Bittersweet Surrender

by Diann Hunt

  She turned her head to him and noticed his face was red and sweaty. It made her feel good to know she’d made him work to catch up with her.

  “Can’t keep up, eh?” She jumped up from the bench and took off again with a laugh.

  “Hey, give the guy a break, will ya?” His words were labored, so she slowed down a little. “Okay, okay, old man, I’ll slow down.”

  They jogged a little bit, each trying to catch breath.

  “So why did you work so late?” she asked, taking in the cute way a lock of blond hair had spilled across his forehead.

  “Had a lot of consulting work to catch up on,” he said. “And some things for the spa.”

  Another pang of guilt. She could ask him about it, but the truth was she’d rather skip the gory details and find out the final result and deal with it then.

  “How’s Magnolia?”

  “I haven’t seen her much the past few days. She’s always gone to some kind of committee meeting or out to save the whales. She’s passionate for life.” Carly chuckled. “I should be more that way. Wait. I’m passionate about chocolates; does that count?” She smiled at Scott. “Really, I do enjoy finding good lotions and oils for the spa, looking up the next best thing. It keeps me on my toes.”

  “Um, so to speak. Get it? Toes, spas, all that?” A bright laugh followed.

  Carly stared at him.

  He cleared his throat. “Okay, you care about lotions, oils, and stuff, why?”

  The sidewalk was cracked and broken beneath her and she almost tripped. Thanks to Scott’s steadying hand, she stayed upright. The same hand that had steadied her through other bumps in life.

  “Thanks. I care about those things because it makes people happy—”

  That’s it!

  She stopped so quickly Scott ran past her. “Makes people happy,” she said thoughtfully. “The work I do is like a fine restaurant for the outer body.”

  Scott had circled back and jogged in place. “Well, that’s one way of looking at it. It’s easy to see you love what you do. Your eyes light up every time you step into the spa.”

  “Really?” They started running again. She thought it funny that he would notice that. “I suppose I should get another hobby, but the truth is I keep plenty busy between the spa, and now with Magnolia and then Jake coming . . .”

  “Oh, that’s right. He’ll be here this weekend, won’t he?”

  “That’s the plan. I went shopping with Rita so I’d look decent when he saw me. We haven’t seen each other in forever, remember.” She couldn’t talk like this to any other guy on the planet, but Scott understood.

  “Well, if he doesn’t like what he sees, he’s blind.”

  She chuckled. “Spoken like a true friend. Thanks.”

  “I mean it, Carly. You look great.”

  “Thanks.”

  They rounded the crest toward her house and as they got closer she saw a car in the driveway.

  “Looks like you’ve got company,” Scott said.

  “C. J. and Rita. I’m such a mess. Good thing it’s no one from the spa. I wouldn’t want to scare them off.”

  “So you’re a little sweaty. It happens when people run.”

  “A little sweaty?”

  “And your hair is a little disheveled,” he so graciously pointed out.

  Her hands reached up and tugged on her ponytail.

  “And your mascara is smudged beneath your eyes,” he added.

  “Okay, okay, so I’m a mess. You can stop now.” She stopped running and rubbed under her eyes.

  “Just trying to help you out.”

  “Well, don’t,” she said with a chuckle. “Want to come in for a glass of iced tea?”

  “Sure, why not. If you don’t think I’ll scare your brother off.”

  “Why would you?”

  “I told you, he acts weird around me.”

  “Totally your imagination,” she said. “Let’s go.”

  “Hey, guys,” she said, when they reached the top of the stairs.

  Rita and C. J. turned around. Rita’s eyes grew wide.

  “I know, I’m a mess. I’ve been told.” Carly turned a frown to Scott, then looked back at Rita with a laugh. The look on Rita’s face stopped her. Something was wrong. “I invited Scott in for iced tea.”

  C. J. was smiling—which proved Scott’s concerns were wrong . . . But, no. Rita stood perfectly still. Her eyes flashed a warning Carly didn’t get.

