Page 24 of Fake-Off with Fate (Love in Maple Falls #1)

JAMIE

I call in a comfort food order to Shirley May’s before leaving my cabin.

Then I grab one of the several boxes of cereal I bought for the bear family sharing my yard.

Walking out the door, I make eye contact with the papa bear.

Then I throw the box behind him and make a run for it.

I’ve gotten pretty good at this in the last week, all the while counting down the days until this crew goes into hibernation.

My phone rings once I get into my car and Bluetooth picks it up. Over the speakers I hear a voice I have not heard in a long enough time. “Jamie.”

“Allegra?”

“Yes, it’s me,” she says. The sound of her is both familiar and oddly unsettling.

I don’t feel like small talk, so I get right to the point. “Why are you calling?”

“I’ve been thinking about you a lot. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

The dormant anger in me starts to rise like a volcano coming to life. “Why do you suddenly care how I’m doing?”

She makes a low humming sound in her throat which is something she does when she doesn’t quite know what to say. “I … we ll … three years was a long time to be together. I guess I feel like we ended things a bit abruptly.”

Putting the car into drive, I exit the property and pull out onto the main road. “I didn’t end things,” I tell her. “You did.” There doesn’t seem to be any reason to bring up the fact that I proposed twice, and both times she told me she wasn’t ready.

“It was my fault, Jamie, and I’m sorry.”

I might have appreciated this conversation months ago, but it’s not doing much for me right now. “Is that all you called to say?”

“No. I wanted to let you know that Brett and I are taking a little break.”

“Pardon me if this sounds rude, Allegra, but why do you think I care?”

She inhales deeply before telling me, “I left without giving us a fair chance, Jamie. I should have told you how I was feeling.”

As I drive toward town, I realize the trees are changing color more every day and an unexpected peace washes over me. “There’s nothing you can do about it now.”

“Can we talk in person?” she asks. Her voice sounds pained, like a wounded animal.

“To what end?” I ask. I mean, I left New York for Washington because of her. I hardly want to see her now.

“I need to see you. I need to talk to you. I need closure.” She sure does have a lot of needs for someone who caused this situation.

“You left me high and dry,” I tell her.

“I know.”

“I don’t owe you anything, Allegra.”

“No, you don’t. But we were once very much in love and even if you hate me now, please try to remember the woman I used to be to you. Meet me for her sake.”

Turning onto Main Street, I park in front of Shirley May’s. “The woman I used to love doesn’t exist anymore, Allegra. I’m sorry you’re having a hard time, but I’m not the person to share your troubles with.”

Her soft sob stirs a tiny speck of sympathy in me. I did love Allegra, and as I recently told Ashlyn, part of me always will. But even so, I can’t put myself through any more. I’m finally coming out of my grief and getting on with my life. There’s no point in moving backwards.

“I’m sorry I called,” Allegra eventually says. “I’m sorry for everything. I really made a mess of things.”

I don’t try to console her. She did make a mess of things, and I’ve paid a huge price for that. I abandoned my town and my team just to get away from the disaster she left in her wake. “If that’s all …” I say.

“Jamie.” Allegra’s tone is pure begging now. “If you change your mind …”

“I won’t,” I tell her with finality.

“I still love you.”

“Have a good life, Allegra.” I disconnect the call. How dare she contact me and ask me to see her? She must think I’m a complete fool to put myself in a position where she could hurt me again.

Getting out of the car, I feel the cool evening breeze on my face.

Taking a deep breath, I fancy I can smell the change in season.

I’ve only been in Maple Falls a short time, and I’m still not sure I’m going to ever feel like it’s my home, but right now I’m so glad to be here and not in New York, I could cheer.

Walking into the diner, Peggy calls out, “Jamie!” I love how I’m already on a first-name basis with both her and Shirley May.

“Hi, Peggy,” I say. “I placed an order to go.”

“Having supper with Ashlyn?”

One of the weirdest things to get used to is that there is zero privacy in this small town. “Why would you think that?” I ask.

