17. Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Seventeen
T his was crazy.
The valentines wouldn’t keep coming.
And yet Carrie hadn’t felt this swept away in her life. Someone had taken great care and time to pull this off. She was touched.
And yet she felt guilty for not being able to thank her secret valentine. Why was he keeping his identity a secret? It was one of the questions that rolled around her mind and kept her from sleeping at night.
The other thought that kept her awake was letting herself get too close to Jackson again. She’d forgotten just how much she enjoyed his company. But letting herself spend so much time with him, she was just setting herself up for heartache when he stepped on that plane and skipped across the pond to his home in London.
But she didn’t want to think those sad thoughts right now. Instead, she’d see if there was a name on this valentine.
As she examined the envelope, she noticed this valentine was different. It was in a big pink envelope with a red heart sticker on the back. Her name was on the front in those big black block letters.
Not wanting to ruin the envelope, she carefully opened it using one of her keys. But it still wasn’t the cleanest job. It would have to do.
Inside was a store-bought card. She found herself a little bit disappointed. The homemade cards might not have been as fancy, and the poem might not have rhymed, but it was the thought and effort that mattered.
This card was white with metallic red hearts on the front. When she opened it, it read:
This Valentine’s...
Will you be mine?
Your Secret Valentine
Her heart beat out the answer to the question. The answer was no . She couldn’t be this person’s valentine.
It saddened her. She didn’t want to hurt this very sweet, very thoughtful person. She hoped whoever they were that they found someone who was worthy of their attention. She couldn’t be that person, because as much as she’d been fighting it, she knew there was only one valentine for her.
Jackson.
The acknowledgement scared her. She knew this love story wasn’t going to have a happily-ever-after. It couldn’t.
And then she noticed a little note at the bottom of the card:
Find your surprise at 724 Main Street.
The car door opened, and Jackson climbed inside. Once the door was closed, he glanced at her as she held the valentine.
“You aren’t smiling. What’s wrong?”
She shrugged. She couldn’t tell him she wished the valentine was from him.
He shifted in his seat in order to look directly at her. “Seriously, what’s wrong? I thought you liked the valentines. Did he say something to upset you?”
She shook her head. “It’s a very sweet valentine. I was just thinking about all of the work waiting for me back at the shop. I need to get back there. It’s the Valentine’s rush.”
“Okay.” He put the car in reverse. “Are you sure that’s all it is?”
She nodded. “It is.”
It wasn’t. How had she let herself fall for the one man she couldn’t have? Well, she could have him but for only a week at a time, here and there. That wasn’t enough to base a real relationship on.
As they drove back to town, he asked, “So, did you get another surprise?”
“Uh... I, um, don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
She sighed. “Fine. There’s an address on the bottom of the card.”
“Okay. What is it?”
She hesitated. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Sure, it does.” When he pulled up to a stop sign, he glanced at her.
She shook her head.
He eased through the intersection and then pulled off to the side into a parking spot.
“What are you doing?” she asked. “We both have to get back to work. You have your meeting.”
“That can wait. But you have to find out what the surprise is.”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t. Maybe I don’t want to know what it is.”
His brows scrunched together. “Carrie, what’s going on?”
She leaned her head back against the headrest. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m just overthinking things.”
“Carrie, do you know who the secret valentine is?”
“No. And that’s part of the problem. Why won’t he tell me who he is?”
This time Jackson didn’t volley back an immediate question. Instead, he stared straight ahead while he slid his fingers down over the steering wheel. “Maybe he’s shy.”
“I guess. But when will it end? Is he ever going to tell me who he is? And what do I do if I don’t feel the same for him?” And then she realized she shouldn’t be dumping all of this on him. “Don’t mind me. I’m just tired.”
“Maybe you should get the gift. After all, it seems like this guy went to a lot of trouble.”
She nodded. “The gifts have been very thoughtful.”
“Okay. What was the address?”
“But what about your meeting?”
“I’ll message Mark and let him know that I’m going to be a little late. He won’t mind.”
“Well, if you’re sure...”
“I am. Just tell me where I’m going.”
She read off the address, and between the two of them, they found it.
“Why are we at the newspaper office?” she asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m intrigued.” Without waiting for her to say anything, he got out of the car.
She joined him on the sidewalk. “Let’s go find out.”
They walked up to the old building. She’d visited the Bayberry Gazette many times as a kid—any time Sadie was working. Sadie’s father owned the paper. It had been in his family for generations.
Nothing about the brown stone exterior of the building had changed. Jackson opened the glass door for her, and she stepped inside. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the dim lighting. But once she could see clearly, she found the inside of the building hadn’t changed much either.
