Chapter 27
Thandie would have loved if her car could traverse the muddy roads any quicker. As it was, her tires seemed happy to be just moving at all, and so was she. She ran the wipers and dirty little splatters streaked across her field of view. As though the sticky strawberry guts weren’t bad enough, now her wheel wells were encrusted with half-dried mud cakes.
Wishing for a nice drive-thru car wash, or enough money to spend on a good detailing, she rolled her window down and wiped the side mirror with the palm of her hand. The cool air rushed in, and she took a deep breath. The drive around the end of the lake was hard going. Between the washed-out sections that created giant speed bumps, and the downed limbs scattered along the eastern shoulder, she wasn’t sure how long it would take for her to get to the overlook. The same overlook where she had first met Grant and fallen in love with the Cove.
Now that her job was secure, at least for a time, she suspected she would spend many more days taking in the scenery around The Foundry. In a million years, she would not have guessed that being an activities director would have suited her so well. Though she had always enjoyed connecting with people, it had never occurred to her to lean into that part of her personality for work’s sake.
Now that it had, it was hard to imagine doing anything else. She had doubted she would stay in Christmas Cove for very long, though her experience that week was the first in months that she truly felt was a fit. Perhaps everyone should go on a solo road trip across the country, take on different jobs, and see what sticks, she wondered. It had worked for her.
No matter what the future held, she wouldn’t let herself fall in love with any more guests. She had made this mistake once and couldn’t afford to do it again. It had been improper of her to spend so much alone time with Grant, even if Leo had asked her to make sure everyone of the guests had a good time. She was the one who pushed the boundaries with Grant.
It was her decision to take off her clothes and get into the spa with him. The rain was just a sweet excuse that she took full advantage of. Maybe she would have never suggested it herself, but she was excited by the idea of sharing such an intimate experience with him. Her body ached at the thought of seeing him each day. And she hoped she would get a chance to speak with him before he departed, even if it was only to say goodbye.
“So, what you’re saying is that you love him?” JB’s voice carried through the car, and Thandie nearly forgot that her friend was still on the line.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to,” JB said with a giggle. “I can’t believe you stayed up all night just talking. I don’t think I could have done that. It’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. What a gentleman!” she said and swooned.
Thandie swerved around a pothole, and the car bumped along the edge of it. “Woah. That was close.”
“You alright?” JB asked.
“Yeah. The roads are a mess,” Thandie said. It was nice to talk to a familiar friend.
“I’m surprised you’re even getting service at The Foundry.”
“I’m heading up the hill to the overlook,” Thandie said. “I figured I might get a better signal from up here. When I called you, I didn’t know whether it would go through or not.”
“I’m glad you called, but I can’t be the only reason you’re heading up the hill.”
“I met Grant near the overlook, and I thought going back there could give me some clarity. And I wanted to check in and see how you fared after the storm.”
“We did alright. My property is sloped enough to keep the buildings dry,” JB said. “I heard about the lake. Is it really holding water?”
From her vantage point on the ridge, Thandie could see the water glistening in the late day sun. Little ripples seemed to glow like fireflies in summer and roll out towards the shore. “It looks pretty full to me. It’ll be a while before that amount of water dries up.”
“I bet the roads aren’t much better. Will you be careful up there?” JB said, and not a moment too soon.
Thandie drove through a puddle and the car skidded off the road onto the muddy shoulder. She put the car in a lower gear and pressed the gas pedal. The car didn’t budge. She threw the gears into reverse and tried easing herself out, but the tires just rotated, spraying thick, brown muck into the air around her car.
“I’m stuck.”
“It’s okay for you to not know what to do next. Just think about it before making any rash decisions,” JB said.
Thandie laughed. “No, I mean, I appreciate your advice, but I’m physically stuck. In the mud. The car won’t move.”
It was JB’s turn to laugh. “I see. That is very different.”
“I’m gonna get out and see what I can do. Stay on the line?” Thandie asked and opened the driver’s side door.
Her feet sank into the mud and sucked at her boots. Each step felt like she was walking in quicksand with sacks of flour tied around her ankles. She did a quick survey of the area around the car. If she could pull some old bush branches and some long grass out and throw it down behind the tires, she could gain some traction.
