Edible Delectables (26 page)

“Yeah, I’m good,” Kara reassured him.  “But since we’re on the topic of important people, I need to tell you something.”  Kara chewed on her lower lip gently; she had never intended to have this conversation with her dad while he was still in the hospital.  In fact, she’d much prefer to have Jason by her side when they told him of their engagement, but somehow, the moment just felt right.

Taking a deep breath she squared her shoulders, and looked Paul in the eyes.  “Jason asked me to marry him.”  She held her breath and awaited her father’s response.  Much to her surprise, he remained calm, even quiet. 

As though coming to terms with her news, Paul nodded his head after a minute in acceptance.  “I’m happy for you, Kara.”  He reached out and grasped her hand, squeezing it.  “I really am.  I have to ask though, as your father, are you sure?  You guys, well, you had that rough patch and all.” 

“I know, we’ve talked it through, and I am sure.  I really am,” she assured him, and paused before continuing, “But there’s more.  I’m moving to Seattle with him.”

Paul looked surprised.  “When?”

She shrugged her shoulders.  “We haven’t really gotten everything settled, but as soon as I’m back in Austin I’ll look for somebody to run Edible Delectables for me while I’m gone.”  Kara rubbed her father’s arm soothingly.  “I didn’t want to bring all this up while you were in here, but it felt wrong not telling you.”

“Where is Jason?”  Paul asked, seeming to notice for the first time Jason was not at the hospital.

“He had to go back to Austin for the day, but is determined to come back this evening for the night.  Of course, then he’ll turn back around, drive back to Austin with me, and fly out from there.”  She chuckled to herself, remembering the conversation where she pointed out to Jason all the driving he’d be doing. He’d insisted the time with her was worth the hardship all the driving would entail.

“I have no plans on being away from you any time soon,” he had said, as Kara snuggled into his chest with a smile of satisfaction.

“He’s a good guy,” Paul stated.

“He is,” Kara agreed softly.

~*~

When Jason booked his flight to Houston, he had no intentions of spending even one minute away from Kara’s side.  Of course once back in Texas, he realized there were some loose ends he really should tie up from his job at Mercy in Austin.  Feeling confident that Paul’s condition was much improved, Jason saw the benefit of dealing with these things during the day, while Kara visited with her dad.  During their discussion Kara had tried to insist he not drive all the way back to Houston; however, Jason quickly shut that train of thought down.  There was no way he was going to spend the night in Austin, with Kara still in Houston, when they had only one night left to be together before he was on a plane to Seattle - alone.  He was overwhelmingly thankful this next stint of solitude wouldn’t last forever, and Kara would follow him as soon as she could. 

He’d wasted no time telling his entire family their news, and it pleased him to find them supportive.  Nobody tried to persuade him to think things over, or tell him it was too soon to make such a commitment.  In fact, upon hearing the news, his sister immediately launched into wedding planner mode, leading Jason to quickly hang up the phone.

After dealing with things at Mercy Hospital, Jason was shocked to find his sister at Kara’s bakery, looking relaxed as she met with customers and interviewed possible shop managers for Kara’s impending leave of absence. He smirked at his twin as he stood in front of the counter, watching her escort the latest interviewee from the shop, while thanking the man and letting him know she would be in touch.

“You look at home here,” he noted. 

Jaime grinned in return.  “If only I could bake something that didn’t taste like cardboard.” 

Jason laughed, agreeing with her.

“Thank you for doing this, Jaime,” he said, suddenly serious.  Jaime looked at him in surprise.

“You don’t have to thank me Jason; I want you guys to be happy.”

“We are,” Jason assured his sister.  “Very happy,” he continued, eyes sparkling.

“See, now you’re just making me nauseous,” she said dryly, “but I really am happy for you.”  She reached over and pulled her brother into a hug.

“Thanks.”  He pulled back, but didn’t release her from his embrace as he grew sober.  “Seriously Jaime, thank you.  I don’t know what I was thinking letting her go.  I need her like I need air.”

“You were thinking like a typical guy, doing what you thought was best for everyone.  One of these days your gender will learn.”  Jason smirked, releasing his sister with a slight shove.  Jaime stumbled, giggling, and began to walk away, gathering her things to close up the bakery for the day.

