14. Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fourteen
S he couldn’t let it go.
It was lunchtime the next day, and Carrie had told herself she wasn’t going to think about the mysterious valentine. The more she tried not to think about it, the more she did think about it.
Jackson hadn’t been any help. She didn’t know what she’d wanted from him. Maybe a man’s perspective. Maybe for him to tell her that this was no big deal. He hadn’t done either of those things. In fact, after they’d finished eating, he hadn’t brought up the subject again. She didn’t either. She didn’t want him to think she was making a big deal of the valentine, because it wasn’t a big deal.
Alice entered the kitchen. “What’s up with you today?”
“Why?”
“Because your mind has been someplace else all morning.”
She was right, but Carrie didn’t want to admit it. “Is there something you need?”
Alice shook her head. “It’s quiet right now. Why don’t you take your lunch break now.”
Her thoughts immediately turned to the mail. It would have been delivered to her parents’ mailbox by now. Not that the person used the mail system. He liked to deliver his valentines personally.
She couldn’t help but wonder if there was a valentine in her mailbox right now. If so, he might have put a signature on it this time. And then she wouldn’t be so distracted.
She looked at Alice. “Would you mind if I ran out for a moment?”
“Not at all. I’ve got the front covered.”
“Thank you.” Carrie grabbed her stuff and rushed out the door.
The short ride home seemed to take forever. She told herself not to get too excited. There was most likely no valentine this time. It was probably just a one-time thing.
Maybe it was just someone in the community going around and trying to cheer up all of the single people. After all, Bayberry had done stranger things in the past like the time they’d secretly invited all of Bayberry’s single people to a surprise speed dancing. It was like speed dating, but instead of sitting at a table, you danced one song with one person. When the song ended, you switched partners. When people learned what was going on, some headed straight for the exit, but a lot stayed—including her.
As her parents’ house came into view, Carrie wasn’t sure this was a good idea. She didn’t want some pity valentine. And yet that didn’t stop her from pulling to a stop in front of the mailbox. After all, she did have to get the mail.
Not about to drag this out, she lowered the window and then yanked the mailbox open. Her gaze searched the shadows. There was a stack of mail. There was no large envelope like there had been the day before. She tossed the mail onto the passenger seat before driving the rest of the way up the driveway.
It wasn’t until she was parked in front of the garage that she realized she should have just turned around and headed back to the shop. But she was home so she might as well go inside and grab something to eat.
She scooped up the mail and tramped through the fresh fallen snow. She let herself in the front door. After taking off her boots and coat, she tossed the mail onto the dining room table on her way to the kitchen. She turned on the oven and checked the messages on her phone while she warmed a frozen pizza in the oven.
There were messages from Kate and Sadie. They both wanted to know about her valentine. Obviously, Abby must have told them. Carrie downplayed the whole thing. But her friends weren’t letting the subject go.
After Carrie ate a couple of slices of pizza, she went to grab her purse from the table where she’d placed it next to the mail. It was then she noticed some of the mail had slipped off the table and fallen to the floor.
As she scooped them up, she found a pink envelope. When she turned it over, she found her name printed in those big block letters again. Her heart skipped a beat.
She dropped the other mail on the table before she opened the envelope. There was another folded piece of construction paper. This time the paper was pink. There was a red heart glued to the front of it.
She opened it, anxious to know what it said this time. Her eyes sought out the printed text and began to read:
Roses are sweet
But not as sweet as you
I’ve got a treat
It’s just for you.
Your Secret Valentine
P.S. I’m not a poet. Just so you know.
P.S.S. You can find your treat at 100 Main Street.
She smiled. She didn’t know who was behind these valentines, but she was definitely intrigued. Once again, there was no clue to its author.
But she knew the address 100 Main Street was the Bayberry Candle Factory. Now why would she be going there?
She rushed out the door. When she pulled out of the driveway, she saw Jackson’s car heading toward her. When she noticed him slowing down, she did the same.
He put down his window. “Where are you going?”
“I, uh...” She could feel heat swirling in her chest and rushing up her neck to warm her cheeks.
He arched a brow. “What’s going on?”
“I, uh, got another valentine.” This time she felt uncomfortable telling him about it, which was silly. Why shouldn’t she tell him? He was her oldest friend. They’d always talked about their significant others in the past.
His eyes widened in surprise. “Looks like this guy is serious. Any surprises?”
She nodded. “I’m on the way to find out what it is.”
“Well, I won’t keep you.” He put up his window and drove off.
Carrie felt as though something had just shifted between them. As she drove toward the candle shop, she couldn’t put her finger on what felt different as far as Jackson was concerned.
Maybe he was worried that a new romance would come between them, but if that were the case, he was jumping too far ahead. Was she intrigued by this romantic gesture? Sure. Who wouldn’t be? But she didn’t even know who the secret valentine was.
And none of it meant she would ignore Jackson. How could she? She’d longed for him to come home for a long time. She didn’t want to miss this time with him. And now with his mother struggling, she wanted to be there for him. She would be there for him. In fact, that evening after the Happy Hearts event, she was going to Jackson’s place to help him clean and pack his mother’s things.
She pulled into a parking spot near the entrance to the Bayberry Candles gift shop. She didn’t want to go in there and have the employees give her strange looks. She wondered what the chance was that Kate would be around.
She reached for her phone.
Carrie: Hey, are you available?
A minute passed with no response. Then another minute went by. Carrie was just about to slip her phone into her purse when it buzzed.