It was the only plan, short of waiting for a good Samaritan to come along with a winch or tow. As she was alone on this particular stretch of road, she took long, heavy steps through the muddy area to where the ground had better drainage and was actually walkable.
She gathered the loose stuff first and tossed it up near the car’s rear tires until a decent pile had covered the mud. Getting clumps of grass proved to be more difficult than she would have thought. Growing up on a farm, there was nothing she didn’t know how to cut down, grass included. But this bright-green spring stuff wasn’t giving up without a fight.
Thandie took a clump of the best-looking stuff, a foot and a half tall and six inches around, and gripped as tight as she could. She counted down.
Three.
Two.
One.
She locked her fingers and pulled as hard as she could. The grass gave up its hold, along with all the roots, and about a half a ton of soaked soil. Her momentum carried her backwards and directly into the sopping puddle beside her car.
She screamed and could hear JB’s voice emanating from inside the car. Thandie couldn’t hear exactly what her friend was saying, but answered the likely question. “Everything is fine!” Thandie yelled into the air. But it wasn’t. The week was ending the way it had begun, with her ass in the mud again.
With an exasperated growl, she tossed the mud and grass down to the fence in front of her.
The sun was setting fast, and the fields in the distance glowed bright yellow and green. Further away, the flowers danced in shades of muted blue hues along the horizon. It would be a beautiful scene to take in if it weren’t for her being suctioned in place forever.
Already covered in mud, she flopped back and laid in it with her arms outstretched. “This is it. This is how I die.”
The situation was far from serious, but with how exhausted she was, dying seemed like the easiest way to get some rest. Or at least, laying there for a moment or two could be nice.
Before she could perish in her own puddle of hopelessness, headlights came around the corner downhill from her, bumping up and down with the dips in the road. The car most likely hit the same pothole she had run across before finding herself in her current situation. She sat up, but the shifting of her weight forward captured the whole of her bottom in the mud, and clumps of slimy dirt slid down the back of her white shirt. Deciding that she did not, in fact, want to kick the bucket just yet, Thandie reached for a clod of earth and threw it up into the air as the vehicle approached.
The old, red pickup truck, slowed down, having seen her distress signal. Relieved, she laid back again and awaited rescue. “Careful, this stuff is super sticky,” she said to her would-be hero.
“Why is it that you are always covered in mud?”
It was Grant. Her heart skipped a beat at the sound of his sultry, low voice, though she detected humor there. Whether from embarrassment or absolute fatigue, tears pushed at her eyes.
“Why are you here?” she said with a shaky voice.
“For you,” he said and stood in the mud over her. “Though, I admit, I didn’t expect to find you in such a state.”
“Stuck in the muck?” she said and threw a handful of mud into the brush.
“No,” he said and sat down next to her. She tried protesting, but it was too late. His bottom was stuck right there beside hers. “Sad. I didn’t expect to find you sad.”
“I’m not sad,” she said, as the tears fell freely. “I’m just...tired.”
Grant took her chin and turned her face towards his. “It’s more than that.”
She nodded and tried to smile.
“Tell me.”
This was the moment that America had prepared her for. It was time to fight for him. For Grant. Through her whimpering, she eked out three little words.
“Help me up.”
“Not until you talk to me.” He planted his feet in the mud, and she cringed at the thought that they might both be stuck there forever. She might as well get it over with.
“I love you,” she said. The words felt sweet, like icing coming off her tongue. “I don’t know what else to say...”
“You need a shower,” he said and stood up with ease. He took her hands and helped her to her feet. Looking into her eyes, unwavering in his intensity, he nudged her head back with the back of his forefinger. His lips landed on hers, barely pressing into her, as though he was mapping their every curve.
She froze, not out of fear, but she had never felt so much passion in such a small act. She let him have her how he wanted in that moment. His dirty hands came around the small of her back and he pulled her waist against his body until no space existed between them.
Grant cradled her head with one hand, playing in the curly tendrils that had fallen out of her ponytail, and pressed his mouth against hers again. His lips fit with hers and they moved in rhythm together, neither taking nor giving more than the other. All their kisses leading up to this one had been merely practice. This one was the real thing.
When she needed air, she pulled back and broke their bond. Her eyes remained closed as she breathed him in. The air was thick and fragrant from the evaporating rain, and his body was hard beneath her fingertips.
“I love you too,” he said.
