Coming Home (2 page)

Twelve years later

Susan swiped at her forehead with the back of her hand. It
was only eight in the morning, but the heat of the day was already seeping into
her home.  Of course, it didn't help that she had had the oven on for the
better part of an hour already.  She looked through the glass of the oven for
the umpteenth time. She didn't want this one to burn. She scowled at the trash
can where she had tossed the last two batches of a new pastry she was in the
process of perfecting.  She hated it when things didn't turn out the first
time, but after so many years she figured she should be used to it. She puffed
out a breath and opened the oven door to pull out the golden brown pastry. She
sniffed and the smell was exquisite: Cinnamon, chocolate, raspberries. If it
tasted half as good as it looked and smelled, her customers would fall over
themselves to get a taste of it. She chuckled at the picture that thought
conjured up in her mind.

She gently placed the pastry dish on the cooling rack then
took off her apron and prepared to head over to the restaurant to let her
employees taste her latest creation.

Craig Ryder hurried out the door of his home. He was late
for a meeting with a client. Thankfully the restaurant they were meeting at was
only about a fifteen minute drive. He prayed as he drove, feeling guilty for
rushing through his devotional time. He had stayed up too late last night after
the junior high boys in his Bible study had left. He smiled as he remembered
the group of young men. They were characters, that was for sure. He didn't
remember acting so crazy when he was 12 - 14 years old, but that was also
twenty plus years ago.

He searched for a parking spot outside Nana's Bakery and
Restaurant as he prayed for this meeting. He really needed this client to
choose him to be the general contractor for a major development going up in the
south east part of town. Lord, please, I could really use this job, but I
really want Your will to be done. He finished praying as he slid out of his
parked car and rushed around the corner toward the entrance of Nana's. Just as
he rounded the corner he saw a woman coming right at him, but she was looking
down at what she was carrying rather than on where she was going. Craig tried
to skid to a stop as he swerved to miss her, but it was too late. They collided
and the package she had been carrying started to slip from her grasp. Craig
thrust out his hands in an attempt to steady her and catch the package at the
same time, but he only managed to completely knock it out of her hand.

"Oh, no!" She cried reaching for the white box as
it hit the ground.

"I'm so sorry ma'am," Craig said as he also
reached for the package. 

"Please, don't." She said firmly as she brushed
his hands aside.

Craig let his hands just dangle at his side as he watched
her open the box.

"Oh, it's ruined," she said with a frown.

"Can I buy you another one?"

"No," she said not looking at him as she gently
picked up the white box. "There isn't another one of these.” She breathed
a sigh, "I'll just have to salvage as much of it as I can.”

"I'm really sorry."

The woman looked at him and he felt the breath catch in his
throat. She said something, but he didn't hear the words. He was reeling from
shock; he would know her anywhere, "Susie?"

Susan almost dropped the box again. The one man she never
expected to see again, yet always wished she would, was standing right in front
of her. "Craig,” she whispered in amazement. "What are you doing
here?"

"I have a meeting. What about you?” He gestured to the
box, "A special occasion?"

Susan looked blankly at the box in her hands wondering at
the incredibly inane conversation she was having with the one man she had
thought she would be married to one day. She shook her head, that had been
years ago. There was way too much water under the bridge now.

"Susie?"

She looked at him again, "Huh? Oh, no not a special
occasion.”
Unless you consider seeing you a special occasion
, she
thought to herself.

"I thought you moved back to Newport Beach," he
said with that little tilt of his head that made her want to kiss him.

She felt her cheeks grow warm at that errant thought. She
cleared her throat, "Um, no. I stayed here in San Diego."

"So you've been okay?" He asked with concern in
his eyes.

"Yes, I've been okay."

He glanced down at his watch, "Oh, man, I'm going to
be late." He looked back at her, "I wish I could stay and talk, but
I'm late for a meeting."

Susan shrugged her shoulders, "It's okay."

"It was great seeing you, Susie.” He lifted his hand
like he was going to brush an errant piece of hair away from her face, but then
he dropped his hand back to his side. "You look great."

She tilted her head as she searched his face; it looked
like he meant what he said. "Thank you."

It seemed as though he wanted to ask her something else,
but he just smiled at her as he turned to continue down the sidewalk.  Susan
went around the corner, but curiosity got the better of her and she peeked back
around the corner where Craig had disappeared.  She almost dropped her poor box
again when she saw him enter her restaurant.

She turned slowly and contemplated what she should do as
she ambled toward the employee entrance of the restaurant.

"Susan, are you okay?" Her head pastry chef,
Jean, asked as Susan set the box on the prep table. "It looks like you've
seen a ghost."

"I think I have." Susan said as she opened the
box with the dropped pastry in it.

"What is that supposed to be?" Jean asked
incredulously, peering inside the box at the destroyed pastry.

Susan scowled, "My newest creation. It looked a lot
better before I dropped it." She looked toward the door that led to the
dining area, "I'll be right back," she said as she headed to the
door. She told herself she was just checking to make sure that everything was
okay on the floor. But when she looked through the little window and saw Craig sitting
at a corner table with a couple other gentlemen, she knew she was just lying to
herself. He was just as handsome now as he had been when they were dating.
Maybe even more so. The boyish look was gone and had been replaced by a rugged
maturity that made her catch her breath.

"Oh my goodness, Susan!" Jean exclaimed causing
Susan to whirl around to look at her employee. She felt heat suffuse her face
because she thought she had been caught ogling one of their customers.

