Chapter 23
WHITNEY CALLED her mom and dad on Christmas Eve. It took her only two tries to tell them that she had decided not to move to Charlottetown. Her mom panicked. Her dad reminded her that he was not going to cover her bills while she tried to figure out what to do next.
She bit her tongue and didn’t tell him that she hadn’t asked him to.
When she told them she was moving to Toronto to work with Caden after the New Year and had already arranged to live in Caden and Adam’s one-bedroom basement apartment for at least the first six months, they turned strangely quiet. No string of questions or nervous titters.
“I’ll be making a good salary,” she said. “Enough to cover rent, city life, and even put some into savings.”
After a very long pause, her mom asked, “But you’ve never lived in a city. Why Toronto?”
Because of Daniel. Because he’d reminded her of what Caden had confirmed. She was a trusted part of this community, and she showed up for the people in her life. The people she chose and the ones who chose her.
She wasn’t flaky with her friends. And they recognized that. They counted on her for that. Maybe she didn’t know what she wanted to do with the rest of her life, but she knew where she wanted to be. With the people who loved her just as she was.
Her smile sounded in her voice as she responded to her mom’s question. “Because I have friends there who believe in me.”
And if she apologized enough, Daniel might still be counted among them.
Aretha had given her a tiny seed of hope that maybe he could forgive her. Maybe he still felt the way he had before.
Even without that hope, she’d be on her way to Toronto for the chance to work with Caden. With it, she couldn’t get there fast enough.
But her parents didn’t need to know about Daniel yet. She wasn’t ready to have them pepper her with questions or sow doubt where she didn’t have answers. In the right time, she’d tell them about the man who had stolen her heart.
First, she had to find out if she still had his.
She’d booked her plane ticket for three days after Christmas. Aretha said he might need a week. Whitney wanted to be there the moment he was ready.
She’d planned to spend Christmas in Charlottetown, but Little Jack had begged her to stay in North Rustico to see him perform, and she couldn’t miss her last chance to do so. She’d happily accepted Marie’s invitation to join their family at the inn for a big turkey dinner.
All the tables in the dining room had been pushed together into a single form that would have rivaled any from a period drama. Even the decor felt like it was meant only for special occasions. Crystal-studded silver rings held navy cloth napkins stretched across plates of fine white china with silver-dipped edges. The silver candelabra in the center of the table housed five white candles, each burning brightly despite the vibrant sunlight streaming through the row of white-framed windows against the blue wall.
Marie had never claimed to be a cook, but she’d followed a few of Caden’s recipes to bring some of the island’s favorite delights to the table. Next to the big golden bird sat a dish of oyster stuffing and another of scalloped potatoes, crisp around the edges and so creamy in the middle. Aretha had brought meat pies and seafood chowder.
And, of course, Whitney had provided the last of her lattice-topped apple pies.
She sat down across from Little Jack, his fork and knife already in hand and sticking straight up on either side of his plate. Seth sat at the head of the table, Marie to his left and Jessie’s high chair between them. Julia Mae and Little Jack completed the row. Aretha and Big Jack sat on the right side, which left an empty chair at the foot of the table. Every time her gaze strayed in that direction, Whitney couldn’t help but see Daniel’s face there and wonder if he was all alone. If he’d gotten her text. If he’d deleted it before reading it.
“Can we eat now?” Little Jack asked, clunking his silverware against the pristine tablecloth.
“We pray first,” Seth said. Without any additional preamble, he bowed his head and said a quick prayer of thanksgiving for the Lord’s goodness and mercy, which they remembered especially on this day, when they celebrated the birth of his Son, Jesus.
Everyone looked up with big smiles on their faces. Plates were filled, and even Julia Mae was quiet as she dug into her food.
After several minutes of the only sound being the clatter of cutlery, Seth looked at his son. “What are you most excited for in the pageant this afternoon?”
Little Jack shoved a bite of turkey into his cheek and spoke around it. “That I get to be the angel.”
Big Jack hummed deep in the back of his throat. “What makes the angel better than that star?”
“’Cause the angel was the first one to tell the good news.”
Marie smiled proudly, and Seth squeezed his wife’s hand. “Smart kid. He must get it from you.”
Whitney put down her fork, abandoning the delicious meal as her stomach lurched, and she looked toward heaven with a prayer that she might have a future like that. She wasn’t sure she could wait another week—or even three days—to see Daniel. She wasn’t sure she should .
Christmas was a day to share with loved ones, and while she dearly loved this family, her heart was away on the mainland.
After the dinner was fully enjoyed and dessert equally so, they sat around the table talking of gifts they’d opened that morning and what they would do after the pageant that evening. When someone knocked on the front door, they all looked at each other as though counting to see who was missing.
