by Rachel Hanna
Hatcher had recently started having nightmares, so she was waking up multiple times at night. Her husband, with his crazy work schedule, did his best to help, but he was often out of town, leaving Darcy to do most of the work with their son.
She locked the front door and turned to head back to the register, eager to balance it and get out of there. Covered in flour and smelling like straight sugar, she needed a hot bath and a nice cup of gingerbread hot tea to end her long day. Just as she was tallying up the day’s profits, she heard someone tap on the glass door. It wasn’t quite dark yet, but she couldn’t quite see who was there until she walked closer.
An older gentleman, wearing a hat and a long coat, was standing there. He looked like something out of a movie, maybe a private investigator or sleuth. He had a white beard, reminding her a bit of Santa Claus, especially at this time of the year. She leaned a little to make sure he wasn’t hiding a large bag of toys behind him.
Feeling a little worried that this random stranger was knocking on the door, she got as close as possible and spoke loudly. “Sorry, we’re closed.”
He smiled, which was a good sign that maybe he wasn’t there to kill her. “I know, and I’m sorry to bother. I’m looking for SuAnn.”
Maybe he was a private investigator. If anyone would have one chasing them, it would be SuAnn. There was no telling what that woman had done in her past.
“She’s gone for the day,” Darcy called back. He looked dejected by the idea that she wasn’t there, and against Darcy’s better judgment, she unlocked the door and opened it. “She left a few hours ago.”
“Oh, darn! I’d hoped to see her. Will she be in tomorrow?”
Darcy chuckled. “Honestly, I never know. She’s a bit… unpredictable.”
Again, he smiled. “That sounds familiar.”
“What was that?”
“Oh, nothing. I guess I’ll check back tomorrow and see if she’s around.” He started to walk away.
“Hey, wait! What’s your name?”
The man turned and smiled again. “Just tell her Nick stopped by.”
Nick? She watched him walk down the street and around the corner, and she had to wonder who this mysterious stranger was and what did he want with SuAnn?
* * *
SuAnn stared at her. “I don’t know anyone named Nick.” She continued kneading the dough to make her cinnamon apple bread.
“Well, he knows you, and he’s coming back today to see you.”
“That’s creepy.”
“He looked a lot like Santa Claus, actually,” Darcy said, wiping down one of the tables.
SuAnn stopped and looked at her. “So, a guy named Nick came looking for me, and he looks like Santa? Are you sure someone wasn’t playing a joke?”
“I don’t think so. He seemed pretty serious about it.” Darcy walked over and turned the sign from closed to open.
“Well, if Santa is coming to kidnap me, I guess there are worse things,” SuAnn said, rolling her eyes.
Darcy walked around the counter and picked up her purse. “Okay, I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
“Wait. Where are you going?”
Darcy sighed and shook her head. “You need to get your memory checked. I have a dentist appointment this morning, remember?”
“Oh, that’s right,” SuAnn said. She wasn’t worried about her memory. It wasn’t that she couldn’t remember things; it was that she often wasn’t interested in what people were talking about. A bad personality trait, yes. A memory problem, no. “Are you getting them whitened?”
Darcy glared at her. “No, SuAnn. I’m getting a cavity filled. Working at this place is going to make my teeth fall out from all the sugar.” She walked toward the door.
“Still, a good whitening wouldn’t be a waste of time!” SuAnn called behind her. She wasn’t sure, but Darcy may have made a crude hand gesture at her through the plate-glass window.
“I was just trying to help,” she muttered to herself. As she turned to pick up her ball of dough, her hip hit the counter and knocked an entire bowl of flour all over the floor. “Oh, good Lord!”
SuAnn hurriedly walked to the back room to get the broom and dustpan. She hated a mess, and since she was the only one working, she needed to get it cleaned up quickly. As soon as she crouched down to clean up, the bell on the door dinged to let her know a customer had come in.
The thing she loved about Hotcakes was that she had regular customers who came in every morning like clockwork. Mr. Dearen came for the hazelnut coffee. Esther with the ugly red cane came to get a bear claw even though she needed a salad more than a sweet treat. There were several people who always came in, and she knew exactly what they wanted. Assuming it was one of those people, she pulled herself up. Instead, she was face to face with a man who looked very much like Santa Claus. Should she press the panic button she had behind the counter? Or grab the mace from her purse?
“Can I help you?” she asked, her hand grasping a knife she kept behind the counter just in case a thief came in and tried to take her money. Although Seagrove was the safest city she’d lived in, she never liked to take chances as a woman alone.
“SuAnn?” The man stared at her, a slight smile on his face. He wasn’t bad looking, even if he did resemble the man who lived at the North Pole. He was fairly tall, thin and handsome, if she was being honest. Of course, if he was an ax murderer, none of that would matter.
“Yes. Who are you?”
“You don’t recognize me?”
“I don’t.”
He chuckled. “I suppose it has been a very long time, but I’d know your face anywhere.”
She was completely confused. Who was this guy? His voice sounded slightly familiar, low and gruff with an unmistakable southern accent. She trusted people with southern accents more than anyone else.
