The Missionary's Purpose

by Kat Brookes

  “Well, what’s everyone standing around for?” Mama Tully asked. “Let’s get this box inside so you can open it.”

  “You don’t have to tell me twice,” Addy said, eager to see her creation all put together. But when she bent to lift it, the weight surprised her. “Oh, wow. It’s heavy.”

  “Here,” Lila said, stepping around to the other side of the package, “let me help.” She bent to test the box’s weight. “Are you sure they didn’t send you a box of bricks instead?”

  “Need a hand?”

  They turned to see Mason crossing the front yard to the porch.

  “Talk about perfect timing,” Lila said, greeting her fiancé with a warm, welcoming smile. “But be forewarned. This package weighs a ton.”

  “I’m pretty sure I can handle it. I lift baskets and crates filled with peaches for a living,” he replied, his attention fixed on Lila as he came up onto the porch.

  The tender looks exchanged between her sister and her heart’s match were filled with so much love that Addy’s thoughts shifted to the man who made her feel the very same way. Jake.

  “One of Addy’s dreams finally coming true,” Lila said as she followed Mason and Finn inside.

  “I can’t wait to see your cookbook,” Mama Tully said as Addy grabbed for the closing screen door, holding it open for her foster mother.

  “You and me both.” Addy stood in the doorway, watching them go. It was there, in that box that Mason carried with him. Her dream. After years of wanting to create one, after months and months of perfecting recipes and putting them all together, her cookbook had finally become a reality. But the one person who should be there with her for the unveiling wasn’t.

  “Hurry up, Aunt Addy!” Finn called out from the living room.

  She stepped inside, easing the screen door closed behind her. However, instead of joining them, she went straight to her room to grab her purse.

  “Addy?” Lila called out.

  Addy stepped from her room, meeting her friend halfway down the hallway. “I can’t open it without Jake being here,” she told her as she pulled her car keys from her purse.

  Lila nodded with an understanding smile. “Of course you can’t. I’ll let everyone know. We’ll see you when you get back.”

  “I won’t be long,” Addy told her and then hurried past her and out the front door.

  * * *

  “Knock, knock!”

  Jake looked up from the peanut butter and jelly sandwich he was making, a smile stretching across his face at those familiar words. Whenever Addy came over, she would open the front door and call out.

  “I’m in the kitchen!” he called back with a grin.

  A second later, Addy came into the room in more of a rush than he’d ever seen her do before.

  He immediately stopped what he was doing. “What’s wrong?” he asked with a worried frown.

  “Nothing’s wrong,” she assured him with a soft smile. “In fact, everything is perfect. My cookbooks came today.”

  “They did?” he replied. “That’s wonderful. How did it feel to hold your cookbook in your hands for the very first time?”

  “I’ll let you know in a few minutes,” she replied with a smile. “After you come back to Mama Tully’s with me. I told Lila I wasn’t going to open the box without you there with me.”

  “Addy,” he said, emotion tugging at his voice. To know that she’d put off seeing her long-awaited cookbook until he could be there with her for its reveal was an honor that touched him deeply.

  “Jake, you were such a big part of making that dream come true. I didn’t want to see my cookbook for the first time without you.” Glancing down at his partially made lunch, she said, “I’ll call and let Lila know we’ll be back after you finish with your lunch.”

  “Lunch can wait,” he said. Grabbing for the lids to the peanut butter and jelly, he screwed both tops back on as quickly as he could. “Seeing your cookbook can’t.”

  “Jake, please don’t skip lunch on my account.”

  “I won’t be,” he replied. “After we see your cookbook, I’d like to take you to lunch to celebrate. Actually,” he said with a glance down at his casted leg, “you would have to get us there, but I’ll be paying for our meals.”

  “I’d like that,” she said, the corners of her mouth lifting even higher.

  Reaching for his crutches, he got to his feet. “Let’s go.”

