Coming Back (The Sarah Kinsely Story - Book #2) (11 page)

“You are hilarious Kinsely,” she said.

Little Lizzy handed me the second note and I stood in front of Angela, just as I had done with Peyton.

I said, “Angela, thank you so much for spotting me that day and for not letting me run away. If it wasn't for that lunch conversation, I probably never would have found out the truth. Thank you.”

Angela stood and gave me a hug.

Then she said, “Well, I am glad I saw you that day too because that salad wasn’t doing a very good job of keeping me company at all.”

The last letter that little Lizzy had handed to me took me the longest to write. It also took little Lizzy the longest to draw. We had both worked on it for a really long time, talking back and forth, and I was glad for that experience.

They say that the healing process is about more than just getting over the pain, it is about forming new relationships and having new experiences. I believe that now.

I held Lizzy’s card in both hands and let out a deep breath. I closed my eyes and gathered the courage to say what I needed to.

“Lizzy, to you I am the most sorry. I should never have accused you with a thing like that, and I hope that you can forgive me.”

She stood up, stared me straight in the face, and said, without cracking a smile, “Just know, Kinsely, if you do mess up with My. Chef Sauve over there, you can’t expect me to wait around for one of these girls to snatch him up.”

I laughed, then I cried, then I felt Lizzy's warm embrace wrap around me.

I didn't expect the girls to suddenly include me all the time and instantly consider me their best friend, but being in Aiden's Vineyard, eating Paninis and finger food in the gazebo overlooking a world hidden from view of most would-be-tourists, I felt a small moment of victory.

I had been the woman I had wanted to be.

I had done the hard thing.

I had made an effort.

As I took the girls home, the car was full of chatter, laughing, jokes, and discussions of things that only girls can talk about after going through something like that together.

With each mile that we got closer to the city of Portland, I found myself experiencing it all for the first time. It was like I was back at day one, full of hope, full of wonder, and full of excitement. My Portland dream wasn’t dead, it just had taken a slight detour, but I was back on track.

True friendship is forged in the ups and downs of the human experience, and I knew that these girls would be a part of my life for a long time to come.

And for that I was grateful.

Chapter 21

After the event that Aiden teasingly called the "The Great Apology Luncheon", I went to his house.

It was little Lizzy who had actually invited me over just a few moments after I had delivered my little speech to the girls. I had said yes immediately without really thinking it through, but I was just elated that Aiden's daughter wanted to see me again.

She had told me that it was "pizza Friday", a tradition that her and her dad had done ever Friday since she was "a little girl". I had smiled at that last line thinking about how much of a little girl I still felt like even at the age of 25.

When I arrived at Aiden's house it was nearly seven o'clock in the evening and I could smell the familiar smells of takeout pizza as Aiden led me through the front door. He pecked a light kiss on my cheek, put his hand on the small of my back, and led me back to “pizza central”.

In retrospect, I feel a little bit guilty, but I had half expected "pizza Friday" to be an event where Aiden showed off his pizza making skills. To the contrary, I found several half open pizza boxes from a local joint laying on the counter, paper plates, 2 liter soda bottles, and little Lizzy sitting at the table with her plat of pizza already three quarters finished.

“You are late,” she said.

I didn’t want her to get the wrong idea about me, so instead of coming up with an excuse like I might with a grown-up, I simply told the truth and said, “I'm so sorry.”

“You say that a lot don't you?” She replied.

I thought about it, and realized she was right.

Aiden took me through the different flavors of pizza that he had ordered, told me a little background on the tradition, and I sat and ate with him and Lizzy. They finished long before me but they patiently waited until I had sipped out the last drops of
Dr Pepper
from my red plastic cup.

“You know, my dad says I can’t drink
Dr Pepper
until I am older,” Lizzy said.

I thought back to the first time I sat at this table, and poke my nose into Aiden's business asking him why he didn't drink alcohol. Sitting here, hearing his daughter talk about how he won't even let her drink
Dr Pepper
made me smile.

He truly was a changed man, and he really did love his daughter.

As soon as I finished my pizza, little Lizzy grabbed my hand and pulled me into the library.

She ran off to her room and came back with a puzzle. It was a picture of the Statue of Liberty.

“I want to go see her someday,” little Lizzy said, “she seems like a very brave woman. Kind of like you.”

Perhaps to a young child standing up and apologizing in front of people you had offended might seem like a courageous thing to do, but I certainly didn't feel that way, especially as I stared at that picture of Lady Liberty that I had seen so many times during my time in New York.

I looked at the cover on the box, and I looked at little Lizzy and Aiden. It was so small in comparison, that picture on the box, it seemed so distant, so unreal; less than a dream.

I sat down on the floor cross-legged, next to little Lizzy as she scattered the pieces on the coffee table. Aiden sat on the couch, the same couch where I had made such a fool of myself not that long ago. I looked at him, he looked at me and for a split second we were both thinking the exact same thing and it made us both burst out laughing.

“Do you need another soda?” I asked, barely able to keep a straight.

He laughed even harder.

Lizzy tilted her head, raised her eyebrows and was about to ask what we were laughing about when Aiden cut in.

“So, what you think little Lizzy, you think Sarah should stick around for a while?”