“You got her favorite food,” the waitress says. “Plus, I heard that you and Ashlyn are a number. Good for you. You couldn’t find yourself a nicer gal. ”

“You’re right,” I tell her. An image of Allegra pops into my mind and I realize that Ashlyn is so much better for me. It’s too bad she’s going back to LA and won’t ever be more than a friend. Yet, now that the press has picked up on our fake relationship, I need to play the part.

“Her parents will be happy to have her back in town,” Peggy says.

“I’m not sure she’s moving home.”

Peggy gives me a slow wink. “Of course she’ll move home. Long distance relationships are tough, and Ash is too smart for that kind of nonsense.”

After paying for our food, Peggy hands a brown shopping bag across the counter. “I put in extra pie for my girl. It really is her favorite.”

“That’s very nice of you, Peggy. I’ll make sure to make it up to you once the season starts. Maybe some rink-side tickets?”

“Oh, honey, that’s sweet, but I don’t like hockey.” She thinks for a beat before saying, “But if you get any basketball tickets, you let me know.”

It’s strange for a professional athlete to have someone be so nice to them when they’re not looking for some kind of payback. Long ago, I learned it was par for the course that people sucked up in hopes of a better favor being returned.

And even though I’ve only been in town for a short time, that has not been my experience with people here. They are genuinely nice to you because that’s just who they are.

Getting back into the car, I drive three minutes to Ashlyn’s parents’ house.

I glance around the neighborhood before turning into her driveway.

That’s when I see an older lady in the house across the street staring out her window right at me.

I think about waving in greeting, but as we make eye contact, she lets the curtain sheers close in front of her.

The shadow of her remains so I know she’s still watching.

I grab our dinner before getting out of the car and walking up to the front door. Ashlyn answers it before I can knock. “I was watching out the window,” she tells me by way of greeting.

“You’re not the only one.” I take a step back and point across the street.

Ashlyn huffs, “That’s our neighbor, Mary-Ellen McCluskey.

She’s the biggest gossip in town. Within an hour, she will have called everyone she knows and told them that you’re here.

” Suddenly Ashlyn’s face morphs into a smile.

Stepping out of the house, she waves her hands and calls out, “Hi, Mrs. McCluskey!” A face appears in the window.

Ashlyn gestures toward me. “This is Jamie Hayes. He has a meeting with my dad!”

The drapes on the window across the street fall back into place before the front door opens. “What was that, dear? I couldn’t hear you.”

“I said this is Jamie Hayes. He’s the captain of the Ice Breakers. He’s meeting my dad.”

I lean in toward Ashlyn and whisper, “This is a weird way to introduce me.”

She quietly responds, “Trust me, it’s the best way of dealing with a gossip. She’s less interested in the way she’s meeting you than in the fact that she’s getting details for the story she’s about to spread around town.”

Mrs. McCluskey calls back, “I hear that you and this man are dating. Is that true?”

“We’re friends,” Ashlyn tells her, neither confirming nor denying.

“I see.” Ashlyn’s neighbor excitedly adds, “Well, I’d better get going. I have supper in the oven.”

Ashlyn waves again before pulling me inside. “ Supper is code for a million people to call.”

“How are you doing?” I ask her as she leads the way into the kitchen.

She pulls down plates from the cabinet before retrieving silverware from the drawer. “I’m scared. I can’t believe I sent my parents on a trip in the middle of a hurricane zone during hurricane season. Who does that?”

Sitting down at the kitchen table, I remind her, “You needed to find something last minute.”

“And now we know why it was available.” She pours two glasses of water from the pitcher in the refrigerator and brings them over to the table while I take our food out of the bag. This whole scene is so domestic it makes me yearn for more.

A sudden tension fills the air around us like there’s a third person in the room. “Ashlyn …” I start to say.

She doesn’t let me finish my thought. “Thanks for bringing supper over.”

Sitting down across the table from me, she opens her food container. It seems like she’s trying really hard not to look at me.

I suppose now is not the time to tell her how I’m starting to feel. She clearly doesn’t want to hear it or she would have let me finish speaking. Trying to regain the easiness of companionship we were enjoying, I tell her, “I just had an interesting call.”