“There have been a lot of interruptions today,” he remarked. “It's good to finally get you alone.”
“Well, now that we are,” she said, “why don’t you tell me what you came all this way to say to me?”
Jared couldn’t help but wonder what Liv was imagining. Did she have some inkling of the truth, or was she taking a smidgen of what she thought she knew and mashing it into something else entirely?
“I’m not sure where to start.”
“I do,” she stated. “Start with the dinner you had with Georgia the night I called you.”
“That seems like a good place,” he said.
Am I sweating? Is it hot in here?
“Well, you know that Preston told Georgia he didn’t think they were meant for one another.”
“Yes. I was sorry to hear that.”
“I had plans of my own that night, but when she told me he’d broken things off with her, and I saw how gloomy she was about it … well, I asked her to join me for dinner.”
He paused and took a sip from the glass of cold water before him.
“After dinner, I asked her if she was interested in helping me make a decision I needed to make.”
“A decision. ”
“So we left the restaurant and were heading out to my car, and that's when you called.”
“So you had to go somewhere to make this decision.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
If only he had those notes he’d made on the plane.
“The thing is this, Liv. I love you. You know that, don’t you?”
She looked away, gazing through her own reflection in the window and out into the darkness that had fallen since their arrival.
“I thought I did,” she replied in a tone so soft that he had to strain to hear it.
“Well, I don’t want you to doubt that, if that's what you’re doing. I love you. If nothing else, believe that.”
She glanced back at him and tried to smile, but it fell a little short of her eyes. “I love you too.”
“I know you kept saying how your life is here in Ohio, and mine is clearly on Sanibel Island,” he continued. “But when you left, I think it really hit me for the first time that you meant it.”
“And so you’ve moved on,” she surmised. “Of course, you did. That's the natural flow of things when one thing comes to an end. I mean, I know after Robert died, I—”
“What?” he interrupted. “No! I haven’t moved on at all. In fact, Olivia, I’m having a really hard time even thinking about moving on.”
The waiter arrived at the table with their appetizers. His small talk as he laid out plates and wished them a pleasant dining experience was nothing more than a hum in the background of Jared's own fast-moving thoughts.
Okay, thank you, move on, please.
“Let me know if there's anything else you need,” the waiter said. “I’ll be back to take your dinner order in just a few minutes.”
Once he vanished Jared smiled at Liv and sighed. “Where was I?”
“Moving on,” she replied as she slid the plate of artichokes toward him.
“Right. Moving on.” He took a bite and brightened. “These are great.”
“I love them.”
Jared closed his eyes for an instant, and he rubbed his temple.
“Jared, just say it. I can take it.”
He laughed. “Are you sure?”
“I survived cancer. I’m not a weak woman. Just tell me where you and Georgia went, and what decision you’ve come to.”
“We went to Bonita Springs,” he told her. “To Coconut Point.”
“Isn’t that—that's a hotel resort, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“You took Georgia to a hotel?”
She looked at Jared as if she were just about to ignite lift-off, and before she could blast out of her chair and run out of the restaurant, he exclaimed, “No! No. I didn’t do that. I mean, yes, I took her to a hotel, but not the way you’re thinking.”
“Jared, you’re confusing me.”
Her eyes turned a stormy, deep-sea green, and Jared thought she looked like she was just about to cry.
“I know. I’m sorry. Let me just tell you this right up front: I am not, and I repeat not—” “Olivia?”
Liv's focus on him was torn away like an unsuspecting flag in a hurricane, and the separation left Jared stinging.
“Becky?” Liv said.
“How crazy to run into you here,” the woman said, glancing at Jared with curiosity. “My husband and I are celebrating our anniversary.”
“Congratulations.”
“Becky Watson,” the woman said, extending her hand toward Jared.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Liv said as he shook it. “Becky, this is Dr. Jared Hunt.”
“A pleasure,” Jared replied once he caught his breath again.
“Becky heads up the Human Resources department at the hospital where I work,” Liv explained.
“Speaking of which,” the woman remarked, “we’re all so excited to have you coming back to us next week. You look just phenomenal, Olivia. You really do. I’m so happy you’re recovering so well.”
“Thank you.”
“I spoke to Dr. Bradley Bennett just this morning. He's assigned over at the pediatric clinic, and I told him about your interest in making that change.”
Jared clenched his hands into one big fist beneath the table. He was pretty sure that Becky Watson sensed his impatience when she said, “I don’t want to interrupt your dinner with Dr. Hunt, so maybe you can give me a call tomorrow and we can talk about it some more.”
“Sure.”
“Good to see you, Olivia.”
“You too.”
“Dr. Hunt.”
“Ms. Watson.”
Just as she walked away from the table, the waiter appeared, and Jared resisted the urge to let out a stress-relieving whale of a scream that would surely scare every patron in the place straight out of their chairs and through the front door.
“Can I take your dinner orders?”
“Not yet,” Jared snapped, and then he caught hold of himself. “Give us a few minutes, please?”
“Certainly.”
