One Sweet Day (2 page)

He had one day to change her mind, one day to make her realize that they could have something great. If she still wanted to leave, he wouldn’t stop her. He wouldn’t push, wouldn’t trap her here if she truly wanted to leave.

He simply couldn’t sit here and do nothing, watching the girl of his dreams pack up and move out of town without giving it his best shot.

He tossed a duffel bag into the back of his Silverado and slammed the tailgate shut. As he turned around, Laney emerged from the shop wearing a long white dress covered by an evergreen wool coat with big brown buttons. Brown cowboy boots peeked from beneath the dress, adding a little country to the glam.

The small mountain town had rubbed off on Laney more than she realized.

“You’re beautiful,” he said as she joined him at the edge of the cobblestone street. “The dress, I mean. It’s nice.”

Chicken shit.

She grinned, smoothing down the front of her coat. “Thanks. So what are you in the mood for? Rosa’s Deli?” She scanned down the street. “Pine Cone Brewery? I think there’s some great specials today.”

He opened the passenger door to his truck. “I had something else in mind. Want to get out of town for a few?”

“Ugh,” she groaned, and then hopped onto the seat. “You have no idea.”

Closing her door, he strode around the hood and fought the urge to run. As he slipped inside the cab, he took a deep breath. Mere seconds inside the truck and it already smelled like her. The scent was crisp and floral, like the wind that whipped over the top ridge of the mountains when he boarded. That scent made him feel blissfully free when the world weighed him down. Laney made him feel that way too, he realized, and pulled away from the curb, his woman beside him.

Only she didn’t know she was his…yet.

He drove east, past the two-story, blue-shuttered Blue Lake Historical Inn, and out of town. The roads turned from cobblestone to pavement once they hit the highway, and he took advantage, shifting into high gear around the next turn.

“Know what I like best about you?” Laney said, swiveling toward him.

“What’s that?” he gripped the wheel so he wouldn’t be tempted to touch her knee.

“You’ve never once asked about Brian or what was going on between us.”

“Not my business.”

Actually, he didn’t like to think about the two of them together.

As the elevation climbed, snow flurries dusted the windshield. He turned on the windshield wipers and slowed his speed.

“That sure didn’t stop me from talking about him though, did it? You were probably bored stiff hearing about our fights all the time. He really was a jerk, huh?” She rolled down the window, stuck her arm out and rolled it over the freezing cold wind currents. “A Certified Class A Jerk. Don’t know why I couldn’t see it before.”

“You were too close to the picture, too focused on all the little pixels, to see the whole image.”

“That’s a great way of putting it.” She nodded. “Let me tell you, Brian may be the town’s Golden Boy, but they don’t know about half of the shit he’s done. If they ever found out—whew! Meredith Johnson would flip her lid. Know what bothers me the most?”

He shook his head.

“I’m not even sad about it. Not even a little bit, which makes me think I didn’t love him as much as I thought I did.”

“Anger can mask sadness, but I’m sure it’ll hit you when things have settled down.”

She stared at him, her lips pulling into a pout. “You’re probably right.”

Charlie tightened his grip on the steering wheel, and tried to find a way to change the subject to something more pleasant…like the way she would feel sitting beside him, her hand in his.

“Do you know where you’ll go?” he asked, downshifting.

She looked at him, her honey blonde hair whipping about her face. “I have a cousin who lives in the city on the corner of Haight and Ashbury. It’ll be tight, but I’ll work until I can save up to get a little place. I’ve priced a few apartments in the area and they’re not bad. Even if I worked at a second-hand store for half a year or so, I’ll be able to save up to open a candy shop again.”

“You’ve really thought this through.”

“I have.” She paused, studying him. “I really have. I’ve had this plan in mind for years. I always thought if something happened between me and Brian, I’d have a solid back up plan. Is that normal? To have a Plan B in case your first plan falls through?”

“I think so.”

“Even for relationships?”

She dragged her hair behind her ears, and he lost his breath. Between the snow flurries swirling through the cab, Laney’s hair tangling around her head in a halo of silken gold, her eyes an inviting shade of honey-brown…it was most striking vision he’d ever seen.

