Sitting in the now busy café, it’s surreal to see all the planning come to life. It’s everything I’d imagined it to be. Sherri and Janie have been glowing with happiness today. Janie seems to have forgotten the terrible thing that brought her here two weeks ago, something for which I’m grateful. She and Chance are cute together.
“Here’s something sweet for you, partner.” Sherri places a plate with about six different pastries on the table.
“Are you trying to make me fat, Nan—?” Before I get a chance to backpedal at my slip of the tongue, Sherri’s hand comes up to stop my open mouth from speaking.
“It’s wonderful to hear you call me that.” Tears shine in her eyes. “You already feel like a part of my family. I’d do anything for you. You’ve brought happiness back into Seth’s life.”
My face begins to burn. No one has ever been so sweet to me. “Oh, Sh—Nan,” I correct myself.
Sherri comes closer and places a kiss on my cheek, then turns and walks back to the kitchen. My life is whole. Who knew that getting fired could have led me to the best thing ever?
Leaning back in my seat, I steal a bite of a sugar-coated donut thing. I think they’re called Donut Delights—it’s delicious.
While savouring the pastry, Olive’s words about forgiving Crystal make me cringe. Her messages have stopped. She finally got the message, it seems. Now I should forgive her. How am I supposed to do that?
“You look deep in thought.”
Tilting my head up, I see Mum standing in front of me. “Yeah, thinking about Crystal and Ryan.”
She takes a seat beside me. “What about her?”
“Should I forgive her?”
Mum’s brow furrows in confusion. “Why would you want to?” she questions.
“A part of me doesn’t want the ill feelings I have towards her and Ryan to eat away at me, and I don’t want to reflect back on this and think I should have been the bigger person and forgiven her.”
“Honey, you do what feels right for you. You have a great thing going here.” Her arms spread out to encompass the busy café.
“This is the best thing ever. I’ll think on it a little more before I decide what to do.”
“Smart move. So, honey, tell me about Seth, could he be the one?” Her question shocks me because I hadn’t given much thought to the future with Seth.
“I’m not sure, Mum, possibly . . .” I shrug.
“He’s different to the other guys you’ve dated . . . the way he looks at you is how your father looked at me when we first met and fell in love. We’ve had our rough patches, but I still see that look in his eyes. A love that lasts forever is what you’d want, through all those hard times we still come out standing on solid ground, together.”
“If he feels the same, then yeah I wouldn’t hold back.” Seth really could be my one and only.
“Your dad and I want you happy and safe; we’ve already seen so much growth in you. We’ll be here if things move forward with Seth, every step of the way.” She leans over hugging me, “Anyway honey, Dad and I are thinking of heading back today. He’s got a big job to deal with, and I haven’t been feeling a hundred percent.”
“Oh no! Make sure you go to the doctor’s when you get home. Thanks so much for looking after me. Sorry for worrying you.”
Mum’s hand glides over the side of my face. “I’m so glad you’re healthy and safe. This is your home now. Dad and I will be coming back often. The café is wonderful, and you now have another family that cares for you, like Dad and I do. I’m so happy and so very proud of you.”
“Thanks, Mum.” My throat tightens. “That means a lot to me.”
Standing from her chair, she continues, “I’ll call you tonight when we get home. Also, honey, I know you’ll make the right decision regarding Crystal.”
“I know. It’s not an easy thing to decide on,” I reply.
Dad chooses then to make an appearance. “Sorry, we to have to go now, honey,” Mum says.
“It’s not a problem; I’m in good hands here.” I look to Sherri at the counter serving a customer, her twinkling eyes and smiling face bidding another person farewell, with a full take away bag of goodies.
“Oh, believe me, I know.” Dad chuckles, stepping towards me, then bends over to give me one of his big, fuzzy bear hugs. He’s the king of hugs.
“We’d better hit the road, so we don’t run into the traffic,” Dad says, turning to Mum.
“Okay, yes, you’d better get going. That’s one thing I don’t miss—the traffic.” I laugh.
“We love you, honey,” Mum says, leaning over to place a kiss on my hair. I’m glad we’re back to the place we were before everything happened. She’s my Mum and I love her, and Dad is my Dad. I don’t need a test to prove it.
“Love you too,” I call as they head towards the door. And just like that, they’re gone again. Sadness begins to creep in, yet I’m still very happy to remain here. I miss them.
“What’s that? You love me?” Seth’s voice teases from behind me, causing me to jump with fright.
“I never said that. Not to you anyway.” The words leave my mouth hastily, all flustered.
