by Judith Keim
###
When Jake and Silas returned to the suite, Noelle handed him a sheet of paper with her notes on the stores.
He studied it. “Great job! This is the kind of information I’m looking for.” He looked up at her with a grin. “Guess I’ll have to bring all the food to our cooking sessions. I know you won’t let me pay you.”
She laughed. “I’ll think of the most expensive items I can.”
“Is Dad cooking?” Silas asked, breaking into their teasing banter.
“He’s going to teach me some things,” Noelle said. When she noticed the devilish grin that crossed Jake’s face and realized what he might be thinking, she covered her mouth with her fingertips.
“Are we going home now?” Silas asked. “King told me he wants to see Duke.”
Jake turned to him. “You want to see Duke? Okay, let’s get all your things together. Last time, we almost left your iPad behind.”
Noelle went to her room to get her overnight bag. She’d packed earlier but hadn’t placed her new sundress inside.
As she was zipping her bag, Jake came to the door. “I’ll take it down. It’s a busy time for check-outs, and I don’t want to interrupt the staff.”
She handed it over to him. “How did the appointment with Silas go?”
“It went well.” Jake hesitated and then blurted out, “Dr. Heard is helping me to trust relationships again.” He swallowed hard and gave a helpless shrug of his shoulders. “I don’t know why I told you that. Probably too much information.”
“No, I think it’s nice,” Noelle said, realizing how embarrassed he was. The man who so easily handled a tough business was not so tough himself.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
On the way back to Althea’s house, Jake received a call from Brett in Colorado telling him that their parents were being flown out on a private jet later that week. The doctors wanted to be sure the trauma to their bodies was under control before allowing them to fly to Florida.
Noelle listened to the news through the bluetooth phone connection and watched Jake’s expression grow tender. “You tell Mom and Dad I’m thinking of them. I’ll be there to help them with the flight home.”
“Right. I’m about to leave for New York for the investors’ conference taking place at the hotel.”
“Thanks. I’ve checked on things at South Beach and have some suggestions for the retail section. Noelle did a little survey for me this morning.”
“Noelle? Is she there with you now?”
Jake signaled her to answer.
“Hi, Brett. I came over to Miami to go to Silas’s doctor’s appointment.”
“You owe me a dinner, you know.”
Noelle laughed. “We’ll see.”
“You might have to get in line, bro,” Jake said. “I’m teaching Noelle how to cook a few of my favorite dishes.”
“You think bossy lady is going to allow you to tell her how to do something?” Brett said.
Noelle heard the laughter in his voice but had to respond. “By the time I cook dinner for you, I’ll be an even better cook than Jake.”
“I knew it! Can’t wait. Gotta go. Jake, I’ll call you later.”
After the call ended, Jake turned to her. “This cooking challenge ... you know I’m going to win. Right?”
“Maybe,” she responded, suddenly excited about the idea of working at a stove.
###
After she unpacked at the cottage, Noelle got into her car and hurried down to the mall to find some cookbooks. Instead of reading her beloved romance novels, she was going to read up on cooking tips, rules, and procedures. Now that Jake had challenged her, she wanted to learn everything she could about cooking.
As she entered the cottage, her cell rang. She set down her packages on the kitchen table and checked caller ID. Martin Vogel. Frowning, she clicked on the call. “Hello?”
“Is this Noelle North?”
“Yes. Who is this?”
“Hi, I’m Martin Vogel, Hazel Vogel’s great-nephew.”
Noelle’s heart thumped in her chest. “Oh, my word! Has something happened to Hazel?”
“Not at all. I’m merely doing her a favor by calling you. I’ve owed her a favor for some time.” He cleared his throat. “I would like to ask you out for dinner. Perhaps this Friday evening?”
“I don’t know ...”
“Please, this is very important to my aunt. And from her description of you, I’d really like to meet you.”
“You’re talking about a blind date? Whatever is she doing?”
“It’s not just her. She and her friends called me. I’m apparently their Plan B.”
“Oh my God!” Noelle couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of her in great guffaws. “You poor guy! I don’t know what she did for you that you’d owe her this, but I’ll go along with them. They’d be so disappointed if I didn’t.”
“So, we’ll have dinner on Friday?” The relief in Marty’s voice was almost comical. “What do you say I pick you up at seven o’clock?”
“Sounds fine. And, Marty, don’t worry. It’ll simply be dinner.”
Noelle clicked off the call and sat at the kitchen table recalling a photograph of a handsome, smiling young man in Hazel’s apartment. If Marty was the guy in the picture, it should be no problem to spend a couple of hours with him. He’d hopefully be pleasant and would be as much a gentleman as Hazel was strait-laced.
###
The next morning, Noelle met Silas at Althea’s house and then walked him up the beach to the cottage. It was time to begin turning the seashells into Christmas ornaments. They’d done a few before, but now they had to work in earnest.
As they walked along the sand, Duke raced ahead of them and back again.
Silas looked up at her with a serious expression. “I think my Dad likes you, Noelle.”
“Really? Why do you say that?”
“He told Dora you were a nice woman.”