Jared sighed, trying to get himself back on track.
“So you took Georgia to a hotel resort in Bonita Springs,” Liv reminded him.
“Yes. But no.”
“Jared.”
“I took her there, but not as guests or anything. We went there to see a buddy of mine that I knew from Chicago years ago.”
“Ohhhh. Like a fix-up?”
“No. Dennis is—”
“Can I clear these for you?” a waitress asked as she reached for the appetizer plates.
“No,” Jared returned, and then he pressed his lips together. “Please leave them.”
“Okay.”
“In fact, would you do me a favor?”
“Certainly.”
“Would you tell our waiter that we are still going to have dinner, but we have to step outside for a moment? Please leave our table just as it is, and we’ll be back in just a few minutes.”
“All right, I’ll tell him.”
Jared rose from the table on sheer determination, and he took Liv's hand and urged her to follow him.
“Jared, what's going on?”
“Please. Come with me.”
He knew how absurd it all was, how crazy he appeared, how out of character his behavior had become. The only thing he could hope for at that moment was that Liv knew him well enough to trust him.
And she did.
She rose from her chair, placed her napkin on the seat, and walked with him out the front door, across the parking lot, and to his rental car.
“Please. Let's get in and talk for a minute without any interruptions.”
Liv didn’t say a word. She just got into the car and allowed him to close the door behind her. Jared went to the other side and slid in. Once his door was shut, he sighed
again, and leaned back against the headrest.
“Should I try and help?” Liv asked on a whisper. “Or just be quiet and let you get there all by yourself?”
“I’ll get there. Be patient with me.”
“You got it.”
Silence was a thick fog inside the car. When he was finally ready to cut through it, Jared said, “Georgia told me about the opening over at the pediatric clinic. She said she’d put you and her friend together to talk about it.”
“We’ve emailed.”
“I hope you won’t mind this, and I know it was a bit intrusive for me to do it, but I went over and had a talk with them myself.”
“You did?” she exclaimed. “Why?”
“To see if there was something solid for you there. Something compelling enough that you might consider giving up your job here and moving down to Florida.”
Liv cocked her head to the side and bit the corner of her lip. “I’m not sure I understand. What does that have to do with your friend in Bonita Springs?”
“Dennis. He's a jewelry designer, and he was in town for a big convention, and I got a look at some of his designs. Really beautiful pieces. Emerald chokers and amethyst earrings.”
“You bought jewelry for Georgia?”
“No.”
This was just not going as planned.
“I bought jewelry for you,” he replied. “I narrowed it down to three different pieces, and I needed Georgia to help me choose.”
Before she could ask another question, Jared produced the green velvet box that had been burning a hole in the pocket of his trousers since he’d left the house that morning. He opened it and held it out toward Liv.
“We both thought this one would be perfect for you. What do you think?”
Liv's eyes narrowed as she glared at the box. And then they slowly opened, wider and wider, until they were as round and shiny as quarters as she stared at the ring.
A square, one-carat diamond, surrounded on all sides by an outline of smaller diamonds, set into a perfect platinum band.
Simple, elegant, and exquisite, just like Liv.
A car pulled into the empty spot next to them, and Liv's eyes broke free to glance its way, but Jared reached over and touched her chin with two fingers and turned her head back toward him.
“No more distractions or interruptions,” he said with a smile. “I have a question to ask you.”
EPILOGUE
The moon hung low as Prudence and the stallion crested the top of the hill and looked down on their treasured home. They were back at the Enchanted Pond once again, and Prudence sighed in relief when she saw it.
“Are you sorry to leave the meadow behind?” the stallion asked her.
“Not at all,” she replied. “That was my old life. This is my new one.”
Horatio hooted at them as he flew over their heads, and Prudence laughed as he landed on the knotted branch hanging out over the pond and stretched out his wings after the long flight.
“This is where I belong,” Prudence said. “I don’t know why I didn’t see it before.”
“The old Prudence resisted change,” Horatio announced from his perch. “But this—this is a brand new Pru.”
Liv's wedding dress was a rich champagne color, a halter swing dress from the 1950s that she and Hallie found in a vintage dress shop in Mt. Adams. The lace straps were three inches wide, and they tied at the back of the neck in a large, crisp bow. The bodice was pleated and boned for a clean, perfect fit, and the crinoline slip underneath the full skirt was pale pink so that just a hint of color peeked out from beneath the tea-length hem. Her red curls were coaxed upward and held in place with a long rhinestone clip that matched the delicate diamond choker around her neck. Her bouquet was simple: just six pink roses bound together at the stem with pink and champagne ribbon.
They were married in Hallie's church, the one with the stained glass windows, up on the hill overlooking Liv's favorite spot in the city: Winton Woods. The ceremony took place at seven thirty at night, and countless candles twinkled in agreement as they vowed to love and cherish one another for the rest of their lives. The pastor spoke a prayer over them, thanking God for this second chance for two people who thought they had experienced love and then lost it far too early, wishing them well as they said good-bye to Cincinnati and started their new lives together on Sanibel Island in Florida.