  “Glad you could come, Scott. The more, the merrier.” The voice behind Carly caused her to gulp. Out loud. She slowly turned her sweaty, dirty, messy self around and stood face-to-face with Jake Mitchell.

  ten

  “Carly?” Jake’s voice held complete and utter disbelief, matching the expression on his face.

  Just shoot me now.

  She tried to muster a confident grin, but something told her it wasn’t happening. “That would be me.”

  After an awkward pause he said, “Uh, good to see you.”

  Okay, that was heartfelt.

  With outstretched arms he took a step toward her as though he was going to pull her into an enormous bear hug. Mortified, she took a step back, and for a moment they did a little tango thing.

  “Um, I don’t think you want a hug from me just now. I’ll go freshen up and be right back.” Before he had a chance to respond, she burned rubber.

  Once in her room, Carly stumbled around as she tried to simultaneously take off her shirt and shoes.

  “Of all the times for him to show up.” She yanked off her sweats and threw them across the bed. Slipping into the bathroom, she scrubbed at mascara lines and grabbed at makeup containers, knocking some over here and there. “Couldn’t he have at least warned me? Would that have been so hard?”

  Back in the bedroom, she was throwing on a glitzy black-and-white top when a knock sounded at her door.

  “Carly, can I come in?”

  “Yes.” By the time she shrugged her black pants past her hips, she couldn’t breathe.

  “You okay?” Rita asked as she stepped inside.

  “If you brought an oxygen tank, I’ll be fine.”

  “I mean with Jake showing up.”

  “Why didn’t you call my cell phone, send smoke signals, something?”

  “I’m sorry. I tried to call you but it went to your voice mail.”

  Carly glanced at her phone and saw the voice mail notice. That was what she got for jogging.

  “Not exactly the first impression I was going for.”

  As Carly stood there panting and red-faced, trying to smooth down her hair, Rita lifted her hand to her mouth with a strangled gasp. “When I think of the shopping we did . . . and the plans you made to look perfect. And . . . and your hair.”

  Carly glared at her. “So nice of you to point that out.”

  Rita started laughing uncontrollably—to the point she fell on the bed.

  “Rita! This is horrible!” she said, but Rita just kept laughing.

  Balled fists planted firmly on her hip, Carly stared at her. Her mouth tilted upward at the corners. She finally gave up and started laughing too.

  “I’m a mess.”

  Rita looked through teary eyes and laughed some more. “Your hair. Oh my, you looked like a ruffled cockatoo. The way it was—” Her hand pulled up an imaginary point. “And then your shirt was hanging this way, and your face when you saw Jake—” She held her stomach and laughed some more.

  “Okay, I get it.” Carly slumped on the bed.

  When Rita’s laughter was spent, she looked at Carly. Really looked. “Uh-oh.”

  “Exactly.”

  “I’m sorry, Carly.” The way Rita pursed her lips together told Carly she wasn’t sorry in the least. Rita put an arm around her. “Don’t worry. Jake is not that shallow. Besides, you look gorgeous now.”

  “Am I lopsided?” Carly asked, adjusting her upper torso.

  “Perfectly even.”

  Running a brush through her hair, Carly tur
ned to Rita. “How’s my makeup? I’m trying this new foundation. Is it too dark?”

  “Looks great.”

  “How about the perfume. Too strong?” She spritzed the air.

  “It’s fine.” Rita tugged at Carly’s arm. “Now, come on. You’re worrying too much.”

  Carly reluctantly followed.

  In the living room Magnolia was stumbling around passing out sloppy sam sandwiches, the vegetarian version of sloppy joes. As Carly entered, all talking ceased and everyone looked at her. She felt better the instant she saw Jake’s blue eyes light up.

  His dark hair was cropped short to his scalp, but there was plenty of it, revealing a strong, detailed hairline, complete with sideburns. He had a dimple in the middle of his chin where no doubt his mother had lovingly poked her finger when he was fresh out of the oven. Carly suspected he could crack nuts with that firm square jaw of his, and felt sure a horse would look dainty alongside him. Now this was her kind of man.

