by Annie Rains
“I thought you brought this for us,” Nettie complained.
“Word of wisdom,” his mom offered. “Never come between a woman and her chocolate.”
Mitch chuckled. “Noted.”
“Another word of wisdom. Whatever noble reasons you think you have for cutting things off with Kaitlyn, forget them. Those are in your head. You need to listen to your heart.”
“Mom, I’m going to Northern Virginia. I have a job lined up. One that will pay enough to let you stop working for good.”
His mom put her fudge down—the first clue that he was in trouble—and narrowed her eyes. “Mitchell Douglas Hargrove, I never said I wanted to stop working. I love working. Go to Virginia if you must but I’m going to continue exactly what I’m doing. I’ll slow down, maybe. Nettie is going to help me clean houses. We’re going to be a team, right, Net?”
Aunt Nettie licked the sticky fudge residue off her index finger with a loud smack. “That’s right.”
“And stop sending me money. I don’t need it. I never have,” she said, reaching a hand out to rest over his. “The only thing I need is for you to be happy.”
That’s all he’d ever wanted for her as well. “Ditto,” he said, unable to say anything more for a moment.
“Seeing you happy is what makes me happy, son,” his mom said, offering his hand a little squeeze before reaching for another piece of fudge.
Mitch swallowed past the melon-sized lump in his throat.
“Fine,” Aunt Nettie said, lightening up the sudden heaviness in the room. “I’ll share a piece of my fudge with you.” She broke a piece off and handed it to him. “But just this one time.”
“Thanks.”
Nettie shrugged a shoulder. “I just want you to be happy too.”
After leaving his mom’s house, he climbed into his truck and leaned back against the headrest. Without Kaitlyn, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever feel true happiness again.
His cell phone dinged in the center console, and Kaitlyn’s name lit up the screen and everything inside him for a moment. “Hello?”
“Hi,” she said in a flat voice.
“Hi.” He wanted to tell her that he missed her. That he was sorry. He was a fool. Nothing had changed between them though. Even though he had Brian’s contact information in his phone, he hadn’t called. And there was nothing to indicate that Brian would welcome talking to him any more than Frank Everson had.
“I need you,” Kaitlyn said, igniting hope in a spring he’d thought had dried up. His heart responded with a hard kick. He didn’t deserve to be needed by her but it felt good. Like air at peak elevation.
“Mr. Garrison called. He’s stopping by for breakfast one last time tomorrow. He wants to make sure we’ve met our end of the deal. You weren’t there last time,” she pointed out.
“I’ll be there tomorrow.”
“Good.” With that, she hung up on him.
* * *
Kaitlyn had set up Mr. Garrison’s spot at the table beside her. She’d intended for Mitch to sit on Mr. Garrison’s other side but somehow he’d moved to sitting across from them.
She kept her gaze down on the food in front of them.
“This is delicious. Who made it?” Mr. Garrison asked, looking between them. “Kaitlyn or you, Mitch?”
Mitch had only walked in the door five minutes before Mr. Garrison arrived. And in those five minutes, Kaitlyn had successfully avoided looking at or talking to him.
She hated him.
She loved him.
She hated that she was in love with him. So in love that she couldn’t taste the food she was chewing because it hurt to be near Mitch. Hurt to be around him after he’d broken her heart into a million little pieces that she feared would never reassemble.
“Kaitlyn cooked this morning,” Mitch said. Then he rattled off several stories about their time together here at the inn. How he’d helped her master Grandma Mable’s made-from-scratch biscuits. The repairs he’d done. The tree they’d put up right after Thanksgiving.
Kaitlyn didn’t say a word. She was barely listening because she didn’t want to revisit the time they’d spent here together. Whoever said it was better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all was wrong. Shakespeare? She guessed he would’ve liked this story because the ending wasn’t a happy one.
“Sounds like Mable was right. You two have been a good team,” Mr. Garrison said.
From her peripheral vision, Kaitlyn saw Mitch nod. She didn’t move. They had been a good team. They really had.
“Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I know you had a plan to sell your half of the B and B to Kaitlyn at the end of the timeline, Mitch.” Mr. Garrison reached for his cup of coffee. “Is that still what you’d like to do?”
Kaitlyn swallowed painfully, waiting for Mitch to respond, but it seemed to be taking forever. Finally, she looked up. “Yes, that’s what we both want,” she blurted out.
Mr. Garrison looked up from his coffee. Then he turned to Mitch. Kaitlyn finally looked at Mitch too. It was hard to hate him when she met his eyes. There was so much to find there: pain, sincerity, warmth.
Not love for her though. They were business partners, and even that relationship was ending tomorrow.
“Yes. I’m not cut out for running a bed and breakfast. This is what Kaitlyn was born to do. She takes after Mable in that way. She can make anyone feel at home. She’s smart, creative, and tireless in the work here.” His gaze slid to hers and stuck. “She’s pretty amazing.”
Fresh pain poured through her. How could he be so nice after the way he’d walked out the other day? After the way he’d turned off the feelings they’d shared so easily?
Mr. Garrison took one more sip of his coffee and scooted back from the dining room table. “Okay, then. I’ll need each of you to stop by my office anytime tomorrow or thereafter. You’ll both have papers to sign.”
“Do we have to come together?” Kaitlyn asked, standing from the table as well.
Mr. Garrison frowned. “No. I know you’ll have your hands full here at the inn, and Mitch has obligations elsewhere with his new job. Just anytime you’re free. I can even swing by here with the paperwork if that’d be easier for you, Kaitlyn.”
“Thank you.” She walked Mr. Garrison to the door.
“I know I’ve already said it but your grandparents would be proud. They’re probably smiling down on this inn right now.”
Kaitlyn hoped that wasn’t true. They’d done well with the inn, yes. But Kaitlyn wouldn’t wish for Mable to see what a mess her attempted matchmaking had made.
Mr. Garrison shook Kaitlyn’s hand and then reached for Mitch’s, who was standing right behind her now. So close she could smell his familiar pine smell, like a freshly cut Christmas tree. Kaitlyn squashed all the attraction that buzzed to life inside her.
After Mr. Garrison descended the porch steps, she closed the door and addressed Mitch, keeping her back to him. “Your job here is done. You can go.”
He didn’t move.
She turned and walked past him, back into the dining room to clean up the dishes.
“I meant what I said. You’re in your element here. And you are amazing,” Mitch said, following her.
Her jaw tightened. “So amazing that you can hardly wait to leave.” Her eyes darted to his. “So, get on with it. Leave.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Mitch glanced around the restaurant. It was relatively quiet for the moment. The lunch crowd wouldn’t hit for another half hour. When he’d mentioned that he was meeting Brian Everson, the hostess had seated Mitch along the window, where there was more space and handicap accessibility.
Mitch interlocked his hands in front of him on the table and blew out a pent-up, nervous-as-hell breath. He was a little shocked that Brian had even agreed to meet with him when he’d called earlier. Mitch just needed to say his piece. He wanted to look Brian in the eyes and tell him how sorry he was about everything that happened on that cold, icy night that
changed so many lives.
Friendly voices filled the air as the restaurant’s entrance opened and Brian rolled in with his wheelchair. Mitch kept his head down and listened to the greetings.
After a moment, the hostess headed back down the aisle, leading Brian toward Mitch.
Mitch took a breath and looked up, meeting his former classmate’s youthful face. It was almost as if nothing had changed in the last decade. But appearances could be misleading. For instance, looking at Mitch, one might not be able to tell that he was terrified right now. But he was. Sitting across from Brian was scarier than any scene he’d ever walked in on as an MPO. Mitch had learned to hide his emotions well over the years, starting after the time his dad passed away.
Brian extended his hand first. “Hey, Mitch. Looks like you beat me here,” he said in a friendly voice.
Mitch smiled stiffly. “Hey, Brian. I’ve only been here a few minutes.” Lunch had been Brian’s suggestion but maybe meeting for drinks would’ve been a better idea. Then Mitch wouldn’t be facing at least an hour of what promised to be an awkward conversation. “Thanks for agreeing to meet with me.”
