Chapter Seven – Kian
Kian
I didn’t even want to think about how happy I was that Cadie had agreed to let me take her to do some furniture shopping.
When I pulled up and saw her standing outside of my cabin, I had to fight to keep the silly grin off my face at seeing her. Then, to find out she had rented my cabin made me ridiculously happy. I needed to remember that I really knew nothing about this woman, and it was pretty clear she was going to be tight-lipped about her personal life. She would occasionally slip and give me a bit of information, though.
Peeking over at her, she had turned her head and looked out the window. How in the hell had I gotten caught up in the town gossip regarding Cadie? This wasn’t anything like me, but there was no denying I was attracted to her. The second I walked into Batter Up and saw her, I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
From the corner of my eye, I saw her turn and look at me. “It really is so beautiful here.”
“Yes, it is. Wait until you see it in the fall. And even in winter it’s beautiful. I know it’s already snowed a lot since you’ve been here, but there is something about that first snowfall of the season. It’s so beautiful when it’s fresh and undisturbed, especially when the sun hits the snow. I used to tell Sally it looked like millions of diamonds. Something about it just makes you feel so at peace. But fall…man, that’s my favorite time of year. When the leaves are still turning, the brilliant colors against the pure white snow…it’s hard to put it into words.”
“Sally?” she asked.
“Oh, Sally Grant. She works for my parents. She also loves your banana nut bread.”
Smiling, Cadie said, “I’ve had a taste of it in Oregon, fall and snow.”
“Is that home?” I asked.
“It was at one point.”
Okay, it was clear I wasn’t getting more information from her, so I decided to get straight to the point.
“You don’t really like to share your personal life, do you?”
Cadie cleared her throat. “I guess I just like my personal space.”
“I get that.”
Raising her brow, she asked, “Do you? Because I get the feeling you want more information.”
I laughed. “Guilty as charged.”
With a slight shrug, she replied, “Well, I can promise you there is nothing interesting about me or my past. I was born in Oregon, lived on the West Coast, lived in Chicago for a brief time, and decided I wanted to try the East Coast.”
“Fair enough.”
“What about you? Want to spill the beans on your childhood growing up? Your mother and father care more about work than their kids, or at least from our discussion earlier, I’m deducing that. This could lead to me asking you who raised you if Mom and Dad weren’t around. Opal? A nanny? You and your siblings were on your own? What about past girlfriends? What worked and what didn’t for you? Have you been in a serious relationship, or are you the type of guy who likes one-night stands?”
I stopped at a light and turned to look at her. “You’re sure you weren’t a lawyer in your past life?”
She laughed. “That I can answer with a no. My passion has always been baking. As I mentioned the other day, I learned almost everything from my grandmother. From the moment I was five, and she tied an apron around my neck, I knew what I wanted to do for a living. But my past is my past, and I’d like to leave it there. I know the town is curious about the mysterious woman who showed up on Opal’s doorstep and makes a killer banana nut bread. But there isn’t anything special about me.”
I laughed.
“But honestly, I came to Moose Village for a fresh start. Plain and simple.”
“Why Moose Village?” I asked before adding, “If you feel comfortable answering that.”
“I don’t mind answering that. Moose Village wasn’t planned. I just knew I wanted to be in this area, or even New Hampshire. I saw the sign for Moose Village and took it. It sounded like a cute town, and I wasn’t wrong. Plus, I really had to pee.”
I laughed.
“It’s the kind of town you picture when you’re about to sit down and watch a Hallmark movie. ”
“I wouldn’t know; I’ve never watched one.”
Cadie gasped. “What? You’ve never even watched a Christmas Hallmark show?”
With a shake of my head, I said, “Nope. When I think of Hallmark, I think of the store and cards.”
Her hand went to her chest. “Kian, this is criminal. It’s so wrong on so many different levels.”
“Good thing I know good lawyers.”
Hitting me playfully on the arm, Cadie said, “Ha ha. I’m serious; you are missing out if you’re not watching the Christmas movies. They usually do a Christmas in July, but it isn’t nearly as fun as watching them during the holiday season.”
“I’ll remember that this November.”
“You mentioned that Moose Village has fun events like the scavenger hunt; what else do they do?”
I thought for a moment. It had been a hot minute since I was home. “Well, I haven’t been back home in a while, but they at one time did things like a spring fling dance, wine tours, founders’ day celebrations. Oh, they also do farmers’ markets once it warms up a bit.”
“I did see that the farmers’ market opens in April. I’m super excited about that!”