"This is simply Devine!” Jean said around a bite of
the pastry from the box.

Susan walked toward her, "Does it still taste
good?"

"If it tasted any better I think I might have a Meg
Ryan moment."

"A what?"

"Never mind. Just rest assured that you definitely
have a winner. What are you looking at?”

Susan realized she had walked back over to the door and was
looking at Craig again. "Nothing."

"Okay, who?"

"Who?"

Jean had walked over to the door and was looking at the
customers seated around the restaurant.  "My, he's a looker."

"Who?” Susan asked trying to look out the window at
the same time as Jean. 

"The one who has you all a-Twitter this morning."

"I am no such thing."

"A dropped pastry and you can't stop looking out
there. You are definitely a-Twitter. Do you know him?"

"Him, who?” Susan asked as she forced herself to walk
away from the door and head toward her office to attempt to get some work done.
"Oh Jean, will you send Cindy into my office. I need to talk to her about
her schedule."

"Sure, as soon as she is done taking Mr.
Good-looking’s order."

Susan rolled her eyes.

"You wanted to see me Ms. Johnson?” Cindy asked a few
minutes later.

Susan looked up at Cindy, "Yes, Javier needs next
Friday off, could you cover his shift?"

"Sure, no problem."

"Great. I will adjust the schedule and post the new
one later today."

"Okay, is that all?"

Susan bit her lip in a moment of indecision then decided to
just bite the bullet. "Bring me the bill for the gentlemen at table 16
before you give it to them."

Cindy raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Okaaaay."

"That’s all. Thanks, Cindy."

"Okay." Cindy said as she headed toward the door.

Susan closed her eyes as she leaned back in her chair and
wondered what in the world she was thinking. She and Craig had broken up years
ago after he got religion. She shook her head, maybe he got over that. Her eyes
popped open. "Maybe he's married!” She said out loud.

"Maybe who is married?" Jean asked as she came
into Susan's office with a stack of bills.

"No one,” Susan said as she reached for the bills.

"Mr. Good-looking?"

Susan shook her head.

"You can't deny that you are interested, why else
would you want to see his bill?"

"Is nothing I do or say here private?” Susan asked.

"Nope," Jean said with a saucy smile.

"He’s just someone I knew years ago."

"Why don't you go out and say hi to him?"

Susan shook her head vigorously. "No, I'll just stay
here and pay these bills. Thank you very much."

"Suit yourself."

"Thank you, Jean."

"No problem. I still think you should go out and talk
to him,” she said as she headed toward the door.

"You also thought I should put liver and onions on our
menu. No offense, but you don't always have the best ideas."

"I also suggested having the sampler dessert plate.
That's been a hit."

"Yep, that was a good idea, but this one isn't."

"Maybe I'll go talk to him myself.” She stated as the
door shut behind her.

Susan rose from her desk to stop her impetuous employee.

Craig forced himself to focus on what the gentleman across
from him was saying -- but Susie's blue-green eyes kept popping up in front of
him.  He couldn't believe that he had run into her. That she was here in San
Diego. He wanted to kick himself for not asking her for her number. It would have
made him later for the meeting, but at least he would have had some way of
getting in touch with her. Of course, he could always try the phone book. But
her number was probably unlisted. He forced his mind back to the conversation.

"So, we would like to have you as our general
contractor for this development." One of the men said with a smile.

Craig smiled and looked at the two men across from him.
"I appreciate that. I will not let you down."

"We know you won't. We have heard a lot of good things
about your work. You are just the man we are looking for."

"Can I get you gentlemen anything else?"

Craig looked up at their waitress, "No thank you,
Cindy. I think we're finished. Gentlemen?” He asked looking at the other two
men. When they agreed they didn't need anything else Craig looked back at
Cindy, "I think we’re ready for our check."

Cindy smiled, "Okay, I will have it here for you in a
little bit."

"Thanks." Craig said as he and the gentlemen
finished up their business. A few minutes later Cindy came back with their bill
and gave it to him with a secret kind of smile. He opened the little folder and
it took a moment for what he was seeing to register. There were only zeros on
the bill, he pulled it out and at the bottom a note was written in a script that
brought the past rushing up on him like a tidal wave.

 It was nice bumping into you, literally. Susie.

"Susie?” He whispered to himself in consternation.

"Is everything okay, Craig?” One of the gentlemen
sitting across from him asked.

"Yeah, I'll take care of this,” he said as he stuck
the bill back in the folder and closed it. "Thanks again for giving me the
opportunity to work for you.” He held out his hand as the three of them stood
and shook hands.

Craig sat back down after the two men left and looked at
the note at the bottom of the bill again. He looked around at the different
servers, but didn't see Susie. Maybe she worked in the kitchen; she always did
love to cook. He got Cindy's attention.

"Did you need something else, sir?"

"Could you tell me where I can find Susie?"

She gave him a perplexed look, "I'm sorry?"

He showed her the bill with the note on it. "The woman
who wrote this, can you tell me where I can find her?"

"Oh, you must mean Ms. Johnson.  Follow me."

Craig tried to calm the heavy beating of his heart.  She
still went by her maiden name, perhaps which meant she was still single.  Of
course, she had always been for equality for women, so maybe she was married
and still used her maiden name to make a point. He frowned at that thought and
sent up a quick prayer, no matter how absurd, that she was still single.