Sadie looked up from her desk with a frown pulling at her lips. But upon seeing Carrie, her mouth lifted into a smile as she approached the counter. “Hi.” And then she looked at Jackson. “How much longer are you in town for?”
He hesitated, as though he didn’t want to answer the question. “Not too much longer.”
“That’s too bad. Everyone is talking about all of the work being done to the old building. Rumors are flying around town about what sort of business is going in there. Any idea?” When he shook his head, Sadie turned her attention back to Carrie. “What brings you by?”
Carrie stared at her friend. “I think you already know.”
A big smile spread across Sadie’s face. “I might know something about it.”
Carrie couldn’t deny there was a thread of excitement that zinged through her body. What could she say? She loved gifts. She had fond memories of Christmas mornings. She recalled finding a pile of presents under the Christmas tree. It might not have ended up being as much as it looked when all of the wrapping was removed, but it didn’t make it any less exciting.
When her friend didn’t move to get the surprise, Carrie asked, “Aren’t you going to get it?”
As though Carrie hadn’t said anything, Sadie said, “When I first heard about your secret valentine and how he’d dropped presents at the coffeeshop and then the candle store, I didn’t think I’d get in on the action. But color me surprised when I was called upon to help.”
Carrie was running low on patience. “Sadie...”
“Boy, he must really like you.” Sadie grinned at her. She was having way too much fun with this.
“Could I just have the gift?” Carrie restrained her growing frustration.
Sadie’s gaze moved to Jackson. “I’m surprised to see you accompanying Carrie to pick up her Valentine’s gift.”
Carrie glanced over at him. She was also surprised he would want anything to do with her secret valentine, especially after that kiss. But apparently he’d taken her words to heart. And now she was starting to regret them.
But she could only deal with one problem at a time. She turned back to Sadie. “Could I please have the gift?”
“Certainly.” Sadie moved to the desk where she’d been working when they’d first arrived. She grabbed a flat cardboard box. When she returned to them, she laid it on the counter. “Here you go.”
Carrie’s gaze immediately moved to the shipping label. But to her great disappointment, it only had Sadie’s name on it. The box was approximately two by three feet, give or take some. It was two inches deep. She had no idea what was inside.
When she went to open it, she was impeded by a well-glued flap. Try as she might, she couldn’t loosen the flap. All she was able to do was to pull off itty-bitty pieces of cardboard. And her anticipation was growing to know what was inside.
“Can I help?” Jackson asked.
Carrie stepped aside. “Yes, please.”
In no time, Jackson had the box open. He made it look so easy. It must be nice, but she didn’t have time to ask how he’d done that so quickly and efficiently.
When he moved to the side, she stepped up to the box. She lifted the flap and peered inside. All she saw was packing material.
When she reached inside to pull out the contents, it wouldn’t budge. Whatever it was had been well-packed.
“Let me.” Jackson grasped the one end of the box while she tugged on the contents. Eventually, the packing gave way, and the object slid out. It appeared to be some sort of wall hanging.
After she unwrapped the bubble wrap and removed the cardboard corner caps, she turned the print around so she could look at it. It was a newspaper article. It included a picture of Carrie as well as interior and exterior shots of Totally Chocolate.
The headline read: Lifelong resident becomes entrepreneur!
Carrie’s mouth gaped. There was an entire article about her and her business. This was nothing like the small write-up she’d received for the grand opening. Then again, this wasn’t a real newspaper. It was a canvas print. But someone sure had gone to a lot of trouble.
“This is amazing.” Tears rushed to her eyes. She blinked them away. “Who would do something like this? It looks like a real newspaper page.”
“That’s because it is.” Sadie reached beneath the counter and produced a newspaper.
Carrie’s gaze scanned the paper. There on the front page was the same article that was on the wall hanging. She didn’t understand. The newspaper and the wall hanging were exactly the same, even down to the byline where Sadie’s name was printed.
“I don’t understand,” Carrie said. “How? Why?”
Sadie smiled at her. “Your secret valentine arranged for it all. I have to say that I feel awful that I didn’t have the idea first.”
She knew that this wall hanging was going to be something that she would cherish for a very long time. It was so thoughtful.
It was then that she thought of Jackson. He’d been unusually quiet. When she turned to him, he was standing there with a look on his face she couldn’t quite decipher.
“Do you like it?” she asked.
“The better question is, do you like it?” His gaze searched hers.
“I do. I love it.” And she wished that the gift had come from him. Then she would have the perfect excuse to walk over to him and wrap her arms around him.