He laughs. “I know you weren’t saying it to me . . . yet.” His eyes meet mine with a cheeky grin. I wonder if he does love me?
“If these pastries weren’t so good I’d throw them at you. Better yet, the plate would do.”
Seth’s hands come up in defence. “Whoa, ease up there. I call peace.” Stepping towards me, he takes the seat Mum was in, proceeding to steal one of my pastries. Quickly, I smack his hand before he gets the chance to steal another.
“How’s it all going out the back?”
“Really good. Ava is great and Nan loves her, so all is well with the chefs. This place really does look amazing; you girls have done a wonderful job.”
“We aim to please.”
Taking a sip of my coffee, Seth opens his mouth to speak but stops, then starts again and stops.
“Do you have something to say?”
“I’ve got a surprise for you.”
“For me?”
He nods.
“What is it?” I ask sceptically. The last surprise I was meant to get, turned out to be one of the worst days ever, thanks to Crystal and Ryan. “Please don’t tell me you’re secretly dating Janie.”
“What? No!” he quickly replies. “Heck no. Why would you say that?”
“My last surprise didn’t turn out so well.”
His head drops for a second before those magical blues gaze at me. “This one won’t end like that. Trust me.”
Those last two words are a hard thing for me to do. But Seth is the one person I know who’ll restore my faith and trust again.
“Well, I’ll be the judge of that, my good man.”
“I’m your man, am I?” he questions, a playfulness in his words.
“I’ll make you my slave yet.”
“That wouldn’t be so bad, would it?” He wiggles his eyebrows at me, playfully.
My chest swims with elation. “You’ll have to rub my feet for me every night and I’ll have you scrubbing the floors,” I counter, giving him a smirk.
He leans forward, his face centimetres from mine. “I’d do anything for you,” he whispers. Boom! My heart explodes with passion.
His eyes move from my eyes to my lips before he claims them. Every single movement of our lips is in sync. The flow of desire that runs between us . . . powerful.
Seth pulls away, and our kiss ends. The loss of his touch deflates me.
“I’ve got some planning to do, and I need to get a few things done at the garage. Will you be alright here for a moment?”
Smiling, I nod.
With that, he turns and exits the café, and I’m left to ponder on our time together. I can’t believe we’ve been dancing around each other like this for nearly two months. He doesn’t just tease with words, but stolen kisses also. I could kiss those lips forever. Just thinking about it right now, brings a blush to my cheeks.
When Seth’s finished what he needed to do, he drops me at the cottage.
“I’ll be back soon. Get dressed up nicely and be ready for me.” He stands by my door assisting me out of the car and up the few stairs. Placing a kiss to my lips he turns, then leaves. That giddy yet nervous feeling hasn’t left me since he first helped me on the side of the road. Thankfully, Janie’s home. Sherri let her have the first day off, she and Ava have things under control.
After I tell her about Seth’s plan of a surprise, she begins shovelling through not only my cupboard, but her suitcase as well. “Ya know, not much goes with that cast of yours.”
“Thanks for the reminder.” I roll my eyes at her comment and the memory of what happened.
She stops and looks up at me. “Sorry about that. My mouth has a mind of its own.”
“That’s alright. Have you found anything suitable yet?”
That cunning smile shows on her face; yep, she’s found something. She holds up a long white halter-neck summer dress with flowery patterns all over it. It’s stunning, and will cover my cast beautifully.
“It’s gorgeous.”
“I know, right?” she squeals. “I found it just yesterday at a shop in town. I was going to wear it on my next date with Chance, but you can borrow it tonight.”
“Oh Janie, I couldn’t do that if you haven’t even worn it yet.”
“It’s no problem; our date isn’t until tomorrow night, so I’ll get it cleaned before then.”
“I’ll buy you a new dress. Go out and pick something you like. Or another one of these.” I point at the dress she’s holding out.
“Actually, there was a pink one just like it; perhaps I’ll go get it tomorrow morning.”
“Perfect!”
“Now, go get ready. Do you need any help?”
“Just with putting an attractive garbage bag over my leg so I can shower.” Being this incompetent is just plain embarrassing.
“Happy to help. I’ll grab the bag and tape.” Turning to leave, she pauses. “I’m glad you’re going out on a date tonight. You and Seth are super-cute together.”
Smiling, I respond, “Thanks, Janie.” She’s been her happier self these last few days since hanging out with Chance.
When she returns, I try to broach the topic again of why she showed up here because, she seems to be in a better headspace now. All I know is there was a guy involved and that she no longer works for Chad.
