Page 21

An Unlikely Pair

“But why not delete a few?” I asked Jake over lunch at the Serious Sandwich. The shop had been open just over a year, and because of its proximity to the store, I could pop over easily enough for lunch.

“I just don’t see the point. What if I need one?” He shrugged and set down his Turkey O’Toole. It was their specialty.

When I’d discovered he never deleted his email and had over 17,000 just hanging out in his inbox, I went into a type A panic. I turned his phone around and showed him an email from eight years earlier about a sale at a shoe store. “But, see, I don’t think they’re going to take this coupon anymore. That one could go.”

He laughed and gave his head a shake. “I just hit the trash can cartoon there?”

“That’s all you gotta do.”

He hit the icon, sending the email to the trash, and I broke into a smile. “See? Wasn’t so hard. Only 16,999 to go.”

“Are we going to argue over each one?” he asked with a laugh.

“Let’s play it by ear.”

It had been twelve days since he’d come to my place for Thanksgiving. We’d gotten together handful of times, all of them on the fly. The great thing? He’d taken the lead, showing authentic interest in my life and all I had going on. It was, dare I say, nice? There wasn’t any kind of pressure to leap into an instant relationship. We hung out casually in short spurts, which made the whole thing feel less threatening.

“So, how’s the new branding going? Your whole store is green now.”

“You should see my office. They came in and redecorated the whole thing. There’s a fancy L-shaped desk and a gorgeous couch. They had a crew come in and paint, and a woman brought in these beautiful paintings of locations around town. My jaw hit the floor.”

“Sounds like an upgrade to me.”

“It is.” I finished chewing. “The best part is that they’re green-lighting so many of my ideas. Even the ones I considered long shots. We’re having Santa Claus come in and take pet photos every Tuesday in December right in between the dog and cat aisles. Faber would have died before allowing that to happen.”

“Yeah, well, Don has his own troubles now.”

“What have you heard?” This was fun.

“That woman he runs after all the time?”

“Harlowe?” I waved him off. “She’s a lot. I speak from experience.”

“She’s in jail.”

I had to set down my sandwich entirely. “What? How have I not heard about this?”

“Give it a couple of hours. My buddies booked her this morning on fraud, conspiracy, and embezzlement charges.” Sometimes I forgot he was a retired cop. Of course he’d have all the good intel before everyone else.

He looked around to make sure he could speak freely. Even so, he leaned in close. “There was this guy who came through here about a decade ago by the name of Grant Tranton and ripped off a handful of folks with all sorts of big promises. Took off with their investments and broke a lot of hearts. They finally caught up with him a few years back at a Pizza Hut in California. Turns out this Harlowe gal is his kid sister.”

“Stop it.” Suddenly, everything I knew about Harlowe played back in my brain like a movie on fast forward.

“And she was well-versed in the family business. Faber was a perfect mark for her.” He shook his head like this whole thing was a doozy of a con. “She’d been moving funds from his account to her own for years.”

This was like a Christmas present in so many ways. Harlowe was a scam artist in custody and Faber was outed as a fool. “Karma exists. It’s real,” I said out loud. “I mean, I’ve always wondered, but now I’m feeling pretty damn certain.”

“I’ve always thought so.”

I took a moment to bathe in the new knowledge of Faber off licking his wounds. It wasn’t like me to wish ill upon others, but I might make an exception and enjoy this for a few hours.

Jake brightened, remembering something. “Hey, Peggy and I like to take the boat out sometimes and thought maybe you’d like to join us. Kyle, too, if you like.”

“A boat? I’ve never had a boat in the family before.” I paused because I’d just included myself in his family, which, true or not, felt forward .

He didn’t seem to mind. “Oh, yeah. We’re outdoor kinda folks. Nothing fancy, but it could be a fun afternoon.”

“Count us in. Oh! And you need to swing by the BeLeaf booth at the Jingle Jamboree.” I marveled at actually having a booth our customers could visit. I’d been hoping for one for years now. I already had a sweater dress, boots, and Santa hat picked out. “Peter is organizing a whole complimentary spread of holiday breads, cheeses, meats, and fruit.”

“Oh my,” Jake added with a laugh. “I’ll definitely make a little plate in that case.”

“You have to. And Maya will be offering face painting, but even better, we’re entering the cider competition. Buster has been tirelessly perfecting our recipe at home.” I pointed at myself. “You might be able to tell I’m excited.”

“It’s good for a person to have things to look forward to.” He got this goofy grin on his face. “Charlie used to count down the days to things he couldn’t wait for with these numbered magnets on the fridge.”

