Lakeside Love (A Mill Creek Crossing Romance) (3 page)

When she walked inside, she was a little taken aback by the decor. It had Southern charm, but it was over-the-top tacky for sure. The name of the diner was “Stella’s”. She looked around trying to figure out who Stella might be, but to no avail.

“Hi, honey! Welcome to Stella’s. Just you today?” a sweet, very Southern, woman asked. She was wearing a full pink waitress uniform with a lacy white apron. The scene reminded her of an old TV show her mom used to watch called “Alice”.

“Yes, just me,” Erica said softly as she was reminded that, yes, she was alone. All alone. Left at the altar. Her mind started to wander as the waitress led her to a booth by the window.

“I’m Gracie. What can I get ya to drink?” she asked pulling a pencil out from behind her right ear.

“I’ll take a coffee please. Cream and sugar,” Erica said with a forced smile.

“Alrighty. I’ll be right back with your coffee.” Gracie handed her a menu and walked behind the long counter up front.

Erica stared out the window watching seemingly happy people pass by her. There was a mother with two small children, all holding hands and singing. There was a man walking his boxer dog and chatting with a friend. No one looked sad, and it reminded her even more that she was. Like a picture postcard directly from Norman Rockwell himself, Mill Creek Crossing was reminding her that life went on, but she was stuck.

“Here you go,” Gracie said as she set the coffee on the table. “What can I get you to eat honey?”

“I’ll have a turkey club sandwich with fries and a sweet tea,” Erica said. She wasn’t counting calories anymore because there was no wedding dress to fit into anyway.

“Got it. That’ll be up in just a few minutes,” Gracie said smiling as she took away the menu.

Erica went back to looking outside. Just then, her cell phone buzzed away in her pocket. When she took it out to look at it, she was shocked to see Max’s number flashing on the screen. She wanted to hit decline, but curiosity got the better of her.

“Hello?” she said in a flat tone devoid of any emotion.

“Erica, it’s Max,” he said trying to sound concerned. She knew that voice.

“What do you want?” Anger was already welling up inside of her as she heard him speak. What right did he have to call her?

“I’m worried about you. My Mom said…”

“Wait just a minute! You’re worried about me? Are you freaking serious?” she said louder than she should have in a quiet diner. People started to turn around as Gracie stared from behind the counter. Erica didn’t care. She was angry, and now was her chance to let Max know it.

“Of course, I’m worried. I heard you left town…”

“You have no right in the world to think about me, worry about me or even let my name cross your lips. You’re a lying, cheating piece of crap, Max!”

“I know you’re angry with me, but if I can just explain…”

“Explain what exactly? How you had a relationship with me for years, proposed, had me plan a big expensive wedding and then stood me up on my wedding day so you could screw your co-worker?” she said pointedly. “Is that what you wanted to explain? Because I already have quite a mental picture of that, Max.”

“I just want you to know I never meant to hurt you, Erica. Rebecca and I are just better suited for each other. We fell in love…”

“You can’t fall in love with someone unless you’re open to cheating on your partner … and you were, apparently. What I don’t get is why you didn’t have the balls to just tell me? Why humiliate me in front of our family and friends? Why do that to your own parents?” Her anger was boiling over, and containing it to a reasonable level she could display in public was becoming harder.

“It was a mistake, I’ll admit that. I just didn’t want to disappoint anyone,” he said.

“Well, you ended up doing just the opposite. You disappointed everyone. Congratulations. Look, I don’t have any more time to waste on you, Max. I’ve wasted years of my life already,” she said as she clicked the ‘end call’ button on her phone.

Erica’s heart was racing, and her palms were sweating. She had so much adrenaline coursing through her veins, she felt like running down the street.

“Here’s your food, honey,” Gracie said as she smiled down at Erica. She turned to walk away, but then turned back. “I couldn’t help but overhear your call.”

“Yes, I’m sorry about that. I was a little loud…”

“No, sweetie, I understand. I’ve had it happen to me,” Gracie said as she sat down across from Erica.

“You were left at the altar?”

“Yes, ma’m, I was. It was fifteen years ago. I had dated this man for four years, and he never showed up on our wedding day. Turned out, he was gay. Don’t know why he couldn’t figure that out a little sooner…”

Erica almost spit out her coffee. “I’m sorry… You just caught me off guard with that one…” she said trying not to laugh.

“Yeah, well he certainly caught me off guard with that one too!” Gracie said laughing. Erica joined in, and it felt good to laugh again. Maybe she would survive this after all. “Do you mind a little advice, woman to woman?”

“I can use all the advice you have to offer,” Erica said regaining her composure.

“You can’t change the past. All you can do is move forward from here. Don’t let any man steal who you are, or steal your joy. He ain’t worth it. Your path is set, and you need to find what your path is.”

“Did you find your path?” Erica asked.

“Yes, I did. About two years after our non-wedding, I met a wonderful man. His name is Randy, and we got married about eight years ago. He is my dream come true, and sometimes I look back and thank the good Lord I didn’t settle for the wrong man. Sometimes, we don’t know what’s best for us, and we have to walk through these trials to get to the good stuff.”

“I hope there’s some good stuff left for me,” Erica said with a half-hearted smile.

