by Katie Carver
“Jake, sorry I almost missed you. I just walked in the door.”
“You can call me back,” Jake said grudgingly.
“Nope. Give me one second.”
Jake waited while he heard Phil greet his family. A pang of jealousy hit him. It must be nice to arrive home to hugs and happiness and not silence.
“Okay, buddy. What’s up?” Phil asked when he returned to the phone.
“I need a favor. I need you to get me some money,” Jake said quickly.
“Okay—,” Phil paused a moment. “Is something wrong with the restaurant?” he asked.
“No, it’s fine. Well, there was a fire the other day, but it didn’t do damage,” Jake added hastily. “This is about a house.”
“There was a fire? Wait, did you buy a house? You’re going to have to back up a bit,” Phil demanded.
Jake took a deep breath. If he wanted Phil to help, he would have to explain from the beginning. So much had happened since they last spoke, he wanted to be certain he did it all enough justice.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ginger took a seat at the town meeting near the front again at Matty’s insistence that she take the chair next to her. As usual, the place was packed. She spotted Jake a few rows to her right. She’d try to catch up to him after the meeting and offer some words of apology for her outburst the other day. She’d meant to do it earlier, but it had never seemed like a good time. If she waited too long, she knew she’d lose her nerve. She was already dreading the response he would have when she spoke to him. Ginger was grateful they didn’t have to wait very long for Mayor Curtis to arrive as he walked up the middle of the room to the front. A hush fell over the crowd as he stood in front of the podium.
“Good evening, Spruce Valley,” Mayor Curtis began. “I hope everyone is well this fine day.” He looked around at the crowd and smiled. “To begin business, I have a wonderful announcement for you all. We have officially reached our goal for the library restoration!” he said spiritedly.
Ginger joined in the applause that filled the room. For once she agreed with Mayor Curtis on what he found to be good news. When the clapping died down, the mayor continued.
“We’ve had an abundance of generosity and I’m proud to say that this is the first time in town history that a goal set out for the festival has been reached before the actual festival has begun. In addition to the donation made by a former town resident, Jonathan Nichols, that jumpstarted our little venture, we’ve had some gifts that have set us over the top. Ginger’s event added an impressive twenty-five hundred dollars to the fund and Jake’s help getting a corporate donation in the amount of three thousand put us at over our goal of fifteen thousand dollars!”
So, Jake had found a way to make a donation, too. Any help that the fund received was all good news. She smiled in Jake’s direction and saw that he was being congratulated by the people around him.
“What will we do with the money from the festival? Add to the fund?” Matty yelled out from beside Ginger.
Ginger looked at Matty thoughtfully. It was a good question. The plans for restoration included everything it had needed and more. The goal that was set included the wish-list of updates, too, and no one thought they’d get anywhere close to those things.
“I’m not sure. I am open to ideas,” the mayor said. He scanned the crowd and pointed a finger, “Yes, Jake?”
Jake had stood up to speak. “This should be good,” Matty whispered sarcastically.
“I know I’m new and I don’t know much about what areas of town need assistance, but when I was attending the tree lighting, I did notice that there was nowhere to sit in the town square. What about using the money from the festival to purchase benches? They could be dedicated to Carol Baxter. It is really because of her that the money for the library restoration met its goal. I never knew her personally, but I’ve been lucky enough to hear a lot of everyone’s stories about her and from what I’ve learned, she was someone who deserves to be remembered fondly.”
“What a marvelous idea, Jake. Isn’t that a marvelous idea?” Mayor Curtis asked to excited nods. “I say we put it to a vote immediately. All in favor?”
Every hand in the room shot up immediately. Ginger saw that even Matty had begrudgingly raised her hand. She had to hand it to Jake, it was, in fact, a wonderful idea. If it was just a ploy to garner support, it had worked, but when he spoke of Carol, he seemed sincere.
“Well, then it’s settled. The funds raised from the festival will be applied to securing new benches for the town square,” Mayor Curtis said happily and everyone clapped. “I must say, the assessment from a person new to our little town seems like just what we needed. None of us would have thought of such a grand idea.” The mayor paused to look at his notes. “Now on to the next point of business, the contest for the Baxter House. With only two participants left, it has become imperative that you all do your utmost to make informed decisions. I, for one, am pleased with the Sheriff’s decision to drop out. The Baxter House should be a residence, not a business. As you all know, I am all for commerce, but I am completely against anything that would besmirch the memory of Carol. The campaigns are doing well on both sides, I feel. Matty’s door to door canvassing on Ginger’s behalf and my flyer extolling the merits of voting for Jake seemed to have both been well received. And to all of you who feel that Ginger was wronged, that fire was not Jake’s fault. I have been assured by our very capable Building Inspector and Fire Chief, it was faulty wiring. If you do not believe me, you are free to come to Town Hall during business hours to read the report.”
Ginger turned to Matty in shock. “What is he talking about?
“After that flyer from Mayor Curtis, someone needed to set the record straight and tell everyone the truth about that troublemaker.”
Ginger continued to stare at her in disbelief.
“What?” Matty asked with irritation.
“You went to people’s homes?”
“So?”
