by Zoe Ann Wood
They broke apart, breathing hard, and Jade walked away on unsteady feet. She couldn’t wait for their date. For the first time that day, she was grinning so hard, her cheeks hurt. This was the beginning of something wonderful, and she was so, so happy that she’d opened up to Ben. Now she knew that it had been worth it.
14
Jade
The days following their kiss passed in a blur of work. Jade barely had time to say hello to Ben, who had a full team of workers doing dangerous work on the roof. She waved to him from her front stoop before rushing out for afternoon rehearsals for one of the bands she mentored. The kids were beginning to prepare for the school’s annual Christmas show, even though it was more than two months until the event.
Then Ben texted her to let her know that he’d made dinner reservations for Wednesday at Chez Villiers, the only fancy restaurant in town, and Jade’s happiness expanded like a helium balloon until she felt as though she was floating through her days. Nothing could touch her joy, not even the thought of her audition coming up on Friday.
When she visited Millie’s bakery for some bagels and cookies, the baker narrowed her eyes at her and came out from around the counter to talk.
“Something’s changed since the last time I saw you,” she whispered.
The bakery was full of people, and Millie’s employee was busy filling paper bags with fragrant buns and loaves of crusty bread.
Jade appreciated her friend’s discretion, and she answered quietly, even though she wanted to shout her feelings from the rooftops. “Ben asked me out.”
Millie grabbed her hands. “Ah! I’m so happy for you!”
Jade grinned at her. “And we may or may not have kissed.”
Millie gasped. “Hailey and I demand details. We can meet on Friday, and you can tell us all about it.”
“I’ll be in Asheville on Friday for an audition,” Jade said. “But I could do Saturday if you’re free.”
She was happy to have someone to share the news with. She trusted that Millie and Hailey wouldn’t tell anyone until she and Ben were ready to announce their relationship. On some level, Jade was aware that it was too soon to talk about a relationship of any sort. They’d only shared a couple of kisses and had never even been out on a date, but she felt this was it. Ben was amazing, and she had such a great feeling about this.
“I’ll talk to Hailey and let you know,” Millie promised her.
On Wednesday afternoon, Jade showered and washed her hair way before it was time to meet Ben. He’d offered to pick her up, and she’d said yes—it was exactly how she wanted their first date to go.
She picked out an outfit that was special enough for dinner at a nice restaurant but didn’t scream too much in any way: a deep violet dress with long lacy sleeves and a pair of black stilettos that made her legs look extra long. The dress hit at the knee, showing just the right amount of skin, and she paired it with a cute jacket and long silver earrings. She even managed to replicate Hailey’s magic hairdo to some extent, and put on just a touch of makeup—without using lipstick, because she was hoping for another kiss tonight.
An hour before Ben was supposed to pick her up, however, her phone lit up with a text from him.
I’m so sorry. Work came up. Running late. Meet you there?
Jade’s excitement deflated a notch, but it wasn’t a big deal. She could drive herself, no problem. She didn’t intend to drink much, anyway, and she could change her driving shoes for her pumps in the car when she arrived at the restaurant.
Then she had a fabulous idea. Checking the time, she grabbed her clutch and hurried out the door. She rushed to the car, glancing back toward the Williams house, but Ben was nowhere to be seen. It was just as well. She didn’t want him to see her and discover her plan.
Jade drove to Born and Bread and stopped at the curb. She hoped the sheriff or one of his officers wouldn’t fine her for her terrible parking, but she didn’t think even a ticket could dampen her mood. Hurrying inside, she ordered an assortment of cute, colorful petit fours from Millie’s assistant.
She and Ben could skip dessert at the restaurant and return to her house after dinner. Even though she was very much looking forward to their meal, she worried that their conversation might not be completely relaxed in a public setting. She didn’t intend for Ben to spend the night after their first date, but some pastries and cup of tea sounded just perfect. Jade placed the cake box on the seat next to her and sighed happily. This night was going to be amazing.
