Love Me Timeless--A Willow Oaks Sweet Romance

by Melissa Crosby

  Ten minutes later and a couple of health checks from Charlotte—Are you okay? Yes, I’m okay—a wave of worry passed over her. What if he doesn’t come? Carly bit her nail and quickly pulled it away, curling her hand into a fist instead. Relax, she told herself. Breathe and count to ten.

  One—inhale and exhale, Carly guided herself to a calm place through self-talk.

  Two—he will love you, Carly thought. Just as you are. That was the whole point of Love Is Blind, right? To fall in love with the person and not how they look.

  Three—Three. The number of emails exchanged with NYJedi007 before I realized I had found a match. The one.

  Four—The number of times I had wanted to tell him I love him.

  Five—He had given me five pet names. I counted them. Sweet one. Buttercup. Bunny. Cupcake. And lastly, my favorite, Willow Girl. Carly smiled with each one... every time he’d used them.

  Six—the number of magical months that we have been chatting online. Six magical months of getting to know him.

  “Carly?”

  Carly looked up at the interruption of a male voice. “Mick!” she said, quickly recognizing the eldest of the Myers siblings. Carly stood up and gave him a hug. “Oh my gosh, it’s so good to see you! I swear, you look more and more like that silver fox, George Clooney, every time I see you!”

  Mick chuckled softly.

  “What are you doing here?” Carly asked excitedly. She wasn’t lying when she called him a silver fox. Mick was actually very good looking. He was still as hot as he was when she last saw him.

  “Uh”—Mick ran a hand through his salt and pepper hair—“just in the area for work, and I thought I’d pop in and check on the ol’ town. How are you?”

  “Missing the small-town vibe, are you?” Carly teased. Her smile was quickly followed by a frown as she sat back down. “I think I might have just been stood up,” she said, resting her chin on her hand. “Care to join me?”

  Mick pulled a chair out and sat across from her. “I can’t imagine that anyone would stand you up on purpose,” he said.

  Carly sighed. “And here I was thinking he was the one.”

  Mick raised his eyebrows. “The one, huh?”

  Carly nodded. “Yeah,” she said with a long exhale.

  “That’s a pretty big deal. Anyone I know?”

  “Nope,” she said, giving an extra pop on the p. She shook her head in defeat. “In fact, you know what? He could be just about anybody! Or nobody,” Carly said, slightly panicked. I could have wasted the last six months of my life chatting with a robot. Or some scammer from Nigeria—or anywhere else in the world. I’m such a loser! I really should have known better.” Carly told Mick about NYJedi007 and how they were supposed to meet. “It’s lucky I didn’t sit here with a rose, or arrange to go and meet him at the Empire State Building or something like that. I’d have felt like a bigger fool.”

  MICK STUDIED CARLY’S face. It hurt him to know that he was causing her the strife she was obviously feeling. When he saw her from the door, he knew he couldn’t just leave her there waiting. It would have been wrong to hurt her like that. He was certain it would hurt her. They’d spent the last six months talking about when they might finally meet. Today was supposed to be that day.

  “Hey,” he placed a hand over hers. “You don’t know what’s happened yet. He might have—I don’t know—gotten into an accident.”

  Carly looked up at him. Tears slowly formed around the rims.

  He’d never noticed her eyes before. What were they? Hazel? Honey?

  “Thanks, but that’s highly unlikely.” Carly said with a weak smile.

  “I don’t think he’d knowingly leave you sitting around here on your own. He wouldn’t dare.”

  “Mick Myers!” Charlotte said as she approached their table. “I’d know that fancy hairdo from a mile away—how are you?”

  Mick flashed Charlotte a smile and stood up to greet her. “How’s it going, Charlotte?” he asked, as he took her into an embrace.

  “I’m awesome—as always,” Charlotte said, holding her hands up to her sides as if to show the world around her. “What brings you here?”

  “I—uh—”

  Mick had just begun to answer when a realization flashed across her face. “You’re not”—she pointed between him and Carly—“are you? Are you NY-Jedi-double-oh-seven?”