  They made their way out to her car. Once she had Jake settled in the passenger seat, crutches stored in the back seat, Addy drove them back to Mama Tully’s.

  “I’m so proud of you,” Jake said, his heart overflowing with love for her. And this was only the beginning of her endeavors. He had faith that her first collection of recipes would be a tremendous success. One that would beg for others to follow.

  She glanced his way with a bright smile. “I’m sort of proud of me, too.”

  She should be. She’d come such a long way from that lost little girl who had no dreams to reach for. “Love you, Addy.”

  Her eyes misted over. “Love you back.”

  Moments later, they were pulling up to Mama Tully’s place. Lila, Finn, Mama Tully and Mason were all standing out on the front porch, waving bright red balloons in the air above their heads.

  Addy stepped from her car, laughing. “Balloons?”

  “This is a celebration,” Lila announced.

  Mason reached over to give Finn’s hair a playful tousle. “They were my son’s idea.”

  “Nice touch,” Jake said with a grin as he made his way alongside Addy to the porch.

  “Come on in, you two,” Mama Tully said with a wave of her balloon. “I’m ready to see my girl’s cookbook.”

  Jake felt the same way. And he couldn’t wait to see the joy on “his girl’s” face the moment she laid eyes on her book. The first of many, if things went as well as he had a gut feeling they would.

  Mason opened the door, motioning them all inside. They made their way into the living room, where Addy’s package sat atop the oak coffee table in the center of the room.

  Crutches tucked securely beneath his arms, Jake made his way over to the far side of the room to watch.

  “Oh no, you don’t,” Addy said, pinning him with her gaze. “I need you here with me,” she told him and then smiled. “You sacrificed yourself to make sure the recipes I put in my cookbook were at least edible. Therefore, you should share this moment with me.”

  “It was a daunting task, but somebody had to do it,” he replied with a grin as he worked his way back to the coffee table to stand beside her. But he would willingly sacrifice so much more for her. Anything to assure her happiness if it were in his ability to do so. “And I will gladly do the same for your next cookbook.”

  “Offer accepted,” Addy told him before turning that beautiful smile of hers to the box. She carefully peeled away the strip of tape that sealed it shut and then lifted the flaps to reveal the contents inside.

  Her gasp had Jake leaning over to peer inside, fearing that something had gone awry.

  “They’re perfect,” she breathed, tears filling her eyes as Addy lifted one of the spiral-bound books from the batch to run her fingers over its cover.

  On the front was a picture she had taken on Jake’s front porch. She’d draped a lace tablecloth over the wicker table in front of his momma’s settee and placed on it two plates filled with her Perfect Peach Cobbler recipe. The dessert had been garnished with blackberries and a dollop of whipped cream. A glass of iced tea with a sprig of mint had been placed next to each plate.

  He remembered wanting to gobble it up as he’d sat off to the side watching, but knowing he had to wait until Addy had gotten the perfect shot for its recipe page. What he hadn’t known was that she’d chosen that recipe to grace the cover. One she had created in honor of his momma and the time sh
e’d spent teaching Addy all her baking secrets when Addy was living in Sweet Springs.

  “Oh, Addy, it’s beautiful,” Lila sighed.

  “I can’t see it,” Finn complained as he rose up on his toes to peek inside the open box.

  Addy reached down and grabbed another cookbook, handing it over to him with a smile. “Here you go.”

  He looked to his momma. “Now you can make me all the good things Aunt Addy makes for me.”

  “Me, too,” Mason joined in.

  Lila looked to Addy, brow lifting.

  “Sorry,” she said with a giggle.

  “That’s okay,” Lila said. “To be honest, your cookbook will come in handy, when feeding these two sweet-toothed men.”

  “I’d be happy to bake for you as well,” Mason offered.

  Jake snorted. “You don’t want that. Mason did not inherit any of Momma’s cooking abilities.”

  “You’re a fine one to talk,” his brother countered.

