Calmer Secrets: Calmer Girls 2 (Calmer Girls Series)

by Jennifer Kelland Perry

  Samantha smiled to herself. Thanks be to God. Perhaps a glimmer of hope remained for Ronnie yet.

  “And how about you? Any leftover affection for Ben Swift?”

  Samantha didn’t answer.

  “Admit it. You’re still hung up on him. I can see it in your face!”

  She glanced at her sister in hesitation before speaking. “No matter how hard I try,” she conceded at last, “I can’t seem to shut off this weakness I have for him.” Her confession made her suddenly lighter for sharing the burden. “Even with the excitement of my upcoming trip and his girlfriend coming to Newfoundland. Am I doomed to feel stuck in this impossible time warp forever?”

  “Did you tell him?”

  “Tell him what?”

  Veronica parked in front of Cash’s house but left the engine running. “Duh! What you just told me.”

  “I do have some pride left, Ron.” What would be the point? She yawned. “Coming in?”

  “Lord, no! One round a day with Momma is all I can stand.”

  “I hear ya. Thanks for the ride.” Samantha waited, her hand resting on the door handle. “See you at the end of August, then.”

  Veronica stretched her arms out, clasping Samantha in a tight but awkward embrace. “Take care of yourself, Sammie.”

  Samantha smiled back at her as she got out of the car. “You too. I’ll call you and Henry when I get settled away.” Saying goodbye, she slammed the door and ran into the house with her packages.

  Shaking the rain from her clothes, she put her purchases away in her bedroom, glancing at the open suitcase on her bed before she went to run a bath. She still had most of her packing left to take care of before she turned in. A heavy cloud of fatigue engulfed her then, weighing her down mentally as well as physically. The dreaded, debilitating weariness of a host of emotions and sensitivities at once: her perpetual cross to bear. Too drained to do anything but remove her clothes and contact lenses, she set her bedside alarm clock for the next morning an hour earlier than planned, dragged her suitcase to the floor, and crawled in under the quilt to the cool welcoming sheets and her feather pillow.

  Five minutes later she lay sound asleep and dead to the world.

  ***

  Samantha scanned the airport Arrivals and Departures board and frowned. The voice on the loudspeaker had announced the incoming plane that she’d be taking had yet to arrive due to fog, which in turn delayed her flight to England.

  “Well, this blows,” Kalen said, standing beside her.

  She agreed. She glanced over to the other side of the airport terminal and through the bank of large windows. “Maybe you should go.” He’d already stayed with her while she checked her baggage, and soon she needed to go through the security screening and to her gate. “No sense in you waiting around any longer.”

  “You sure? I did mention to Veronica I wanted to take Henry for the day.”

  “I’m positive. I’ll be fine.” She fished in her bulging carry-on and pulled out a paperback. “See? I have Tess of the D’Urbervilles to keep me company until boarding time.” She managed a weak smile. “Thanks a million for the ride, Kalen.”

  “No sweat. I was happy to help.” He caught her in a fierce hug. “Watch out for those British lads, okay?” he said in her ear before letting her go.

  “I will.” On an impulse, she cupped the side of his jaw. “Whatever our troubles, I don’t regret anything. You’re still my friend.”

  “A better friend than a lover, hey?” He bent down to kiss her cheek.

  “You’re going to be an awesome dad as well, you know.”

  He tossed her a buoyant grin. “Enjoy every moment over there, Sam. It’s going to be great, I can feel it!” With a wink and a wave, he took his leave in the direction of the exit.

  Samantha watched him until he disappeared through a throng of people. How good we can remain close, she thought, brushing away an unexpected tear.

  All along, Darlene had intended to bring her to the airport today, but a sudden bout of influenza had kept her in bed with a fever and a queasy stomach this morning. And because Cash was out of town on business and Veronica had work at Othello’s for a private Sunday luncheon, Samantha had thought she would need to call a taxi. At the last minute, Kalen drove up and saved the day, refusing to take no for an answer. Henry stayed with Gina, so they were all set.

  During their chat on the drive to the airport, Samantha found out Kalen had gone out for a beer with Ben on Friday night. Ben had called him to hang out together and catch up.

  “The same night we were supposed to go to dinner,” she’d told him. “But I had to cancel because of a family issue.”

  “He mentioned it,” Kalen had admitted. “You never got to say goodbye, then?”

