Chapter 17
It suddenly made sense to Cavin why Noel cried when he asked if anyone ever told her she was cute when she was mad.
“What happened?” Cavin asked Keaton who seemed to be in another world.
“You should ask Noel,” Keaton mumbled, his gaze on the picket fences draped with flowing greenery.
“I thought you did not want me to talk to Noel.”
“I don’t want you to hurt Noel,” he reasoned, suddenly turning to Cavin with a focused intensity, “or the kids.”
“What do you mean?” Cavin questioned as his foot held the brake pedal at a four-way stop.
“Noel likes you.”
Of all the words Keaton could have offered in response, Cavin expected those the least. “I doubt that,” Cavin instantly debated with a scoff.
“You can take it or leave it,” Keaton offered.
“You did not see how mad Noel was at me the last time we spoke.”
“Do you know anything about women?” Keaton questioned.
“I am not sure any of us do,” Cavin admitted with a serious look.
“I know this about my sister—if Noel asked me to pump up your tires even though she was mad at you, that means she likes you more than I thought,” Keaton presumed.
A car horn suddenly startled both Cavin and Keaton causing their eyes to dart to the mirrors, and that’s when Cavin realized they lingered at the stop sign way too long.
Cavin quickly stepped on the gas pedal but didn’t know what to say.
Thankfully Keaton spoke up again telling him where to turn next, and a moment later they pulled into the parking lot of an old battered shop.
Cavin steered the wheel vigorously dodging potholes in the asphalt and hoping one wouldn’t pop his freshly inflated tires although he guessed such a thing couldn’t happen at a better place.
As he pulled the vehicle to a stop near the building, he noticed how the paint on the white cinder block walls peeled haphazardly and two glass garage doors stood dulled by years of grease and grime.
“I appreciate your honesty,” Cavin shared as Keaton climbed out of the vehicle. Then the two of them walked to the back hatch to retrieve Keaton’s air compressor.
“I cannot believe you walked all that way to inflate my tires,” Cavin said once he realized the trek must have been around a mile.
“That’s what people from Beaufort do, my friend.”
“Southern hospitality at its finest,” Cavin claimed with a genuine smile. “Did you know who you were coming to help?”
“Are you asking if I knew I was coming to help the guy who took Georgia home with him?”
“Yes,” Cavin clarified.
“No, I didn’t know that.”
“Last night you said you knew my name,” Cavin pointed out, interested to see how Keaton would respond.
The tank bobbed slightly in Keaton’s arms as he belly laughed. “I was so drunk I wouldn’t have remembered your name even if I did know it.”
Cavin chuckled and wondered if Keaton liked Georgia as he suspected previously. “Would you still have come if you knew who I was?” he checked.
“It wouldn’t have changed a thing,” Keaton promised as his face grew serious. “Just don’t string my sister along if Georgia is the one you want.”
Cavin nodded his head in understanding as Keaton walked toward the station. “Okay.”
“Thanks for the ride,” Keaton called out over his shoulder.
“You are welcome.”
Cavin sat in silence in the driver’s seat for a few moments mulling over the conversation he just shared with Keaton.
Last night he wouldn’t have guessed in a million years that the man was Noel’s brother and Laney’s dad.
It also came as a surprise that Noel’s husband was dead.
Someone at their age should never have to know what being a widow felt like.
He couldn’t even begin to fathom what that could do to a person.
He also couldn’t help but wonder why Keaton didn’t want to reveal what happened to Noel’s husband.
Cavin felt a pit in his stomach as he considered his options.
He felt like he owed Noel an apology—a different apology than the one given yesterday.
Of course he couldn’t have known that she would associate the comment about her being cute while mad to her deceased husband, yet Cavin’s thoughts still recoiled from the emotional blow.
Only one good option came to mind, Cavin thought as he drove toward the candy store hoping to see the doors still open for the day.
Then another thought entered his head, and he quickly punched a phrase into his GPS and took a detour.
He nearly forgot about this idea during the busy day filled with so much adventure.
The errand took longer than expected, but eventually, when Cavin rolled past Beaufort Candy Company looking closely for an open sign or interior lights, he noticed that the kid’s hot chocolate stand no longer sat in front of the shop.
He prayed Georgia didn’t find a way to shut them down.
Even from the street, Cavin saw the Christmas lights glowing from the inside, and the window displays still looked elegant at this distance. At first this seemed to answer his question, but then he wondered if Noel left the place lit up at night during the holidays.
Once parked in the prime real estate lot, Cavin scurried to the entrance having no idea what he was going to say if and when he came face to face with Noel.
The large box in his hands would be an obstruction, and he never expected it to be so enormous and oddly shaped.
It reminded him of one of those boxes that an outdoor basketball goal came packaged in at the sporting goods stores.
Thankfully the weight of these contents paled in comparison.
