Chapter 16 #2
Heidi’s mouth dropped open in shock at the bombshells being lobbed into the crowd directly over her table. This was her display, her new business, her employee, and things were going south really quickly for all three of them within seconds.
“Cookies?” Heidi yelped out bravely. “Welcome to Meant-To-Be Café where the cookies are sweet and the memories are even better. Come get your cookie samples…”
“And that witch of a mayor can hop on her broomstick…”
“Becky Sue, take five – now!” Heidi yelped, interrupting her.
“COOKIES! PLEASE COME GET YOUR COOKIES,” she railed at the top of her lungs, her voice shaking with effort and frustration.
Becky Sue huffed and walked away to cool off as several people walked over to Heidi’s table – for the gossip and the cookies – only to see a dark-haired man cut through the crowd, following Becky Sue.
Interesting, the thought wildly as she greeted the first person.
“Welcome to Meant-To-Be Café… this is one of our specials,” she invited politely. “I’m Heidi Thompson, the manager and owner.”
Time passed, and Becky Sue returned to the table, apologizing profusely under her breath.
Apparently, someone Becky Sue trusted had taken Taylor for the afternoon so she could work, if she still had a job.
Of course, Heidi still wanted Becky Sue there, but the two of them would need to discuss a few things privately, behind closed doors.
Becky Sue looked so stressed, so upset, that it was a little startling to see that the woman was trying to hide the circles under her eyes with cosmetics.
“I’m sorry I blew up,” Becky Sue whispered for the millionth time. “I’m just freaking out, and it’s not your problem.”
“Do you need to talk?”
“I need a break.”
“What’s going on?” Heidi asked – and Becky Sue shook her head as another person stepped forward to buy several cookies. They were honestly a hit. People were eating their cookies and returning for another one, or buying several at a time.
The Jamboree was a hit.
There was a piglet contest, someone was doing free hair braiding and pony tails laced with ribbons.
Another table was helping patrons to make embossed leather keychains.
Dottie had a contest going to see who could eat the hottest pickled eggs – and it was startling to see that there were a few jars lined up, marked with chili peppers.
The woman had a culinary fetish obviously, because no one was taking the one with five peppers on the front of the jar – except her.
That was quite a spectacle. Everyone backed away from the table; a few were recording the ‘event’ on their cell phones, and when Dottie ate the egg, the town held its breath before a roar of applause went up.
It was an egg.
Heidi didn’t understand that, but then again – it wasn’t her thing at all, and she still had the mental scars of that first sampling of her homemade nuclear waste… and then Heidi saw Jack.
His eyes met hers across the road as they exchanged a smile, and he tipped his hat toward her.
Just seeing him there made her entire day so much better.
The streetlights strung over the cobblestone roads came on, casting a dim glow over everything as the tables began to be put away in order to make room for some music.
A couple of guys carrying guitars were sitting on the haybales that Matthew Baird had been standing on earlier in the day.
They strummed, notes dancing on the air, as people started to melt into the street away from the chaos that was from the clean-up… and Jack walked toward her.
“How’d it go today?” Jack began – and then snuck a cookie, giving her a sheepish smile. “I might need to start a tab.”
“You never have to pay,” she chuckled, feeling the stress fade from her with just him being near. “Perks of being an officer.”
“How about you rephrase that as perks of being yours,” he countered, hesitating. “There are three of us on the team, and I don’t want anyone else taking advantage of you.”
“Just you?” she invited huskily, her voice low as she whispered to him.
“Someday,” he replied, not bothering to lower his voice. “But I do need to take Mimi some of these cookies. She didn’t come out today because she was feeling tired, so I bought a few things to take home. I hope you don’t mind, but I stashed them at the café.”
“Of course I don’t mind,” Heidi replied, concerned. “Is she okay?”
“Yes. She’s fine, just a little tired and not exactly steady on the cobblestones. I bought her a walker last year, and she threatened me within an inch of my life if I put tennis balls on the legs.”
“Really?” she chuckled, sharing a smile with him. “She doesn’t seem the type…”
“Then you’ve never pushed her buttons,” he replied, flinching. “I’ve got a heck of a bruise on the back of my arm from her wrath.”
“What’d you do?”
“Opened my big mouth.”
“Ahhh,” she hesitated and almost asked Jack what he did or said – but then thought better of it. If he wanted her to know, he would have volunteered the information. He wasn’t the type of guy to hold back much, but he was exceedingly good at pushing someone’s buttons when they were upset.
“Did you want to dance?”
“I’m kind of worried about Becky Sue. She’s been awfully quiet and… wait a second,” Heidi paused as something crossed into her line of vision, making her chuckle as she pointed. “Is that a parachute?”
“What?” Jack turned and stared up at the sky that was darkening, before hesitating. “Why on earth would someone be… I swear some people are senseless.”
He grabbed her hand, pulling her forward as he began to bark orders. She saw Becky Sue talking with Everett, both of them frowning as they got closer.
“Everett! Hey man, can I bug you?” Jack began, interrupting the two of them and pointing.
“Yeah, we’re finished,” Everett replied tersely. “What do you need?”
Becky Sue walked off in a huff, not looking much happier about being interrupted in that moment.
She was holding Taylor once more and faded into the crowd, making Heidi wonder what was going on or if she needed to talk to someone.
She knew only too well what it felt like to be cornered or trapped – and frankly, she couldn’t imagine throwing a child into the mix of things.