  He stood and walked over to her. “I’ll take that hug now,” he said, his burly arms crushing her into his chest before she could say anything. Not that she could if she wanted to; her nose was smashed into his sternum. He smelled of sawdust and musk. She snuggled in further to him, trying not to appear too obvious. Her lungs had collapsed, but his arms felt good.

  She lingered there until Scott cleared his throat and said, “Well, I’d better get going.”

  Jake’s arms loosened around her and she reluctantly pulled away.

  “You don’t have to leave, Scott,” she said, taking one more shameless sniff of Jake’s shirt.

  “That’s all right. The lady I work with is a slave driver, and I have a lot of work to do tomorrow.” He winked at her. “Good to meet you, Jake. See you all later.” He waved at the others, slipped down the stairs and into the night.

  The evening air tingled against Carly’s skin as she and Jake sat on the front porch swing together. A slight wind whistled through the trees. Crickets chirped in the distance and night sounds swirled with nostalgia, making her think of high school—back when she had time to listen.

  “Boy, it feels good to be back home,” Jake said.

  “You had mentioned you changed the move from the end of the month to this Friday. What made you come today?”

  He chuckled, put his arm around the top of her shoulders, and gave her a light squeeze. “Surprised you, eh?”

  That was the understatement of the year. Besides, she was pretty sure she had surprised him more.

  “I figured, why not? We had everything packed, and with the way Katelyn was acting, I was afraid she’d run away with her boyfriend or something stupid so she could stay.”

  “Oh, so it wasn’t only friends she needed to leave behind, but also a boyfriend?”

  “You got it.”

  “Where did you say Katelyn was?”

  “She’s staying at my brother’s house for a couple of days. They live a few hours from here. We thought that might give me more time to get the house fixed up before she got home.”

  “She might like to have a part in getting her room together.”

  Jake looked at Carly. “She can do that once she gets here. Figured it didn’t hurt for her to miss out on the humdrum of moving. She needs time to adjust to the whole idea.”

  Carly nodded.

  He pulled her next to him. “So tell me about you, Squirt—er, Carly.” He grinned. “Guess that will take some getting used to.”

  She felt herself blush.

  “So how about it? Catch me up with you.”

  “Not much to tell, really.” She suddenly wondered if C. J. had ever told him about her being sick. But then why would he, since he didn’t know they were e-mailing one another.

  “You’re divorced?”

  “Yeah.” Hearing that word linked to her still was unsettling.

  “Hey, you two, I wondered where you’d disappeared to,” C. J. said, stepping out onto the porch.

  Jake took his arm away from Carly’s shoulders while a puzzled C. J. looked on. He opened his mouth to say something, then seemed to think better of it.

  “So are you ready to go?” Rita asked, joining them outside.

  “Huh? Oh yeah. Yeah,” C. J. said, still looking suspiciously at Jake and Carly. “You ready, Jake?”

  Jake stood. “Yeah, I’m ready.” He turned to Carly. “You’ll come by the house tomorrow?”

  “I have to work all day, but I can bring pizza for everyone tomorrow evening. Will that help?”

  A broad grin split across his face. “That would be great.” He leaned in for her ears only. “Can’t wait to be alone with you.” He brushed her cheek with a kiss, causing goose bumps to race across her arms. “Good night, Carly.”

  That time he didn’t stumble across her name. The way he said it made her knees weak. She smiled up at him, then looked toward C. J., whose mouth was gaping.

  Carly got the feeling they should have warned C. J. ahead of time.

  Scott didn’t like the way Jake had looked Carly over tonight. Something about that guy just rubbed Scott wrong. No doubt Jake Mitchell was a man who was used to getting what he wanted. Scott’s jaw clenched. If Jake so much as inflicted a twinge of pain on Carly . . .

