Desired in December (Spring River Valley Book 12) (11 page)

“Technically, ma’am, he’s still in.”

“So he could be sent away again? He could have to leave?”

Bristol shifted his stance uncomfortably. “In between now and the end of the week, it’s unlikely…”

“But it could happen?”

“Well…if there was an emergency, yes.”

She nodded, snatched her coat from the couch and
hurried toward the door.

“Cassie, where are you going?”

“Home.” She left the house, cold air swirling through the front door in her wake.

Ignoring Bristol, James raced after her. She’d marched past his rental car and was heading down the sidewalk.

“Cassie! Come on, this is nuts. Where are you going?”

“
I told you, I’m going home,” she answered, not turning to look at him.

“It’s freezing out here
, and you live six blocks away.”

“Six blocks isn’t that far. I need the fresh air.”

The cold hit him harder than it used to, and by the time he caught up to her he was shivering. “Cassie, we have to talk about this.”

“No, we don’t. I have to work
, and you have to make some important decisions. Call me when you’re really sure you’re here to stay. Or better yet,
write me a letter
.”

“That’s harsh.”

She stopped walking and turned to look at him. “Is it? Why didn’t you tell anyone, even your parents, that you were thinking of re-enlisting?”

“Because I didn’t want
this
to happen.”

“Well, maybe you should have told Sergeant Bristol that. He must think there’s a pretty good chance you’ll re-up
, or he wouldn’t be here on a Sunday afternoon to offer you all those exciting incentives.”

“It’s his job. Cassie, I’m not going to leave again. I promise.”

She bowed her head. “I’m afraid to believe you.”

“Why?”

“Because I believed you when you left. You said that you wouldn’t be gone long, and then we’d be together again—and then you broke up with me.”

“So you don’t trust me anymore?”

She met his gaze, tears in her eyes. “I guess that’s the real issue here. I…don’t. I’m sorry. Maybe I’ll always be afraid that when you’re not with me, you’ll change your mind about what you want.”

“You won’t take my word for it?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think I can.”

“So what happened to all or nothing?”

“I guess we have nothing.”

“I’m a fraud,” Cassie muttered. “A complete fraud.”

“In what way?” Audrey asked. She’d come over after receiving Cassie’s distraught phone call, and they’d spent Sunday night making mudslide cookies and eating them right out of the oven. They both now lay across Cassie’s sofa and love seat, waiting for doses of antacid to kick in.

“This whole love thing is just a big joke. It’s an illusion.” Everything about Saturday night had been perfect, like a fairy tale, and
that was why Cassie knew she shouldn’t have trusted it. Nothing in real life could ever be that romantic or amazing. Wouldn’t those couples who called her “the matchmaker” think it was funny that the person who’d brought them together didn’t really believe in happily ever after?

“Your illusion lasted seven years. You’ve been in love with James since the day you met him, and you still are. And for your information, I happen to be in love with Max, and I think that’s pretty real.”

Cassie hauled herself up to a sitting position and regarded Audrey through bleary eyes. “I’m sorry. You and Max are lucky, but the rest of us— Okay, maybe it’s just me, then.”

“It’s not you.” Audrey moaned and rubbed her stomach. “Why can’t you drown your sorrows in booze like normal people?”

“I like to bake when I’m upset.”

“Look, for what it’s worth, I don’t think James really had any intention of re-enlisting. These recruiters can be pretty persuasive. He probably had to act interested just to get the guy off his back. I bet he’s signing those discharge papers right now.”

“You’re probably right, but that’s not the point. The point is, I realized when I was walking away from him that I really didn’t believe him. All I could think about was how betrayed I felt when I got his letter. It made me believe everything he’d told me before he left for boot camp was a lie, all the promises we made to each other the last night we spent together, they just evaporated while he was gone. He hadn’t even been there a day, so it felt like he was planning it all along, and it wasn’t until today that it hit me how scared I am of that happening again. If I can’t trust him, then I can’t be with him.”

“Maybe you need to give it some time. Build that trust back.”

“It may be too late.”

“I don’t think it’s ever too late.”

* * * *

A week passed during which Buttons and Bows Bake Shop opened its doors and James signed his final discharge papers, to Sergeant Bristol’s disappointment.

On the Monday before Christmas he stood outside the shop, shivering. The temperature had dipped well below freezing, and light snow fell from deep gray clouds. James hadn’t had a chance to get a proper winter coat yet—he hadn’t needed one in five years—so now he wore two sweatshirts, a pair of jeans, a scarf, and knitted hat and gloves. Two pairs of socks made his work boots especially tight, but not much warmer, so he stamped his feet periodically to keep the blood circulating, blood that had at one time in his youth been thick enough to withstand a New York State winter without so much as a faint chill.

He supposed in time he’d get used to it. When he compared this to his deployment, he had to admit, as uncomfortable as he was, it beat sweating in the desert.

Despite the cold attacking the rest of his body, his hands were warm, sweaty in fact, where he clutched two very important documents. As soon as the line of people that trailed out of the shop and halfway to the nearest corner cleared, he planned to present them to Cassie.

“Is that you, Corporal?” A familiar voice interrupted his impatient wait, and he turned to find Evie carrying two huge pink bakery boxes tied with red string.

“Ms. Prentice. Are you covering the grand opening?” He pointed to the fancy marquee above the crowded entrance.