“You knew it wasn’t Jake and you still went around to bad-mouth him?” Ginger was appalled by the very thought Matty would do something like that on her behalf. “Why?”
Matty shrugged indifferently. “Why not? I told you, I don’t much care for him.”
Ginger was furious at Mayor Curtis and Matty for getting involved. She looked over to Jake to gauge his reaction, but he was no longer there. She turned quickly towards the door and just caught sight of him leaving. She stood up quickly and darted for the exit. When she finally caught up to him, she realized she didn’t know what to say.
“Jake, wait!” Ginger yelled.
Jake stopped and turned around to face her. “I’m not in the mood, Ginger. Please just don’t.”
He began to turn around again and Ginger grabbed his arm. “Don’t you see? This whole mess wasn’t because of us. I didn’t realize what was happening and I can only assume by you leaving, you didn’t either.”
“I didn’t know that the mayor made that awful flyer, that’s true, but what’s your point? You’ve made it clear that you think I’m an arsonist who doesn’t belong in your town,” he said angrily.
Ginger sighed and looked up at him. “I know what I said. I didn’t mean it, Jake. I had thought you wrote the flyer. After what I told you about not having family here, well, if you had it would have been cruel.”
“But it wasn’t me, was it? You just assumed I was cruel.”
Ginger could see the hurt and anger in Jake’s eyes. Looking at him now, she wondered how she could have ever thought such a thing. “I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, me, too. I’m sorry for one moment I thought that the two of us were…” Jake trailed off.
“Were what?” Ginger asked slowly.
“I don’t know, that we were something.”
“I felt it, too, Jake. Don’t you see? All this time we were fighting, it was a misunderstanding.”
“It wasn’t all just a misunderstanding,” Jake said defensively.
�
��I admit, I didn’t want to like you from the beginning. You are arrogant and snobbish, you don’t take the time to listen sometimes and seriously, do you even own a pair of jeans? I thought you were just some suit coming into town to look down on everyone, but you changed my mind. When I saw the way you were with Kacie, how thoughtful and sweet you were at dinner that night, I saw you, not the idea I had of you. Yes, I have a temper. I can fly off the handle sometimes and I don’t like to always admit when I’m wrong, but that isn’t all I am. I don’t know if you and I can make something work, but I want to try. Can’t we just start over? Can’t we try again?”
“I don’t work that way, Ginger. I can’t trust that you won’t go back to accusing me of things and I’m not so sure I can handle your temper. How do you really know I’m that person who has a few redeeming qualities and not the one you thought was cruel?”
“You aren’t cruel,” Ginger said quietly.
“It doesn’t matter,” Jake said dismissively. “Let’s just go back to just avoiding one another. That seems to work best.”
Ginger nodded. “Okay. If that’s what you want.” She couldn’t blame him for the request no matter how much it hurt her. After how she’d reacted to the fire and what just happened in the town meeting, she’d probably have felt the same. “Before we do, I just want to say that your idea about the benches was wonderful. Carol would have liked it, too.”
“I’m not so sure about that. From what I’ve heard of her she was a decent human. Being remembered with a bench by a bunch of crazy people doesn’t seem like a great tribute. Everyone here is absolutely nuts.”
“You don’t mean that, Jake. What Mayor Curtis and Matty did was wrong, but they aren’t bad people, they just made a bad decision. You have to see that.”
“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. When I left the city, I thought the backstabbing and walking on eggshells to get ahead was behind me. That was the one thing I wouldn’t miss. Here people are just as bad as before, but at least in the city, they didn’t parade around pretending they were thoughtful and considerate people. All I know right now is that it sure isn’t a place that I’d want to raise my daughter,” Jake said defiantly. “Goodbye, Ginger.” Jake turned around and walked quickly down the street without looking back. Ginger watched as he faded from view.
She knew he was angry and he had every right to be, so was she, but Ginger had one thing Jake didn’t, faith in the town she loved. She knew that with all the good and the bad, the town was still full of good-hearted and wonderful people. She walked slowly to the town square. It was peaceful and quiet now, with most people still in the town meeting. Ginger took in the sight of the Christmas Tree that towered over the square and the brightly lit trees and garland. She had lived in Spruce Valley all her life and her favorite time to visit the square had always been Christmas. Even though not much had changed since she was a little girl, being there felt different, lonelier. Ginger took one long last look at the tree and turned towards the bakery. Ginger realized it wasn’t the square that had changed, it was her. A feeling she hadn’t even known existed until she’d met Jake had taken hold and wouldn’t let go. A feeling of hope and love and knowing she wouldn’t ever feel complete again without that feeling in her life. Tears filled her eyes. She’d finally found the one people told her existed for her that she never before believed to be true. And he’d just said goodbye.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“I’m bored!” Kacie complained loudly as she sat in the dining room booth. “Why aren’t you opening the restaurant today?”
“I told you, because we’re reorganizing the restaurant,” Jake lied.
