The Spark (Carolina Connections Book 2)

by Sylvie Stewart

  Still, at the end of the night I was right back where I started—broken heart and aching chest. But at least I had people to share it with. The problem was that as hard as they tried, they couldn’t know what it was like to stand in my shoes, even if they were kick-ass Manolos.

  The rest of the week was the same. Laney called and texted constantly and sometimes tried offering more advice, but we both knew it wasn’t making a dent. I was useless at work, and on Thursday morning, when I absentmindedly poured a bag of sugar into the coffee filter, Jax finally told me to just go home and rest.

  But resting meant lying around thinking about Mark, so that was the last thing I wanted to do. I decided to go shopping and take myself out to lunch instead. Going with the fake-it-‘til-you-make-it theory, I dressed up to the nines and headed for Friendly Center where a girl could always find good fashion, food, and hopefully some perspective.

  I stopped at a couple cute boutiques and picked up some goodies. I was about to head into Soma for some sexy underthings when I remembered there was nobody to see such things, so I quickly moved on with only the briefest sniffle.

  In need of distraction and caffeine, I headed to Caribou and pulled open the glass door—only to run smack into the last person on earth I expected to see.

  “Terrence?!”

  His face brightened at the sight of me, and out came that perfectly imperfect smile. It immediately warmed me, but not in the same way it once had.

  “Fiona! Holy crap!” He wrapped me up in a hug while balancing two takeaway cups. I hugged him back tightly. “It’s so good to see you,” he said to the top of my head. Why was everybody so freaking tall?

  He pulled back and we stepped out of the doorway to keep from blocking traffic. “You’re looking beautiful as always,” he said with a smile.

  I had to laugh. “You’re not looking too bad yourself. What are you doing here? I thought you were based out of Raleigh now?”

  He looked a little sheepish. “Well, I am, but my…my girlfriend is here in Greensboro.”

  I didn’t know what reaction he’d expected, but despite the miserable state of my own love life I was so pleased for him. “Really?” I put a hand to my chest and drawled dramatically.

  That relaxed him immediately and he smiled again. “Yeah. She’s an intern at the hospital.” He gestured down the road. “I’m actually on my way to bring her a caffeine fix,” he said, raising one of the cups in his hands. “You know, I’m happy I ran into you. I’ve been meaning to call.”

  Huh? “Oh?”

  “Do you have a minute?” He set the cups down on the nearest table and indicated I should sit.

  “Sure,” I responded, completely unsure.

  We settled and he dove right in. “So, I feel like I owe you an apology.”

  I jerked my head back. “Why in the world would you think that? I’m the one who went all Hulk on you when you told me you wanted a relationship.”

  He looked suddenly uncomfortable. “Yeah, about that…I have a confession.”

  In the history of mankind, nothing good has ever followed that opening. I braced.

  “Remember that time when I was in town and you had to run over to pick Rocco up?”

  “Yeeaahh…” Where was this going?

  “Well, you’d left some papers on the counter. Some medical paperwork.”

  Shit.

  “I know it was a total invasion of your privacy, but I saw the first page and once I read that I couldn’t seem to stop. I read the whole damn packet—your entire medical history was summarized.”

  I knew exactly what packet he was talking about and I suddenly remembered that weekend like it was yesterday. “That was the weekend you had to leave early.”

  He looked right into my eyes. “I didn’t have to leave early. I panicked.”

  “But the next time you came to town you told me your feelings had evolved into something more and you wanted a relationship.”

  “Yeah,” he said, shifting in his seat. “This is why I owe you an apology. I invaded your privacy, then lied to you and bolted. Once I got home, I felt like such an asshole for ditching you and for running like a scared kid when I found out the girl I was hanging out with had baggage.”

  “Why do you think I only wanted casual in the first place? I mean, yeah, it was kind of douchey to read my private stuff, but I don’t blame you for running. What I don’t understand is why you came back and why you suddenly wanted more.” I was completely perplexed.

