“Morning,” she purred as she stared at his mouth.
“Let it be noted, I’m all for you waking me up with your mouth.” He said in his gruff tone, which she now understood had nothing to do with Luke being tired and was more commonly ignited when he was turned on.
“Yeah, you like it when I use my mouth?” She asked as she licked her lips, feeling playful.
“You’re dipping into dangerous waters, Spunky.” He warned as his eyes darkened.
“As much as I’d like to give you my mouth… Ava’s downstairs waiting patiently.” She said, leaning forward and placing a quick kiss to his mouth. “You need to get up we have plans.”
He groaned and let his hands roam down the length of her body. He gripped her hips and pulled them to him as he buried his face in her neck and let his mouth leave a trail of open mouthed kisses.
“Luke…” She said weakly.
“What plans?” He murmured against her collarbone.
“We are picking out a Christmas tree.” She said, giving him a slight push. “Come on we have to get a move on, before all the good ones are gone!” She said and slipped out of the hold he had on her.
Luke dropped his head to the pillow with a groan. He learned a lot in the last month. A man didn’t combust from blue balls. They just were a painful fucking thing. Oh, and Cara loved Christmas. She really loved Christmas.
December 11
Cara smiled at the little framed sonogram photo that stood in front of Jake’s headstone and placed the little fresh Christmas tree she had bought beside it. She ran her fingertips along his name as she always did.
“Hi my love. It’s almost Christmas… the first Christmas without you. Luke, Ava and I went to the Christmas tree lot yesterday. We got the biggest Spruce they had.” She laughed. “Your brother, he sucks with a saw, by the way. I don’t think I have ever heard him curse as much as he did trying to saw down that tree. You would’ve got a kick out of it.” Her laugh turned to a sad smile, thinking of all he was missing. “Anyway, we managed to get it back to his house and started decorating it. Luke had a very sad collection of ornaments so we ran back out and loaded a cart full. We put a white dove on top of the tree, right under the star, and we told Ava it symbolized you and that you would be watching over us Christmas morning.” She paused. “I don’t need a white dove to know you’re always with me. I know you are and I know you know that I’m opening my heart again. The last time I was here I asked you to look after Luke. I told you he deserves to smile and I wanted you to know that he smiles a lot now and the kind of smiles that reach all the way up to his eyes. When he smiles at me he does it not only with his mouth but with his eyes. It’s genuine and every time he smiles a part of me wonders if it was you who sent us to one another. I wonder if you sent Luke to me, so that I would be the one to make him smile.” She blew out a deep breath. “I like to think you did and that you’re just as happy he’s smiling as I am.” She sighed. “I never thought Luke could be my second chance, Jake.”
A snowflake fell onto her nose and then another and another after that. She lifted her head and watched as the skies opened and snow flurries fell all around her. She opened her palm and watched them fall into her hand. Once a few had landed in the palm of her hand, she closed her fist and brought it over her heart. She looked back at Jake’s head stone and smiled.
“Thank you…” She whispered.
December 12
Luke stared at the envelope in his hand, not understanding why he couldn’t bring himself to open it. Instead of leaving it tucked away in the corner of his mirror, he now carried it in his pocket. Hoping to find the courage at any point to open it and not have an excuse not to. If he carried it with him at all times whenever the mood struck him, he had it, but that moment hadn’t come yet. He folded the envelope and slipped it back into his pocket. He stood up and made his way across the wooden dance floor. Six lessons down and he now knew how to roll his hips. He shook his head, still not believing he allowed his sister to sign him up for Salsa dancing lessons.
December 13
“Aunt Sam open this one next!!” Ava said as she handed her a small box wrapped in white.
Sam adjusted the sash that lay across her chest and read “Bride-To-Be” and took the present that her niece handed her. “There’s no card.”
Cara lifted her head and watched as she tore at the paper and opened the small square box. She thought back to the day, not long after Jake had passed, when she came across a box that held journals and mementoes that he had been collecting throughout the course of his illness. He had left behind a list of specific instructions for whoever found the box. The little box that Sam was opening was to be given to her on or before her wedding day. It had been wrapped in white and Cara had never opened it. So she was just as curious as Sam, to see what it was.
Sam gasped as she looked down at the closed box that had writing on it. A handwriting that was so familiar that she hadn’t expected to ever see again. Tears slid down her face as she read the note.
“Sam, pin this to your bouquet on your wedding day. Tell Pop I wanted to help him give our girl away on her special day. All my love, Jake.”
Cara stood up and walked over to sit beside Sam, wrapping her arm around her shoulders as she opened the box with her hands that trembled. There lay an antique silver pin framing the tiniest photo of Jake smiling.
December 14
Cara knocked on the office door at Lanza Automotive before she stepped in and looked over at Nick, who was scratching his head as he chewed on the end of his pen. He lifted his gaze from the sheet of paper he was staring out.
“Am I interrupting?” She asked.
Nick shook his head. “Is there a time limit on how long your vows can be?”
