Love Finds You in Hershey, Pennsylvania (31 page)

Mac frowned. He hadn’t realized Sadie was struggling so much. But of course, she would be, now that Jasper… He cleared his throat. “I wasn’t aware of her difficulties. If I had been…”

What? He’d have been more than happy to help out? Certainly he would have. But that was something his daughter would likely never allow him to do.

Though he didn’t voice these thoughts, Belva must have heard the distress in his tone. She looked him over with what he feared was a critical air.

“Have a seat, sugar.” She gestured to the sofa. “I’d tell Kylie you’re here, but she fell asleep while we were watchin’ that
Lion King
film. I never did understand that little cat and pig.” She shook her head.

“Meerkat,” he corrected her as he took a seat.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a meerkat. I heard Jasper explaining it to Kylie one night.”

“Hmm. So I was right.”

“Right about what?” he asked.

She clicked her tongue in dismay but didn’t answer him. “Would you like some tea, darlin’?”

Mac shook his head. “No thank you, ma’am.”

“Hmm. Well, I would. Won’t take but a minute.” She left the room, and Mac sat tensely waiting for her return and fearing Sadie might appear at any moment. As much as he wanted to see his daughter, he feared her reaction if she found him, as unwelcome as he was, inside her house.

Though Belva promised it would only be a minute, Mac could have sworn it was ten before she reappeared, carrying a tea tray loaded with steaming mugs and a plate of cookies.

“There you are, sugar.” She placed the tray on the coffee table and then sank into the recliner with a sigh, cradling her cup in her hands.

“Now. Tell me everything.”

Mac looked at her askance. “I don’t believe I understand.”

Belva blew on the surface of her tea and said, “About Jasper. And Sadie. And whatever turned that granddaughter of ours into a rebellious little munchkin.”

Mac frowned with sadness. “Kylie’s been misbehaving?”

Belva huffed. Mac chewed his lip for a moment before asking, “What do you know already…about Sadie and Jasper?”

She took a tentative sip of her tea and swallowed before answering, “I’ve never possessed any illusions about that Jasper Reeves. He’s always had a hankering for Sadie, and there was no denying it. If he was too blind to see it while she was married to Ned, so much the better. But now…” She trailed off thoughtfully and then softly finished, “Now I’m just grateful, sugar, that Sadie has him in her and Kylie’s life.”

“Had,” Mac forlornly corrected. “Had him in her life.”

Belva arched an eyebrow at these words. “Out with it,” she insisted.

And Mac did, to the best of his ability, bring her up to speed on the last few months. When he finished, Belva let out a long, low whistle. “These Yankee girls. Never knowin’ what to do with a man.” She paused for a thoughtful moment and then asked, “What about you, sugar? What do you think of all this?”

Mac found his mouth dry, with the telling of Sadie and Jasper’s story, so he first reached for the mug of tea cooling on the coffee table. He took a large swallow, thoughtful for a moment. Then he said, “I love my daughter. But Jasper didn’t deserve the judgment she gave him. That boy placed plenty of faith in me when I hadn’t earned it, so I tried to speak up on his behalf. It didn’t feel right to let him down, after all the times in my life when I’ve backed down on someone.”

The truth was, he’d always been fond of Jasper. The kid was honest, but more than that, he was loyal. Those were qualities Mac admired, especially since he had such a hard time refining them in himself.

But now, Mac shook his head in remorse. “I don’t think I was much help to him. Sadie probably placed another mark against him just because he’d found favor in my eyes.”

He could hear the sympathy in Belva’s tone as she murmured, “Oh, sugar.”

His eyes met hers with an apologetic smile. “No need to feel sorry for me, ma’am. I burned my own bridges.” He bit his lip for a moment. “That’s what I appreciate about Jasper. He gave me hope that I could rebuild ‘em.”

Looking down, he stared into the translucent depths of his tea. “No one really knows,” he explained, “except those who have already walked it, how rocky the road to redemption really is. There are no smooth paths, and not many people offer recognition for one’s efforts along the way.” He tore his eyes from his mug and glanced back at Belva. “But Jasper did, for me.” Mac struggled for a minute or two, tamping his gratitude into a smaller container. “I wish Sadie knew what she had in that boy.”

Belva worried her lip, her expression sober. “If she didn’t know before, sugar, I’d say she’s beginning to learn.”

With Belva’s arrival and her offer to watch Kylie through the day, Sadie was once again free to work at the restaurant full-time. To her surprise, her many absences hadn’t created the number of crises she’d feared—Glynda had managed things with impressive skill during the gaps. Upon Sadie’s return, she found everything almost in better condition than she had left it, and for a brief moment, she wondered if even her own restaurant fared better in other hands. But then Jimmy blushed when he saw her and mumbled how glad he was that she’d be coming in more regularly, and Karl pulled her aside to tell her that she really needed to have a talk with Jimmy—he’d nearly caused two grease fires last week. And Willow was asking for a raise because her tips weren’t stretching to adequately cover all the hours she’d been working the past few weeks, and after all was said and done, Sadie was quite satisfied that her own position was secure.

She lingered in the kitchen longer than usual, however, helping Karl as he put the final touches on several breakfast dishes. Jimmy was stretching her patience thin with dozens of simple questions. How could he be sure the eggs were cooked? How long before he turned the French toast? Should he put more honey in the raspberry yogurt sauce?

She sighed. No wonder Karl was nearly driven to madness. With Jimmy momentarily distracted by the dish in front of him, she knew now was the moment to escape. But she found herself reluctantly staring at the neatly lined rows of pans and utensils and longed to jump in between Karl and Jimmy and create something fabulous. Something
other
than desserts.

