In a Moon Smile (44 page)

When Chesney opened the entrance door, Neetie came rushing toward her with an excited hug. “Well now you just won’t believe this, Chesney,” Neetie smiled so broadly that her wrinkled pink cheeks popped out sweetly like apple halves. “It’s standing room only, honey. What do you think about that?”

“Wow,” Chesney peeked into the large room. “I certainly never expected so many people.” She put her hands over Neetie’s and held them for a long moment. “Can’t you feel Grace here, Neetie? I feel her so strongly.”

“That sweet Grace is very pleased,” Neetie smiled and tears welled in her eyes. “I have no doubt that her nose is in my business to make sure I do everything correctly today.” Neetie laughed happily then looked at her guest of honor. “Shall I introduce you now, dear?”

For the first ten minutes, Chesney talked about her craft. She explained how and when she fell in love with writing. She talked about the characters in her books and the messages she hoped to give readers. But then she deviated greatly from the plan. A young woman in the second row asked why she moved to Bean Blossom. Why would she choose to be here when she could be in New York and Chicago? To answer the question, Chesney lost herself in a walk down memory lane. She explained the impact Grace continued to have on her life. She shared how she found inspiration in the sound of rain in the trees and the beauty of a breeze rippling the water on the pond. As she prepared to wrap things up and thank her guests, Chesney’s eyes happened to land on the man standing in the back of the room near the door. It was Dalton. He was staring intently at her and she had to quickly compose herself. What was he doing here? Why was he standing back there studying her?

After she said good-bye, she hoped to see him in the parking lot. But Dalton was gone. She didn’t know how to feel about that. She drove directly to Deke’s hardware store to purchase a few beautiful mums and at least one huge pumpkin. Then she drove home, arranged the giant yellow mums near the front porch steps and rushed upstairs to change clothes. Ten minutes later, she was wearing a tired pair of jeans and a huge T-shirt. Seated on the porch with one of the plump pumpkins trapped between her knees, she made a final plan for the carving knife. Then Dalton’s truck appeared. Chesney tried to remain casual as he parked in the barn lot and walked toward her.

“Hi Dalton,” she tried to say it as if she barely recalled how she knew him. “What are you doing out here?”

“I’m here to finish the last little bit of tiling in the upstairs bathroom,” he smiled. “And what, uh, what are you doing?”

“I’m preparing to carve a jack o’ lantern,” Chesney said proudly. “It’s been twenty years since I stuck my hands in pumpkin goo. I want to have a lighted pumpkin on my porch, just in case some trick-or-treaters stop by tomorrow night for Halloween.”

“Good idea,” Dalton said. “I wouldn’t doubt that you’ll have a few goblins at your door. People are curious about the renovations. They’re happy to see the old place alive again with lights and life.”

He walked past and Chesney felt her heart crumble. Every time she saw him, which was rare these days, she secretly hoped Dalton would ask her out for another date. But when their paths crossed, their conversation was limited to home repair.

She tried to focus on carving a silly face on the pumpkin. But her mind kept racing back to Dalton, envisioning his arms around her, his lips on her face, her neck, her hair. She wanted Dalton to see that she was healing from her previous hurts. She was ready to give her heart. She was ready to…

“There’s an easier way to carve the eyes,” Dalton said from somewhere behind her. “Let me show you.”

His voice was low and sexy as he sat down behind her and placed his hands on hers. His legs pressed against hers and his chest was against her back. She could feel his breath on the side of her face. She fought the urge to body slam him on the porch and scream out her love.  “Move the knife this way,” Dalton was saying. “See? It,s easier to cut the eyes.”

A barely audible “Yes,” was all Chesney could muster. She was drunk by Dalton’s closeness. She would be lucky if she didn’t sever a finger. Carving a pumpkin when she was so intoxicated by lust was probably not one of her best ideas.

“Do you want me to help cut the nose?” he asked.

I want you to stay right here. You can carve whatever you want, just stay here.