She smiled and shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
“How the hell is someone supposed to say everything they feel about the person they are marrying? I mean Sam said the ceremony is only like thirty minutes.” He lifted all the papers he had, half of them crumbled into balls, some of them with lines crossed out and the rest underlined to emphasize the important words. “The baby will be born before I’m done.” He said, exasperated, dropping the papers back onto the desk.
“You’ll get it right and if it takes you a long time, no one’s going to say a word. Just say what you feel.” Cara offered.
Nick sighed and then nodded. “I guess you’re right.” He studied her for a moment. “Luke isn’t here.”
“I’m not here for Luke.” She said and sat in the empty seat in front of his desk. “I found a box after Jake passed away. It was full of journals he wrote when he was sick.” She watched as he looked down for a moment.
“I gave him the journals.” Nick said.
“That’s not all that was in the box.” She said and slid a silver wrapped box almost the same size as the one Jake had left behind for Sam. “He left instructions to give this to you before you, and I quote, ‘Marry the hell out of Sam’.”
Nick stared at the box for a moment his hands stretched out to take it, but never did. It was as if he was afraid to touch it, like it would disappear if he did. He lifted his eyes to Cara and she nodded encouragingly.
He blew out a breath and took the box gently in his hands, lifting the corners of the wrapping paper ever so delicately. He looked at the white box that had a note scribed to the top of it. Nick cleared his throat and read.
“Mr. Suit and Tie, you probably have a pair of these babies already. But help a brother out and wear them when you marry my sister. Your brother from another mother, Jake.”
He flipped the box open and stared at the silver cufflinks, a gift from his brother.
December 15
Luke sat in Pete’s chair at Riverdale Ink with his forearm flexed as Pete traced the buzzing needle over his skin. He finally was putting the finishing touches of the warrior on his arm. He looked towards the front of the shop at Cara, who was sitting on top of the front counter smiling at him. He winked
at her and looked back down at his arm as Pete inked Jake’s name in italics below the warrior.
December 16
Cara carried a step stool tucked under her arm as she walked into the kitchen. Luke was cooking dinner, one of his three specialties. She placed the step stool beside him and climbed it.
“What’re you doing?” He asked amused. He put the wooden spoon down in the spoon rest and leaned a hip on the counter, turning his body to face her. She whipped something out from behind her back.
“It’s tradition! You have to kiss me under mistletoe.” She grinned at him as she held it over his head. He glanced upward and then back down at her feet that were on tiptoes as she wiggled the mistletoe over their heads. He took a step to her, wrapping one arm around her waist as he leaned into her. His lips fused with hers wondering if she knew she was becoming the meaning of Christmas to him.
Chapter Seventeen
Cara dug into her purse for some coins to feed the parking meter. It was a typical brutally cold day in upstate New York. The weather forecast was calling for another snow storm and she was currently trying to beat it. She drove two towns over, when she located the hobby shop that had the perfect Christmas present, for Luke. She had a half hour on the meter and figured that was enough time. She called beforehand and spoke to the sales clerk, so they were holding the gift behind the register for her.
Her phone rang in her coat pocket and she glanced down at the caller ID. Luke would have to wait. She would call him after she completed her shopping trip. After all, the meter was running and the sky was becoming gloomier by the minute. She silenced her phone and glanced at the traffic coming from both directions before she ran across the street. The door chimes sounded when she stepped inside the hobby shop, yet she didn’t see anyone. That was probably because she was the only Christmas-crazed idiot shopping when the state officials were warning people to stay indoors and wait the impending storm out. Oh well, the look on his face would be worth it… she hoped.
“Hello?” Cara called into the quiet store as she began to check out her surroundings. The shelves were full of a variety of things. Some she supposed people enjoyed making themselves, like model airplanes. Other shelves showcased a variety of things that required no assembly, but were simply made to sit on a shelf and collect dust, hoping one day they would be worth a small fortune. Her gift that was being held by the phantom clerk didn’t fit into either of these categories. It was the sentiment behind it that mattered.
She reached the counter and heard a girl’s voice. “I’ll be right with you.” She said to Cara, but still Cara couldn’t make eye contact because the girl was crouched down behind the counter. “Dad, I have one customer and then I’ll lock up and be outside. Okay, okay! I will hurry. Read the newspaper or something.” She said before ending her call. She bounced up, and faced Cara her smile infectious.
“Sorry about that. My old man can be a pain in the ass. He doesn’t want me on the road with the snow lurking so he’s waiting for me outside.”
Cara smiled. “I’m sorry to keep you then.” There was something oddly familiar in the girl who stood before her, yet she couldn’t put her finger on what it actually was. She studied her for a moment. Her auburn hair, straight as a pin, was cut to her shoulders. She wore glasses, but behind those glasses were the prettiest eyes. They were golden brown with flecks of emerald green. The girl’s brows furrowed and Cara snapped out of her trance, realizing she was staring.
She cleared her throat. “I called earlier, you’re holding…” Cara was cut off by the young girl.
“Ah yes. Cara right?” She reached behind the counter and handed over the merchandise that Cara had put on hold. “This is the right one, right?”