“I always thought you should have faith that a relationship was going to work,” she continued. “Be trusting and hopeful and all that jazz. It couldn’t have been a good sign that I had one foot out the door the whole time.”

“Truth be told,” he said, turning a vent his way, “I saw signs that you two weren’t going to work.”

“You did?” She turned toward him fully, bent her leg over the bench seat, and pulled her dress over her knee. “When?”

“Years ago, when you first got together.”

She smacked him in the shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You were in love.”

“Yeah well, looking back I think it was more lust than anything.”

He cleared his throat, and tried to think about something other than the two of them together. The road wound around the side of the mountain, and when they reached a tiny dirt road off the main one, Charlie swerved, kicking up snow-chunked gravel as the tires caught pavement.

Laney laughed, holding onto the Oh-Shit handle as they bumbled along.

“I haven’t been to the lake in years!” she hollered, as she rolled up her window. “Since my first weekend in Blue Lake.”

He remembered well. It was the weekend they first met. They’d thrown a football around in the sand, made bonfires on the beach, and talked beneath the stars. For a split second, he thought she might’ve wanted to kiss him, but he didn’t make a move.

If he got the chance again, he wouldn’t choke the way he did then.

He slowed, turning the truck around sharp bends in the road. When the trees cleared, the lake stretched before them, longer than it was wide, a thick layer of ice frozen over the top. They got out of the truck, and Charlie circled around back to remove the bag. After slinging it over his shoulder, they walked the short distance to the snow-covered sand.

“Look at that!” she said, pointing to a goose flying low over the lake. “He’s going to land!”

The goose spread his wings, touched down, and slid over the ice.

“That’s really freaking cool,” she said, hunkering deeper into her coat. “Hasn’t changed much in the last five years. Do you come out here often?”

“I spend most of my time on my board at Moose Valley Ski in the winter, but in the summer I try to make it every weekend, at least for a few minutes.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it’s peaceful.” He strode toward a wrought-iron bench tucked against a line of pine trees that separated the parking lot from the beach. “You can fish, swim, watch the tourists splash around and make fools of themselves. I bring a blanket, an ice chest, and fly fish off that bank over there.”

Giggling, she kept her strides in time with his. “I remember doing that with you. I had a blast that weekend. I don’t know why I didn’t make the drive more often. It’s not that far from town.”

He knew why, and he bet if Laney thought about it, she’d know the reason too. Brian hated the beach—the sand, and “the way it got everywhere.” Hell, it seemed like the guy hated fun in particular. Charlie had never seen him on the slopes, hiking through the nearby national parks, nothing. Laney had liked to do those things before. She’d been wild, free-spirited. He’d loved that about her.

Laney bumped into his shoulder, jarring him back into the moment. He bumped her back.

“Do you have a girlfriend, Charlie?”

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She was staring at her boots kicking the snow and sand, her hands in her pockets, her shoulders pulled up to her ears.

“Nope,” he said. “No girlfriend.”

“And why is that?” she asked on a laugh. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve never seen you date anyone.”

“Maybe I like to keep my personal life private. You of all people know how gossip slings around in Blue Lake.”

“Come on,” she said, skipping ahead. She spun around, facing him, but continued to walk backwards as he strode forward. “I’m leaving tomorrow, so anything you say cannot and will not be used against you in any lame gossip fest.” She paused. “You like women, right?”

“You thought I was gay?” he yelled, nearly tripping over his own feet. “Jesus, Laney!”

She threw up her hands. “No, no, I didn’t. I don’t. I was just ruling stuff out, you know? Working my way down the list of reasons why you’re not attached to some hot mountain hippie.”

“First I’m gay, and then I want a woman who has more leg hair than I do? They’re good people, but not for me.” He scrubbed his hands through his hair and thanked the Lord he didn’t have a heart attack. “But I am enjoying your theories.”

She continued her trek backward. “Are you celibate?”

“Let’s get something straight.” He nailed her with a glare meant to singe the clothes off her body. “I am
not
celibate. I’ll lay you in the sand, right here, right now, and prove it to you if you need me to.”