Hallie and Rand stood up for the couple, and the church was filled with well-wishers from several states. Georgia Brown sat in the second row on the groom's side, next to Dennis Pearson, the jewelry designer from Chicago. The two of them had been in constant touch since their first meeting. Clayton Clydesdale sat on the other side of Georgia, with his yellow-silver hair slicked back, and dressed in his favorite dark blue suit, the one that hadn’t seen the light of day more than three times since 1998. On his lapel was a tiny stick pin bearing the team logo of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
At the reception, on the table beside the magnificent wedding cake, sat a smaller one bearing the words, “Happy Birthday, Olivia.” That cake with the espresso cream cheese filling was a special gift to Liv from her new husband.
And so it was that Olivia Wallace's birthday curse was officially broken that day—the day that she stepped out in faith into The Great Unknown and married Jared Hunt on the moonlit night of her fifty-first birthday.
“Are you content?” he asked her from the edge of their Happily Ever After.
“Beyond content,” she replied. “I’m completely brand new.” With a gasp, she grinned and added, “In fact, you know what? I’m a brand new Pru!”
Discussion Questions
Each chapter is preceded by an excerpt from a children's book. What/who does Prudence the Donkey represent? Why is Prudence important to Liv's story?
What/who does Horatio HootOwl represent? What affect does his presence in Prudence's life have on Liv?
What impact did Liv's battle with cancer have on her life afterward? Is is possible for something like cancer to be a positive thing, even to be considered a gift?
Early on in the story, Liv refers to her ongoing “birthday curse.” Do you believe in such a thing? If so, how do you explain it? And if not, how do you explain a string of negative events year after year?
After meeting and being attracted to Jared when they met on the plane, what was your reaction to him ending up next door? Do you believe in the role of destiny in a person's life?
How does Liv's relationship with Boofer evolve over time? What other relationships evolve throughout the book, and how?
Georgia worked with Jared for years before Liv entered his life. Was Georgia justified in her initial confrontations with Liv? What was driving her?
Florida is very much like another planet for Liv. What “aliens” does she meet there along the way? How is the environment different from the life she lives back in Ohio?
What does Jared's role as a doctor tell you about the person that he is? Or his role as a father?
How did you feel about the relationship between Jared and Rand?
Liv has a run of unfortunate circumstances (i.e., a gator in the pool, the bronzing incident, the death of Clayton's cat). Do you see any association between these instances and Liv's ongoing “birthday curse”?
What does Rand and Shelby's romance represent? How does it affect Liv and Jared?
What did you think of Liv's reaction to news of Hallie's accident?
Jared and Liv didn’t know each other very long when they made a permanent commitment to one another. Do you think a marriage will last under those circumstances?
Bonus chapter from Sandra D. Bricker's
next romantic comedy
Always the Baker,
Never the Bride
1
Emma cradled a single cupcake in both of her hands and lifted it within inches of her face to examine it with care. Oh, how she’d love to take a massive bite out of it and feel that moist, crumbly red velvet cake against the roof of her mouth
, a flavorful burst of sweetness, and then the barely there kiss of cocoa.
“You’re not thinking of eating that, are you?”
Emma didn’t even blink. Her focus remained fixed on the confection before her.
“Emma Rae?”
The corner of her mouth quivered into half a smile before she set the cupcake on the wire rack beside the others.
“Calm down, Mer. I’m not going to eat it. But you could let me dream about it for thirty seconds, couldn’t you?”
Meredith peered at her over square, black glasses, a short fringe of matching ebony bangs dangling inches above them. As she stared Emma down, one colorful, tattooed arm bent at the elbow, and her fingers drummed out an impatient rhythm on her hip. Then she wobbled her head in that familiar way, the one that warned: Next stop, a shaking finger right in your face.
“How about I go get you a protein shake,” her friend suggested. “They have a new sugar-free flavor. It's mango.”
“Mmmm.” Emma forced a sliver of a smile and then shrugged.
“Dude. You’ll love it. I’ll be back in ten.”
Emma glanced at the wire rack with longing one more time before she returned to the sink to rinse the cupcake pans.
Diabetes. What a funny and cruel joke for God to play on a baker with a penchant for confections. For her recipes, the sweeter the better. But in her real life, Emma didn’t partake. She’d won the Passionate Palette Award just last month for her crème brulee wedding cake—a six-tiered, twenty-four-layer masterpiece filled with sweet custard that inspired one of the judges to remark, “This rocks my world.” And yet Emma had never tasted more than a single, ecstasy-inducing bite.
She dreamed of sitting at one of the bistro tables beyond the swinging doors of her kitchen … a cup of coffee before her … a china plate adorned with an oversized hunk of cake … the sweetness of each bite enveloping her … every forkful inspiring something new within her.
The jingle of the front door beckoned, and Emma dried her hands quickly before abandoning her sugar-glazed dream and pushing through the kitchen door.
The Big 5-OH! Page 23
