20. Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty
N ow wasn’t the time to stop.
It was the time to double down.
Jackson wasn’t giving up on Carrie. Not a chance. He knew right now he had to be the strong one. He had to believe that what they shared was special—worth fighting for.
Being a businessman, he knew what it was like to prepare for an important meeting. He needed a specific objective, a compelling line of reasoning, and a vision of the end product. Although none of his business meetings had been this important, they did provide him with the experience to make his next appeal to Carrie the most compelling.
He’d made a plan. He’d paid attention to the details. He’d gone over it time and time again, searching for anything that might have been overlooked.
He tried to find answers for any questions that Carrie might throw his way. He didn’t want her to catch him off-guard because he needed her to believe in the vision he would present her.
He had one more thing to do. He drove across town and parallel parked in front of an old but stately house. When he got out, he noticed the sidewalks hadn’t been cleared.
Spotting a shovel propped up on the front porch, he tramped through the snow and onto the porch. He shoveled off the porch and then the front steps.
He was halfway down the front walk when the front door opened, and Carrie’s grandmother stepped onto the porch. “Jackson, is that you?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He took a much-needed break. The snow might look light and fluffy, but it was wet and heavy.
She pressed her hands to her hips. “What are you doing out here shoveling my walk?”
“I came to talk to you.”
“Well, come inside where it’s warm.”
“Yes, ma’am. I will. I just need to finish shoveling.”
She paused as though deciding if she should argue with him or not. Then she said, “Well, hurry up. It’s cold out here. I’ll put on some coffee to warm you up.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He got back to work.
A half hour later, he made his way inside the home. He shrugged off his coat and left his boots by the door. His hands were so cold he blew on them, trying to warm them.
“Back here,” Carrie’s grandmother called.
He followed her voice back to the kitchen. He’d been in this house many times as a kid. Carrie would visit her grandparents often, and if he was with her, he’d tag along. Her grandmother was the warm and welcoming type. She’d insisted that he call her Gran just like Carrie did. She also made the best spaghetti with the biggest meatballs.
“Have a seat.” She gestured to the kitchen table with a yellow tablecloth with little blue flowers.
Once he was seated, she poured them each a cup of coffee. He took his black, while she’d added three teaspoons of sugar and enough milk that by his way of thinking, it barely resembled coffee any longer.
“So, what brings you out on this snowy morning?” Gran asked as she slowly stirred her coffee. “And don’t tell me that you just got the urge to shovel snow.”
As she arched a brow and sent him an expectant look, he felt like a kid again. She had always been a pro at ferreting out the truth, like the time Carrie had skipped school because Brittany had threatened to beat Carrie up in junior high. He’d totally forgotten about that moment. And the fight had been over him. He’d felt so guilty he’d skipped school with Carrie.
Once Gran found out the truth, there were numerous phones calls and a meeting with the principal. Brittany ended up with a suspension, and Carrie went back to school. He wasn’t sure, but he was pretty certain that was the moment the animosity was cemented between Carrie and Brittany. Well, it was more on Brittany’s side because Carrie let it go. She never talked about Brittany. It was like she didn’t even exist.
As Gran sat there quietly, he cleared his throat. He didn’t know how she would respond to what he was about to say. So, he might as well get straight to the point. “I’m here because I want to ask your granddaughter to marry me.”
The breath caught in the back of his throat as he waited for her response. At first, Gran had a blank expression. He started to wonder if he’d actually vocalized the words.
Then Gran’s whole face lit up with a smile. She looked at least ten years younger. “Well, it’s about time!”
He released a pent-up breath. “But I’m going to need your help.”
“Whatever you need.”
And so over coffee, he told her his strategy for this very special proposal. Together, they tweaked his plans until it felt like the perfect way to sweep Carrie off her feet—at least he hoped she would be swept away.
Business was non-stop.
Things were selling out.
This should have been one of the best days of Carrie’s life. Her business was a success. Even Alice had made it to work before Carrie. Everything was going right.
And yet, she was distracted with thoughts of Jackson. There were a few times where she thought she caught a glimpse of him entering the chocolate shop. But when she raised her head and got a proper look, it wasn’t him. She was disappointed each time.
It took both her and Alice working behind the counter to keep up with the steady string of business. Alice was amazing. She was a natural with the customers. At times, Carrie felt that if she weren’t there, Alice could manage the shop on her own.