She entered Chez Villiers a couple of minutes early and was seated at a table near the window that overlooked the back garden of the restaurant. She imagined the terrace would be beautiful in the summer, but she was glad their table was inside tonight. The waiter brought her water and a menu, but she told him she’d rather wait for her date.
Minutes ticked by, and Jade resisted the urge to check her phone. The owner of the restaurant, Louis, stopped by to chat with her. It turned out he was Julie’s uncle, and he brought her a complimentary appetizer plate because she was his niece’s favorite teacher.
This was nice, and it helped her pass the time, but Ben was nowhere to be seen. With every glance toward the front door, more doubt trickled in, even though Jade tried very hard not to think the worst of him.
When he was running ten minutes late, Jade sent him a text that went unanswered. At twenty minutes past the hour, she tried calling him but only got his voicemail. Worry gnawed at her—maybe something happened to his dad? After mulling the issue over for another ten minutes, she picked up her phone again and found the number for the Hidden Hollows ER online. The kind nurse who answered the phone told her no one by the name of Charles had been admitted to the hospital that night.
Jade thanked her quietly and hung up, relieved, but also angry. If it wasn’t a medical emergency, the least he could have done was call her and reschedule. Once more, she tried to call him but couldn’t get a hold of him. She didn’t leave a message. Instead, she left two ten-dollar bills on the table as a tip, even though she hadn’t actually ordered anything, and left with her head held high.
She felt the weight of the other patrons’ stares on her and knew it was painfully clear to everyone that she’d been stood up. Her throat was tight, and it hurt by the time she reached her car, but she didn’t burst into tears.
She should have known. This was exactly what would have happened if she’d gone through with senior prom. She would have arrived there, and Ben would have left her waiting. Ten years later, she’d fallen for the same trick.
Maybe something did come up with work. The voice of reason in her head had a point, but that was no excuse. He should have called her, even if something happened. And he shouldn’t have chosen work over her in the first place. She deserved better.
Men didn’t change, not really. Maybe Hailey’s husband was the exception to the rule, but Ben wasn’t.
Jade drove home through the dusk, feeling empty and eerily calm. The Williams house was dark, a hulking black shape against the indigo evening sky. Jade turned her back on it and rushed to her house, where she threw away the box of pastries she’d bought earlier, pulled down her small suitcase, and threw in a haphazard collection of clothing and toiletry items. Then she phoned the hotel in Asheville where she’d booked for the following night and asked whether they had a room available for her a night early. She changed into jeans and a t-shirt, coaxed Felix into a cat carrier, sent an email to the principal’s office that she was taking a personal day to audition, and left Hidden Hollows behind.
15
Ben
Ben glanced at the clock on his truck’s dashboard and cursed. He was almost two hours late meeting Jade, and the chances that she’d waited for him were getting slimmer by the minute. As it was, he was still dressed in his damp work clothes, his old-jeans-and-henley look complete with heavy-duty steel-capped boots and enough dirt to clog a washing machine.
And blood. Ben couldn’t forget the blood. It added a certain danger
ous vibe to the ensemble.
The entire thing would have been funny if it wasn’t for the fact that he’d missed his date with Jade. The blood wasn’t his—the plumber who’d come to the Williams house to redo the plumbing had bled on him. Now Ben was going to barge into the fanciest restaurant in Hidden Hollows looking like he’d come off a horror show set.
He’d been working with the plumber most of the day, laying down new pipes for the kitchen and three bathrooms. The plumber had arrived late without an apology, which would have been enough for Ben to dismiss him under normal circumstances. But he wanted to have the house ready for the market before the ground froze and prevented him from doing the pipework.
Still, the man was friendly and kept up a steady stream of chatter without needing much input from Ben. This was good because Ben was too distracted by the thought of dinner with Jade to be much use in a conversation. But it was nice having someone work alongside him, and Ben thought he might find a permanent crew member if he decided to remain in Hidden Hollows.
