49. ~ Char ~
CHAPTER 49
~ Char ~
O n Friday, with a stomach full of Peter’s, I headed downtown for my afternoon job interview. I crossed the pedestrian bridge over the Bow River, and watched the people below floating on the current in their inflatable rafts and tubes, beating the August day’s increasing heat.
The interview was for a company that bought and sold artifacts around the world, and they needed a pottery specialist. That person was possibly me.
But how could it be? There were so many trained experts out there. Were they all super busy?
As I walked, I allowed myself to daydream that I had the job. I could see myself strolling down the Stephen Avenue Walk, the trees along the street’s edges providing shade as I searched for a new restaurant to try on my lunch break. I was wearing a crisp suit from Banker’s Hall, feeling like a million bucks, and talking on my cell phone about pottery with a European buyer who had a fabulous accent.
I inhaled, savouring the feel of this new life. I could taste the cooling latte I’d picked up from an artisan coffee shop near my office. See the brightly coloured koi, or whatever they were, in the Devonian Garden’s fish pond where I stopped to sit. I could even feel the gust of air from the CTrain as it passed me en route, filled with other businessmen and women. I had a modern, gorgeous office decorated with lovely, lush ferns and lots of product—otherwise known as priceless pottery pieces worth more than many of the homes lining Springbank Hill.
Okay, maybe not quite that much. Maybe in total they’d be worth the amount those homes went for in the growing insanity called Calgary housing prices.
I stopped in front of Ruckles’ temporary office and pumped myself up. So what if I didn’t have a degree? I could show the interviewer that I had enough field experience and reasonable knowledge. I’d helped the police, after all. Who else in Calgary could do that? Plus, I was a fast learner who was very curious, and could learn on the job.
Thirty minutes later, I left the interview, smiling. I had a new BFF, Mira, who didn’t mind nerding out over mutually favourite eras. It had been so nice to hold a conversation about ancient pottery that lasted longer than approximately fifteen seconds.
At first, I’d thought I’d blown it. It had been as though the job was on the platform waving at me; the train tooting its whistle, ready to leave the station. I’d been pleased over spotting a fake Ming right off the hop. I’d asked Mira if they sold many knock-offs, then had gotten nervous and said I knew it was a fake because it was placed within sight of the windows, and they didn’t have high-end security.
Fearing that I was coming across like a thief casing the place, and very aware that I’d come onto their radar thanks to the museum heist, I’d quickly muttered that the glaze also wasn’t consistent enough, and that a real Ming’s glaze didn’t crack.
Thankfully, she’d been pleased that I knew a bit about porcelain as well as pottery. And even though I’d never been a buyer, or assessed the value of various pieces, I’d been offered a three-month contract where we’d try each other out with the stipulation that I would take some classes to round out my knowledge.
I was terrified. What if this was my dream, and I smashed it like I’d smashed so many other things in my life over the past few months?
Or, maybe, just maybe, it was like Sally had told me. I’d only smashed that old life so I could move forward into something so much better, such as this career.
And such as being able to let go of my fear and finally risk my heart on the man I knew was worthy of it.
* * *
I burst into the house, eager to tell Sally my job news. I’d texted James already, but he hadn’t replied, probably because he was knee-deep in maps or all the training he had to do.
“I got the job!”
Sally whooped from the kitchen.
“Congratulations!” She met me in the kitchen doorway, with a tray of sugar cookies. “Look what I made.” The cookies were giant, and decorated with different messages. Congratulations! Way to go! New job!
“What?” I looked at her in wonder. Talk about confidence.
“I knew you’d get it.” She held the tray out to the side and gave me a big, one-armed hug.
We moved to the counter to try the cookies. They were tender and amazing. There was a hint of cinnamon and I was in love. I could sit down and eat the whole batch.
I brushed the crumbs from my lips and stole a second cookie. “I don’t know what I’m going to do without your cookies.”
“You’ll just have to stop by my bakery,” Sally said, wiping her hands on her apron.
“What?”
She grabbed a folder off the counter, and with a flourish, handed it to me.
“What is this?” I flipped through the typed pages, searching for clues.
“A lease.”
“For what? Where?”
“For my bakery, silly! You convinced me to follow my dream.”
“I did?”
“Of course you did!” Sally was wearing a cute, frowning smile, her eyelids lowered as though skeptical of my so-called act. “With you working so hard to make that park a reality, I realized I was just sitting here, dreaming when I could be out there doing.”
“You did?”
“And you got all of those kids and moms excited about my cookies.” Her cheeks pinked. “So, I started thinking, why not? What am I afraid of?”
“That’s really great, Sally.” I set the folder back on the counter and gave her a giant hug.
She poured so much love into me with that one embrace it made me homesick for her, for this, for the family I’d found during my toughest months. Was this the emotional struggle most of my friends had gone through when leaving home for the first time? Because it really sucked.
I was glad I wasn’t moving very far away.
“But I thought you and Otto wanted to travel? You just got the motorhome.”