“Of course.” With ease, Brian positioned himself at the table across from him.
“What can I get you to drink?” the waitress asked.
Brian tapped a finger to his mouth thoughtfully. “I think I’ll have a sweet tea, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course, Mr. Everson,” the waitress said with a bright smile that told Mitch Brian came often and tipped well.
“I’ll have the same.” Mitch willed his heart to slow down as the waitress scribbled on her notepad.
“You got it. I’ll be right back with those,” she promised in a cheery voice before walking away.
When she was gone, Mitch looked Brian in the eye for the first time since the accident. Ten years seemed to evaporate before him. “I’m sorry,” Mitch said.
Those two words broke out of him and threatened to shatter his very existence. His heart hammered despite his efforts to stay calm, cool, and relaxed.
Brian smiled back at him. It wasn’t a fake gesture. Brian’s smile radiated from more than his lips. It poured through his twinkling eyes and beamed from the glow of his skin. “Me too.”
Mitch sat there a second, trying to process that response. He would have understood a go to hell more readily. “What?”
“I should’ve reached out to you. I know it wasn’t easy dealing with the aftermath of the accident. I also know my family fired your mom. My dad threatened you and asked you to leave the only home you ever knew. I’m sorry for that, Mitch. No one should ever feel run off from their hometown.”
“But I’m the one who ran into you. I’m the reason you’re in that chair,” Mitch said, working hard to control his emotion.
Brian laughed softly. “Well, if it’s true, then maybe I ought to thank you as well.”
“You are confusing the hell out of me right now, man,” Mitch said. He could feel the corners of his mouth pulling up in a tiny smile though.
“Come on, Mitch. Life doesn’t just happen.”
“It doesn’t?” Because that’s exactly how life seemed to go. Things just happened, and sometimes they sucked.
“I don’t think so, at least,” Brian said, sounding a lot like Dawanda. “If that accident had never happened, who knows where I’d be.”
Mitch stared across the table at the man he barely knew. If the accident had never happened, Brian would have walked into this restaurant. He might have two or three gold medals on display in his home.
“Sure, I was angry when I first found out I was paralyzed. It wasn’t fair. I spent my entire life up to that point training for something that I couldn’t do anymore. But because of my accident and my training before that, I’m able to help hundreds of kids now.”
“So I hear,” Mitch said.
The waitress sat the drinks down in front of them. They both thanked her and waited to continue talking until she had walked away.
“I’ve spent the last decade trying to pay penance for your injuries. Now you’re telling me it’s okay.”
Brian took a sip of his sweet tea. There was a thoughtful look on his face. “Yeah, it’s okay. Honestly, I snuck out of my parents’ house that night. I shouldn’t have been on that road either.” He shook his head. “It was all just one big mistake. Or it was orchestrated by some higher power for a reason we’ll never begin to understand.”
Mitch had been feeling sorry for Brian all this time but now some part of him was jealous. Brian was happy. Mitch could see it on his face. It wasn’t an act. It was real.
For the next hour, they talked like old friends over burgers and fries.
“I’m not sure if you’re planning to stay in Sweetwater Springs for any amount of time,” Brian said, “but I can guarantee my family won’t stand in your way. This is just as much your home as it is ours. And my dad is all talk, little action.”
“From what I hear, you hold all the power around here now,” Mitch said.
Brian gave his head a shake. “I don’t know about that. I own a lot of property, yeah. I might even run for mayor next year.”
Mitch’s brows rose. He wouldn’t hesitate to vote for the guy in front of him if he was a citizen in this town.
“What my dad never understood is that power doesn’t come from threatening people. It comes from serving them.”
When the bill came, Brian insisted on paying for Mitch’s meal.
“I can’t let you do that,” Mitch argued.
“You can pay for mine next time. I enjoyed catching up with you. Let’s do this again, man,” Brian said. He laid enough cash down to more than cover the charge and they left the restaurant.