“You do?” Her question wasn’t one rooted in true disbelief that he was capable of loving her, but in how proudly he said it. “I love you, Thandie. I want everyone to know it!”
She kissed him quickly and backed away, looking around. “There are a couple of problems with that.”
“I can get us out of this mud,” he said.
“Yes, that is one obstacle, perhaps the most pressing,” she said and moved her feet toward the pile of sticks behind her car. She crushed them down into the mud with her boot. “My ex-fiancé is your boss, and Leo said that he’s probably investing in The Foundry.”
“Ex-boss. Davis fired me,” Grant laughed out.
“Fired you, for what?”
“For failing to fulfill my contracted duties. I told him not to invest here.”
“Wait, why?” Thandie asked and could feel her anger rising in her chest.
“I don’t want this place to become a cookie cutter corporate project where they only care about the good-old dollar. This place is too good for that.”
“I think Davis was only interested in this place because he thought he could win me back. But really, I think he was just lonely after he got dumped.”
“Dumped? By whom?”
“Bianca from Vegas. His affair didn’t go so well.” Thandie laughed at the irony.
“They never do, do they?” Grant chuckled.
“Either way, Leo needs the money. And I need the job.”
“They’ll get it. Somehow, I know it,” he said, and she had no doubt he was telling the truth. “Just think about how far we’ve both come this week. If this place can help us heal and forgive, and open our hearts again, I want everyone to have an experience as powerful as that.”
The truth was hard to argue against. Leo might have something to say about Grant sabotaging his chances at getting that money, but that really wasn’t her concern. She had clearly done the job she was brought in to do, and she’d done it a little too well. The evidence was standing starry-eyed in front of her, and smeared with sticky dirt and verdant grass stains with mud just like she was.
There was something she needed to get off her chest, though. She took a deep breath, knowing what more she needed to confess. “Davis broke up with me the night before our wedding. I’m sorry. I should have told you this earlier?—”
He put a finger over her lips. “I already know.”
“You do? How?”
“He told me, though I didn’t know he was talking about you at the time. And I don’t blame you for not saying outright what happened. There you were, forgiving him and moving on, and I was thinking the worst about the whole thing. I don’t know how you did it, forgiving him, but I understand why you felt like you needed to. You’re strong, Thandie, and you must know that none of it was your fault.”
“All I did was love him. He was the one who didn’t show up. He was the one who called from Vegas to say, and I quote, ‘I just can’t.’ I mean, who does that?” she said. “I suppose there was a part of me that always knew we weren’t good together. He’s a taker and I’m a giver. He sees his career as the pinnacle of what life has to offer, and I see the beauty in the world around me. And it’s enough for me.” She held Grant’s hands. “After the last few days with you, something stirred in my heart that showed me who I really am, and I know I’m worthy of true, real love.”
“And I know I have so much love to give. If you’ll have me?” Grant leaned in to kiss her, but held back just a breath away from her lips, as though he were waiting for an answer.
“I will have you, Grant Goldie. Today and tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after—” He stopped her sequence with his lips pressing against hers. She could feel him smiling through their kissing, and she tried not to giggle at how cute he was.
Clapping came from somewhere nearby and interrupted their kiss. Thandie paused. “Do you hear that?” she mumbled while their lips were still touching. “Clapping? Crying?”
“I’m just so happy,” JB’s voice sounded from Thandie’s phone, still sitting on the dashboard inside the car, and Thandie covered her mouth with the back of her hand.
“Who is that?” Grant asked.
“I totally forgot. That’s my friend JB. She’s been on the speakerphone this whole time.” Thandie stepped around to the driver’s side with heavy boots weighed down with sticky mud. “I’m so sorry, JB!”
“I’m not,” she said and sniffled. “That was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.”
Grant came around the car. “Hi, JB. I’m Grant.”
“Grant Goldie, I know. Pleasure to meet you,” JB said. “Congratulations, you two.”
“Thanks,” Thandie said. “Can I call you later?”
“Does this mean you’re not going home anytime soon?” JB asked as Thandie was about to hang up.
“I think I am home,” she said and disconnected the call.
With her feet planted in the mud, and her hands around Grant’s waist, they kissed again. This time with a tenderness that comes from two people who understand the journey to healing that she and Grant shared. They had both weathered storms, and now they could grow a new and beautiful life together.