She waved a hand. “We decided we’re more the weekend warrior types. And Otto says he’s always wanted to run a business, so he’ll do the paperwork side of things while I bake.”
“That sounds perfect. I promise to buy dozens and dozens of your cookies.”
Sally laughed, delighted. “I’ll be in that brick building right beside your park. It used to be a bread factory.”
“That’s perfect!”
“Fair warning—I’m going to rope you into helping me clean the place up.”
“I’m so totally down for that.”
“I think Everstone is an up-and-coming community, and the rent is cheap. Plus, I got permission from the building’s owner to make a walk-up window.” Sally gave a little body wiggle, smiles overtaking her face, the next one bigger than the last. “People can grab goodies and coffee to enjoy in your park. I’ll make sandwiches, too, so people can picnic.”
“Sally, that’s fabulous!”
“It’s such a perfect location. Tell me you’ll come for the grand opening?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
* * *
Moments later, the front door opened and a fistful of balloons was pushed inside, masking the man behind them. A blue dress shirt appeared as a few balloons were knocked out of the way, then James with his blond hair in a rumply Viking-of-a-mess.
“Congratulations!” He swept me up in a bear hug, releasing the balloons to the ceiling where they bobbed and dancing above us.
From of the corner of my eyes, I spied Sally backtracking into the kitchen to give us privacy.
I relaxed into James’s arms. They felt so right, so safe. How could I have ever been afraid of how I felt about this man? How could I have believed this wasn’t real?
He set me on my feet and kissed me long and slow. He reluctantly pulled away, and I placed a hand on either side of his mouth and drew his lips back to mine. He slid his fingers into my hair, and without letting go of me, kissed me deeper. I held him tight to me, and his palm was warm, flush across my lower back, signalling that he had absolutely no plans of going anywhere else.
When we broke apart, I bit my bottom lip. “There’s just one thing about my new job.”
His arms tightened around me. “What’s that?”
“There’s travel involved. Not always. But sometimes.”
“And?”
“And I don’t want to be away from you. I want to be with you all cozy and homey, and in our routine, with fun little adventures. I’m not scared of my feelings anymore. But I’m afraid this is too much for us. I just finished the park and want to spend time with you. It’s not a lot of travel, but between this and you going out on projects, too…”
“We are better when we’re together,” he whispered, angling his mouth down to mine for another kiss. “But you’re the kind of woman worth waiting for, and we will figure it all out.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
I breathed him in, losing myself in the moment.
“Will you tell me when you’re scared?” he asked.
I nodded. “But just so you know, I’m always scared.”
He gripped my chin, gently tipping it upward, but I found I couldn’t look at him. I felt shy and nervous.
“Right now?”
I laughed, voice shaking. “Terrified.” I smoothed a hand over the jut of his cheekbone and down to his jaw, avoiding his gaze as best I could. “I love you such an incredible amount. I’m afraid I’ll work too much and we’ll lose our connection, or I’ll wake up and find that this was all just a dream.”
I felt vulnerable confessing how open and raw I was around him. Fear was like a giant iceberg floating through my chest, on the prowl for the Titanic, A.K.A. my heart.
“This isn’t a dream.” He was holding me steady, one hand on my hip. He gave me a deep kiss that removed all doubt. “Char,” he said seriously, “would you be my forever girlfriend?”
I smiled against his lips, my hands tangled in his hair. “You’re never going to get rid of me.”
“I look forward to handling that.”
My heart soared above the icebergs, the heat of happiness melting away the ice.
“So, um. Speaking of girlfriends…” I dragged out the last word.
“Like you?” He dropped another kiss on my lips.
“Like me. But what’s the real reason you broke it off with Sophia?”
James looked at me with such seriousness, the icebergs of fear started reforming in the frigid waters.
“I broke up with her because I met you.”
No. There was no way.
He stroked my cheek, his smile soft and wistful. “When you hauled me over to chew out that kid for climbing on the mummies, for the first time, I could see my future.”
“Really?” He was taking my breath away, clearing the waters for all time.
“I could see it all with you. The adventure, the fun, but also the quiet moments. All of it. I could see you there, no matter my mood, no matter which course I decided to take next. I knew you wouldn’t think me crazy. You’d jump in and join the absurdity of it all.” He stroked my cheek with a tenderness I could get used to. “I love you and your curiosity, Char. And I started falling for you the first time I ever saw you.”
Oh, wow. I think my legs were going to give out like they did in romance novels. The wobbly leg thing was real. As real as my affection for this man.
James chuckled, his eyes sparkling. “Also, I was smitten by how, while doing inventory, you were trying to slyly peek inside a tomb.”
“I wasn’t!” My face went hot. “I was looking for barcodes to replace.”
His smile told me he’d caught me the one time I’d pried my fingers under the edge and tried lifting. The one and only time. I sighed. “Okay. But I only did that once.”
He chuckled, drawing me deeper into his arms again, into the place I truly belonged and could forever call home. “I saw all sorts of things in that job. But mostly I saw you.”