Cara took the box in one of her hands and then reached for her phone again. She scrolled through her pictures until she came up with the one she was looking for and compared the box in her hand to the picture she had found on the internet. She lifted her eyes to the girl and smiled.
“Yes. It’s perfect. Thank you for holding it for me.”
“Not a problem.” She said as she snapped her gum. “Alright then, let’s get you rung up so we both can go home and sit this one out.” She said motioning towards the window. Cara glanced outside and saw the snow was beginning to fall.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she handed her credit card over to the girl. She stared down at the text message Luke had sent her.
Cara not playing around. Call me.
Her fingers busied themselves typing out her reply…
Miss me don’t you?
She smiled and tucked her phone back into her pocket as the girl slid a slip a piece a paper across the counter for her to sign. Cara scribbled her name and took the bag she handed her.
“Thanks again for holding it. Merry Christmas.” Cara said with a wink.
Another snap of her gum and the girl with the pretty eyes smiled. “No problem. Right back at you.”
Cara looked at her for another moment before turning on her heel and walking out of the hobby shop. She pulled her hood up and crossed the street. She spotted a coffee shop right by where her car was parked and decided to grab a latte for her drive back to Riverdale. She stepped into the coffee shop just as another text came in.
Call me
She sighed and dialed his number while she mentally pictured him pacing with that all so serious look on his face, the look that always left her hot and bothered.
“Well, it’s about damn time.” He answered.
“Well, hello to you too.” She said with a smile and then covered the phone with the palm of her hand. “Can I have a caramel latte with skim?”
“Where are you?” Luke asked curiously.
“I’m in Pine Bush. I had some last minute Christmas shopping I wanted to knock out of the way.” She paid for her latte and waited for the barista to make it.
“Cara, we’re having a blizzard and you’re Christmas shopping.” He said incredulously and shook his head.
“Okay, to be fair, they said it wouldn’t start to snow for another hour and I would’ve been back by then.” She took her coffee and headed out of the coffee shop. “I will be back in an hour. It’s not even that bad yet.” She paused as she dug into her purse for her keys. “Please don’t worry about me.”
“I can’t help it.” He admitted honestly.
“That’s sweet.” She said softly as she got into her car, shoving her purchase, into the back seat and her coffee into the cup holder. She turned her key in the ignition and glanced across the street. The young girl who had helped her was pulling the gate down to the shop when an older man came around and shooed her hands away then started to do it himself. She squinted as the man turned around and draped his arm over the young girl’s shoulders. Cara remembered the girl saying her dad was waiting for her because he didn’t want her on the roads by herself. The doting dad walked his little girl to the SUV that was parked just out front of the hobby shop.
“Spunky, you there?” Luke asked into the silence.
“Oh my God.” Cara whispered as she got a good look at the man who was walking around the truck to the driver’s door.
“Cara, what’s the matter?” Luke asked, instantly not liking this game she was playing with him for one minute.
Cara swallowed the lump in her throat. It couldn’t be. The man lifted his head as if he felt her staring and she was able to take a better look. She hadn’t seen him in nearly fifteen years, but there was no mistaking him. The man who broke her spirit and neglected her after her mother passed away. The man who raised his hands to her, who never had the decency to be a father was standing across the street being a father to someone else.
“Cara? I’m not fucking around, answer me. Where are you?”
“Luke.” Cara whispered, remembering he was still on the phone.
“Baby, what’s going on?” He said with concern etched through his voice.
She watched on as her father got into the truck slowly pulled out
of the spot. She watched through the side view mirror as his car turned off the main road.
“I just saw my father.” She said and as the words came out of her mouth she couldn’t believe did. She had blocked him from her head. Sure, she wondered where he was from time to time. She wondered if he was alive and if he was still the miserable man who destroyed her childhood.
“What?” Luke asked, confused and then decided it didn’t matter. He heard the strain in her voice. “Nevermind, you can tell me when I pick you up. Where are you?”
“He has a daughter.” She said more to herself than to Luke. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the headrest. At that moment, every horrible memory she had surfaced, every wound reopened. She remembered running from her house to Jake’s. She remembered hiding her bruises with a baseball cap. She remembered that at fifteen years old, she basically left home and he never had even looked for her. Her father had never once reached out to her. It was as if Cara had died along with her mother. Since her mother died, that’s what she felt anyway. She always wondered if he wished she would’ve died instead of her mom.
“Cara, you need to tell me where you are. I can’t help you if I’m not there with you.” She heard Luke plead softly into the phone.
The pain cut deep, like it always did when she allowed herself to go down that path. The pain of feeling not good enough, not accepted, never loved. She closed her eyes and tried to fight off her demons, struggling not to let them take her over.
“I need a pill.” She heard herself say. That’s right, she wanted to wash away her troubles, she wanted a quick fix. Desperation clawed her, tearing at her sobriety.
“You listen to me, Cara and listen to me good. You take a pill, he wins. Every shitty thing in your life that that man caused can be put to bed. You don’t need to let him take any more of your life from you.” Luke said firmly, praying to God he was getting through to her.
Fitting The Pieces (The Riverdale Series Book 3) Page 20