  “This is where I owe you another apology,” he said and then took a deep breath. “I felt so guilty about what I’d done and I thought about how you needed someone to take care of you, not ditch you. So, I told myself I should man up and be that someone.”

  What. The. Fuck?

  “So, let me get this straight. You felt guilty. Then you pitied me so much you decided to take one for the team?! That’s…that’s…awful…crazy…and really fucking embarrassing, Terrence!”

  “I know!” He covered his eyes with his hand.

  I was getting pissed. “Why exactly did you feel you had to share this with me? Especially now that it’s in the past? You never struck me as the type who would need to get something off your chest knowing it would only hurt the other person.” I started gathering my things so I could get the hell out of there.

  “No—that’s not why I had to tell you,” he said imploringly. “Please, just give me one more minute.”

  I dropped my bags and crossed my arms. “Then why?”

  “Because when I met Carly—I don’t know. When I met her it hit me like a lightning bolt and I knew right then I had been a fool to be content with always keeping women at arm’s length.” He ran a hand over his face, clearly frustrated.

  “You and I are similar, Fiona, whether you can see it or not. I was afraid of letting anyone in, and I assumed my career that had me absent half the time was unfair to put on someone else.”

  He put his hands on the table. “Look, I understand that your situation is definitely more serious, but I think the fear is the same. You’re afraid to pursue your future. And you’re afraid to let someone in because you don’t want to hurt them. But, honey, nobody’s future is guaranteed—I don’t care if they’re on their deathbed or healthy as a horse. When opportunity comes, you have to grab onto it, and when love comes, you have to hold tight and just take it one fucking day at a time.”

  He grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “Fiona, I know you and I weren’t meant to be together, but I’ll never regret having you in my life. I just really want you to get out of your own way and be happy.”

  Well, shit. Now I’d gone and lost my mad.

  I couldn’t really say anything. This was too much information to process all at once.

  Terrence stood. “I’m sorry I ambushed you, so feel free to call me later and yell at me,” he teased. “I have to run, but I mean it—call me anytime.” He dropped a kiss on the top of my head. “One day at a time, honey. I promise it works.” And he was gone.

  He’d been like a strange messenger of shock and awe, here one minute, gone the next. After that, I’d had to upgrade my order to a grande and ask if they happened to carry any liquor behind the counter.

  That had been yesterday and I still hadn’t fully processed everything Terrence had said, but I had a niggling feeling it was important. Putting those thoughts aside and re-focusing on the party, I smoothed my dress—my black dress—and attempted a reassuring smile for my mother. But she wasn’t looking at me.

  “Fiona?”

  Holy baby Jesus and all his baby friends—I knew that voice.

  “I don’t believe we’ve met,” my mother spoke up as I attempted to hide in open space. “I’m Johanna Pierce,” she greeted the only man on earth capable of simultaneously breaking me into little pieces and making me whole. Fuck!

  “Mark Beckett.” I heard him say and then I couldn’t keep my eyes averted any longer.

  I may have whimpered.

  His voice addressed my
mother but his brown eyes never left me for a second. He stood there in a perfectly tailored dark gray suit and an orange tie—the leukemia awareness color—and I thought I might faint. If I’d thought he looked good in cargo pants and a henley, that had nothing on this man in a suit. It was on par with naked Mark, and that was saying something.

  “Oh my,” I heard my mother whisper.

  Oh my, indeed. Was it really fucking hot in here all of a sudden?

  I could not make my mouth function properly so I proceeded to speak in tongues and let out a combination of about ten words at once. “WhButIwhoHoMy.” Then I tried to end the awkwardness for all of us by clamping my hand over my stupid mouth.

  I saw one corner of Mark’s lips twitch. “Good to see you too, Shortcake.”

  There was no ignoring the intense stare coming from my mom, so I had to remove my hand and get my shit together. “Um…so…Mom, this is my friend Mark.” His eyebrows rose at that and I ignored it. “Mark, this is my mother, Johanna.”