  Carly waved her hand in the air. “No, no, no, Charlotte. It’s not him.”

  Charlotte laughed at herself and brought one hand to her chest and the other on Mick’s shoulder. “You almost had me there! I thought you were her internet prince!”

  “Afraid not.” Mick pressed his lips together. “A prince, maybe... but not an internet one. I’m definitely not a Jedi either.”

  Thankfully, they all laughed at his joke.

  Charlotte’s reaction was probably one of the main reasons he could never pursue a relationship with Carly. Carly was too young for him and the whole of Willow would just swallow them up and make them the talk of the town for years to come. Mick shook his head at the thought.

  “Ah well... can I get you guys a drink? Coffee? Tea? A milkshake?”

  Mick shook his head. “Uh-uh, no milkshake for me, thanks. I could do with a coffee though.” He turned to Carly. “Do you mind if I join you and have a coffee?”

  Carly glanced at Charlotte. “What do you think?”

  “Better than staring out the window.” Charlotte shrugged. “Or you could have a chocolate milkshake, if you prefer?”

  Carly smiled. “I’d love a strawberry milkshake, please.”

  Charlotte raised an eyebrow. “Strawberry milkshake and a coffee coming right up!”

  When Charlotte turned towards the kitchen, Mick focused his attention on Carly. He’d never noticed her smile before and was admittedly quite taken with it. He closed his eyes for a second to sort himself out. You can’t, he reminded himself.

  “You okay?” Carly asked.

  Mick opened his eyes. “Yeah—yeah. I was just—I just remembered something.”

  “Oh, do you have to go? You don’t have to stay with me. I mean, if that’s what you’re doing.”

  “No, no—it was just something for work.” Mick sat upright. “So, tell me about your date. This what’s his name? The Jedi.”

  “You’ll think it’s stupid.” Carly blushed and looked down. “Even I think it’s stupid.”

  Mick wished that he could reach out and take her hands in his. He wished that he could tell her everything he’d wanted to tell her when she was his WillowCup717. “I’m sure I won’t.” He wanted to tell her that it wasn’t stupid, and that he felt everything she was feeling too. “Let’s start with your handle... if he’s a Star Wars James Bond, who are you? Princess Leia?”

  Carly smiled again. It was a beautiful smile. She sighed her handle, “WillowCup717.”

  Mick raised his eyebrows. “WillowCup—I get. Because you work at a cake shop, right? And what about 717? Birthday? Lucky digits? ATM pin?”

  “717 Cherry Oak Drive. It’s my house number.”

  “Ah... that would have been my next guess!”

  “Here we go,” Charlotte sang. “One coffee and a strawberry milkshake for our girl.”

  “Thanks, Charlotte.”

  “Thanks, Charlotte,” Mick grinned.

  “Coolio—just let me know if you kids need anything else.”

  “I’m pretty sure I’m older than you,” Mick said.

  “Yeah, you are. I just didn’t want to make you feel out of place,” Charlotte teased, laughing out loud at her own joke. “I’m joking! I’ll leave you two to it.”

  “Go on,” Mick chided. “Get outta here!”

  Chapter 3

  Carly was genuinely upset that NYJedi didn’t turn up. She hoped that he had an excuse—a good excuse, of course. On the other hand, though, she was really enjoying talking to Mick. She could be wrong, but Carly felt as if Mick enjoyed talking to her too. It seemed as if she could talk to him about an
ything—like he understood her. She’d always had a thing for him, but he always seemed so serious. Plus, he was way too old for her. It was wishful thinking that anything might happen between them. “Hey, isn’t your birthday coming up?” Carly asked Mick.

  Mick nodded slowly. “It was two weeks ago. The big five-oh.”

  “Oh, wow! That’s a big one!”

  “That’s what she said!” Mick grinned.

  Carly’s eyes widened, and her mouth hung open. “Mick Myers! You did not just say that! What would your mother say?” Carly covered her mouth as she laughed.

  “Oh man,”—Mick laughed—“please don’t tell my mother. She’d probably hit me with a spatula.”