Mitch hit the unlock button on his truck. “Honestly, I’m supposed to be leaving in the next couple of days. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”
“Supposed to be?” Brian asked. “You don’t sound so sure about that.”
Mitch shrugged. “Either way, next time I’m in town, I’ll call you. We’ll definitely grab a bite. Seeing that you bought my lunch today, I owe you.”
Brian shook his head. “You don’t owe me a thing.” And that statement held more meaning than just who had paid for lunch.
Mitch watched Brian get into his vehicle and load his wheelchair effortlessly. He was doing okay. More than okay.
When Mitch got back into his truck, he expelled a heavy breath. A weight had been lifted off his chest and shoulders. Brian didn’t blame him for what happened. Mitch didn’t need to steer clear from him, and the Everson family was no threat to the Sweetwater Bed and Breakfast. Frank’s threat had been as empty as the current gas tank of Mitch’s truck.
He’d fuel up first. Then he’d work on figuring out his life. There was no reason he had to leave unless that was truly what he wanted. If he were creating his own wish list for Santa, what he truly wanted was Kaitlyn.
Could she ever forgive him though? He’d cut her off like a loose end. The hurt in her eyes was something he’d been revisiting in his head for the last couple of days. He’d never meant to hurt her but it’d seemed like the right thing to do at the time. A sacrifice for the greater good. He couldn’t just walk back into the inn now and say, “Just kidding. I want to stay.”
Can I?
* * *
Bah humbug.
It was the day before Christmas, and that’s what Kaitlyn was really thinking as she smiled across the breakfast table at her guests, including her parents. Festive music jingled in the air along with the delicious aroma of cinnamon and butter from the pastries she’d served this morning. There was lively conversation going on at the table about what the guests had done last night.
“We were thinking we’d go out tonight,” Kaitlyn’s mother said. “What do you suggest we do, Kaitlyn?”
Kaitlyn blinked them all back into focus. “You could go downtown to Dawanda’s Fudge Shop. It’s world-class.”
Numbness radiated through her, from her cheeks, s
till puffed up from smiling, to her toes.
“And ask for a cappuccino,” Gina said, walking into the room with a pot of coffee. She’d shown up this morning, bright and early, to help with breakfast. Kaitlyn was more than capable of doing this on her own but she’d been grateful anyway. Gina said Mitch wasn’t staying with her but didn’t elaborate. Maybe he’d called Alex or Tuck. Or maybe he’d gone home with that waitress from the Tipsy Tavern for another baggage-free one-night stand. What she and Mitch had was supposed to be baggage-free as well.
It would all be over soon though. Mitch would go to Mr. Garrison’s office to sign the necessary paperwork to sell his portion of the inn to her. She could wait until after Christmas to do her part. They wouldn’t even have to see each other again. The idea of that made her breakfast sit unsettled in the pit of her stomach. She’d fallen in love with him, despite her head knowing that it was a bad idea. Her heart had overridden that truth.
“A cappuccino would hit the spot,” her father said at the table, pulling her attention back to the here and now.
“It’s too bad you missed the Hope for the Holidays Auction the other night,” Gina continued, making easy chitchat. “We raised over ten thousand dollars for one of our families in need. One of Kaitlyn’s gingerbread cheesecakes brought in over three hundred dollars itself!”
Kaitlyn’s smile was sincere for the first time this morning. “Really?” she asked. She hadn’t heard that detail yet.
“Oh yes. Our ten cakes alone brought in a thousand dollars combined.”
“That’s wonderful!” her mom said. “Was it Mable’s recipe?”
Kaitlyn nodded. “The money from the auction is helping Cassie Martin, a single mother from town who’s battling cancer.”
“That’s right.” Gina sat at the dining room table with her own cup of coffee. “My son has been helping out at the police department these last few weeks. Cassie’s son got in a little bit of trouble with the law, trying to acquire money for his mom’s cancer treatments. Once Sweetwater Springs found out she was sick, well, the whole community rallied around to help. That’s just how townsfolk here are. Your mother was one of the finest for that,” Gina told Kaitlyn’s dad.