When the thought crossed her mind, it surprised her. Carrie always thought when she opened the shop that her constant presence would be essential, but maybe that wasn’t the case. If she were to hire the right staff, it might give her some flexibility in her schedule. The idea burrowed into her thoughts and wouldn’t leave.
The number of customers coming in the door slowed down shortly after four. It gave Carrie a chance to survey the display cases. She was shocked and pleased to find that even with refilling the shelves throughout the day, they were sold out of numerous items from the chocolate-covered cherries to the new s’mores she’d just added to the menu.
When their last customer exited the shop with a smile on their face, Alice turned to her. “Wow. That was amazing. I guess we know what every Bayberry resident is getting for Valentine’s.”
Carrie smothered a yawn as she nodded. “It was a really good day. We sold more chocolate than I could have imagined.”
Alice pressed her hands to her hips. “Then why don’t you look happy?”
Carrie sighed. “Would you believe I’m exhausted?”
“Yes, but…” Alice studied her. “It’s more than that.”
Carried knew her friend would continue to press her until the whole story came tumbling out. And so, Carrie told her about the kiss she’d witnessed and her last conversation with Jackson.
Alice arched a brow. “So, you don’t believe that Jackson is the one who initiated the kiss?”
“I believe him when he said she surprised him when she kissed him. Besides, he never liked her that way.”
“Then why are you pushing him away when he’s crazy about you?” When Carrie didn’t immediately respond, Alice continued. “Wait. Are you trying to tell me that you’re over him? Because I don’t believe you. You’ve been hung up on him as long as I’ve known you.”
Her friend was right. She’d fought the feelings. She’d denied the feelings, even to herself. But they were always there, just below the surface.
Carrie grabbed the window cleaner and a rag. “But what kind of future are we going to have with him in London and me in Bayberry?”
“Is that the only reason you’re pushing him away?”
She moved to the front of the display cases and started to clean them. All the while Alice’s question poked and prodded her. Was it the distance that kept her from giving in to her feelings for him? No. There was something that worried her more than that.
“What if we give the relationship a chance, and then six months or a year from now, we realize that we made a huge mistake?” That was the part that kept her awake at night.
“Then you breakup and know you gave it your best effort.”
Carrie shook her head. “Then we’ll never speak again. I’ll have lost the person who has known me all of my life. And I just can’t imagine my life without Jackson in it.”
“Why couldn’t he still be a part of your life?”
She frowned at Alice. “Because he would be my ex. It’s not like we’d hang out after we broke up.”
“Why couldn’t you? I know people who broke up and are still friends. I even know some couples who got divorced and remained friends. Maybe not at first but after the legal stuff was over and they settled into their new lives.”
It was something she hadn’t considered. She always thought of a breakup as an ending. It had been that way with the guys she’d dated over the years. Sure, there were awkward hellos when they’d run into each other around town, but she wouldn’t exactly call them friends.
But could it be different for her and Jackson? She liked to think so. But it was such a big risk.
“I don’t know.” Carrie moved to the next display and squirted cleaner on the glass.
“What did you have to do to open this place?” Alice asked.
Carrie paused from wiping the window and sent her friend a puzzled look. “What does the shop have to do with my relationship with Jackson?”
“Just answer the question.”
And even though she thought the exercise was a waste of time, she named off all of the steps that she’d taken to open Totally Chocolate. Some she forgot, and Alice reminded her, from approaching Jackson’s mother about renting the space to the bank loan and accepting her grandmother’s help. And then there were other things like having some of her friends help with the remodel and attending going out-of-business sales to pick up equipment and furniture with a deep discount.
After Carrie went through each step of opening the shop, she said, “I still don’t understand what any of this has to do with Jackson.”
“It’s to remind you that sometimes you have to work hard for the good things in life. And sometimes you have to take a leap of faith that everything is going to work out.”
Carrie recalled her last conversation with Jackson. “I think it’s too late for any of this to matter. I don’t think Jackson wants anything to do with me now.”
“Have you tried talking to him?”
She shook her head. “I’ve been pushing him away any time he mentions taking our relationship to the next step. I wouldn’t know what to say to him.”
Before Alice could respond, the front door opened. Carrie forced a smile to her lips, ready to greet the customer, but the smile was short lived. Brittany strolled into the shop. She lifted her sunglasses and rested them atop her long dark hair.
Carrie had no idea why she was there. But she got the distinct impression Brittany was here to stir up trouble.