“Everett, there’s a parachute coming down in the distance toward Old Pond Road and…”
“On it,” Everett replied, cutting him off. “I’m done with the Jamboree anyhow. I’m heading home for a cold one, if you want to come by. In fact, you’re both welcome – just don’t bring Becky Sue.”
So it’s like that, Heidi thought silently, and hesitated as Jack turned to talk to one of the other police officers – who immediately took off with Everett.
“How come you’re not going to check it out?” Heidi asked the moment they were out of earshot.
“Because this is a community and I’m not alone here,” Jack replied. “Other guys are on duty, and Everett’s farm is out that way.”
“Old Pond Road?”
“Yep – his farm is at the dead end,” Jack replied easily, swirling her around as he pulled her close to slow dance with her. “Old Pond Road leads to the old pond. Yonder Road leads to Yonder. Creek Hill runs out toward Ember Creek, and Wishing Well Road…”
“Leads to a wishing well?”
“No,” he chuckled, grinning. “There might have been a well there at one point, but now it leads out toward the highway – and that’s the road where we met. I can still see your angry expression when I picked you up out of that… ah, mess.”
“I remember,” she chuckled softly, melting at the warmth of his gaze. “How could I forget? Some guy comes out of nowhere, rescues me from being stranded…”
“Gets his hands utterly filthy,” he volunteered quickly, his eyes glittering with humor as she threw back her head, laughing aloud… only to feel him kiss her throat. That sort of sweetness, that spontaneity, was just about the best thing ever.
“I never thought I’d ever say it,” she whispered, melting in his arms as they danced slowly together. “I’m so glad I stepped in cow poop.”
“Horse,” he corrected tenderly.
“I don’t care, so long as it brought me you,” she admitted softly, her fingers brushing the back of his neck tenderly.
“I never imagined starting over could be like this… and I never imagined someone like you.” Her words fell between them, and she saw the effect it had on him.
His lips parted, then closed, and she saw him swallow before he cleared his throat noisily.
“It’s okay, Jack,” she whispered gently, her eyes searching his.
“I just think you’re amazing. You’ve become my rescuer, my biggest supporter, my greatest fan…
and the best boyfriend a girl could ask for,” she breathed emotionally.
“I just wanted to tell you what you mean to me, because it’s a little overwhelming.
I can’t imagine what life would be like if we hadn’t met – and I don’t want to. ”
“I told you I was your best chance,” he began hoarsely and stepped back from her.
For a moment, her heart stopped, suddenly frightened she’d said too much, moved too fast. Joe always called her pushy, but being with Jack never felt like she had to shove him along to be on the same page as her.
It was like Jack knew the book, knew the page, heck – could recite it from memory if he had to, because it was as important to him as it was to her.
That kind of connection felt so special, so rare, and…
Her breath caught as he sank down to one knee on the cobblestone.
“Are you feeling lightheaded?” she hesitated, worried as she knelt before him. “Did you fall?”
“You could say that,” he said emotionally as his eyes held hers, shining. Oh gosh, was he injured? He looked like he was ready to cry.
“Jack, honey, what’s wrong because you look like…” and her words faded as she stared at him. He wiped his eyes, let out a nervous laugh, and then gave her a sheepish smile.
“I’m a little emotional,” he whispered tenderly, his voice thick. “I tend to get that way when I’m proposing to the woman I love.”
“ME?” she squawked in disbelief and heard a titter of laughter around them, realizing the music had stopped, and people were now staring. “Are you talking about me?”
“Yeah, I’m talking about you,” he laughed tearfully, opening a black velvet box before her with the prettiest heart-shaped diamond solitaire lying there beside two other slim golden bands.
He bought an entire set to propose to her.
“How about we paint a few more rooms, work on decorating our pink one,” he whispered in a hushed voice – but the escalating blush on his face was everything.
She laughed tearfully, remembering the theme they’d whispered to each other one evening.
“And let’s fill that house, making it a home together.
I want to take chances together, to make little Chances together, to fill that house so full of love that it makes everyone envious of what we’ve found…
because I love you, Heidi. I cannot imagine life without seeing your smile,” he whispered raggedly. “I need you with me.”
“I need you, too,” she confessed, her voice aching. “I love how beautiful you love me. I’ve never felt like this before – and I never want it to end.”
“It won’t,” he promised. “I swear it.”
Nodding tearfully, she knelt down in the street before him and held out her hand.
He took it in his hands, his hands trembling as he removed the ring from the velvet box and met her eyes.
She didn’t care if they were both kneeling in the middle of a crowd on a very uncomfortable cobblestone street.
She was here, before the man she adored, treasuring this moment for all time.
That look on his beloved face would be one she never forgot so long as she lived.
“My heart will always be yours… as long as you’ll have me,” he promised, sliding the ring on her finger as he held her gaze.
“That’s a long time, Officer Chance,” she whispered.
“I certainly hope so – Mrs. Chance,” he replied breathlessly. “Let’s do this. Let’s figure out what we want our lives to look like together. Let’s work together to get your café started and breathe new life into our town, one step at a time.”
“That sounds incredible,” she wept, touched by his words. “You’re my home… and I think you’ve always been.”
“I always will be, my love,” he vowed, pulling her to him as he kissed tenderly, their bittersweet salty tears mingling as a cheer rose up around them.
As they parted, as their kiss ended, Jack didn’t let go of her.
He remained there, cradling her face in his hands sweetly.
“I love you so much, and I’ll be everything you could ever need, Sweetheart. ”
“Just be yourself,” she beckoned, melting.
“I can do that.”