Cavin held the box awkwardly in one hand while using his knee to help balance it as the door handle gave way, and suddenly chocolate, Small Business Saturday shoppers, and Mrs. Madelyn’s curious face surrounded him.
“Let me help you with the door,” a random customer offered.
Another person asked if Cavin needed help carrying the package.
“No, thank you, it is far less heavy than it looks,” he replied surveying the store for Noel.
A moment later Levi and Laney came running in his direction with excitement flooding their faces. “What is in that huge box?” Levi asked, emphasizing the word huge.
“Is it a Christmas present?” Laney wondered.
Levi’s eyes bulged. “It won’t fit under the tree.”
As Levi’s tree remark caused all of them to glance at the enormous Eastern Red Cedar at the back of the store, the kitchen door suddenly swung open, and Noel walked out from where Cavin left her standing this morning.
Upon spotting Cavin, Noel stopped dead in her tracks.
Not just because he held an oversized box, but because she never expected to see him again.
After taking a moment to gather herself, Noel walked toward her children and the man everyone watched cautiously maneuver through the aisles wondering what he might knock over.
Cavin carefully managed not to break anything as he toted the cardboard box toward the rear of the store. He wasn’t sure why he headed in that direction other than it being the last place he saw Noel, and upon stepping inside the candy shop, he failed to notice her anywhere else.
With his eyes locked on Noel’s, Cavin realized he never responded to the kids. “I must admit this box is not quite as exciting as it may seem, but hopefully you all will find the contents useful,” he said to all three of them.
“Thank you,” Noel offered when she reached Cavin.
Cavin’s brow furrowed. “You do not even know what is in the box,” he proclaimed with a grin.
“Yes, I do,” she replied confidently. “Because I brought a box exactly like that in through the back door earlier today.”
“We have two of these?” Laney spouted like a water fountain suddenly pressed to the max.
“The other box has already been broken down,” Noel revealed. “That’s where your gallon jugs came from.”
So she did know what was inside, and now Cavin understood how. “I am sorry; I had no idea you already got some.”
“That’s okay, it means just as much,” Noel promised. “Follow me, I’ll show you where to put it.”
The four of them paraded through the store and into the kitchen where Noel made a spot for the oversized cardboard box. The kids wanted to open it, so Noel and Cavin let them.
“Wow, that’s so cool,” Levi said as he examined the twenty jugs pressed against each other inside the dark box.
“Was there that many in the other box, Aunt Noel?”
Cavin let out a silent sigh—now Laney decided to call Noel her aunt.
“Yep,” Noel answered.
“Let’s go tell Mrs. Madelyn what Kevin brought,” Levi suggested.
And just like that, Cavin and Noel found themselves alone in the kitchen once again standing in nearly the same spot they occupied early this morning.
“I didn’t expect to see you again,” Noel mentioned honestly.
“I kind of owed the kids these jugs,” Cavin insisted, “and I owe you another apology.”
“Cavin, you don’t owe me anything,” Noel claimed, raising a hand as she spoke. “When you said what you said this morning, it triggered a memory. A good memory, just a sad one,” she explained.
“I know,” Cavin responded.
“I doubt you can know this,” she said.
“I know your husband passed away, and I am terribly sorry to hear it and that I hurt you, Noel.”
“You didn’t hurt me,” Noel replied. “But how do you know about Fletcher?” she questioned and frowned slightly.
“Your brother showed up at the house to pump up my tires.”
“What?”
“Wait, you did not send him?” Cavin asked, instantly assuming Keaton tricked him into thinking she did. He should have known the guy only showed up to cause more damage.
“Well, yes, I sent him,” Noel replied, trailing off for a moment. “But he told you . . . about Fletcher?” she checked.
“Yes,” Cavin answered. “Well, kind of,” he rephrased.
“I can’t believe it,” Noel remarked unable to hide the puzzle pieces trying to come together on her face.
“Did you not want me to know?” Cavin asked.
“It’s not that,” Noel answered. “It’s just that Keaton never talks about what happened to Fletcher, Lexi, and our parents.”
“Your parents?” Cavin questioned. “Lexi?”
“I guess he didn’t mention those details, huh?” Noel asked not surprised.
“Honestly, Keaton did not divulge much at all. He told me to ask you what happened.”
“It’s a long story,” Noel insisted, biting a fingernail. She gnawed on her nails more in the past year than in her whole life, and it wasn’t because she liked the taste of them. “And this isn’t the place or the time to tell it.”
“Will you share the story with me over dinner?” Cavin asked tenderly somewhat surprised by himself.
Noel’s bottom lip quivered as she felt a wall of tears pooling behind her green eyes. She never shared this story with anyone she didn’t know, and she wasn’t sure if she was ready to do that quite yet or if she could ever reach that point.