“Yeah, it’s great. We have a lot of local farms. Let’s see, there used to be an Easter egg hunt on Main. All the stores got into that one. They also did Halloween trick-or-treating. In the summer, they do a music fest on The Green. I know for a fact that is still going on. Opal talks about it. It’s one of the bakery’s busiest times during the music fests.”
“What is The Green?” Cadie asked.
“It’s an area off of Main; well, more than an area, it’s a small park. You can take blankets and sit on the hill overlooking Moose Lake. There is a stage set up, and musicians play. They called it the Moose Jam Fest. Not sure if it’s still called that.”
She nodded. “When was the last time you were home?”
I exhaled. “We used to always come home for Christmas, but the last five years or so, we haven’t.”
“You haven’t come here for Christmas, or you didn’t get together as a family?”
“Both.”
“Why?” she asked in horror. “I would imagine it would be beautiful here during Christmas.”
“Oh, it is,” I agreed. “But we let work be an excuse. My mother and father usually work part of Christmas Day.”
Her mouth fell open, and she stared at me. “That’s sad, Kian. You didn’t work it, did you?”
I shook my head and turned into the furniture store’s parking lot. “I would work Christmas Eve and then usually take Christmas Day to catch up on some much-needed sleep.”
“My gosh,” she whispered. “No wonder you needed a fresh start.”
Laughing again, I pulled in and parked. Looking at Cadie, I said, “I guess we’re both starting over in our own ways.”
“I guess so.”
I clapped my hands and said, “Ready to go shop?”
“Not something I would ever expect to hear a guy say, but yes! Let’s do it!”
“Wait here,” I said before slipping out and making my way around the car to let her out.
“Such manners, Mr. Carter. ”
I winked. “I try.”
Cadie’s cheeks flushed slightly, and she lowered her head before walking toward the entrance to the store.
With a smile, I followed her. This was going to be fun; I could just feel it.
Shopping for furniture wasn’t fun. At all . Especially when it wasn’t even my furniture.
“I’m going to sleep like a baby tonight,” I said as I sat down in the booth at the little café we had stopped at to grab a late lunch.
Cadie thanked the waitress and took the menu. “I thought it was fun!”
I looked over the menu at her. “You call that fun?”
She giggled, and I had to ignore how the sound seemed to travel through my entire body and heat it.
“How often do you get to go and order so much stuff!”
I set my menu down and looked at her. I didn’t see when she went to pay; somehow, she had managed to do it without me being there. I had no idea if she put it on a credit card, paid cash, or got credit from the store. I could ask my buddy who owned the place, but that was one step I wouldn’t take. Invading her privacy. Not that her finances were any of my business.
“You’re a simple kind of girl.”
Her head snapped up. “Is that a compliment or…”
I chuckled. “It’s a compliment. Were you planning on having to buy furniture?”
“I had it budgeted, yes. Not all rentals come fully furnished. Short term ones do, but not usually long term. You should know that.”
What did Cadie do before moving to Moose Lake? Wasn’t it Sally who said she worked in a bakery in Chicago? She said she loved to bake and worked in that industry, but she couldn’t make that much money as a baking assistant. I went back to reading the menu, but it was like she was reading my mind as she answered my unspoken question.
“I owned a bakery.”
It was my turn for my head to pop up. She was sharing, and I found myself holding my breath. “Past tense?”
She nodded. “Yes. I sold it a few months ago.”
“Why? Was it not doing well?”
She smiled. “It did well, but I was tired of working the grind. There early in the morning, staying until late in the evening. Then I’d go home, rinse and repeat. I had no life.”
I couldn’t help but smile. I had said the same thing describing my burnout.
“One day, I decided I didn’t want to be the boss. So, I sold it, took the money, invested some of it, and used the rest to make my move and start a new life.”
She chewed nervously on her lower lip, almost like she was worried I wouldn’t believe her.
Nodding, I replied, “Good for you, Cadie.”
“Thanks,” she said with a smile. “If you could do me a favor and not tell Opal. I like that she doesn’t know I’m even more experienced than I said I was.”
“If that’s what you want.”
“Yes, please. ”
I had a feeling Opal already knew Cadie was more experienced than she let on.
The waitress came back over and took our drink and food order. When she left, Cadie exhaled and looked directly at me. If I was a betting man, I would say she felt relieved to get that off her chest.
Clearing her throat, she asked, “So, what are your plans now that you have a fresh start and aren’t working nonstop as an attorney?”
“Write.”
Her eyes widened. “Okay, I wasn’t expecting that! Write what?” she asked. “Like a law book, fiction? Non-fiction?”
“God, not a law book,” I said with a shiver. “I’d like to write a fictional book. Mystery novel.”