  “Yes, we’ve just met, Fiona,” my mother said deliberately. Turning to Mark she said, “It’s lovely to meet you, Mark. It’s not often we get to meet Fiona’s friends.” Her glance shifted back to me oh-so-subtly.

  “Um, what are you doing here?” I asked, trying not to sound panicked or rude or absolutely fucking crazy.

  “Just came to make a donation and to give you this.” He held out his hand, palm up, revealing a small pink flash drive with rhinestones on it.

  I couldn’t help the smile that came to my lips as I plucked the little device from his outstretched hand with trembling fingers. “How very secure you must be in your masculinity,” I teased. What the hell was I doing?! “What is this?”

  “Just something I wanted you to see,” he said, telling me absolutely nothing helpful. Then he turned back to my mom with an outstretched hand and said, “It was a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Pierce.” To me, he just said, “Shortcake, I’ll be seeing you.” And then he was gone.

  What was it with men dropping bombs on me and then disappearing in a puff of smoke?

  Good grief.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  FYI – The Apocalypse Is Nigh

  FIONA

  I shut the door to my old bedroom, my dad’s laptop tucked under my arm. I had no earthly idea what was on that flash drive but there was no way I was going to let my parents see it.

  The rest of the event had flown by, mostly because I’d been so completely and utterly distracted. As I’d known she would, my mother pulled me aside and grilled me about our mystery visitor. I finally had to admit to her that he was, in fact, the Mark I’d been seeing, but I made certain she knew things were finished.

  “Well it didn’t seem like he was finished,” she felt the need to point out.

  “Mom, we have friends in common. We’ll have to see each other on occasion but, trust me, it’s not going to work out.”

  “I don’t understand. Don’t you like him?” She smoothed her flawless hair which was arranged in a side bun this evening. She looked beautiful.

  I more than liked him. I was afraid I might be in love with him.

  “It’s not that.”

  “Then what? He seemed nice and even I could see that he’s a hottie.” She smiled wickedly.

  “Ew—just ew. That is more than I needed to know. I’m going to run to the restroom.” I had to avoid having the exact same conversation I’d been having with everyone for the last week. I didn’t need my mother repeating the “give love a chance” mantra, so I managed to avoid her until the drive back to their place. And even my mother had known better than to bring this subject up in front of my dad. I was relatively certain that my mom’s level of desire to marry me off was rivaled only by my dad’s level of desire to shoot the balls off any man who came near his innocent baby girl.

  Now safely ensconced in my bedroom, I’d reached the moment of truth. I pushed the power button and waited for the computer to start up. Meanwhile, I changed into one of my silk nighties and brushed my teeth.

  Hey, God. It’s me again. So, as you probably know, I’ve had quite a week. Any idea if the next one will be better? Mark came to the fundraiser tonight. I realize you already know that—you didn’t have anything to do with that, did you? Please make him happy—you did a good job with him and he deserves it. Okay, that’s about it. Oh, wait, one more thing. The peep-toe sling-backs I tried to buy were on backorder—I don’t suppose you could…never mind. Thanks for letting me live. Later.

  Rinse and spit.

  It was time. I took the laptop to my bed and laid down on my stomach before inserting the flash drive. A video file popped up. It was titled, “Dear Fiona.” I took a deep breath and double-clicked.

  I almost gasped when Mark’s handsome face appeared on the screen, although I don’t know what else I expected to pop up. I could see his living room in the background.

  “Hey Shortcake,” he said with a sad smile. I wanted to reach out and touch him. “So, I know you probably don’t want to hear from me but I’ve got a few things to say and then a couple other people want to talk to you.”

  Say what?