  Mama Tully laughed, shaking her head. “It’s a good thing the Lord thought to bestow you two with women who can cook.”

  Jake nodded in agreement. The Lord had blessed him with a very special woman. One he hoped to make a permanent part of his life.

  After the book’s unveiling, Mason, Lila and Finn left for the new house, and Mrs. Tully went back out to do some more weeding in her garden.

  “I’m glad you came to get me,” Jake told Addy as she settled onto the sofa next to him. “I loved seeing your face when you saw your cookbook for the first time. Maybe you’ll be creating new recipes for your next one in the kitchen of your very own bakery.”

  Her smile faded with his suggestion. “About that,” she began.

  “Addy,” he said, trying not to make his tone a pleading one, “what’s wrong?”

  “I’ve had a job offer come through. It’s a head pastry chef position at a private country club in Atlanta.”

  It was as if someone had just dumped a bucket of ice water over his head. Jake felt the future he’d begun to dream of with Addy suddenly slipping away. He wanted to beg her to refuse the offer. To stay there in Sweet Springs with him. But his love for Addy was stronger than his need for his own happiness. He loved her enough to let her go if that’s where her career dreams took her. Loved her enough not to try and keep her from achieving her career goals.

  “I haven’t accepted the job yet,” she told him. “I wanted to talk to you first.”

  The word yet effectively deflated the bubble of hope he’d built around Addy’s staying in Sweet Springs. Her not giving an answer meant she was considering the offer. But then, he’d known from the start this was a possibility.

  “I’m happy for you,” he said, though the words tasted like sawdust in his mouth.

  “You are?”

  For her, yes. For himself in this situation, no. Jake forced a smile. “I know how much your career means to you and how hard it was to have everything you’d worked for over the years taken away. This is a chance for you to have that back again. If that’s what you decide to do, I will support you one hundred percent.” Even if that meant having to find a way to hold on to what they had from a distance.

  * * *

  Addy put her car in Park and glanced out the driver’s side window. Cars filled the lot, even though the signing wasn’t scheduled to begin for another half an hour. She could see the gathering crowd milling inside The Perfect Peach through the large front picture windows. A wonderful turnout for her very first book signing. For that alone, she should be ecstatic. But all she could think about was the conversation she’d had with Jake a few days earlier.

  If Jake loved her the way he’d said he did, why hadn’t he pushed harder for her to stay? Remind her again of his offer to help her open a bakery of her own? Maybe he was having second thoughts about doing so. About her. Whatever his reason, Jake seemed comfortable with the idea of letting her go. The problem was Addy wasn’t ready for him to let her go. And she was fully prepared to fight for his love—if only she had more time to do so in person. She was leaving in a few short days to go back to her life in Atlanta, where she would spend Thanksgiving with her momma and stepdaddy. Jake had promised to come visit, but it wouldn’t be the same as seeing him every day. And she hated the thought of being so far from those who had become her other family. And Mason and Lila’s wedding in the spring suddenly seemed an eternity away.

  Grabbing her purse, Addy slung it up over her shoulder and stepped from her car. Her gaze was drawn to the festive lights gracing the front of The Perfect Peach. Despite her troubled thoughts, a calming warmth filled her as she took in the soft glow of the white lights lining the storefront windows and the decorated pine wreath that hung from the entrance door. It was only mid-November but, as she did every year, Jake’s momma had succeeded in making it feel like Christmas had arrived early.

  Lighted candy canes lit the walkway up to the store’s deep-set porch, welcoming Addy inside. She had worried about holding the book signing in the evening, but now she couldn’t imagine a better time to have it. It allowed all those who came a chance to enjoy the preholiday decor and set the mood for things to come.

  Jake met her at the door. “You’ve got a full house in here.”

  Addy nodded. As she scanned the crowded room, her heartbeat quickened. “I didn’t expect this,” she admitted.

  “I did,” he told her with a smile. “Come on,” he said, inclining his head. “We’re all ready for the town’s first author.”