  “Well, happy birthday to you,” Carly beamed. “Have you been to see her yet?”

  “Mom?” Mick shook his head. “Not yet.” Mick took a sip of coffee. “I came straight here. I needed a strong cup of coffee before seeing any of my family.”

  “You make seeing them sound like a punishment.”

  “That’s the word I was looking for—punishment!”

  Carly narrowed her eyes at him. “Aww, really? Surely it’s not that bad. I love your family!”

  “At least one of us loves them.” Mick shrugged. “How are your parents?”

  “Still the same lovebirds they’ve always been. I swear they get cheesier with every year that passes.”

  Mick ran his finger around the rim of his coffee cup. “That must be nice.”

  “What?”

  “Being in love.”

  “Mmm, yeah.” Carly leaned her chin on her palm. “Tell me about it... I can only hope to be as lucky as they have been with each other.”

  Carly’s parents were the epitome of happily ever-after. They met when they were just teenagers and went on to be college sweethearts. Everyone knew that they would eventually get married—and they didn’t disappoint. When her mother turned eighteen, Carly’s father had gallantly asked for her hand in marriage. And of course Carly’s grandfather gave his blessing. The rest, as they say, had been a romantic history in the making. And it’s been going on ever since.

  All Carly ever wanted was to be in a love like the one that her parents shared—a love that would last a lifetime. But given the way that her life had turned out, it looked like she was the one who was going to break the happily ever-after gene that her parents had passed on to their children. Her two sisters were both married—with children. And everyone was just waiting for her. But having once stared cancer in the face, a lifetime was something Carly feared she might never have. From where she stood, happily ever-after seemed like an impossibility.

  It wasn’t anything new to Carly, though—being the odd one out. Growing up, her sisters were both blessed with brains and beauty. They were the cliché of the great American daughters. She, on the other hand, lacked the academic proficiency that she was expected to exhibit in school. While her sisters brought home awards and gold medals in Science and Mathematics, Carly brought home dirty paintbrushes and stained t-shirts for her mother to wash. It didn’t help that she was the sickly one either, even before cancer reared its ugly head into her life, bringing her family nothing but pain and worry.

  While her parents had never said anything—at least not out loud—Carly knew that she was essentially the black sheep of the family.

  “What are you thinking?” Mick’s voice broke through her reverie.

  Carly refocused her attention to Mick. “Sorry... I was just thinking about what a disappointment I must be to them.”

  “You? To your parents, you mean?”

  Carly nodded and took a sip of her milkshake. It had gone milky, so she pushed the glass aside.

  “Why would you say that?”

  Carly shook her head. “I don’t wanna bother you with my troubles.” It was sweet of Mick to ask, but she knew he was just being polite.

  “Trust me—you’re not. We all have our troubles,” Mick said.

  “Exactly. We all have our own troubles, so there’s no need to bother anyone else about them.”

  “You know what they say, right?”

  “What’s that?” Carly asked, humoring him.

  “A problem shared is a problem halved.”

  Carly laughed. “That doesn’t even rhyme!”

  Mick cocked his head slightly. “I didn’t know it had to.”

  “Sounds better when it does.”

  “True, true... can’t argue with that. But come on... give me a shot.”

  “One day, if I’m lucky, maybe Oprah will invite me to her show and give me some wonderful advice that will change my life.” Carly studied Mick’s face. She liked the way his stubbles cast a shadow around his mouth. His hair, some silver specks on the sides, made him appear highly intelligent and deserving of respect. “Shouldn’t you be going somewhere?”

  “Maybe,” Mick said with a grin.

  Chapter 4

  Carly was right. He needed to be somewhere else—anywhere else but in that cafe, with her. But he couldn’t leave. He’d waited so long to finally meet her. And disappointed as he was that WillowCup717 turned out to be Carly, he was also finding it difficult to walk away. Had they not gotten to know each other online, Mick probably wouldn’t have batted an eyelid. But now it was different. His attraction to her was growing stronger by the minute—with every smile she gave him. Every glance. Every flick of her hair. Every word spoken. He wanted to tell her that he was NYJedi007.