Little Lizzy nodded her head up and down, going faster and faster until she stuck her tongue out and it wiggled, and she fell over sideways.

I smiled, I laughed and I said,

“I would really like that.”

Prolouge

The building still had that new-construction smell as I nervously paced outside the front door.

My guests of honor were due to arrive any minute and I still hadn’t heard from my caretaker. I wanted him to be there for the big reveal, but I wouldn’t shut down the presentation if he didn’t show.

Aiden slipped in behind me and put his arms around my stomach. My nervousness momentarily went away.

“You are going to do fine,” he said.

“You are probably right, but I just really want them to like it.”

“They will,” he spun me around to face him, “why wouldn’t they?”

Over the years, Aiden had learned to say just the right things to make me feel right when the moment called for it. This was one of those moments.

“Where is Lizzy?” I asked.

“Finishing up with the luncheon set up.”

“Do you think that they will recognize the place? It wasn’t paved the last time I brought them here?”

“I doubt they will recognize the place, but I am sure they will find it just fine.”

Aiden pulled me away from my pacing and took me into the white tent he and Lizzy, now almost an adult herself, along with members of his staff, had erected hours earlier. Lizzy was dressed in chef whites, calling out orders, and making last minute adjustments to the settings. She saw her father and I was in through the tent flap, flashed a smile and went right back to work.

The interior of the tent looked like a high brow wedding reception party. The place settings were immaculate and the waitstaff were buzzing.

All this for just three women.

Three of the best friends I could have ever hoped for.

I was still in gratitude mode towards Aiden that he had put so much effort into pulling this all together last minute.

I kissed him on the cheek and he squeezed me hard. We had been together long enough now that we spoke few words, but communicated better than we had ever experienced with anyone else.

We exited the tent at the perfect moment.

Peyton, Lizzy, and Angela drove up in Lizzy’s car just as we were about to enter the main building. As I walked over to greet them with arms wide open I was struck with another stroke of luck: the caretaker had arrived.

I wrapped my arms around each of my friends and called to Carl — my caretaker — to come meet the guests. The girls said their hellos and we all went back to the white tent where Lizzy, and staff, served us a vast array of finger foods from a menu she had designed herself.

She had never lost her love of science and she brought that love into the kitchen with her. Aiden called her “the future of Molecular Gastronomy” — whatever that means. All I knew is that the things she cooked were incredible, and to watch her combine her scientific precision to the way she worked with food was one of the highlights of my life, and I was grateful she let me be a part of it in so many ways.

Mid-way through the meal, I gave my spiel.

“First, I want to thank all of you for being here today. Carl, Peyton, Lizzy, Angela, today is a very special day for me, and Aiden and even our Lizzy. Years ago, when Aiden and I first met, he took me here and told me the story of this place. He told me how much he had struggled to buy it back, in memory of his mother. He told me that he needed someone special to take care of it, to turn it into something more than just a piece of land. At the time, I was more interested in getting him naked than taking care of his property, but I had secretly hoped he had me in mind for just such a job.”

The girls and Carl laughed. Lizzy scrunched her face and made a “blah” sound.

“Well, here we are. It has finally happened. Thanks to the hard work of Carl and his crew, I am happy to announce that Colburn Farms is officially open for business. Now all of Aiden’s restaurants are going to be supplied with the food and livestock that we raise right here on this land. It is a dream come true for the both of us.”

With that, we all clanged our glasses together. Lizzy let out a “horray” and Peyton came around the table to hug me.

It felt so good to be there with my friends, to share that very special moment with them. It felt even better to have them there for what was about to happen next.

“Sarah,” Aiden said in a voice I had never heard before.

He stood up from the table and walked to where I was sitting. I saw Peyton, out of the corner of my eye, pull out here camera.

What was happening? It wasn’t my birthday for another 3 months.

“Sarah, you know that you mean the world to me — to us,” he pointed over at Lizzy who was crying with a smile on her face, “when you walked into my restaurant, I knew, I knew that I —.”

Aiden leaned down on one knee and reached into his pocket.

A camera flash went off. Lizzy let out a yelp as Aiden opened the box.

Angela said, “Oh my god, that thing is huge.”

My lungs emptied themselves of air. I brought my hands up to my lips. I wanted to hold him, to scream “yes” at the top of my lungs, to cry, but instead I let him finish.

“I knew that one day, when the time was right, that I would marry you. You have done an amazing job with this place, you fit in my life so perfectly, I want to have that always.”

He wiped a tear.

“Sarah Kinsely, will you marry me?”

About The Author

C.J. Berry is an award winning copywriter by day and steamy romance writer by night. Ever since she was a little girl she has carried a book around with her everywhere she went. In college she discovered Nora Roberts, Maya Banks, H.M. Ward and other great romance writers and decided to make a career out of writing.

She tries to write erotic romance with characters that make you laugh, cry and swoon. She loves a happy ending but doesn’t like when they come easy and her writing reflects that.

The book series you are currently reading is inspired by true events and personal experience. It has been a complete hoot for her to write it all down and relive those moments.

When she is not writing she is reading, running, crafting or spending time with her kids in her beloved hometown of Portland, Oregon.

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