Kate: What do you need?
Carrie: Can you meet me in the gift shop?
Kate: When?
Carrie: Now.
Kate: OK. Give me a couple of minutes.
While Carrie waited in her car, she decided to message Jackson.
Carrie: Do you want me to pick up dinner?
Her message was met with silence. He was probably busy sorting through his mother’s things. There was a lot of stuff to go through.
Buzz.
Jackson: Don’t worry about it.
What did that mean? He was taking care of dinner? Or that he didn’t want her to come over? She hoped it wasn’t the latter?
Carrie: I’ll be there as soon as the Happy Hearts is over.
Jackson: See you then.
She expelled a pent-up breath. She was relieved everything was okay with them. She didn’t know until then how much she needed them to be all right. In fact, the degree of her need surprised even her. But she didn’t have time to analyze what was going on with Jackson. It was time to meet Kate.
The snow began to fall as Carrie made her way to the gift shop. The cold wind blew in her face. She lowered her head and picked up her pace.
Once inside, she welcomed the warmth. She’d just swept some flyaway strands of hair from her face when Kate appeared.
Her friend smiled at her as she approached her. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
“I was hoping you could tell me that.”
Kate’s brows rose. “Me? I don’t understand.”
This was the awkward moment. Carrie swallowed hard. She lowered her voice and said, “My secret valentine sent me here.”
Kate’s eyes widened. “Oh. I see.”
“Now, do you know why I’m here?”
Kate’s brow scrunched up. “Let me see.”
Kate approached the checkout counter. She looked around behind the counter. It took her some time. The longer it took, the more Carrie worried that she’d been sent on a fool’s errand.
Kate knelt down. When she straightened, she held a medium-sized white gift box with a big red bow on top.
An immediate smile tugged at Carrie’s lips. She accepted the box. “Thank you.”
“Aren’t you going to open it?” Kate looked expectantly at her.
Carrie hesitated, but she knew it didn’t matter if she waited until later. Her friends would bug her to know what her secret valentine had gotten her.
She placed the box on the counter and lifted the lid. Inside was red tissue paper. When she moved it out of the way, she found two glass heart candles. The two hearts were intertwined as though they were two parts of a whole.
Tears pricked the backs of her eyes. It was a very touching gift. She blinked repeatedly. Whoever was behind these gifts knew how to get to her.
“Oh,” Kate said, “there was one more thing.” Kate moved back behind the counter and returned with one red long-stemmed rose. “This was on top of the box.”
Carrie smiled as she accepted the rose. She sniffed it, enjoying the soft scent.
“Somebody has it really bad for you. Have you figured who the gifts are from?”
Carrie shook her head. She really felt as though she should have figured it out by now.
Kate pressed on. “But you must have a guess.”
“I want to say it’s Jackson, but I know it’s not.” And that acknowledgment saddened her.
“How can you be so certain?”
Carrie looked around and found they were alone. She opened up to Kate about Jackson kissing her and their talk afterward.
Kate’s gaze searched hers. “So, you don’t have a thing for him?”
Heat rushed to Carrie’s face. There was no point in trying to convince Kate that she thought of Jackson as just a friend, because she was never going to believe her. She was starting to have some difficulty believing it herself.
Instead of denying that the kiss had gotten to her, she said, “It doesn’t matter. As soon as he sells his mother’s house and the building in town, he’s headed back to London.” She swallowed hard, trying to keep her emotions under wraps.
“Oh.” Kate looked as though she were trying to come up with a solution.
She wasn’t the only one. In the wee hours of the night, Carrie had been searching her mind for a reason to keep Jackson in town permanently. She’d come up with exactly zero plausible scenarios where that might happen.
And then she would move on to a reason he would still come back to Bayberry occasionally. She actually did come up with a reasonable excuse for him to visit Bayberry regularly. And she planned to broach the subject with him this evening.
“I’m sorry,” Kate said.
Carrie was confused. “Why are you sorry?”
“Because you two make such a perfect pair. I always thought you would end up together.”
“I guess somewhere deep inside, I did too.” She couldn’t believe that she’d actually uttered those words out loud. But now that she had, she realized it was the truth.
“Maybe you still will,” Kate said softly.
Carrie shook her head. The logistics would never work. She didn’t want to give up her chocolate shop, not after all she’d gone through to get it—the planning, the saving, and then the massive renovations. But her reservations went deeper than that. At the core, she was scared that when their relationship ended, she’d lose the best friend she ever had. The fear of that happening kept her from exploring any feelings she might have for him.
“So, if it isn’t Jackson, who else is a possibility?”
“Well, there’s Archie Crosby. Every morning when he drops off our packages at the chocolate shop, he hangs around to talk. In fact, this morning he mentioned something about going to grab a burger.”
Kate’s eyes widened. “He asked you out?”
Carrie shrugged. “In a way. He didn’t actually ask me. It was more casual than that.”
Ding.
Kate reached for her phone and read the message. “It’s Wes. I’m supposed to be in a meeting.”
“Oh. Sorry. I didn’t mean to keep you.” Carrie lifted the box from the counter. “Thanks for this.”
“Let me know when you find out who your secret valentine is.”
Carrie nodded. “I will.”
The visit to the candle shop had revealed a lot more than the beautiful heart candles. Did Kate really think she would end up with Jackson?
Carrie supposed she would have to be blind not to notice how handsome he was or how easy he was to speak to. He was thoughtful and kind. He was the complete package. But was the risk worth the reward?