I sobered a little at the mention of Charlie’s name. I had hoped I’d run into him again, or even better, work up the nerve to swing by the liquor store and work on setting things right between us. “How’s he doing?”

“He’s been busy. He’s helping set up a second store in Willow Haven about eighty miles from here, and that project has him on the road a hell of a lot. Jill sometimes rides with him if it’s a day when school is out.”

“That’s great.” I hesitated, not wanting to overstep. “Please tell him I said so. I mean, if you think that’d be okay. I’m not sure he’d want to hear it from me just yet.”

“I think he might be coming around. Understand, he’s more upset with me than anyone else. Just took him a minute to figure that part out ’cause he was all jumbled.” He tapped the table and offered a weary smile. “And I can take it. Don’t you worry.”

I wanted to comfort Jake, but I was also aware of the damage that secrets like this one did. I could see so in my own life. As much as I was trying to focus on the here and now, this whole situation had upended so much of what I thought I knew. “When he’s ready, it would be nice to have a conversation. We always got along just fine…before. But now he hates me and the horse I rode in on.”

“Charlie’s a good levelheaded guy. He doesn’t hate you, Savanna. He just needs a minute to get his ducks all lined up nice. And he’ll be at the holiday hullabaloo.”

“Jingle Jamboree.”

“That, too. He goes to all the things with the strange names.”

“Well, maybe the holidays will help. They tend to soften my heart.”

“You got a good one,” he said, balling his wrapper and tossing it into the nearby trash like a pro.

“It’s going to be okay, I think,” I said, to both of us as, he walked me to my car.

“Up until recently, I wasn’t sure.” He met my gaze. “You changed that, kid. I don’t know how, but you did.” He shoved his hands into the pockets of his soft and worn jeans. We shared a smile, and I understood that maybe we’d needed each other. Him, missing a piece of himself, and me, all alone in the world.

I slid into the driver’s seat. “What an unlikely pair we are.”

“Ha. You can say that again. See you soon, kid.” He closed my door for me, offered a wave, and backed up so I could reverse. It was his habit to wait until I was successfully on my way before heading to his own car, a gesture that made me feel safe, like someone was looking out for me. A parent. My parent. Surreal. I wondered what my folks would think. I imagined they’d be happy Jake and I had found each other in this crazy world. I imagined them smiling down on me and wished once again, more than anything, that they were still here. We’d probably have game nights like we did when I was younger. Only instead of Candy Land around the kitchen table, maybe it was poker or Codenames.

Imagine that .

Jake would never be a replacement for either of them, but he was family. My family.

I shook my head as I drove, avoiding Main Street at lunchtime, knowing I’d get stuck at every crosswalk in what I called pedestrian central. I didn’t mind the slightly longer drive through the residential side streets. I had a lot to think about and celebrate. A really great lunch with Jake that just seemed to build on other interactions. What was more? Harlowe was heading to jail, the store had a booth at the Jamboree, and I’d see my girlfriend in just a few hours to fill her in on all of it. I relished the days her shift allowed her to make it home for dinner. Plus, she looked incredibly sexy in scrubs. Couldn’t leave that part out. I smiled at myself in the rearview, very aware of my blessings and counting them.

* * *

I’d been counting the days until this year’s Jamboree the way kids count down to Christmas. Beleaf it or not, pun intended again, BeLeaf had agreed to close the store at seven that night to make sure all employees could attend the event. As booth project manager, I would head over by three to set up, meet the delivery drivers, and retrieve the coolers and storage containers for our spread.

“What do you need from me?” Kyle asked, peering over my shoulder in the kitchen.

“It would be great if we could coordinate our schedules.”

“Does that mean we can spend a little time at the fair together? Just us.”

“If by fair , you mean Jamboree, then yes. I want to show you the ins and outs because you do not know what you do not know.”

“And you’re a professional.”

“Don’t you know it. You have to try the roasted ears of corn with all the spices.”

“I’m intrigued. Keeping talking, Small Town.”

I accepted my new nickname as a badge of honor. “Then there are the snowball cookies, the peppermint brownies, and Christmas tree cake pops.”

“I can feel the sugar high already.”

“You’ll need to come hungry, because there’s also a hot chocolate bar. I’m not kidding.”

“Who would kid about that?”

She was humoring me. It was fine. She’d see the wonders of the Jingle Jamboree for herself soon enough. “And we have to make sure we don’t miss the big finale. The choir from the Methodist church assemble themselves on these tiers that make them look like ornaments on a Christmas tree. It’s really something to behold.”

“Do you know what else is?” She placed a hand on her hip. “You when you get that excited twinkle in your eye.”