“Sorry, that’s Lifestyle, not my department anymore. I’m just here to pick up some snacks for the Ambulance Corps Christmas party. And I wish you’d call me Evie. I get the feeling you don’t like reporters…or is it just that you don’t like me?”

“I’m sorry. I never meant to be rude. I’m used to reporters who tend to…get in the way.”

“I promise to stay out of your way, James.” Contrite, she stepped away but he stopped her with a light touch on her arm.

“Actually, I still owe you an answer to a question you asked me.”

“Oh? Which question?”

“You wanted to know if I’d reconnected with someone important to me. Stick around
and you’ll get your answer. I’ll even let you put it in that follow-up article you want to write.”

Evie eyed the dwindling line of customers ahead of James. “Let me put these boxes in my car, and I’ll be right back.”

By the time the reporter returned, James had advanced to the door of the shop. He handed her one of the documents. “Would you be willing to do me a favor? Read this out loud when we get inside?”

She opened the folded page and scanned the lines he’d written. A brilliant smile spread across her face as she read. “I’d be honored.”

The line quickly moved inside the shop, and James took a moment to appreciate all that Cassie had accomplished. The place glowed with warmth and smelled like heaven. Every seat was taken, and people stood by the counter, pointing out the gorgeous treats that filled the display cases.

Behind the counter, two young women hurried back and forth, filling pink boxes with cupcakes and cookies. These had to the students Cassie had mentioned wanting to hire. Though the two seemed quite busy, there was no sign of Cassie, and James began to worry she might not appear. Before he reached the counter, though, she emerged from the kitchen with a tray of fresh baked Christmas-themed cookies.

Her smile lit the room. This was clearly her dream and she was living it. James almost didn’t want to intrude, but he still wanted one more shot at his own dream.

Cassie slid the tray onto the top of the display case and customers surged closer to inspect the new treats. “Double fudge wreaths,” she announced. “Oatmeal charms will be out in a few minutes and the fruitcake cupcakes are almost ready for those of you who are waiting.”

She still hadn’t noticed James, so he nudged Evie who opened the letter he’d given her and cleared her throat dramatically to draw everyone’s attention, including Cassie’s.

“Dear Cassie… You told me to write you a letter when I was sure I was here to stay.”

Conversation in the shop ceased and all eyes turned from Evie to James as he stepped forward to face Cassie who’d come around the edge of the counter, eyes wide.

“James, what is this?”

“Just listen.”

Evie continued, “
I know you don’t trust me anymore, and that hurts, but I should have expected it. I was different when I was away, and I thought I was doing the right thing by breaking up with you. I still think maybe it was the right choice at the time… Considering re-enlisting was the right thing too. I felt like I needed a backup plan. As it is, I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do here. In the army, I had a specific purpose. It was hard work, but I knew exactly what I was doing all the time. I could have a decent career in the army, and I could retire by the time I’m forty. That’s not so bad.”

When Evie paused to take a breath Cassie transferred her confused stare to James. She looked stricken by his admission.

“So what are you saying? Did you come here to tell me you want to stay in the army? Because if you do, then you should. Do what’s important to you. Don’t make me the person who stops you from fulfilling your purpose,” she said.

“You’re not. Making a life with you
is
my purpose. I knew that the second I saw you again. And I’m willing to do whatever it takes to earn your trust again, but the same issues still apply. I’m not the same person I was five years ago. If I stay here, it’s not all going to be perfect nights and holidays and reunions.”

“Do you really think that’s what I expect? I never wanted perfect, I just wanted you.”

“Thanks, I think.” He laughed, but her gaze remained steely.

James motioned for Evie to finish.

“You said you didn’t trust me, and I’m to blame for that. I never gave you much reason to. When I left I said we’d be together forever, then I bailed on you. I owe you an apology, and here it is.”

James handed the second document to Cassie who unfolded the thick paper and scanned the lines of legalese that culminated in James’s signature agreeing to his permanent discharge from the army.

She stood silently for a long moment, then wiped at her eyes before handing the paper back to him.

Evie read on. “I’m not going to ask you to trust me when I say that I’ll always be here for you. I’m just going to never give you a reason not to believe it. Please forgive me, Cassie. I love you and I always will.” Evie’s voice broke on the last line, and someone in the shop called, “Kiss him!”

Cassie laughed through her tears, and flew into James’s arms to obey the anonymous command. To the applause of her assembled customers, she kissed him. Nothing had ever felt better or more right.

When she broke the kiss, tears still sparkled in her eyes and he wiped them away.
“I know it’s going to take time for you to trust me again. Will you give me a chance?”

She nodded.

“I’m sorry I lied to you back then about us being together forever.”

Cassie laid her head on James’s chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. “But you weren’t lying. We are going to be together forever.
Back then, forever just hadn’t started yet.”

THE END

Guess who’s getting married!

A WEDDING IN DECEMBER:  Book 13 of the Spring River Valley Series

One of the couples you’ve met this year in Spring River Valley is going to get married in December 2014, but who’s the lucky pair? That’s up to you.

Between the time you read this and April 30
th
2014, I want to hear from readers which couple should walk down the aisle in December.

Just visit my website to vote in the opinion poll on the sidebar.

www.claricewynter.com

Whichever couple receives the most votes will star in
A WEDDING IN DECEMBER