“Hey,” Jason called after her.

“Yeah?”  She looked back over her shoulder, standing in the doorway to the shop.

“I love you.”

“I love you too,
little
brother.”  He rolled his eyes and pointed his thumb over his shoulder. 

“I’m hitting the road. Heading back to Houston.”  The phone rang just then and Jaime waved goodbye as she reached over to answer it.

~*~

Jason’s drive back to Houston felt twice as long as his drive to Austin.  The anticipation of returning to Kara left him anxious, and the thought of leaving her the following day was causing his stomach to twist.  Just as he reached the city limits, Kara sent him a text informing him she was back at the hotel, and asking him to meet her there. Upon arrival he found Kara sitting on the small loveseat, in the corner of their room, reading a book.  He settled down next to her, draped his arm across her shoulders, and leaned his head against hers. Kara turned her face to kiss his cheek and set her book down, then situated herself to snuggle into his side.

After sitting quietly and enjoying the moment just being together, Kara spoke up, “I missed this. When we were apart.”  She reached across his lap and took his hand, the one not around her shoulders, between hers, playing with his fingertips. 

“I missed
you
,” he said solemnly.  Kara looked up at him through her lashes and gave him a soft smile. 

“I told my dad today, about the engagement,” she announced.  Jason looked at her surprised.  “We were making his after-care arrangements,” she explained, “and he confessed to being in a relationship with Anna Miller.  I mean, I knew they were sort of dating, or were thinking of dating, around Christmas, but I hadn’t realized it had evolved into anything.  She’s going to stay with him.  So, I spent the afternoon getting to know her, and she seems really nice.  It’s obvious she adores my dad.”  Jason hugged Kara closer, and kissed the top of her head.

“Are you okay with that?”

“With my dad’s girlfriend taking care of him instead of me?”   Kara thought it over for a minute, “Yeah, I am.  I’m just glad he’s found somebody. It makes it easier for me to leave Texas to be with you.”  She turned and kissed him softly, but quickly pulled back and studied him, and he knew she’d noticed the sad look in his eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

He shrugged his shoulders and sighed heavily.  “I’m already getting depressed about having to be so far away from you again,” he answered, giving a half-hearted chuckle.

Kara sat up straight and grabbed his face, forcing him to face her.  “But this time, you know I’m following.  I’m staying long enough to get things settled here, and then I’m coming to Seattle.”

“I feel guilty about that,” Jason admitted hesitantly.

“Why?”

“You’re giving up everything for me.”

“Stop.  We’re not doing this again, Jason. I’m not giving anything up, I’m…delegating.  I’m a small business owner, I can do that.”  She nodded. punctuating her point.  “Besides, I should at least live in the same state as my fiancé.”

“I agree,” he stated, but he couldn’t deny he still felt doubt. “It’s just...this fellowship is two years, Kara.  I want you to be sure.”

“I am sure! I’m positive.  I’ve thought this through.  My bakery isn’t going anywhere.  I have Jaime looking over the books, and she’s helping me hire a manager and possibly an extra employee, because I’m sure nobody will be stupid enough to accept a job where they try to do it all, like I did.”  She spoke fervently and with conviction. “The truth is, I should have done this a long time ago.  In the end I’ll probably be more successful taking a step back from it all.”

“I want to marry you, Kara Baker,” he declared after speech.

“That’s a good thing, since we’re engaged.”

He stood up, pulling her with him.  “No, I mean I want to marry you
right now
.”  Kara’s mouth dropped open in astonishment.

“Uh…”  She couldn’t find the words and wasn’t sure how to reply to him.

“Let’s do it.  Let’s go to Vegas.”  The light in his eyes was shining bright, and he looked to tremble with excitement.  Kara stood motionless in front of him, still in his arms, stunned by his outburst and excitement.

“You’re serious.”  It wasn’t a question.

“Absolutely.” 

“You want to fly to Vegas and elope.”

“Yes, I do.”