  “I think I understand a little better now, and I don’t blame you, but you still need to know something.” He took a deep breath and peered intensely into the camera. “You, Fiona Pierce, are the strongest person I’ve ever met in my life. Yeah, you’re tiny and you have the muscle mass of a two-year-old.” He smiled and that about undid me. “But you have strength where it counts. Your character, your determination, your independence, your drive to help people, your willingness to go it alone without putting your problems on other people. All of that and more.” My eyes began to tear up but I willed them to stop so my view of his perfect face wouldn’t be impaired.

  “And that isn’t even counting the kind of strength you bring out in everyone around you. You single-handedly let my mom see just how strong she could be—I’ve been taking care of her for years and you come along and she suddenly has ‘lady balls’ as you so eloquently put it.” He covered his eyes with his hand for a moment at that comment. “The point is, she always had it in her, but you brought it out. You did that, Shortcake.” He pointed at me through the screen.

  “Then there’s me. Before you came along, I was kind of an asshole. Shocking, I know.” He grinned and my heart flipped over in my chest. I released a sputtering laugh against my will.

  “I’m sure you’re having a good laugh over that.”

  How did he know that?

  “I know now that I was scared of opening up to anyone. I figured that caring about another person only made you a target—it was easier just to be by myself. But you changed that—you made me brave enough to risk it. And even if things never work out between us, I’ll never regret it. You changed me for the better.” He was going to make me cry for sure.

  “Now, before I officially lose my man card and get in touch with too many emotions, I need to ask you a question.” He shifted and I felt like his eyes were burning into me. “What if I got into a terrible car accident and was paralyzed or injured in some traumatic way? Would you wish I had let you go before anything like that could happen? Think about it and stay tuned.” The screen turned black.

  I sat there in shock, but had no time to process what he’d asked.

  The screen suddenly lit again with Laney’s face. To say her smile was strained was an understatement.

  “Hi, Fee. Don’t kill me. Damn that man—he is so convincing when he’s determined. Sorry.” She shrugged her shoulders. “But since I’m here I do have something to say and I’m kind of happy I’m talking to a camera so you can’t change the subject.”

  Grrr.

  “You know I couldn’t love you more if you were my own sister, but I haven’t been the friend I should have been. I guess I didn’t realize how much of your own pain and guilt you were holding back until we really started talking about it this week. You were always my fearless and crazy and lovable Fiona.” She smiled, but there were t
ears in her eyes.

  And mine too.

  “I hate that you put on a brave face when you’re hurting inside.” She swiped a finger under one eye and let out a breath.

  “So, here’s the deal. You gave me the courage to give Nate a chance and now look at us—we’re getting married.” She couldn’t help but smile and I did as well. “So I am going to do the same for you because I want you to be as happy as I am—and it’s not because I think I’m Marcia. I’m happy to be Jan as long as you get to be happy too, whatever that means.

  “Having said that, though, I will kick Mark’s ass so hard he won’t be able to do butt presses—or whatever the hell he does—if he hurts you even a little. I love you, Fee. And give the guy a chance—I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody so pathetic.” She giggled and gave me a little wave before shutting off the camera.

  Next up was Jake of all people. “Hey, future wife. I don’t know why Mark asked me to talk to you since any woman given the choice between the two of us would obviously pick me, but that’s his mistake.” He laughed a bit maniacally.

  “I do want to thank you, though, for your help on my little project.” He winked into the camera, his naughty smile on full display. “Things are shaping up really well, thanks to you. And, if I’m being completely honest, I’ll admit my little brother is a pretty good bet, faults and all. The one thing I can tell you is that he’s never let me down a single time in my life, which is more than I can say for myself. Looking forward to the next dinner! See ya.”

  Short and sweet. The exact opposite of how I’d describe Jake.

  Before I could do more than smile over Jake’s little speech, Jax appeared on the screen.

  WTF?

  His spiky blond hair was its usual mess and his wicked grin lit up the computer.

  “I thought it would be funny to start this video by telling you you’re fired, but your man here didn’t agree.” He laughed at his own joke and then got on with it. “So, I’ll be quick.”