Chapter 7 Caroline
CAROLINE
“Here’s your double shot of burnin’ love, Mr. Schilling.” Caroline handed the hot drink to the elderly man whose wife was digging into a wedding cake cupcake.
Mr. Schilling leaned over the counter to whisper, “There’s no need to yell, dear.”
Caroline covered her smile with a hand. “Sorry,” she said quietly. “I think it’s the sweetest that Mrs. Schilling wanted to come here on your anniversary.”
Mr. Schilling’s cheek lifted in a one-sided grin as he eyed his wife. The lines that spread out around the outer edges of his eyes deepened. “She’s not too fond of stuff. She’d rather go for a walk together on our special day. I should have known where we were headed.”
Caroline held up a finger. “One second. I have something for the two of you.”
Grabbing a bag, she carefully placed two chocolate-covered strawberries inside before folding down the top and handing it to Mr. Schilling. “From The Cakery. Happy anniversary.”
Mr. Schilling took the bag and sneakily tucked it under his arm. “Thanks. I’ll save this for when we get home.”
Caroline clasped her hands in front of her chest. Her smile might break her cheeks at this rate. “I love love!”
Mr. Schilling raised a finger in front of his lips in a silent shush.
“Oh. Sorry,” Caroline whispered. It was difficult to keep quiet when she got excited.
The bell above the door chimed as a teenage boy walked in with his arms wrapped around two massive bundles of pink roses. Each clear vase must have carried two dozen flowers because the poor guy could barely see over the beautiful blooms.
“Delivery for Caroline Taylor,” he said as he approached the counter.
“Um, that’s me.” Caroline raced around the counter just as another boy walked in carrying just as many roses. A third followed behind with his face completely hidden by the flowers.
All pink.
“What’s this?” Mrs. Schilling asked as she made her way to her husband’s side.
The elderly man held up his hands. “It wasn’t me.”
“Wait. They’re for me?” Caroline asked, still stunned by the arrival. Who would send her flowers? She was pretty confident it wasn’t Conner. They’d ended things on respectful terms, and he hadn’t even called or messaged her since the breakup.
The first boy turned from one side to the other. “Is there a place you want these?”
“Oh, sorry! I guess you can just put them right here.” Caroline pushed a tray of gift cards closer to the register. When she turned around, more bundles of flowers had filed into the bakery. “Peaches and cream! How many are there?”
“Twenty-four dozen, miss,” the first boy answered when he’d placed the vases on the counter. “Where do you want the rest?”
Caroline pushed her hair back from her forehead. The Cakery had just turned into a garden. “Um. I guess on the tables. Anywhere you can set them.”
Less than a minute later, the whole place was covered in blooms of her favorite color.
Skye stepped out of the back room and jerked to a halt. “Whoa. Am I in the right bakery?”
“I guess so. They just arrived.”
The first boy extended a folded piece of paper. “For Caroline.”
Mrs. Schilling nudged her husband. “Look, there’s a note. It looks handwritten.”
Caroline accepted the note and opened it. The pounding of her heart hit a crescendo as the familiar handwriting took her back over a decade.
Please call me.
Oh no. This couldn’t happen. Her fragile heart could not get excited over a grand gesture from a man who’d loved her, then dumped her. Even the sight of his slanted letters made her long for the days when he’d written her sweet love notes.
Caroline folded the note and stuffed it into her apron pocket. “They’re for the bakery. We needed just a little more pink around here.”
“I thought there was enough already,” Mr. Schilling whispered as his wife gave him a playful nudge with her elbow.
“Looks like we’re not the only ones celebrating love today,” Mrs. Schilling said.
No. Justin didn’t get to race back into her life, sweep her off her feet, and shower her with beautiful flowers. She wasn’t ready to call him or make nice or forget about the pain of losing him.
She’d done it once, and she couldn’t let her guard down or it would happen again.
Caroline turned to the elderly lady and pasted on a sweet smile. “Would you like to take a vase of the beautiful flowers home with you?”
Mrs. Schilling swiped at her perfectly permed white hair. “Oh, I couldn’t.”
“Please. I don’t think we have room for all of them,” Caroline pleaded.
“Well, if you insist.”
“I do.” Caroline turned around and grabbed the nearest vase. The strong floral scent hit her like a shot to the heart.
After the Schillings said their thanks and goodbyes, Caroline marched to her place behind the counter.
“What is this?” Skye asked, following one step behind her.
“They’re from him.” Caroline punched open the till and slammed it shut.
Skye gawked, and Caroline turned her attention back to the espresso machine as she wiped the coffee grounds from the stainless steel. “Yep.”
“What did the note say?” Skye asked as she stuck her hand into Caroline’s apron pocket.
Fighting off Skye’s sneaky hands, Caroline smacked her. “What are you doing?”
Skye managed to grab the note and unfolded it. “Please call me. He said please,” Skye pointed out as she turned the note around.
Caroline propped her hands on her hips. How could Skye possibly take his side? Skye had been the only one she could confide in when Justin left. “He promised a lot of wonderful things, but he didn’t keep any of them. It’s hard to forget that.”
Skye’s shoulders fell as she lowered the note. “But maybe he meant to keep them.”
Narrowing her eyes, Caroline glared at her friend. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that maybe there’s more to it than what you know.”
“You were there! He got a better deal. He got the opportunity to play baseball. Major league, at that. I get it. It was the chance of a lifetime, but he…”
Caroline gulped down the lump in her throat. Having Justin around was tougher than she’d ever expected. In all truth, she hadn’t expected him to come back at all. There wasn’t anything left for him here.
“He made an impossible choice. Would you have been okay if he’d chosen to stay here with you instead of chasing his dream?” Skye asked.
“No. What I meant was, he could have asked me to come. He could have given us time to figure out the long-distance thing until…”
“Until what?” Skye asked. “Last I checked, you’ve never had any intention of leaving Redemption Ridge.
All you’ve ever wanted was to run this bakery and live within throwing distance of your family.
I support that, by the way. You have the best family, and I wouldn’t want to leave them either.
But can’t you see that it wasn’t going to work out without someone getting hurt? ”
Fudge, Skye was right. It would have never worked out. Between their fighting families, his awful dad, and their different dreams, they would have never made it work. There would have always been something driving them apart.
Talking about it only made the hole in her chest ache more. She swiped the note from Skye and tore it to shreds over the trashcan. Justin was back, and according to the internet, he was looking for someone to cuddle this Christmas. Well, it sure as sugar wasn’t going to be her!
They’d fallen in love one Christmas, but their relationship hadn’t survived long enough to see a second.
Caroline swiped the back of her hand over her misty eyes and set her jaw. She couldn’t lose herself every time she remembered him.
Grabbing a vase from the checkout counter, she moved toward the small tables in the back of the bakery. “Let’s spread these flowers out. Can you cover things if I leave early?”
Skye didn’t move to help with the flowers. Instead, she stood behind the counter with her lips pinched together and nodded.
“Thanks.” Caroline placed the flowers on a table and untied her apron. “I’ll see you in the morning.”