“And there’s one more thing...” Sadie walked away.
What else could there be? No sooner had the question come to her than she saw the answer in Sadie’s hand.
Sadie handed over a long-stemmed red rose. “I wish I had a secret valentine.”
“Thank you.” Carrie sniffed the rose. She loved the soft, sweet scent. She would add it to the growing collection of them at home.
They talked for a few minutes more before Jackson carried the box containing the wall hanging out to the car for her. She carried the red rose. Once she was seated inside the car, her gaze strayed to Jackson. Could he be the secret valentine?
She wanted that to be the case, but she’d made such a fuss about them being only friends that he wouldn’t be her valentine. Regrets plagued her.
When the car pulled to a stop at the back of Totally Chocolate, she turned to him. “Thanks for the ride. I hope I didn’t take up too much of your time.”
“No worries. I enjoyed every minute of it.” He hesitated for a moment and then said, “Are you sure I can’t talk you into grabbing dinner tonight?”
Her immediate response was to accept his offer, but she knew that wasn’t possible. “I would love to, but I really can’t. I let myself get distracted this week, and I’m going to be working late to get caught up.”
“I’m sorry.”
“What are you sorry about?”
“That I kept you from your work.”
She shook her head. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I really enjoyed spending time with you.”
He smiled. “I enjoyed it too.”
His gaze met hers and held longer than was appropriate. How had she missed how mesmerizing his gaze could be? And how she felt as though she were drowning in his warm-brown depths?
She wasn’t sure if it was him or if it was her, but suddenly they were leaning toward each other. Her lips tingled with anticipation of his kiss. This time she wouldn’t stop him. This time she wouldn’t push him away.
Because right now, it was her heart that was running the show, and it had totally shut down her mind and silenced all of the reasons this was a bad idea. And then his lips were just a breath away from hers. All the while her heart was hammering in her chest. It was pounding so hard it echoed in her ears.
Honk!
They jerked apart. Immediately, heat rushed up Carrie’s neck and set her cheeks aflame. What had she been thinking?
Oh, that’s right. She hadn’t been thinking. She’d been acting on emotion without a thought to the consequences.
“Thanks again.” She grabbed her things and got out of the car.
Jackson said something to her, but she didn’t catch it before she closed the door. She rushed in the back entrance of the chocolate shop.
She’d been gone much longer than she’d expected. With no appetite, she got back to work. She’d worry about eating later, after she’d calmed down from that almost-kiss.
She threw herself into the work. She stopped now and then to help behind the counter when they got busy. She enjoyed talking to the customers. Some were old friends and others were visitors passing through their small town.
A while later, Alice entered the kitchen. She looked around at everything Carrie was able to create. There were chocolate-dipped cherries, which were wildly popular. She’d also created some dark-chocolate mints. And her pride and joy were the campfire s’mores. They weren’t quite the same as the actual thing, but they were very close.
“I can’t believe how quickly you were able to get these done,” Alice said. “They look fantastic.”
“Thanks. Remember when we were just starting to make chocolates in large quantities?”
“Yeah. It took us forever.”
“But then we worked out a system to pick up the speed. Thank goodness.” She glanced at the clock. It was almost time for Happy Hearts.
She hadn’t gotten everything done that she had planned, but she’d put a big dent in the workload. Maybe she could come in extra early the next morning to finish what needed to be done. The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea.
“What are you smiling about?” Alice eyed her suspiciously.
“It’s not a big deal.”
“I beg to differ. That smile on your face says otherwise. So, what’s going on? Does it have something to do with your secret valentine?”
Carrie shook her head. “It’s Jackson. He wants to have dinner. I told him I was too busy and working late.”
Alice smiled and nodded. “And now you aren’t busy, and you don’t have to work late.”
“I promise I’ll be in early tomorrow.”
“What are you telling me for? You’re the boss, remember? You get to make the rules.”
Carrie paused. Alice was right. She was in charge, but that didn’t mean she would slack off.
“So, after tonight’s Happy Hearts event and we clean up, I’m going to take off.”
“We’ll clean up extra fast. We don’t want you to be late for your date.”
Carrie shook her head. “It’s not a date. It’s just two old friends sharing a meal.”
Although, she wouldn’t mind if it was a date. Jackson had really gone out of his way to remind her of how things used to be between them. Now she wondered if things could be that good in the future.
She had a lot of questions and some worries about their future. But Jackson didn’t seem in a rush to leave town. Maybe the emergency with his mother had him re-evaluating his life. The real question was: did Carrie have a part in it?