The thought stopped him dead in his tracks. He hadn’t given any conscious thought to his plans for the future, but at some point, they’d all started to involve Jade. And since she was here, it made sense that he would make his home here as well. The added bonus was that he could stay close to his father, see him recover. Maybe they could go fishing in the spring, and Ben could fix up his dad’s house on the weekends.
He had to drag his thoughts to the work at hand over and over, but ultimately it wasn’t his lack of focus that caused the accident. He and the plumber had gone to open up the main water pipe on Jade’s side of the fence to test it, and Ben had insisted on them both putting on safety goggles. That had been when he’d texted Jade, and it was supposed to be the last task on their to-do list for the day. He’d hated putting her off like that, but he still needed to clean up and change into something presentable before their date.
The second the plumber turned the valve, the water tore through the rusted metal, and chunks of pipe flew out, along with a heavy stream of water. It had taken them the best part of an hour to get the water shut down, and by that time, the lawn around them was nothing but churned-up mud. Then Ben took one look at the man beside him and saw blood trickling down his face. Not a small, manageable amount of blood, either. All head wounds bled a lot, but Ben knew instantly that this one needed stitches.
He tried calling Jade. He took the phone from his pocket—and learned that it was dead, damaged by the water. The gushing from the pipe had soaked him through, and Ben had no hope of turning on the phone anytime soon. Jade’s windows were dark, so she wasn’t at home, and besides, the plumber needed medical attention.
So he drove the man to the small ER on the other side of town and left him in the tender care of the nurses. Then he raced to Chez Villiers, hoping against hope to catch Jade there.
But he knew it was a lost cause. Scanning the parking lot for her small car, he tripped over his feet and nearly face-planted on the front stoop of the restaurant. He pulled the door open and found himself in front of a short, plump man with an impressive mustache.
“I’m here for the Charles reservation,” he babbled, running a hand through his hair in a hopeless effort to get the damp, sticky strands to look presentable. “I’m, uh, late.”
At his words, the older man drew himself up. “So you’re the fool who stood up Miss Marshall.”
Ben opened his mouth to protest, then closed it again. The man wasn’t wrong.
“Yes,” he admitted finally. “I’m sorry, but is she still here?”
The man snorted. “You think you’re worth waiting for?”
Again, Ben was left wordless. Was he worth waiting for? He certainly hoped so, but the fact was that he was almost two hours late, and no woman would have waited for him that long, alone in a restaurant.
“I’m sorry,” he said, even though he didn’t owe this man an apology. “I tried to make it.”
“You should have tried harder.” The man’s blue eyes were ice-cold and implacable.
“You know what?” Ben’s temper exploded. “You don’t know me. You have no right to judge me. Now, will you please tell me when she left?”
The man’s mustache quivered. “I know she was hurt, and that’s enough for me. She’s a good woman. She waited for almost an hour, and if you ask me, that’s sixty minutes too long.”
An hour. Ben’s guts twisted painfully at the idea of her sitting alone in a restaurant, checking her phone to see whether he’d texted. Shame rose inside him in a sickening wave. No house, no plumbing was worth putting her through this, and he should have dismissed the plumber and asked him to return the next day instead of pushing on with the work.
“I’m going to try and make it right,” he vowed to this stranger. “And then I’m going to bring her here again so she can tell you all about it herself, okay?”
The man looked slightly mollified, but he still glowered at Ben and said, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“Right.” Ben tapped the counter. “Thanks.”
He ran outside and started his car. Where would Jade have gone after she’d left Chez Villiers? Home, for sure, he thought. It was her safe space, and she would have wanted to be alone.
Ben stepped on the gas and sped toward their little corner of Hidden Hollows. He tried to think of an apology, of words to say for her to forgive him, but nothing came to mind. In the end, he figured he’d just beg her to give him another chance.