  He blew out a sigh and flipped the switch on the car radio. It was none of his business. If Carly wanted a guy like that, there wasn’t a whole lot he could do about it.

  The whole thing bugged him. Still, he’d keep an eye on things. Carly meant too much to him for him to just stand idly by and let her get hurt again.

  He reached over and cranked up the music.

  Carly was just slipping into bed when the doorbell rang. Who on earth would be there at that time of night? She slipped on her robe and ran down the stairs before Magnolia would be disturbed.

  Wait. What am I thinking? Magnolia played drums in the middle of the night.

  Peeking out the window, she saw C. J. standing on the other side of the door. She opened it.

  “Did you leave something?”

  He stormed into the house. “You want to tell me what that was all about?” His body language said he was ready for a fight.

  “What?” She played innocent.

  “Between you and Jake. What was that?”

  “We’re friends.”

  “You haven’t seen each other for years. You were a kid when he was here last. How did it go from that to him kissing your cheek on the porch tonight?”

  He paced the floor. What was it with guys and pacing?

  “I don’t know what you’re all stirred up about, C. J. I’m not a kid, and he is your best friend.”

  “Exactly. And I know him better than anyone.” He stopped right in front of Carly. “He breaks hearts, Carly.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “You’ve been through enough.”

  She knew he was trying to protect her, and she appreciated it, but right now she was tired of people hovering over her, always telling her what to do, what not to do. What to eat. What not to eat. Enough already.

  “We’ve been e-mailing one another.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. We’ve been carrying on an e-mail relationship.”

  “Is that Christian?”

  “What’s not Christian about it?”

  “I don’t know.” He walked again. “You hear about these online things. Just made me nervous to hear you say that.”

  “It was nothing like that. We’ve been corresponding to one another, getting to know each other. As adults.”

  “How did it happen?” Now he was acting like a big brother. She wasn’t sure she liked it. “He got my address through a forward you sent to several of your friends and me.”

  He stomped his foot. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “C. J., what are you so upset about?”

  “I don’t like it, that’s all. I know him. He’s my best friend, but I don’t want the two of you together, sis. I won’t allow it.”

  Okay, now Carly�
��s ire was up. Little nerves were standing at attention, dressed in boxing gloves. “You can’t stop me. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m an adult.”

  “I still won’t allow it.”

  “C. J., go home. You need time to calm down.” Carly walked to the door and opened it.

  “You want to split me and my best friend?”

  “What?”

  “I mean it. I will not rest as long as you two are together.”

  “You are way overreacting, C. J. I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”

  He reached in and kissed her cheek. “I love you, sis. I wouldn’t ask you to do it if I didn’t think it was for your own good. I want you to dump him.”

  There was something in his eyes that said this wasn’t just about protecting her, but she let it go.

  “Good night, C. J.”

  By the time Carly got back into bed, she was too upset to sleep. She’d known C. J. would be a little surprised at the two of them together, but she would never have expected him to react with such outrage. Was there something he knew about Jake that she didn’t? Why would it bother him so for her to be with his best friend? They weren’t high school kids anymore. She wasn’t some silly schoolgirl who would swoon over his every word. She could take care of herself.

  For goodness’ sake, she’d lived through cancer and Gary walking out. She could handle Jake Mitchell.

  Still, the look in C. J.’s eyes made her wonder.

  Carly felt as though she had chased the sandman all night, but by the time she reached him, he’d dissolved into, well, sand. Her brother’s reaction to Jake had shocked her to the core. She expected him to be surprised, sure, but his reaction was over the top. She couldn’t figure it out.

  “Sorry I’m late,” she said to Scott when she stepped into the office.

  “You obviously don’t have to answer to me.” Scott turned from the filing cabinet and walked over to his desk.

  “Everything all right?”

  “Why shouldn’t it be?” He fell into his seat with a thump.

  “I don’t know. You just seem—”

  “I’m fine.”

  He obviously didn’t want to talk about it, and she didn’t have the energy this morning to deal with it, so she let it go.