Nope, no clothes singeing. Instead, her laugh died off and the color from her cheeks drained. She seemed to have trouble catching her next breath; must’ve been the biting force of the wind.

“Not gay,” she said decidedly. “Not interested in hippies, not celibate…pervert?”

“What the—”

Screaming into a laugh, Laney spun and tried to take off running. He dropped the bag and took off after her. Only she didn’t make it far. The heel of her boot must’ve caught on a mound of sand. She tumbled. Fell flat onto her back. Charlie tried to stop once he saw that she was falling, but she was too close. He tumbled over the top of her, and then quickly rolled onto the ground.

She laughed, snorted, and then laughed louder.

Oh yeah, this girl was his.

“I’m waiting for the one,” he said, moving her hair out of her eyes. “Why waste time on others who won’t work out, right?”

She fell quiet, studying him, her soft eyes boring into his. “How do you know she’ll show up?”

“Because I trust that she will when the time is right.”

“Maybe that’s what was wrong with my whole situation.” She rolled her eyes and flopped onto her back. “The timing wasn’t right. If I would’ve stayed at the Holiday Hop an hour longer, I would’ve seen Brian’s lip lock with Brittney, and kicked Mr. Jolly’s chestnuts into the New Year. I just don’t understand how I couldn’t make it work with a guy who seemed so perfect.”

“He may’ve been the perfect guy who simply wasn’t perfect for you.”

“That sounds good on paper, but feels different first hand.”

They laid there for a few minutes in silence. Charlie let her think, and hopefully ponder what he’d said. Brian truly was a great guy, but he wasn’t the one for Laney.

“Come on,” she said finally, sitting up. “You brought lunch, right?”

“It’s in the bag.” He retrieved the food, and then finished the trek to the bench. He brushed the snow off the bench with his sleeve, and then motioned for her to sit. “Salami and Provolone on Sourdough for you,” he said, handing over her favorite sandwich. “Turkey and Pepper Jack on Wheat for me.”

“I appreciate this,” she said, taking a bite. “It’s a breath of fresh air to get out of town for a beat.”

He gulped down a bite and chased it with a swig of Coke. “It can be stifling, but you can escape out here for fresh air whenever you want.”

“It’s not the town that’s stifling,” she said between bites. “It’s the people and the expectations.”

“You shouldn’t let the people like Meredith bother you, or they’ll continue to prod. And you should do what makes you happy. As long as you’re not hurting anyone, to hell with what people say.”

“Yeah,” she echoed with too much gusto. “To hell with ‘em!”

She twisted on the bench, and her hand caught on a silver plate nailed into the seatback.

“Look!” she said, ghosting her fingers over the inscription. She read aloud:

How perfect you are,

How lucky he is.

Here, you were mine.

Hearing the words from Laney’s lips hollowed him out. Charlie felt cold. Alone and embarrassed. Everything he felt when he donated the bench and silver plate five years ago.

“That’s sad,” she said, her fingers continuing to brush over the words.

He swallowed hard, his throat dry despite the Coke he continued to chug.

“Why wouldn’t he tell her what he felt?” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

“Who?”

“The guy who wrote this to the woman he loved.” She pointed. “Why didn’t he speak up?”

“She’s happy with someone else. Why ruin that for her?”

She looked right through him. “Because any man who would love a woman enough to put her happiness above his own, and then show it like this, deserves to be happy in love, too. Why wouldn’t he make a move? I don’t get it.”

Kiss her. Tell her about the words carving a hole in your heart.

He stared at the geese gathering on the ice. “It’s all about the proper timing.” His voice rumbled in the stillness. “Maybe he never had it.”

He took out the bag of peanut brittle he’d gotten from her shop yesterday morning and handed her one. It was her favorite, though he didn’t see her indulge in it very often. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t see her enjoy other things in life that she used to, either. She used to love to fish, hike, and snowboard. He hadn’t seen her hit the slopes in years.

It was like she’d forgotten who she really was.

“You think this guy didn’t make a move because the time wasn’t right? Nah, I don’t buy it.” She shoved the candy into her mouth and snatched another. “He’s probably scared of being rejected and would rather run than—”