Chesney wanted Dalton’s body pressed against hers for the rest of time. She didn’t care if that meant she had to carve a thousand pumpkins. She didn’t want him to stop leaning against her or breathing so close to her face. She cleared her throat and fought for control. She absolutely would not let this man with double messages get the best of her. As bad as she hated to break the spell, she decided not to be his fool.

“I’ve got the idea,” Chesney said crisply. “I think I can do it, thanks.” She gently moved her hands away from his grasp.

“I’ll be upstairs,” Dalton said. “After I finish the tile, I’ll be leaving unless there’s something else you wanted.”

He was now peering down at Chesney where she sat with pumpkin gunk all over her hands. “What?” she asked, dizzy.

“Was there anything else you wanted?”

Yes, actually I can think of a lot more things that I want, Mr. Moore, but none of them are related to home repairs.

“I guess not,” she mumbled. “Thanks.”

Dalton walked away and she tried to catch her breath. “Damn it,” she whispered. “Stop being such a fool about that man. He is not interested in you. He’s just your buddy, your handyman, and he’s busy playing games to entertain himself.”

An hour later, Dalton said good-bye. Chesney didn’t bother to ask why he attended the seminar at the library. She didn’t ask a single question about the tile. She simply watched him leave, still wondering why she could not seem to get him out of her head.

By the dinner hour on Halloween, the doorbell rang three times at Chesney Ridge.  Chesney happily plopped candy into trick-or-treat bags while introducing herself to neighboring families. Just as she was sitting down to eat leftover spaghetti, the doorbell rang a fourth time. With the candy bowl in hand, Chesney opened the door and was shocked to see her sister standing on the porch. Baby Piper was in her mother’s arms, gurgling happily in a pumpkin costume.

“Charlotte?” Chesney wasn’t sure how to feel. For months, she avoided most of Charlotte’s calls. Since that dreaded family dinner several months ago, Charlotte wasn’t very high on Chesney’s list of priorities. Standing here now, Chesney still wasn’t interested in forgiving her sister’s rudeness. She swung open the door anyway and tried to approach the surprise visit with the best of intentions. “What a surprise.”

“Trick-or-treat.” As Charlotte’s eyes scanned the rooms, her eyes filled with tears. “This is beautiful. Chez, I mean it. This place is absolutely beautiful.” She handed Piper to Chesney and walked down the hall, through the kitchen, around the formal dining room table and into the library, where the bookshelves were crowded with classics. “It’s magical,” Charlotte said. Tears streamed down her face. “It’s truly wonderful.”

“Thank you, Charlotte,” Chesney said gratefully. “I love to be here. It was the best decision I’ve ever made.”

With Piper the Pumpkin perched happily on her knees, Chesney sat down on the antique rocker near the fireplace. Charlotte stood close by, warming her hands in front of the fire and studying each of the framed photos on the mantel. “You did it,” Charlotte said. “You gave life back to Grace. You did wonders with this place. It looks like something out of a magazine.”

“It’s been an incredible undertaking, a true pain in the butt,” Chesney said with a laugh. “A lot of sweat and a lot of tears have gone into every single one of these rooms. But it’s been worth every headache.”

Charlotte moved over to the sofa, removed her shoes and stretched. “How’s the book coming along?” she asked.

“My newest one will launch soon. Actually, it’s in the publisher’s hands right this minute,” Chesney said. “I hope during the winter to focus on my next series.” She studied Charlotte. Something was going on. Her sister would never appear here unannounced and she seemed jittery and nervous. Chesney waited, bracing herself to hear about and make a decision whether to involve herself or avoid some level of family drama. While she waited, she remembered the hurtful humiliation she endured several months ago at the family dinner. In her mind, Chesney reminded herself that she would no longer tolerate being treated like the family punching bag. “So, what’s going on with you?”

“I’m doing fine,” Charlotte offered a half smile. “Oh, by the way, mom and dad send their love. Dad said you plan to host Thanksgiving dinner.”

“Yes,” Chesney’s face lit up with happiness. “Can you believe it? I have discovered some latent domestic abilities. Actually, I’m in love with my country kitchen and I will be testing my new skills for Thanksgiving. So you and Mom might want to bring along some frozen pizzas. We might need a back-up plan.”