“What about work?  You’ve only been there a little over a month; you’re due back tomorrow from the emergency leave you took.  I can’t imagine they’ll be throwing time off at you to run off and get married.  Unless in the time we were apart you perfected some under the table suck up skills you haven’t told me about.”

“I think I can finagle a few more days - without the need to perform any oral favors.”

“A few days?  You’re sweeping me off my feet here.”

“I’m determined to get you legally bound to me as soon as possible.”

“And there’s the romance I was looking for.”

“Kara, I’m serious.” Her snarky reply died on her lips when she saw just how serious he really was.

“Can we stay at the Bellagio?” she asked, instead of fighting it any longer.

“We can stay anywhere you want,” he answered instantly, holding her gaze without blinking.

“Then call your boss. You’ve got a trip to plan.”

“We’re doing this?  I mean we’re
really
doing this?” Kara shrugged and smiled, then nodded her head.

He pulled his cell phone from his pocket with what was practically an inhuman speed, while still staring into her eyes, and without looking away, hit the preset speed dial for his supervisor.  As he spoke to whoever answered, he finally looked away from Kara. The conversation was quick and resulted in his getting the next four days off work.  When he turned back to her, Kara was once again standing in a stunned stupor.

The next four days.
  She had imagined it would be a month, maybe two or even longer, before he’d get any kind of extended leave, not that most people considered four days an extended leave. Although, to whoever was going to be covering his hospital shifts it might be, and they wouldn’t be too happy about his last minute request.  Jason was going to end up owing a lot of favors. 

Shaking it off, Kara flopped back down on the sofa beside him as he fired up his laptop..  She watched him, amazed by his determination, and a slow smile spread across her face as he did a few quick searches to find the best Vegas package deal.

“Should we call anyone?  Invite them?”  She worried their haste might piss off their friends and family.  After all, Jason had described Jaime’s overwhelming enthusiasm for planning, and from what he’d said, his sister was ready to dive in.  Then there was the issue of her father. While Paul was never one for big ceremonies, and Kara felt confident that he would be fine with her plan for a simple ceremony, she still felt guilty he wouldn’t be able to attend the wedding, let alone walk her down the aisle. 

Jason pondered her question for a minute before answering.  “I say we call, inform them of our plans, and allow them to come if they want, but we don’t deviate from what we’re doing for anybody.  I know my mom and Jaime will try to guilt us into waiting for a big wedding with all the major hoopla.  I don’t want that; I just want you.”  He gave her a quick kiss and turned back to the online trip registration and booking.

“You know, if we call Jaime now, she may be able to extend her leave as well; she mentioned to me she was considering taking this week off.”  Jason grinned excitedly and pulled his phone back out of his pocket, quickly dialing his sister’s number.  Jaime, of course, screeched that they were insane when she heard the news, then informed her brother he was buying Ryan a ticket as her date,
then
insisted that he’d better cough it up and pay for Eva and Eric as well.  He pinched the bridge of his nose, nodded his head, must have realized she couldn’t hear him nod, and finally agreed aloud to Jaime’s demands.  As he sighed, sounding exhausted from the phone conversation, Kara giggled.  Jason hung up the phone, tossed it on the table beside them, and went back to finalizing their new travel arrangements. 

“We can wait Jason, we don’t have to do it right away,” she said softly, scooting in closer to him.

He simply kissed her in reply and told her to call Eva to let them know he’d buy their tickets if they wanted to come.  He mentioned she should also call her father.  While Paul wouldn’t be able to travel, they needed to let him know of their plans.  He kissed her once more, then got up from the couch and dialed his parent’s number.

~*~

In the end, after several long phone calls filled with reassurances that they were not moving too fast, and that this really was what they both wanted, Jaime, Ryan, Eric and Eva all decided they would be going with them, while their parents all decided to stay home.  They conceded to allowing a larger reception to be planned, and hosted, by Jason’s mother – and Jaime, of course - at a later date back in Austin.

Kara tried to assign Eva the task of going to Kara’s apartment and picking up a nice dress, but Eva immediately scoffed at that, informing Kara they would be shopping for something as soon as they arrived in Vegas. For once Kara didn’t bother arguing with her. When the planning was done, and their calls all made, they reconvened on the bed of their hotel room.