  “Nope.” A family issue, alright. Samantha had no choice but to wimp out on her dinner date with Ben after Veronica’s revelation, and after she’d dissolved into a bawling, blubbery mess. She’d tried to convince herself it had all gone down that way for a reason.

  “I hear Cherise is moving up her trip to join him here in June now, instead of waiting until July,” he told her on the drive. “She phoned him at his aunt’s while I was there picking him up.”

  “Yeah, I heard July,” she said, “but I guess they’re anxious to be with each other.” It sounded like they couldn’t stand being apart. This fresh stab to her spirit had left her despondent ever since. She wished she had never reconnected with Ben at all. Trying to forget him for the second time wouldn’t be any easier than the first.

  Now her flight – or in one way, her escape – was delayed. For who knows how long, she wondered bleakly. After going through the security check, she sat down in the waiting area and flipped open her novel.

  Fifteen minutes later, she gave up. With her present mood, the story couldn’t hold her concentration at all. She put the book away, deciding to move nearer to the window. Pulling her carry-on behind her, she checked the board along the way for her flight status again, relief flooding through her when she saw that her plane had landed.

  “Samantha Cross, please return to security screening. Samantha Cross, please return to screening.”

  She spun around, startled to hear her name on the intercom. Rushing back to the security area, she worried she’d forgotten something important, or worse. Before she reached the open doorway, she saw one of the screening officials beckoning to her.

  What the…? She could scarcely trust the sight of who stood past the burly officer’s shoulder.

  Ben Swift! Of all people! She ran the rest of the way.

  “What are you doing here?” she cried.

  He stepped around the guard, his chest heaving with exertion as he gasped for breath. “I wanted to catch you…before you left…”

  “You can’t go any farther, sir,” warned the official. “Say what you need to say right here.”

  Samantha stared up at him, wide-eyed. “What’s the matter? Did something happen?”

  Ben smiled at her. “You did. You happened.”

  Her brow furrowed, she opened her mouth to speak again, but he shushed her.

  “Let me say what I came here to say,” he said. “I need to tell you something. And whatever you think about it, I’ll live with that. But I have to get it out there.” His breathing returned to normal as he looked at her.

  “Ben, what on earth—?”

  A female voice twanged over the terminal intercom, announcing that flight 822 to Heathrow in London, England was now boarding at Gate 4. Her flight. The fog had lifted and they were ready for takeoff!

  “That’s my plane!” she wailed, glancing toward her gate.

  “Don’t worry, they board first class and families with small children first,” he said. He turned toward her, ignoring the guard standing stiffly beside him. “Please, listen to me. When I first saw you again on that day in February, I knew it right away. But I didn’t know how you felt. Then I found out you and Kalen were together, and, well, I was devastated.”

&
nbsp; “What are you saying?”

  “I still love you. I’m in love with you, Samantha!”

  Samantha’s face lifted up to him with a radiant smile that reached her eyes. Something deep in her core leapt. “But Ben! What about Cherise?”

  “What about her? I’m not in love with her!”

  “But Kalen told me she’s coming to town next month instead of waiting until July. He said you couldn’t wait to be together.”

  “But it was her idea all along, mostly. I’d thought I wanted her to come, but I realized I’d confused gratitude with love, and I love her as a friend, and that is all. So I told her to stay put. I told her that I never got over that special someone, the one I know I was meant for. There’s this girl from Calmer Cove, Newfoundland, you see, and her name is Samantha.”

  She shook her head in disbelief. “Well, that’s just great! And I’m leaving the country, of all things!” She retrieved her boarding pass from her purse, feeling as if she were moving through a dream. “Can’t we ever get this right? Are we destined to be apart forever?”

  Ben pulled her into his arms, crushing her to his chest. She welcomed the embrace and the rhythmic thump of his heart against her own. Over his shoulder, she saw a smile spreading over the guard’s face.

  “I’ll wait for you,” he whispered. “I promise. I’ll be counting the days until you get home again.”

  “But you’ll be going to Dalhousie in the fall, right around when I return.” She chewed her lip. Suddenly, she didn’t want to go to Harlow. She didn’t want to go anywhere at all. Anywhere that Ben wasn’t.

  “We’ll work it out, Samantha. I can finish my degree here at MUN. Or you could finish yours in Nova Scotia. They have an excellent art school there too, you know. You’ll see. Either way, we are going to be together, I promise you.”