“Honey, there’s so much good stuff out there for you. You just have to be open to it. Don’t let what this scoundrel did destroy your faith in finding the right man for you. He’s out there, and he will find you when you least expect it.”

“Thanks, Gracie. You’re my first friend in town. I’m glad we met,” Erica said.

“Well, I still don’t know your name!” Gracie laughed as she stood up.

“Oh, sorry. I’m Erica Dixon. I’m visiting for a couple of weeks.”

“Well, nice to officially meet you, Miss Erica. I hope you’ll come by a lot while you’re here,” she said reaching down to touch her hand.

“I’m sure I will,” Erica said as Gracie smiled and walked back to the counter to wait on another customer. With that, she started to dig into her lunch with renewed hope and a returned appetite. Mr. Right would find her, according to Gracie, so for now she was just going to enjoy her life and wait.

Erica’s first day in Mill Creek Crossing was uneventful except for her phone call from Max. Somehow, being able to yell directly at him was just the tonic she needed to feel a little bit better. She certainly wasn’t over the trauma of her fiasco of a wedding day but she felt like she might be on the mend. Two weeks of peace and tranquility might be just what she needed, she thought to herself.

As she sat on the deck of the cottage, she could almost hear the lake calling her name. As a child, her grandparent’s lake house had been her favorite place on Earth. Grandma Dixon was a big barrel of a woman who made the best oatmeal raisin cookies on the planet, as far as Erica was concerned.

They often spent weekends at her lake house in Tennessee. The pontoon boat was a big hit with the kids, especially when they were able to ski and tube behind it. Just swimming around in the lake was fun on a hot summer day. Usually, they’d picnic down by the shore, having fried chicken, watermelon and peach cobbler until they were stuffed.

Since it would be daylight for another few hours, Erica decided to go down and try her hand at canoeing across the lake. Although it wasn't huge, it was definitely bigger than a pond. She figured she’d row out to the middle and take a look at all the mountains surrounding her.

It was still early enough in the spring that the evenings became quite cool in the north Georgia Mountains, so she threw on a pair of jeans and tennis shoes along with a T-shirt. She decided to carry a light jacket in case she needed it and walked out the door. As she headed down to the pond, she could see the flowers starting to bloom in the yard, and hear the birds singing in the trees. This further helped her to find a peaceful place in her mind where she didn't have to obsess about the issue with Max. Instead, she tugged on the old canoe until she had pulled it out far enough so she could get in. Keeping one foot on shore and one foot in the canoe, she pushed off into the water holding onto the oar for dear life.

For the next few minutes, she rode out into the middle of the small lake. There were very few houses dotting the landscape around her. Most of them were way up on tall cliffs on the mountainside. Only one other house shared the shore of the lake as far as she could see. It was a beautiful log home with contemporary features situated almost directly across from the home she was renting.

The canoe was older, which was surprising because she knew Callie’s cousin would replace it if he came out there that often. At least it seemed to be holding water okay, so she slid into the floor and settled her back against the seat. Looking up at the perfect sky, she thought about her life.

Making plans for the future alone was something she couldn’t have fathomed just a few weeks ago. Every plan she’d made in her adult life had included Max. They had plotted out where they would live one day, how many kids they would have, even what kind of dog they would get once they were settled into their new home. They would get an RV and travel the country later on, seeing all the sights with their kids and bulldog, Eddie. She could see it all in her mind so clearly.

She thought about her own hopes and dreams. Did she want to be in marketing forever when her real dream was to be a writer? Why hadn’t she ever taken the plunge to try it? That was easy. Max had told her writing wasn’t practical for someone who’d gotten a college degree. He said most writers were broke and didn’t make any money. He said art was a hobby, not a career, and to him writing was “art”. Why had she allowed him to steal her joy for something she truly wanted to do?

At some point during her long thinking session, Erica dozed off. The sound of birds chirping and the light spring breeze had lulled her into a peaceful nap. Suddenly she heard a thump and then a splash, which woke her out of her slumber.

“Oh, God!” she shrieked when she opened her eyes and sat up. The canoe had bumped into a piece of a tree trunk that was sticking up out of the water, and in the process her oar had gone overboard. By the time she realized what was happening, the oar was at least ten feet from the canoe. Looking around, she realized she had drifted right into the center of the lake. No one in sight, she sat and thought about what to do. Why hadn’t she remembered to bring her cell phone? Unfortunately, the chances her phone would pick up between so many mountains was unlikely anyway.

With less than an hour until sundown, she started to get worried. What if no one saw her out there? There was always the option of jumping in to retrieve the oar, but the thought of getting drenched in her clothes deterred her. She loved to swim in the lake as a kid, but as an almost thirty year old woman, the idea wasn’t as attractive.

“Help! Help!” she yelled, deciding she needed a rescuer and fast! Unfortunately, no one seemed to hear her. Hoping that she could somehow use her hands to push herself to shore, she leaned over and started trying to paddle. Petite as she was, that was going nowhere fast. She tried lying on her stomach and paddling like she had two airplane wings on each side of the canoe, but her wingspan was way to short to accomplish anything other than rocking the boat and scaring her to death.

When she saw a snake pop its head out of the water - or maybe it was a turtle - she freaked out. There was no way in the world she was climbing into the water under any circumstance, she decided. “Help!” she yelled again hoping someone might hear her if she just kept yelling every now and again.