But as Jimmy raised his head and seemed to zero in on her for another question, she abandoned the thought and escaped out into the main dining room. Things had slowed since the initial breakfast rush, although there were still several tables filled with latecomers. She headed for the hostess station and stopped.

Jasper stood there, in his typical faded jeans and T-shirt, his hair choppy and his face scruffy. His shoulders were slightly hunched, and he was looking at the ground, not seeming to notice anyone else.

For a moment, Sadie’s stomach felt as though it was in her chest. He looked
lost
, standing there like that. He looked exactly how she felt. She was tempted to run straight into his arms and ask him if they just couldn’t go back to the way things were.

But then reality interceded. They couldn’t go back because Jasper wouldn’t
be
here. He was leaving for Colorado soon. Leaving her for a whole new life out West. Just like some old-time pioneer, abandoning the old life without a backward glance and forging onto something new and different.

Something that didn’t include her. He was leaving her, just like Ned had. But Ned hadn’t had a choice in his fate. Jasper had a choice, and he’d decided to go.

Steeling herself, she straightened her spine and approached him with a desperate attempt at appearing nonchalant. Pleasant but distant. Calm but cool.

“Hello, Jasper.”

His head shot up in surprise, and she felt a moment’s hesitation in her resolve. His eyes were bleary and red, and there were sleepless lines cutting into his temples. He looked miserable.

“Hey,” he answered her greeting. He didn’t attempt to smile, and neither did she.

“I wondered if you had a minute,” he said. “I was hoping we could…talk.”

She considered this request, stealing a sideways glance around the restaurant. Other than several patrons’ obvious interest in their conversation (they’d probably been among the crowd at the Cocoa Cook-Off), everything seemed to be quiet for the moment. Still, she balked.

“Why couldn’t you come by the house?” she quietly demanded, letting irritation rise at him for showing up where there was the possibility of causing another scene.

“I didn’t want to upset Kylie,” he explained. “I know you told her she couldn’t see me for a while.”

Sadie’s jaw clenched. “How do you know that?”

Jasper licked his lips, obviously reluctant to tell her. She crossed her arms and waited.

“She called me last week,” he finally admitted. “She’s really getting good at using the telephone.”

Sadie felt a clenching in her chest. That was just the sort of thing he always used to know—the sort of thing he’d made a point to tell her. How was she ever going to manage without him in her life? Belva couldn’t stay forever.

She shook her head slightly. But what did it matter? She could never have asked for Jasper’s help ever again. Not now that she knew how he really felt—how he thought
she
felt…just using him for babysitting and free rides.

She sighed. “I don’t have a lot of free time right now.”

He ignored the tone in her voice. “I can come back later, if that’s more convenient.”

She didn’t want him to come back later. She wanted him to leave her alone, to let her be miserable and attempt to rebuild things without him. The last thing she wanted was for him to keep looking at her with those mournful blue eyes, conjuring up dozens of delightful memories from the past few years and especially the past few weeks.

“No, it’s fine,” she finally acquiesced. “Follow me.”

She led the way out of the dining room and down the hall to the office. It was empty. She purposely took the seat behind the desk and gestured for Jasper to grab a chair from along the wall. The desk placed a solid barrier between them, and she preferred being in the position of power on the opposite side.

She could tell by Jasper’s momentary hesitation that he noticed the distinction. But he took a chair and drew it up to the desk without commenting.

Sadie folded her hands and leaned back, making every effort to appear relaxed when her muscles were coiled as tightly as springs.

“If this is about the items you left at my house, I’ve boxed them up and can have them delivered to you. I know you’ll be wanting them for the move.”

The voice speaking these words had the crispness of a business exchange. Sadie hated the sound of them but didn’t know what other tone to take.

Jasper shook his head. “No, it’s not that.” He raked a hand through his flyaway hair, causing it to stick up in several more places. She couldn’t help thinking how it looked endearing on him. It always had.

“No, listen, Sadie…I wanted to talk to you about…about what happened.”

“About your decision to move to Colorado? I don’t believe there’s much to discuss.” Again, that cold, calculating voice.

These words seemed to stop him dead in his tracks. He sighed, covered his face with one hand, and leaned back in his chair. After several seconds of silence, Sadie began to worry for him. At last, he dropped his hand and stared at her out of those melting blue eyes.

“I wanted to tell you about it. I tried, several times, but there was always something getting in the way.”

“The dessert competition, isn’t that what you mean?”

“For the most part, yes.”

She flinched at his honesty.

“Maybe you should have tried harder,” she suggested, her voice fluctuating from cool to scorching.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I should have.”

“You’re awfully nonchalant about it,” she remarked with irritation.

He leaned forward quickly and suddenly, and she almost drew back as his hands gripped the desk, resting less than a foot from hers.

“But that’s the problem, Sadie—I’m not feeling nonchalant about it at all. I miss you,” he admitted. Her heart wrenched. “I’m sorry we fought, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the job sooner. I never meant for you to feel like I didn’t care about you—that’s precisely what I was trying to avoid.”

His words struck deep within her, and she had to keep her gaze lowered for several minutes as she worked to regain her emotional footing. With her eyes still focused on her lap, she said, “Whether that’s true or not, Jasper, I think it’s quite obvious there are things about our relationship you’ve always wanted to change.”

“Sadie—”

She rushed ahead, not allowing him to stop her. “I guess you’ve come to think of me as selfish and demanding rather than the selfless and giving friend I hope I once was to you. And while we’ve shared some wonderful memories over the years, it’s understandable at this point why you’d want to move on without me. I mean, it’s become obvious to me that Kylie and I are holding you back from realizing your true potential.” She was very glad she’d kept her gaze down. She had managed to control her voice, keeping it smooth and matter-of-fact, but she could not hide the tears threatening to spill over. “And the truth is, perhaps you’ve been holding us back too.”