Whitney could think of only one.
After shoving her chair back without a word, she raced for the red door. She flung it open and immediately burst out laughing. A man stood with his back to her, his head covered in a turkey-shaped toque.
Daniel turned around with a wide smile and tugged her by the hand onto the porch. Whitney followed easily, ignoring the cold and the gently falling snow as she closed the door behind her. She thought she heard Aretha ushering everyone into the kitchen for cleanup duty, and she made a note to thank the woman later.
“I was hoping to make you laugh,” Daniel said, his eyes sweeping over her like a drowning man looking at a lifeboat.
“You definitely managed that.” She chuckled. “You probably always will in that thing.”
Holding her hands in his, he looked down at them and studied the backs of her fingers. “I love your laugh. In fact, I bought this silly thing because I figured you’d get a kick out of it. The funny thing is that hearing your laugh reminded me that I hadn’t heard my own in a really long time. You helped me find it again. And I will never forget that.”
Her bottom lip trembled, and she fought for control, not sure if she would laugh or cry or both. When she bit into it just to hold it still, his gaze followed the motion. Pressing his thumb to her lip, he tugged gently against the center.
It was almost as good as a kiss. Almost.
“I know that what I did was not okay,” she said. “I’m sure it reminded you of ... bad memories, and I am so sorry.”
“I got your text,” he said, and her stomach flipped all the way over. He was silent for a long time, and her mind filled in every possible terrible outcome.
“I didn’t know how else to—I’m sorry that I treated you like—”
He cut her off with a quick shake of his head. “Here’s the thing. You’re nothing like Lauren. Not even a little bit. She never apologized. I don’t think she knew how. She never saw that her actions hurt me. But I knew you were gutted from that moment at the store.”
The memories rushed back, and tears flooded her eyes. Breathing became a struggle as the weight of her mistake pressed against her chest all over again.
Her icicle fingers curled into the warmth of his palm, and he stared at the spot where his thumb rubbed a slow circle on her knuckles. She could see him working out what he wanted to say and shivered as she waited.
“I wish you had told me what you were part of.”
She opened her mouth to apologize again, but he stopped her with a quick squeeze of her fingers.
“But I understand why you did what you did. And the Lord knows Aretha could talk a tomcat into a tuxedo.”
Whitney giggled with a nod. There was no denying that.
Before she could say anything else, he met her gaze. “I won’t lose you because of this. I’ve never felt so much for anyone before. I didn’t even know this was possible.” He slid his fingers into her hair, his palms cupping her ears. But she didn’t need to hear to read the words on his lips. “I love you, Whitney.”
She understood the feeling. Joy and hope and love bubbled in her chest until she didn’t even feel the cold air or realize she’d forgotten her coat. Daniel was all she needed.
“I love you too,” she whispered.
His smile reached across the island, but suddenly his gaze narrowed. “What are you going to do about culinary school, though?”
“I already called to take my name off their list.”
“Why?”
“Because Caden offered me a job working with her and Jerome Gale.”
“The TV chef?”
“Yep.”
He chuckled. “And where is this dream job?”
She looked down then up with a smile. “It’s in Toronto. That’s what makes it my dream.”
“Toronto, huh? Were you thinking you might look me up?”
“Maybe I already got your address from Aretha and looked up local stores in your neighborhood in hopes of randomly bumping into you.”
“Hmm.” His face fought a grin, but his dimple refused to be tamed. “Randomly, eh? Sounds more like stalking to me.”
She shoved his shoulder playfully. “It’s only stalking if I show up at your building. Which I wouldn’t have done until the second day. At least. I promise.”
“You promise you’ll always stalk me?”
“I won’t let you go again,” she whispered as he pulled her face to his, their lips only a breath apart.
“I won’t either.”
The front door swung open unexpectedly, and with the burst of warmth came a cacophony that forced them to take a step back.
“Mr. Daniel, you came back for the pageant!” Julia Mae ran to him and threw her arms around his knees, pressing her cheek to him. “I knew you’d come back. Jack didn’t believe me, but I knew.”
He patted her knitted hat and smiled down at her. “Yeah. I’m back for the pageant.” But when he looked up, the joy that sparked in his eyes was all for Whitney. “You guys go along. We’ll be right there. I need Miss Whitney to show me something inside.”
“What?” Julia Mae asked.
He didn’t answer. Instead, he ushered her toward her family, where her dad scooped her up and Marie gave them a little wave. Aretha stood motionless, her hands clasped over her mouth.
When they were finally alone again, Whitney asked, “What did you want me to show you inside?”
Giving her a wicked grin, he whispered, “The mistletoe.”
She laughed, just as he’d probably known she would. Then she led him inside toward the rest of their lives. The best yet to come.