“Say more.” I offered a keep it coming gesture.

“The first time I saw it was when you told me about your Airbnb business. You were so fired up, and I thought it might have been the sexiest thing I’d ever seen.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but the words evaporated. I was sexy on a first impression? No. I could imagine my sex appeal growing on someone over time, but it didn’t arrive first. “I’m not sure I believe that. You thought I was sexy in the hallway of that hotel?”

“One hundred percent. I didn’t want to leave but also didn’t want to make it weird that I lingered.”

I laughed and scrubbed my eyes. “I’m just having a difficult time processing this new take.”

“Take all the time you need. It’s what happened.”

“Mm-hmm,” I said, watching her. Her dark hair was down and little untamed, which made me imagine running my fingers through it. Probably my favorite look of hers.

“You affect me to a degree that it’s distracting.” She moved toward me, almost stalking. “It’s awesome but also unnerving.”

I stood taller. “Why unnerving?”

“Because I want to make you happy.” She raised a shoulder. “I want you to be proud of me. And a little part of me hopes you think about me as much as I think about you.”

“Trust me when I say that I do.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her close to me. “Even when I didn’t want to. So there.”

“And now?”

“Now I love it.”

“Love?” she proclaimed exuberantly with a smile before sinking into a kiss that left my body humming in happiness.

“I love a lot of things about us,” I said.

“You’re just throwing that word around willy-nilly now. This is remarkable. I think you might mean it.”

“We are spending the holidays together. That’s a pretty big deal.”

“Not as big a deal as the Jingle Jamboree.”

“It’s super close. I don’t know how I’ll break the tie.”

“You better stop,” she said and kissed me again. Truth be told, I’d miss the next eight Jingle Jamborees for Kyle. I’d walk through fire. My feelings had run away from me and grew exponentially each day. She didn’t need to know that…yet.

“I like the life we’re cobbling together.”

She pressed her face against my cheek a moment and then pulled back, meeting my gaze. “Confession time.”

“Oh, no.”

“I never imagined myself as a small-town kind of person. I like concrete. I like people everywhere on separate missions. It’s one of the reasons I lived close to downtown in Charleston.”

“Is there a but in there?”

“But since I’ve been here, I’ve never been happier.” She paused. “I’m surprised by the differences I’m able to make at work. I like running into my patients in line for coffee. The pace has been good for me. Is there another shoe about to drop?”

I gripped the counter behind me. “I don’t know.” I felt the exact same way, but admitting it felt like inviting trouble. Lately, I’d kept my eyes forward, and it served me well. “I don’t know what’s ahead for us, but maybe we’re not always here. Maybe you want to go back to the city. Maybe I’d like that, too. Doesn’t mean the Bay can’t be a somewhere we sneak off to.”

Her eyes brightened. “Maybe this time, it’s our house on the beach.”

I threaded our fingers. “I could certainly get behind that.”

“You’re going to try to rent it out when we’re not using it, aren’t you?”

I laughed. “Well, I am a pro now. Speaking of which, I need to write a welcome card before my new tenants arrive. And leave Jamboree hints and tips.”

“You’re a busy woman.”

“It’s not like I’m a doctor or anything.”

A pause. “Hey, are you serious? About maybe moving to the city someday, or even splitting our time?”

“I would move to the city with you, Kyle.”

“And I’d stay in Dreamer’s Bay with you, just so we’re clear.”

The sentiment landed square in the middle of my chest and spread out, my whole body going warm. “That means a lot.”

“Well, so do you. The more time I spend with you, the more I dare to want.”

Dare to want .

There were words hovering just beneath our exchange that neither one of us was saying. The big ones. The most important words of all. We’d get there, I told myself, not quite able to vocalize what I already knew to be true. I loved Kyle. I loved her quiet thoughtfulness. I loved the way she walked into a room and affected every person in it. I more than loved her intelligence and the way she saw the world. I loved the way she spoke to me. I loved our quiet talks. I loved our playful side. I loved her presence, her heart, her confidence, her everything. I love you. I love you. I love you , I thought with everything in me.

Yet I didn’t pronounce the words. I wanted to and couldn’t. Investing so fully felt like climbing a mountain in the fog. I wanted desperately to make it to the peak, but the path was obscured and dangerous. I’d lost too many people in my life to trust I wouldn’t go tumbling off the side.

“Let’s keep daring each other,” I said instead. “In fact, I dare you to choose what we’re having for dinner, because I’m out of brain cells.” I was a coward and knew it.

Kyle opened the door to the fridge, keeping things light. She passed me a sly smile. “Look at me go.”