  He knew that he should tell her the truth—but he couldn’t bring himself to do so. It would just have to work out some other way.

  “When did you get so chatty anyway?” Carly asked him.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, you’ve always been so serious. I could never really get more than a few sentences out of you before.”

  Mick raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you saying you’ve tried to get my attention in the past?” he asked with a grin. Are you flirting with her? You can’t flirt with her! She’s too young! “I’m still serious.”

  Carly laughed. “There’s something about you that’s just—I don’t know—different.”

  “Hey, Carly? Mick?” Charlotte called from the cafe counter. “Closing soon, okay?”

  Carly checked her watch. “Oh goodness! Where has the time gone?” She got up from her seat.

  Mick looked around and found that they were the last customers at the cafe. He did the same as Carly and pulled out his wallet. “Sorry, Charlotte,” he said as he walked towards the counter.

  “No, don’t be silly. You guys can stay,” Charlotte said. “I’m just going to carry on closing up.”

  “You go on home, Charlotte,” Carly offered. “I’ll close up.”

  “No—”

  “No, seriously. It’s my fault. It was supposed to be the night that I fell in love, but... ah, well!” Carly went behind the counter and ushered Charlotte out. “Go on, scoot! Get yourself back home to the twins.”

  “Really, Carly, I don’t mind. And besides, if the fella didn’t show—then it’s probably for the best. He lost his chance at a gem.” Charlotte pulled Carly into a hug.

  “You know, Carly’s right,” Mick said. “Get yourself home to the kids. Don’t worry, I’ll stay with her.”

  “Don’t worry?” Carly pulled herself away from Charlotte’s embrace and wrinkled her nose at him. “What? You think I can’t close up on my own?”

  Mick furrowed his brows. “I’m just saying that I’ll stay with you until you lock up.”

  “Fine, fine. I’m going home. But only if Mick stays with you.”

  Mick winked at Carly. “See?”

  “What? No, you can’t.” Carly protested.

  “I don’t want you moping around like a sick puppy.” Charlotte yanked Mick by the sleeve of his shirt and led him into the kitchen. “The dishwasher’s been stacked. You just need to turn it on. Wipe the counter tops down with some disinfectant and throw the dirty cloths into the laundry bag in the back,” she told him.

&nb
sp; “Charlotte, I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself,” Carly said, her hands on her hips.

  “I know you are. Mick—maybe not so much!” Charlotte gave Carly and Mick a peck on the cheek each. “Don’t forget to lock both the front and back doors.”

  Charlotte flipped the door sign over to CLOSED and waved as she shut the door behind her. “G’night!”

  Mick turned to Carly and clapped his hands together. “Right! So where do we start?”

  “We don’t start anything,” Carly said. “You are leaving, and I’m going to close up.”

  “What? No. Charlotte said that—”

  “Oh, no, no, no, never mind what Charlotte said. I don’t need you feeling sorry for me.” Carly turned her back on him and tied an apron around her waist.

  AS CARLY PUT HER APRON on, it dawned on her once more that she had been stood up by the one person she’d been wanting to meet for the last six months. “I’m quite capable of feeling sorry for myself,” she snapped. She could feel the tears building up behind her eyes. Darn it! Do not cry!

  “Carly, I’m not—” The confusion on poor Mick’s face was not to be missed, but she couldn’t help it.

  “You really should go.” Carly turned her back on Mick. She didn’t want him to see her cry.

  “Hey, listen... I’m not here because I feel sorry for you.”

  “Then what?”

  Mick took Carly by the waist and spun her around to face him. She looked up into his eyes and felt a tumble in her stomach.

  Chapter 5

  Mick didn’t kiss her. He had wanted to—but he didn’t.

  He took a deep breath in and held it in. This was Carly. He’d known her all her life. From the day that she was born—he was there.

  I should have left when I had the chance, he thought.

  “Carly,” Mick began, “I’m here because I want to be here.”

  “No, Mick,” she said. “We can’t.”

  He looked deep into her eyes. Can’t what? Was she thinking the same thing as he was? Mick wondered if the feeling was mutual.