The waitress brought Cadie’s Diet Pepsi and my lemonade. We both thanked her, and Cadie asked her next question.
“Have you always wanted to write a book?”
I nodded and moved uneasily in my seat. I wasn’t sure if I should share the experience I had with the guy on the subway. I still was wondering if it was all my imagination. My inner self manifesting a change of destiny all on its own.
“I have. That’s what I wanted to do with my career before my parents pretty much guilted me into law.”
“I’m sorry, Kian. It has to be hard when your parents don’t support your goals and dreams in life.”
“If I’m honest, I could have followed my dream, attended school, and got an English or creative writing degree.”
“Why didn’t you?”
I felt the heat of embarrassment creep up my neck. “Money. My parents told me if I didn’t go to school for law, I would be cut off. And as ugly and spoiled as it sounds, I liked having money at my disposal. My mother and father threw anything and everything at us growing up just to keep us happy and out of their hair. I got so used to having what I wanted that the idea of losing it all and making it on my own…well…it scared me.” I sighed at the audacity of what I just said. “The life of privilege, I know, poor rich kid.”
“I’m not thinking that at all. I’m thinking how sad it is that you grew up that way.”
“Trust me, I wanted for nothing. For my sixteenth birthday, my father gave me a Porsche, Cadie. A sixteen-year-old boy with a sports car.”
“But you did want something other than all the material things.”
I raised a brow. “How do you figure?”
“I would bet anything that sixteen-year-old Kian would have traded that Porsche for time with his mother and father. For a family vacation to Disney World or the beach.”
A strange tug hit me right in the chest. She was absolutely right. All I could do was nod. Our food was brought, and we ate in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Cadie spoke again.
“So, you said I need to check out the city website?”
Wiping my mouth, I replied, “Yes, the town website has everything you need on there. When we were little, there was even a monthly coloring contest. For adults and kids. It was fun.”
I gave her the website, and she typed it into her phone and pulled it up. “Wow, this is amazing that the town does so much! There is also a spring dance the weekend after next, the same weekend as the scavenger hunt. ”
“They’ll shut down Main Street, and it will be held there.”
Her eyes lit up. “How fun is that!”
“We can go together if you want.” She looked surprised and a bit taken aback, so I added, “I’m sure Opal will want me to go with her, and my sister Macy will most likely bring the kids in for it. She wants her kiddos to experience the things we got to as kids, even if our parents weren’t the ones to take us.”
A look of relief crossed her face. “Thank you for the invite, but I don’t want to barge in on your family time.”
“You wouldn’t be. I’m surprised Opal hasn’t brought it up to you yet.”
She smiled. “Maybe she hasn’t thought about it.”
I decided not to push her. I knew my aunt, and she wouldn’t take no for an answer. I’d let her handle the inviting.
“So,” Cadie said after setting her BLT down. “Why Moose Lake? I admit I haven’t seen the lake, but does it really look like a moose’s antler?”
“You’ve been here how long?”
She laughed. “Just over a month now. I told you I haven’t driven around.”
I shook my head and replied, “We need to take a mini tour. But, to answer your question, the town was initially called Sky Lake. I don’t remember what the Iroquois and Mohawk Indians called it, though. Opal will know. Joseph and Mary Browning settled in the area in 1857. Mary said that she couldn’t tell where the lake ended and the sky began, so they called it Sky Lake.”
“Did they live among the Iroquois and Mohawks?” she asked .
“Yes, Joseph was a doctor and saved the chief’s son. Again, I don’t remember the whole story. We learned all about it in elementary school. They should have taught it in high school so we would all remember that piece of our history. If you go to the Moose Village Museum, you can find artifacts from the first people living there. Even as a kid, I can remember finding many arrowheads.”
“Wow,” she softly said.
Pushing my plate away, I leaned back and sighed. “I’m full.”
“Me too.”
She dropped her napkin on her plate. “So, where did Moose Village come from?”
“Um, it was changed to the Town of Browning in honor of Joseph and Mary since they settled the area first. Sightings of moose started, and a little girl declared that the lake looked like a moose antler. It was in church one Sunday. Her name was Anna, and she was ten. They took a vote right there in the church to change the name, and that is how Sky Lake became Moose Lake, and the town became Moose Village.”
“That’s cute that a little girl was the one who started that.”
I smiled. “Yeah.”
Cadie let out a breath. “Should we call it a day?”
I quickly looked at the time and asked her, “Do you have plans for this afternoon?”
“No, nothing at all.”
“How about a tour of Moose Village and the lake? I mean, there’s no time like the present.”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t sure.”
Sitting up straight, she gave a nod. “Then I’m totally down for a tour.”