“I’m sure everything will turn out well.”

They sat in silence for a moment. Chesney turned her attention to her niece, who was completely in awe of her Aunt Chesney’s necklace. What was the agenda with Charlotte? She didn’t drive all the way to Chesney Ridge just to say hello. Chesney did not want to argue. She also didn’t want her sister to start sucker punching her new life. She tried not to show it, but her defenses were high.

“Chez…”

“Yeah?” She looked over at Charlotte’s face.

“I owe you an apology,” Charlotte said. “I treated you very badly at our last family dinner. I was hurtful and rude. I was mean. I came here to say that I’m sorry. I’m sorry about your break up with Jack. I’m sorry for all the times in our lives when I wasn’t supportive of you. I feel terrible about it. You have never done anything to me and you would never purposefully say hurtful things to me.”

Wow, this is a shock. Charlotte has never in her life taken responsibility for all the times she stabbed me in the back. She has never once seemed to be the least bit remorseful. What’s going on?

“Don’t be sorry about Jack,” Chesney smiled. “I am very thankful to move past that stupid time in my life. I never belonged with Jack. Every single day, I’m thankful we aren’t together. In fact, I’m happier right this moment than I have been for a long time. Actually, I am happier than I have ever been.”

“I see that,” Charlotte said. “I see it on your face. You look happy and peaceful and content.”

“It’s about time, don’t you think?” Chesney sighed.

“I thought you were content before,” Charlotte said.

“No,” Chesney shook her head. “I spent lots of years feeling lost, confused, frustrated, you name it. But I definitely never felt content.”

“Why?” Charlotte asked.

Chesney sighed and smiled. “I wanted to be like you,” she said finally. “For years, I wanted to be you, and I wanted to be what mom and dad expected me to be. I was really busy trying and failing. I thought I should be what everyone else wanted me to be.”

“I wanted to be you,” Charlotte said quietly.

“Are you kidding?” Chesney giggled. “Tell me you’re joking, Charlotte.”

“I’m not joking, Chez. I did want to be you. I wanted to have the courage to jaunt off to New York City like you did. I wanted a wonderful career and friends and trips like you have.”

Charlotte blinked away tears and left the couch to wander around the room, gently touching her sister’s knick knacks “I even wanted to date all those different men and fall in and out of love like you did,” Charlotte said quietly. “But instead, I did what was safe. I latched on to Cooper.”

Chesney couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She was stunned, watching her younger sister move so slowly around the room like she was weighted down by invisible burdens. “I was always jealous of you,” Charlotte said. “And I recently admitted that to myself.”

“Charlotte, I’d like to paint myself the way you seem to see me,” Chesney said. “You seem to think I am some kind of happy-go-lucky free spirit, but until the last few months, I was quite desperate to find someone to love. A lot of times, it’s lonely to be me, Char.”

“I know that. I watched you try so hard to manipulate bad matches into healthy, happy relationships,” Charlotte said. “But in your heart, you knew the men weren’t exactly right for you. Even if you had to make it look like you were always the one being dumped, you still managed to save yourself from a bad decision. You always had the courage to fly solo.”

Charlotte’s words went straight to Chesney’s heart. She dropped her head for a moment, soaking it all in. When she looked up, Charlotte was crying. Big, silent tears plopped on the knees of her designer jeans. She wiped her nose on the sleeve of her jacket. “I’ve treated you terribly,” Charlotte sobbed. “I want you to know that I’m really very sorry.”

“Wow,” Chesney sat back with a surprised sigh. “Apology accepted, Charlotte.”

Charlotte blew her nose and raised her red eyes to her sister’s face. “Just like that?” she asked. “You forgive me?”

Chesney smiled. “Yep, just like that. Let’s start over.”

Long after Piper fell asleep on her aunt’s shoulder, the Blake sisters sat together, recalling wonderful memories they made in this house with their grandmother.

“Do you remember how Grace made potato candy?” Charlotte asked. “Remember, Chez? She boiled a potato, mashed it and stirred in a lot of powdered sugar?”