“Well, don’t keep me in suspense,” she said, getting more than a little irritated. If there was something SuAnn hated, it was being in the dark about anything.
He walked forward a couple of steps, and she tightened her hand around the knife handle. “Don’t worry. I’m not here to hurt you, SuAnn. Quite the opposite, in fact.”
Just as she was about to get her answer, Mr. Dearen walked through the door, the bell dinging so loudly that it surprised SuAnn and she dropped the knife onto the tile floor. It made a loud metal noise and startled Mr. Dearen.
“Mornin’, SuAnn!” He said the same thing every morning, his big smile - with several missing teeth - on full display. He wore a wool hat, a thick wool coat, and shuffled along with a walker.
“Good morning,” she said, pretending she wasn’t in the middle of a mystery. Even if she needed help, old Mr. Dearen wouldn’t be in any position to protect her. He could barely make it over to the counter himself.
“One large hazelnut coffee, please,” he said, sliding the exact change across the counter, as he always did.
She quickly poured his coffee and handed it to him. “Here ya go. See you tomorrow.” As much as she hated to hurry him away, she desperately wanted to know who this Santa Claus looking man was.
He nodded and held the cup up toward the mystery man. “This is good stuff. You should try it!”
“I may just do that,” the man said, as Mr. Dearen smiled and left the bakery. Now it was just the two of them again.
There was a long moment of tension in the air before SuAnn couldn’t stand it anymore. “Out with it!”
He laughed. “Just as impatient as ever, I see.”
“Look, I don’t know what kind of prank you’re trying to pull, but you’re way too old for jokes.”
The man smiled again. It was really starting to irritate her. “Susie, you always knew how to cut to the chase.”
“Susie? The only person who has ever called me Susie is…”
Her heart felt like it stopped in her chest. The way he said it, the sly smile on his face under that bushy white beard. It couldn’t possibly be…
“Is it all coming bac
k to you now?”
“Nicholas?”
“In the flesh!” he said, holding his arms out.
“But, how…”
“You’re not an easy woman to find, Susie, but I never gave up. Been trying to find you for almost a year now. This time at least.”
“I haven’t seen you in… what… forty years?”
“That’s about right, I suppose. That was the last high school reunion I went to.”
“Same here.”
“You’re just as beautiful as you were way back then.”
What was she supposed to say to that? Nicholas, or Nicky as she often called him, had been the first great love of her life. They’d dated from ninth grade until after graduation, all the while planning to get married and start a family. But then life got in the way.
First, SuAnn’s father had unexpectedly died, leaving her to care for her inconsolable mother and little sister. Nicholas had gone into the Army right after high school and served in the Vietnam War. By the time he came home years later, SuAnn was married and pregnant with Janine. She’d heard he was home, but didn’t see him because she knew it would’ve been too hard.
Years later, at their high school reunion, she’d seen him with his wife, and her heart had broken a little. As much as she wanted him to be happy, he’d been her soulmate as far as she was concerned. After that reunion, she’d never gone to another one, not wanting to see him again. It was just too hard.
Even after her husband died, and she’d remarried, she’d thought about Nicky. Where was he? Was he still married? Could old sparks be rekindled?
“Nicholas, why are you here?” She was still standing on the other side of the counter, wanting to keep a safe distance between them.
“Because I never stopped thinking about you, SuAnn.”
She stared at him. “It’s been decades, for goodness’ sakes! And you’re married!”
He shook his head. “Darlin’, I was only married for six years. We never even had kids.”
“What?”
“But you were married. And then, when your husband died, I didn’t figure it was the time to ask you on a date.”
“How did you know my husband died?”
“I kept up through friends from school, as best I could anyway. I know Richard died when your girls were still teenagers.”
She softened a bit at the mention of her precious husband and father of her girls. Richard had been such a solid figure in all of their lives, and he’d allowed SuAnn to be who she was. After losing him when Julie was just a junior in high school, it had forced her to go to work and raise her girls on her own. Sure, they were older, but they’d needed her more than ever after their daddy had died.
“He was a wonderful husband and father.” She didn’t know why she suddenly felt the need to defend his honor.
“I’m sure he was.”
“There were quite a lot of years between my marriage to Richard and my marriage to Buddy. So, if you were so interested in finding me, why didn’t you do it then?”
He sighed. “I got married again. Tricia was her name. She passed away about three years ago.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Look, Susie, maybe too many years have passed, but I couldn’t keep going through life without checking in on you. And when I did an Internet search and saw you’d opened a bakery in this little town, I decided to take my last shot.”
She couldn’t help but feel flattered. But decades had passed between them. She wasn’t the same girl from high school, and she was sure he wasn’t the same boy either.
“I don’t know what you want me to say, Nicky.”
He smiled, the corners of his weathered eyes turning up like little smiles themselves. “I want you to say you’ll go to dinner with me tomorrow night.”
She poked her lip out and cocked her head like she was deep in thought. In reality, she was about to bust a gut to say yes.