The boxy house she’d inherited from her grandparents was dark, however. No lights shone in the darkness, and when Ben rang the doorbell, Jade didn’t answer. He tried the back door as well, but it was no use. It wasn’t late enough for her to be asleep. She simply wasn’t home. Ben peered through the back door window and didn’t even see her cat. Now he thought about it, her car was missing as well.
Where had she gone?
He pulled his phone from his pocket, then remembered it was broken. Swallowing a curse, he returned to his trailer to change from his stained clothes. It was too late now to grab a new phone—all the shops were closed.
It was no use. He wouldn’t be able to get to her tonight, but he’d turn over every stone in Hidden Hollows tomorrow to find her and apologize.
Still, as he lay in his narrow bed, staring at the ceiling, he couldn’t shake the feeling of guilt. He hoped he didn’t blow things with Jade. But surely she’d give him another chance?
Rest didn’t come easily that night, and he woke up after only a couple of hours of fitful sleep the next morning. Groggy and tired, he boiled water for coffee, scalded the roof of his mouth with the hot brew, and was out of the trailer ten minutes later, heading straight for the supermarket.
They didn’t have iPhones, but he bought a cheap prepaid phone anyway and stuck in his SIM card. The crappy device loaded for ages, and he sat in his car, watching the little circling icon with building impatience. The moment his contacts loaded, he found Jade’s number and called her.
She didn’t pick up. Ben tried again, and her voicemail answered after what seemed like endless ringing.
“Jade, I’m sorry about yesterday. I should have quit working earlier. We had a date, and I made the wrong decision. But then a pipe burst, and I needed to take the plumber to the hospital.” Ben closed his eyes and leaned his head back. “Not that this is a good excuse for not being on time. I just wanted to apologize and maybe ask you out for coffee? I’d like to make it up to you.”
For a moment, he paused, unsure how to finish his message. Then he added, “Anyway, please call me when you get this. Bye.”
He wanted to blurt out something more, tell her that he missed her already, but it didn’t seem right saying it over the phone without telling her face-to-face first. So he returned to the house and threw himself into work, waiting for her call. There was so much to do, and not just with the plumbing. Already, nights were getting colder, and he knew he needed to hurry if he wanted to have the house ready before winter.
>
Still, he kept checking his phone throughout the day. Jade didn’t call him back, and when he caved around noon and sent her a text, she didn’t reply either. By four o’clock, he was too agitated to even work—he didn’t want to cause another accident. So he cleaned up, got in his car, and drove to Hailey’s Hair Hut to speak with Jade’s friend.
The hairstylist gave him a friendly smile when she saw him walk in. “Hi! Did you come in for a trim?” She glanced at his hair. “You’ll have to come back in an hour, though.”
Ben shook his head. “No, I’m looking for Jade, actually.”
Hailey’s smile dimmed a little. “Why would you be looking for her here?”
He palmed his neck, wondering how much to tell her. Had Jade confided in her friends, told them she was going on a date with him?
Hailey solved the issue for him by asking, “Didn’t you go out with her last night?”
“Ah.” Ben stepped closer, unwilling to let the woman with her hair in curlers listen in on their conversation. “Yeah. I mean. Something came up, so I couldn’t…”
Jade’s friend narrowed her eyes at him. “You mean you canceled?”
“It’s complicated,” Ben said impatiently. “But I can’t get a hold of Jade, and I’m worried. She hasn’t been home since last night, either.”
That got Hailey’s attention. “I’ll give her a call. Wait here.”
She disappeared into the back room of her salon, and Ben was left alone with Hailey’s assistant and two female customers, all of whom watched him with unabashed interest. With his luck, the news of his visit would be all over the town by tomorrow.
Minutes later, Hailey reappeared. Her expression was so dark that Ben took an instinctual step back.
“Jade is fine,” she announced. “But she won’t be home tonight.”
“Where is she?” he asked. “Why won’t she talk to me?”