  “But Ben—”

  Tilting her chin with his fingers, his mouth closed over hers, smothering her words. All resistance left her as she yielded to his arms, to his lips, to his love. All of the deeply entrenched passion and tenderness she’d held so long for him bubbled up, leaving her weak in the knees and her heart wide open. She knew what she experienced with Ben wholly transcended the fond affection she’d had for Kalen. There was no comparison. As his soft, warm lips removed the last whisper of doubt from her mind, her love for him resurfaced full force, crashing through her like a freight train. Or a jumbo jet.

  “Alright, miss. You better go to your gate now.”

  “I’m sorry. Ben, please, you have to let me go.”

  He gave her one more squeeze before freeing her. “Go, then. Get on your plane. And as soon as you get straightened away over there, call Aunt Valerie with your number. Or I’ll get it from your mom. Because, one way or another, I’m never losing you again.”

  “You won’t lose me,” she promised.

  As she started to move away, he pulled something from his shirt pocket and showed it to her.

  She gasped. It was the photograph of the two of them, the one she’d torn the house apart searching for, the one she’d so desperately tried to find on that tear-filled night.

  “Where did you get that? Who—?”

  “Veronica, if you can believe it. She called me last night and asked me to drop over for a minute. Wanted to formally apologize to me for her deception. She didn’t ask for forgiveness, but she wanted me to know how truly sorry she felt for lying and for coming between us. Then she said she had something I might like.”

  Samantha’s eyes misted over. Would wonders never cease? Ronnie did own one of those marvellous, blood-pumping organs called a heart after all.

  “In spite of all that’s happened, I guess we can say your sister came through for you.”

  In more ways than you can possibly imagine, she said to herself. She made a mental note to thank Veronica on her first phone call home.

  His smile made her want to cry, she loved him so much. She touched the minute scar on the side of his mouth. Her soul sang with joy as they shared one last, hurried kiss.

  “Harlow awaits,” he called to her, as she moved along to show her new passport and boarding pass to the waiting agent at the gate. “And so will I. You are well worth waiting for, Samantha.”

  Standing beside the smiling guard, he gave her one final wave before she turned away to board the plane.

  Pulling along her carry-on, she ran through the gate and onto the loading bridge behind the last of her fellow passengers. She swelled with heady anticipation of her first-ever airplane flight. And an eight-hour one, no less! Reaching the entrance to the aircraft, she greeted the flight attendant and stepped over the threshold into the 747. As she walked down the aisle to her seat, the memory of Ben’s words from that day at the bagel café floated back to her. She smiled.

  “…Who knows what the future has in store, Samantha? Sometimes, love has a funny way of working out, just when you least expect it.”

  Her heart soared with everything she had to look forward to, as if the giant silver wings that would soon carry her airborne and up through the clouds were her own. The freedom would be dizzying, yet she didn’t feel afraid. She was ready.

  The End

  Acknowledgements

  With gratitude, I wish to thank my husband Paul for his enthusiastic and unwavering support and assistance in my writing endeavors. I couldn’t imagine this adventure without him.

  I warmly acknowledge my first readers, Janet Davis and Denise Mills, whose valuable advice and suggestions in their separate areas of expertise helped lend more authenticity to the story. Thanks also to Janet Fox-Beer and Lynn Cooze for providing me with specific setting details, and once again to Fiona Jayde for her beautiful cover art and design.

  I also wish to express special thanks to Carole Hefferton for her editing and proofreading services. Her eagle eye and crisp attention to detail have been highly appreciated. Special thanks also to my circle of blogging authors for their words of encouragement and professional guidance.

  Last but positively not least, I thank you, the reader, for sticking with me through the release of the Calmer Girls series. Your support along the way and your interest in finding out “what happens next” is truly what this journey is all about.

  About the Author

  Jennifer Kelland Perry is a blogger, writer, avid reader and animal lover. A native of St. John’s and a proud Newfoundlander, she wrote her first (practice) novel, Forget-Me-Not Summer, when she was fifteen.

  While raising a family and working in the banking industry, Jennifer dreamed of the time she would devote her days to writing fiction. In 2010, she and her husband Paul sold their house, packed up their belongings and their two cats, and left the city to enjoy rural life in Newtown, Newfoundland. They live beside the ocean there and are loving every moment.

  Jennifer is now working on her third novel. You can visit her writing and photography blog at: jenniferkellandperry.com.