“Well, I suppose that could be arranged.”
Nick laughed. “I’ll pick you up right here at seven.”
As he turned toward the door, she struggled not to giggle like a schoolgirl. The man she’d dreamed about finding her one day actually had. Maybe second chances weren’t just for young people, after all.
* * *
Dixie laid her head on the table. “She hates me.”
“I’m sure that’s not true!” Julie said, rubbing her back. “She’s probably just protective of her daddy. That’s all.”
Dixie sat up and sighed. “I’m telling you, dinner last night was a disaster. I was so jittery that I burned the pork chops. You know I never burn food!”
Julie sat down beside her. “You’ve got to calm down, lady. You’re starting to aggravate your tremors.” Whenever Dixie got nervous, her left hand shook. It always worried Julie because she didn’t want her disease to progress any faster than it had to, and stress was one of the worst things for her health.
“Harry keeps telling me I’m overreacting, but I know when someone doesn’t like me. Especially another woman. You know, you can just tell.”
“Why don’t you talk to her? Clear the air? See what she’s thinking?”
“I don’t want her to think she’s gotten to me, but I might just have to talk to her. Something isn’t right.”
Julie couldn’t help but feel bad for Dixie. She was such an amazing person, and anyone who didn’t like her had to have a screw loose. “Why don’t you take the rest of the day off? Go get your nails done or something?”
Dixie smiled. “I appreciate it, honey, but I need to keep busy. I think I’m going to go in the storage room and go through that new shipment we got.”
“Okay, but if you decide you need to get out of here, I’ll mind the store.”
“I know you will. You’re an excellent business partner, Julie.”
She watched Dixie walk into the back room and decided she would go straighten up around the cash register. That area always seemed to get messy with coffee cups and stray pens.
As she walked behind the counter, a woman came in. She hadn’t seen her before, but that wasn’t unusual since tourists were always breezing through their quaint little town. Christmas time was her favorite time of year because it brought out many people in the holiday spirit. The town square was already decorated for the season, with lit-up garlands wrapped around the light posts, a nativity scene in the park area and lights strung in the trees dotting the area.
“Welcome to Down Yonder Books,” Julie said, as the woman entered. She was petite with dirty blond hair that was as simple as it was long. Her mother would’ve called it stringy, but Julie tried not to judge.
“Thanks,” the woman said quietly. She seemed anxious, almost skittish.
“Can I help you find something?”
“No thanks. Just looking.”
“Well, I’m Julie if you need anything,” she said, smiling. The woman glanced at her name tag for a moment and nodded.
“Thanks.”
She watched her walk around, occasionally touching a book and sometimes looking back at Julie. It made her wonder if the woman was planning to rob the place, but she had to believe that wasn’t true. Still, she monitored her as best she could just in case she was there for some nefarious reason.
A few minutes later, she walked up to the counter, no books in her hand. “You sell coffee?”
“We sure do. We have French vanilla, hazelnut, pumpkin spice…”
“You don’t sell plain coffee?”
Julie smiled. “Of course. What size?”
The woman leaned a bit and looked at the cups. “That small one.”
“Coming right up,” Julie said. She turned around and poured the coffee as the woman sat down at the table. Julie walked over and set it in front of her. “Are you new in town?”
She nodded. “Just visiting.”
“That’s on the house, then! Welcome to Seagrove.”
She smiled slightly. “Thanks. It’s my first time here.”
“You’re going to love it. Where are you staying?”
“At the motel down on route six.”
“Oh, that’s quite a way from here.”
“Yeah. It was all I could afford. I just came here to see some family.”
“I’ll tell you what… Why don’t you come stay at the inn I own with my husband? We’ll charge you the same price, but it’s a much nicer place and just over the bridge onto the island.”
Her eyes widened. “Really? You’d do that for me?”
“Of course!”
“But you don’t even know me.”
Julie smiled. “We welcome everyone to Seagrove, and a motel is no place to spend the holidays.”
The woman laughed softly. “It isn’t a very nice place.”
“Then it’s settled.” Julie picked up a brochure for the inn off the counter and handed it to her. “You go get your things and come on over to The Inn At Seagrove, okay?”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. I just need one thing from you.”
She looked a little hesitant. “What’s that?”
“Your name?”
The woman chuckled. “Tina. I’m Tina Hobbs.”
“Nice to meet you, Tina,” Julie said, shaking her hand. “And Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” Tina said, beaming.
Chapter Three
Meg held onto her wiggly daughter, keeping her firmly planted on her lap and trying to smile. “Smile, Vivi…” she encouraged, as the photographer tried in vain to get a good family Christmas photo. So far, he’d gotten a picture of Meg chasing Vivi, followed by a photo of Vivi’s behind sticking up in the air while she put her hands in the dirt next to the bale of hay they were sitting on.
“Come on, my darling,” Christian urged, his thick French accent still so attractive to Meg. She would never tire of hearing him speak, even when it was the most mundane of sentences. She even loved hearing him order fast food at the drive through they went to from time to time. The way he said pickles gave her the chills.