“Ah ... well, that settles it then. We are good friends.” Noelle wanted to be very careful about letting Silas think there was more than that going on.
“King doesn’t want you to go away,” Silas said.
“And you?” Noelle asked, giving him a steady look.
He shrugged and kicked a sneakered foot at the sand. “Me either.”
“I’m going to show you how we can still see each other and talk to one another even if I’m back in Boston.”
“Really?”
“Sure. Facetime and conference calls work very nicely. I’m not going to stop being your friend, Silas. I promise.”
“Oh.” His green eyes settled on her, and she couldn’t resist hugging him.
Duke dropped a yellow tennis ball at her feet. She picked it up and threw it for him, wishing she could so easily make Silas happy.
At the cottage, they emptied the shells they’d most recently collected onto the kitchen table. As they’d done before, they picked out the ones most suitable to make into Christmas tree ornaments and then carefully washed and dried each one before coating them with mineral oil to make them shine.
Noelle said, “These look perfect, Silas. I’ll glue the string on them. You figure out what messages you want to add, okay?”
Silas nodded and picked up the red pen Noelle had bought for the project.
“What should I say?” Silas asked.
“Anything you want. You could say Merry Christmas or send a message to Nana hoping she feels better, things like that. I’ll print a few words out for you to use.”
“Okay.”
While Noelle glued the string to the shells, Silas silently wrote words.
“How do you spell sorry?” he asked, giving her a worried look.
“S-o-r-r-y,” Noelle spelled out. “Why?”
Silas bit his lip and looked down at the piece of paper in front of him.
Noelle came over to him and wrapped an arm around him. “What is it, Silas?”
He turned into her, buried his face against her
stomach, and began to sob. “I ... I ... was bad. I talked back to ... Mom.”
Noelle pulled a chair up next to his and took him in her arms. “Tell me what happened.”
He lifted a tear-streaked face to her, misery clouding his eyes. “I talked back to Mom and then she died.”
Noelle’s pulse raced with alarm. “It’s not your fault that your mother died, Silas. That was something nobody could start or stop from happening. It was something inside her that caused her to die.”
Tears rolled down his cheeks. “But I never got to say I was sorry.”
Noelle’s mind raced to come up with healing things to say. “We’ll put your note on a special shell and hang it on the tree. It’s a beautiful way to say you’re sorry, and somehow, I think she’ll know it’s there.” Later, she’d tell Jake what she’d learned, and he and Dr. Heard could help Silas with this concern.
“I’ll draw flowers on it too,” said Silas, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.
“Nice idea,” said Noelle. She printed the word “sorry” on a piece of paper and handed it to him. “Here’s how you spell sorry. Write whatever you wish you’d said to her. Okay?”
He nodded. “Okay.”
As she continued to work on the shells, she watched Silas out of the corner of her eye. His tongue was caught between his lips as he concentrated on making the letters that meant so much to him.
When Silas was through with his note to his mother, he handed it to her. “There. It’s done.”
She looked down at it and blinked away the tears that stung her eyes. The words “I’m sorry, Mom” were surrounded by as many pink flowers as he could make.
“It’s beautiful, Silas. Do you feel better now?”
He nodded. “I didn’t mean to make her mad at me.”
“Oh?”
“She sometimes got mad.”
“Well, we all have moments when we’re frustrated,” Noelle said, wondering how much Silas knew of his parents’ unhappiness. She had no intention of getting involved in something like that. “Did you make a note for Nana?”
“Not yet.”
“Why don’t you get to work on it? I’m almost finished gluing the string onto the shells.”
A few minutes later, Silas handed Noelle a note: “I hope you feel better! Love Silas.” Blue flowers were drawn around the letters.
“Very nice!” Noelle said, smiling at him. “How about another one?”
“I know. One for Dad.”
They stopped for lunch and continued for another hour or so.
“Can we do something else now?” Silas said. “I’ve written a lot of notes.”
“Yes. You’ve done a wonderful job. I’ll glue them on tonight. Shall we go to the book store? I’ve thought of a book I need, and I’ll get you a new book in one of your favorite series.”
Silas’s face lit up. “I want one about secrets.”
“Okay, we’ll ask for it.” She loved that Silas liked to read.
###
Noelle dropped Silas off at home with a number of books. They’d spent time in the children’s section of the book store discovering new books he wanted to read. She’d found a cookbook that had entire menus planned, along with ideas for table decorations, and easy three-step recipes.
Sitting in the kitchen at the cottage, Noelle sipped a cup of tea and glanced at the notes Silas had written. There was one each for his mother, Dad, Uncle Brett, Nana, Duke, Dora, his grandparents, and her. She’d seen all of the notes but hers. Silas had informed her that her message was to be a surprise. He’d carefully folded it up and sealed it with tape and then told her which seashell to use for it.
Eager to be able to clear the table before cooking dinner. Noelle sat down to finish up the work on the shells. She carefully wrapped a note around an olive shell and tied it in place with string. She glued another note to the back of a scallop shell. Where she didn’t have enough purchase on a shell to tape or wrap a note, she folded it, wrapped the string around it like a package, and tied it to the string holding the shell. It was dark outside by the time all eight decorations were set. She carefully placed them with the other ornaments in a box, ready to take to Althea’s house for the tree-trimming party planned later that week.