The real reason was that he couldn’t bring himself to face the mayor or anyone in town after the debacle of last night. He was thankful that Kacie had returned to spend a few days with him to take his mind off the town meeting, but mostly because she distracted him from thinking of Ginger. He wasn’t sure he’d made the right decision by denying her appeal to start again, but he didn’t see how it would end well if they did. He knew that if he didn’t have a distraction, he’d spend the entire day fixated on the fact she told him she had feelings for him. Instead, he busied himself with moving around things in the kitchen. There was no need to make it more functional, it suited him just fine, but there was little else to do.
“We’ve been here for hours. Can’t we take a break?” Kacie whined.
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Something fun that doesn’t involve being in the restaurant.”
Jake sighed. Leaving the restaurant was ultimately the last thing he wanted to do right now, but he didn’t want Kacie to feel pent up because he was avoiding people. It wasn’t fair to her. “Fine. Ice skating?”
Kacie snorted. “Do you remember the last time you went ice skating?”
Jake unconsciously rubbed his elbow. Somehow, he’d blocked out the disaster that occurred when he tried to show Kacie how to ice skate. He stayed on his feet for a grand total of ten seconds before taking a horrendous fall and injuring himself so badly that they’d had to call her mother for help. “Right. No ice skating. The town square?” Jake asked.
Kacie shook her head, “No, there isn’t anything to do there. Is there a movie theatre?” she asked.
“No, but if you want, we can go to the one in another town.”
Kacie sighed. “That’s okay. We can just reorganize.”
“What about the library?” Jake suggested. It was probably a good idea to check the place out since he just coaxed his best friend into donating a large amount to it.
“Yes! Can I get some books?” Kacie asked hopefully.
“Sure, kid.” Jake laughed. He knew one day his little girl wouldn’t be so excited about going to the library, but for now, he would enjoy it. “Grab your coat and don’t forget your hat.”
They set off for the library and Jake carefully avoided eye contact with anyone who passed by them on the sidewalk. Luckily, it wasn’t too far away from the restaurant. It was just at the end of Main Street. When they arrived, Jake was stunned at what a large building it was. He must’ve driven past it every day on his way to the restaurant, but had never really given it much thought before. For such a small town, it was fairly impressive. When they walked in, he saw firsthand the need for the restoration. The building itself was in good shape, but it was a bit jarring to walk into something so hideously outdated and shabby.
Kacie looked up at Jake, “What are you thinking?”
“That your Uncle Jeff’s money will be well spent.”
Kacie looked confused. “Huh?”
Jake smiled and shook his head. “Nothing.”
“Where do you want to start? Upstairs?” she asked unfazed by his remarks.
“No, let's check out this floor first and then we’ll make our way up. It looks like there is a kid’s section over there in the back,” Jake said pointing.
“Dad, I haven’t read kid books since I was a kid,” Kacie said defiantly.
Jake tried to hold back a smile, “Okay, then where do you want to go, old lady?”
Kacie rolled her eyes at him. “Let’s check out what’s in that room,” she said and took off towards the small hallway to the side of them. He dutifully followed after her. When he arrived, he immediately wished they’d gone ice skating.
“Isn’t this great, Dad?” Kacie said happily from the front of the room. She turned her attention towards Ginger who had been holding a bakery course in the tiny classroom. “Can we join in?”
Jake saw the five participants had stopped what they were doing and focused solely on him. “I’m sure that we’ll just be in the way.” He looked at Kacie, carefully avoiding Ginger’s eyes. It was too soon to see her again. He hadn’t even fully processed the evening before.
“No, we won’t. Will we Ginger?” Kacie asked.
“Of course not, your welcome to stay,” Ginger said sweetly. “But maybe your Dad isn’t in the mood to be around cooking on his day off.”
Jake
was grateful to Ginger for offering him a way out.
“Please, Dad?” Kacie begged and shot him her best puppy dog eyes. It was hard to say no to her when she brought them out.
“Fine. Just for a minute.”
“Yes!” Kacie said excitedly and took an empty spot in the middle.
Jake grudgingly took the spot next to her. Ginger brought over a mixing bowl and some measured out ingredients and went back to the front of the classroom.
“Where were we?” Ginger looked at the table in front of her. “Oh yeah,” she said and smiled. “The trick to a good peanut butter cookie is to not overcook it. That’s the most difficult part.” Ginger smiled at the class.
Jake watched her as she explained some of her tricks to mixing and how she swears by real vanilla and not the imitation kind. He looked at around at his fellow classmates as they hung on her every word, including Kacie. Ginger walked around the room stopping to answer any questions and check on progress. She was a natural and explained things plainly so that everyone understood and could keep up. Though Jake knew he had more than rudimentary skills when cooking, baking was a different type of art form. When the doughs were ready, she showed everyone how to roll and flatten them with a fork. That was Kacie’s favorite part.
“When they are ready, go ahead and bring them up to be baked. Remember when I said the trick to a good cookie is not to overbake it? Well, that’s really, really tricky with this piece of junk oven, but we’ll do our best,” Ginger explained to a few laughs.
He inspected the oven and saw that it had to be at least as old as the carpet in the other part of the library. It was probably top of the line when it was first bought, but that had to be at least twenty-five years ago.
“A new oven was on the restoration list, so keep your fingers crossed there will be a new one,” Ginger said.