  “It’s a cookbook,” she reminded him as he accompanied her over to the festively decorated table she would be using for the book signing. One she hadn’t been allowed to see. Lila and Violet had wanted to surprise her and had set everything up the evening prior.

  “A book’s a book as far as I’m concerned,” he told her. “And you put as much time, if not more, into creating yours. You’re an author. Believe it, Addy. I do.” He motioned to the swarm of people headed in their direction. “So do they.”

  Emotion knotted in her throat. She was an author.

  Finn ran over to greet her. “Aunt Addy! Look at all the people that came for you.”

  “I see that,” she said, finding it hard to speak. She, a girl who had once lived in a car, was now surrounded by so many who truly wished her well in her endeavors.

  “And I get to help Momma check them out after you sign their book.”

  “Then we had better get to work. There are a lot of people here to buy my cookbook.”

  Nodding excitedly, he moved to stand behind the makeshift checkout table that had been set up near hers.

  As Addy took her place behind the neatly stacked cookbooks, her gaze fell on the floral arrangement placed next to them.

  “Surprise,” Violet said with a bright smile.

  “Violet, did you make this?” Addy asked in awe as she eyed the unexpected surprise. The frosted pine arrangement was filled with glittery miniatures of cookies and pie slices, along with a scattering of tiny rolling pins, whisks and wooden spoons, and topped off with a red-and-white-striped bow that had been strategically placed front and center.

  She nodded. “I did.”

  “It’s beautiful,” Addy told her with a grateful smile. “Thank you so much.”

  “It was my pleasure,” Jake’s sister replied. “You know how much I love creating all things floral.”

  “I’m making a note of that for my and Mason’s wedding,” Lila interjected with a teasing grin.

  Violet looked to her future sister-in-law. “Ask and ye shall receive.”

  It was then Addy noted that Jake’s entire family, Mama Tully, Lila, Finn, Braden and even Reverend Hutchins had all come over to stand in a half circle behind her, offering their support.

  “I hope you have enough copies,” Lila leaned in to whisper as she passed by on her way to stand next to her son.


  “I do, too,” Addy called after her. Then she turned to smile in greeting at the first person in line. “Thank you so much for coming. Who would you like me to make this out to?” she asked as she reached for one of several pens lying atop the table in front of her.

  * * *

  Jake thought the line would never end. There was no denying that Addy’s cookbook signing had been a huge success. He was happy for her. She deserved this. Every time she’d look over to smile at him, it reminded him of how he wanted to make that smile a permanent part of his life.

  So much had changed in his life during the almost two months Addy had been back in Sweet Springs. When she’d first arrived, he’d been bound to a wheelchair as he recovered from his wounds, swallowed up by guilt, and angry at God. Addy, the last person he’d wanted to see, had been the only one capable of pushing life’s storm clouds away and giving him a glimpse of the sun. She’d taught him to be grateful for the life he’d been given a second chance at living, that being in a wheelchair didn’t have to keep one from finding joy in even the smallest of things. Like a balm to his soul, Addy had helped him to accept that he wasn’t to blame for his friend’s death, allowing him to make his peace with God.

  As the final customers spilled out of the market and everyone else moved about tidying up the store, Jake stepped over to the table where Addy stood gathering up the pens she’d used for her signing. To his surprise, he saw that she held one last cookbook in the crook of her arm. He was so sure she’d signed away the last of her supply minutes earlier. Well, this wouldn’t do.

  “I’d like to buy that last one,” he told her. “And I’d like to have you autograph it as well, so I’ll have a piece of you here with me after you’ve gone back to Atlanta.” Something to hold him over until he saw her again.

  “Actually,” she said, setting the pens back down on the table and shifting the cookbook to hold out in front of her, “this copy’s not for sale.”

  “It’s not?”

  Opening it, she turned the book around and held it out to him with a tender smile. “It’s already yours.”