Noelle poured herself a glass of wine and picked up one of her new cookbooks. The sound of her cell rang into the quiet.
Noelle saw who it was and answered. “Hi, Jake! I’m so glad you called. Silas said something today that I thought you should know about.” She told him about how guilty Silas felt about sassing his mother. “He said she used to get mad at him.”
Jake let out a long sigh. “I’ll talk to Silas about it and call Dr. Heard. Thanks. I really appreciate it. The reason I called was to see if you wanted to try cooking dinner on Friday.”
“I’m so sorry, but I can’t do it then. I have a date.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize ...”
“No, it’s not what you think. Hazel Vogel’s great-nephew was forced into calling me. He’s the Plan B the ladies at the assisted-living community conjured up.”
“What was Plan A?”
Noelle searched for an answer. “Something that didn’t work out,” she finally said. She wasn’t about to tell him that Plan A included their desire for her to like the handsome, rich man with whom she’d been photographed in Miami. The very man who’d hired a private jet to get her to Boston.
“Those women really care for you, Noelle. That’s nice.”
She laughed. “I’ll let you know how wonderful they are after my date on Friday. We’ll see then how desperate they are for me to find someone. I’ve told them I’m not ready, but they won’t believe me.”
“Well, I’d better go. Maybe we can make our cooking dinner another night.”
“Okay. Don’t forget. Silas is planning a tree-trimming party surprise for Saturday night. You’re going to receive a party invitation. Silas made you one this afternoon.”
“I’ll make sure I’m there,” Jake said. “See you then.”
Noelle clicked off the call and sat a moment thinking of Jake and his devotion to his son. Silas was lucky to have him for his father, and Jake was lucky to have a boy like Silas. She could no longer deny her feelings for Jake, but she’d do them both the favor and leave the idea of a relationship between Jake and her alone. He had trust issues and a little boy to protect if things did not go well.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
As Friday evening approached, Noelle wondered what she had been thinking to agree to go on a date with a man who’d been forced to ask her out. She’d been amused and he’d been so flustered that she’d never even discussed the best way to contact him. How foolish was that?
Noelle started to call Hazel to get more information about her great-nephew and then decided it would only cause a stir with the women. They’d want to know where they were going and what she was wearing. Then they’d ask her to give them all the details when the date was over.
She told her herself not to worry, if he didn’t appear to be nice, she’d say she was sick and send him on his way.
On Friday, she left Althea’s house without seeing Jake. He’d arrived home after accompanying his parents on a private flight to Tampa and then went back to the hospital to make sure everything was to their liking.
At the cottage, she took the time to soak in the tub. Submerged to her neck in warm water, Noelle lay back against the rim of the tub and let her thoughts drift. The days were getting much cooler with the approach of Christmas. Still, the weather in Boston was colder. She wondered what it would be like to live in Florida year-round and decided it might be a pleasant change. But then she thought of her family and of Edith, Hazel, Dorothy, and Rose and knew they were counting on her to be there for them.
Sighing, she got out of the tub and toweled herself off.
In her bedroom, Noelle studied the clothes in her closet and decided to wear a pair of black slacks and a scoop-necked, long-sleeved knit top in white that was a perfect
backdrop to showcase the bright-red, silk Gucci scarf she liked to wear at this time of year.
Noelle dressed and slid diamond studs into her earlobes and clasped a silver bracelet around her wrist. After putting on a touch of eye makeup, she fluffed her hair and considered herself ready for her date.
When she heard the slam of a car door outside the cottage, she checked her watch. Martin was on time. She swallowed nervously.
At the sound of the doorbell, she went to answer it, hoping this wasn’t going to be one of those disappointing evenings she’d shake her head about for years.
Noelle opened the door and faced a young man who looked as worried as she. With blond hair cut short, handsome features that were nicely tanned, and a fit body, he gave her a tenuous smile.
“Noelle? I’m Martin.”
Her lips curved. With his pink shirt, purple V-neck sweater and neatly pressed gray slacks, he was adorable. “Please come inside.”
He stepped inside. “Thank you for agreeing to this date. It’s very awkward, as you can see I’m ...”
“Gay,” Noelle said, helping him to finish his sentence.
They grinned at each other and then broke out laughing.
“Hazel doesn’t know?” Noelle said.
“I’ve tried to tell her, but you know how old-fashioned she is. She thinks it’s just a phase I’m going through. Frankly, she isn’t the only one in the family who thinks that way. Even so, I adore Aunt Hazel, and she’s been very kind to me. I’m more than happy to do favors in return.”
“And I’m that favor,” Noelle said, unable to stop another smile from spreading across her face.
“I’ve made dinner reservations at Gavin’s, the restaurant at the Salty Key Inn not far from here. I hear the chef is great.”
“How nice! I’ve wanted to go there,” said Noelle. “But please, let’s have an understanding that we will each pay for our own meal.”
“Absolutely not,” said Martin firmly. “A date is a date, and I’m going to do it the way Aunt Hazel would expect. And we’re going to order anything we want. Agreed?”