“So, Janie, are you ready to tell me what sent you my way?”
She stops taping the bag to my leg and looks up at me, sadness in her eyes. “I don’t know if I can. I’m so embarrassed by it.”
My heart breaks. “I’d never judge you, Janie, you know that, right?”
She nods. Fresh tears glisten in her eyes. Shuffling closer to her, I wrap her in my arms and allow her the time she needs to cry.
After a couple of minutes, she pulls herself together. “Well, I met a guy at Trent’s bar. We hit it off, and we were having a great night. Lots of drinks and laughter.”
My heart hammers in my throat as I listen to her, knowing this isn’t going to end well.
“Anyway, it came time to go. I wasn’t going to invite him to my place because as you know, I’m not that kind of girl.” I nod as she watches me. “Well, we were having one more drink, and he kept hinting about coming to my place or going to his. I’d just laugh it off. After my last drink, I began feeling funny, and just not myself. Kind of like I was out of my body.”
“Oh, my . . . Janie.”
Her tears fall as she chokes on her new sobs. I hold her tighter, and she continues. “I don’t remember much after that. I remember blackness. I woke up the next morning in a strange bed, and Chloe, there was—” Her face falls into her hands. “There was blood, all down my legs and on the sheets. I was so scared, Chloe. I had no idea where I was or what happened the night before, after that last drink.”
“Your drink was spiked?” I kept my voice low and concerned. She nods. “What happened after that? Did you go to the police?”
She shakes her head. “No. I freaked!” Her red blotchy face is panicked.
“You should have gone to the police,” I state.
“Chloe, you weren’t there. The guy would just say it was all my fault and I was asking for it. I don’t even remember his name.”
I close my eyes briefly as I take in what she’s just told me. “I’m so sorry, Janie. I should have been there.”
“No, it’s not your fault. After it happened, I took off from wherever I was. There was a guy passed out in the bed beside me, but I didn’t want to wake him just in case he attacked me again. I just wanted out. So I ran, quickly putting my clothes on as I left.
“When I got home, I scrubbed every single inch of my body in a boiling-hot shower. Then I went and quit my job and went to the doctors and asked for a pap smear, I got those results last week and all was clear. After the doctor’s, I went to Trent’s. He could see I was shaken, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell him it had happened under his roof. He told me where I’d find you. I left, and that’s the day I rocked up on your doorstep. I’m such an idiot, Chloe.”
“No, you’re not. I’m here for you. Have you told Chance?”
Her eyes open widely; there’s panic in her hazel gaze. “No. I can’t tell him. He’ll probably think I’m a slut.”
She was breaking me. Tears rolled down my own cheeks. “Chance isn’t like that.”
“How do you know? Have you spent time with him?”
“Not as much as you, but he and Seth have been friends for a long time—they’re practically brothers. If he’s been around Seth that long, then I’m a hundred percent sure that he’d be very understanding.” Something dawns on me. “Have you slept together?”
“No,” she responds sadly. “I’ve been keeping him at bay because I’m not sure how I feel about going to that level yet.”
“Honey, you do what you need to, and I’m sure Chance will be there for you when you’re ready. Talk to him. I’m certain he’ll understand. He might be angry and want to hunt the bugger down though.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of, because I don’t need someone avenging me and causing me more pain. I just need him here. And I don’t want him to look at me differently.”
“If he doesn’t understand, then he’s not worth it. But he may need time to process it all.”
“I know. Thanks, Chloe. You’re like the sister I never had.”
Our embrace tightens and we stay like this for a moment longer. It’s needed. I can’t image what she’s going through. My heart aches for her, and for the hurt and pain she’s suffering.
“I’m here for you at any time. Do you want me to start staying here?”
She chuckles slightly. “It’s your home. I’m intruding on you.”
“No, you’re not. If you want me home so you’re not alone, I’ll talk to Seth tonight.”
“No, I don’t want him to know.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell him anything; this stays between us.”
“Thank you. Now you need to get ready; you have an hour before he picks you up.”
I don’t think I can leave her like this now.
She must catch the hesitance in my face. “No, you’re going. Chance is coming over to watch a movie. He helps me forget and makes me laugh.”
“I’m glad. He really is a great guy.”
“Now get going and get ready for this date.” Standing up, she holds my crutches for me.
“I’ll only go if I know you’re okay.”
“Trust me, I’m as good as I can be.”
“Love you, lady.” Smiling, I hobble away.
“Love you too,” she sings back to me.