” He sucked his teeth.
She put her hands firmly on her hips and took a step closer to her father. “Because I love him! That’s why. Is that a good enough reason for you?”
Her father’s jaw dropped. “Is that true?” His voice sounded raspy and raw. “You love Caleb?”
She tilted her chin up. “Yes, it is. If I had my most fervent wish come true, it would be to love and be loved by Caleb Donahue for the rest of my life.”
She watched her father’s Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. “Does he love you back?”
Addie was trying hard not to cry as she heard her father’s question. She could see hope flaring in his eyes. This was the man she’d loved her whole life. In this moment she knew she hadn’t lost the man she had always adored. Addie knew he was rooting for her happiness, even though he was angry at her for giving Caleb full ownership of the bistro.
“Probably not.” She shook her head. “I don’t think so. But it’s okay,” she said, her voice cracking. “Sometimes we don’t get the happy ending tied up with a nice little bow.” She smiled at her father. Loving Caleb had given her wings. Even if he never knew the extent of her love for him, it was enough that these feelings were inside her. She’d been transformed. He’d changed her in ways she couldn’t ever express with mere words. And she would always be grateful.
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. Always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. Her favorite Bible verse from Corinthians spoke her truths plainly. It mirrored the way she felt about Caleb.
For a few moments her father simply stared at her. It was as if he was seeing her for the first time in years. “You’ve changed,” he said in a low voice. “And I’m sorry to say I’ve just noticed it.”
She reached for his hand and squeezed it tightly. “That’s all right, daddy. I’m glad you’re noticing right now. It didn’t happen overnight. It’s been a gradual process.”
He shook his head. A stunned expression was etched on his face. “You're a different woman now, Addie. When you smile, it radiates joy. You’re not just going through the motions. And I think it has everything to do with Caleb Donahue. When your mother and I divorced it scarred you. Being raised without a father in the home hurt you and Tabitha. And I’m sorry for it. I was so busy building my empire I never stopped to smell the roses.”
“It was hard losing you and then Tabitha. It felt like the very foundation of my world was crumbling all around me.”
Her father winced. “I blame myself for that.”
“Daddy you can’t blame yourself for Tabitha’s death. You had no control over it.”
He sniffed back tears. “But I wasn’t available to you. When we lost Tabitha it hurt so badly. I didn’t know what to do with all those feelings, so I put them away so I didn’t have to deal with them. But it doesn’t work when you bury your emotions. Sooner or later they come bubbling up to the surface. Lately they’ve been bubbling up inside of me. I’ve been so very angry. A parent should never have to bury their child.”
“I know, daddy. I miss her too. She was the other half of my heart. It’s been difficult to make sense of losing her. I’ve often asked God why he took her.”
Sebastian shook his head. “I’ve asked the Lord the same question, over and over again. I would have traded places with her in a heartbeat if it had been an option.”
“The only thing I can fathom is that heaven needed her more than we did.”
Her father’s shoulders heaved and he began to cry. Addie wrapped her arms around him and tried her best to soothe him. It had been a very long time since she had seen him in such an emotional state. The last time had been at Tabitha’s service. He had been hiding behind a big brick wall ever since they had lost Tabitha. His grief had been too great to bear. So he’d shut down.
“Tabitha would be proud of you for admitting all this, daddy.”
“I hope so,” he said, drawing in a deep breath.
“I know so,” she said in a voice full of conviction.
“What about you and Donahue? I suppose he was upset about my plans for the bistro. He left an angry message with Delores.”
“He was quite upset with me as well,” she admitted. “But I think my giving him full ownership should soothe those wounds.”
“It’s my fault. Let me talk to him. I can clear things up and let him know you had nothing to do with any of it.”
“No, daddy. That’s not the way. I have to live my life and handle things for myself. If Caleb cares for me the way I care for him, he’ll realize life is better with me in it.”
“Amen to that,” her father said in a boisterous voice. “And if he can’t see it, then he’s a fool.”
“Daddy!” Addie said in a sharp voice. “Please don’t talk about the man I love that way.”
Sebastian held up his hands. “All right. I won’t say a word against him.” He began to grumble under his breath. “With all this devotion, I pray you two end up together.”
“From your lips to God’s ears,” Addie murmured.