Love Finds You in Hershey, Pennsylvania (36 page)

Sadie had paled so considerably that Dmitri reached out a hand to steady her.

“Sadie?”

She stumbled toward the chair he had just vacated and sank into it. He went to the cupboard and took out a glass, filling it with water and carrying it to her.

She took a long gulp, draining half the glass.

“You mean…all that worry? All my obsessing? For nothing.” She shook her head in disbelief. “And what about a name?” she asked. “What are you going to call it?”

He blushed a little. “Just Desserts,” he answered. “I know it’s not very original, but it’s a play on words—”

“Say no more.” She smiled at him. “I get it. I think it’s perfect.”

He beamed with pleasure.

She laughed, the sound echoing an evident relief. “Dmitri Velichko, I wish you had told me sooner.”

He was smiling too, but it faded as she glanced out the window, her brow creasing.

“Well, that’s one load off my mind, I can tell you. But, Dmitri, there’s something else. Something far more serious.”

He pulled out another chair and sat down. The soberness in her eyes told him he’d better.

“I don’t know when it started. I’ve been a little preoccupied, which goes without saying, but my mother-in-law has come for a visit, and she was the first one to notice these two guys hanging around my house and the restaurant. And tonight, on my way here, they were following me.” She shuddered as she reached for the glass of water.

“When I confronted them, they threatened me. They said if I didn’t back off in my competition with you they’d—they’d—” She swallowed. “They made horrible threats against Kylie,” she whispered. “And…they were Russian.”

He stared at her, eyes widening. When he saw her watching him, he turned away, covering his face with his hands. “Oh, Sadie…I am so sorry.”

“Do you know who they are?” she asked. “We could call the police… .”

“No! We can’t. It doesn’t work like that.” He pulled his hands away from his face. “But don’t worry. I can get them to go away, to leave you alone.”

“What? How?” she asked suspiciously.

He became reluctant, pulling back in shame.

“Dmitri, come on. I just poured out my heart and soul in an apology to you. Give me something to go with here. I’d enlighten you on my mistakes, but since you were there to witness most of them, I don’t think I need to catch you up on the highlights. So, I told you mine; now you tell me yours.”

He sighed and ran a hand over his face. “Do you remember the night we went to the movies and I asked you if you believed people deserved second chances?”

She nodded.

“Well, this is mine. Or…more than a second chance, it’s a fresh start.” He drew in a breath and came out with a story Sadie couldn’t ever have dreamed up about him.

“I am the youngest son in a Russian crime family syndicate. We were good at one thing in Russia, and when we came to America, we put our skills to even better use here. Everything was arranged that I would follow in the family business after I finished school.

“It is true I went to college for business—although a completely different kind of business than my professors had in mind. But while I was there, several things happened. My roommate was a Christian, and he led me to the Lord. And while I had always had a certain love of food and desserts, it came full circle when I joined a culinary group at our church. From there my life took on a different direction and purpose than I had had before.

“I tried to reconcile my old life with my new one—after all, my old life included my family, no matter what they might do for a living. And they made several attempts at understanding, although it was difficult for them. Our family had owned a restaurant for several years—it was a legitimate business but also a front for our many other activities. I asked for a job there, and I started washing dishes. But I watched, and I learned. And in my spare time, I took classes at a local culinary institute. Eventually I became their best pastry chef. And as time passed, I gained more and more notoriety for my skills. But I also came to realize I could not stay with my family without eventually being pulled back into the life I’d grown to despise.”

He drew another breath. “So I made plans and explained to them as well as I could. And I left them and came here, to start another life doing what I love.”

“Making desserts,” she supplied.

He nodded. “But my family has had a hard time accepting what they call my ’defection.’ They truly want the best for me, but they do not trust my being beyond their reach and control. I thought they had let me go to try to make a life for myself on my own. But if they have sent Yuri and Petrov, then they are still trying to watch out for me.”

He reached out a hand and gripped hers. She looked startled for a moment but then squeezed his fingers back.

“I will speak with my family,” he reassured her. “Nothing will happen to Kylie, I promise you. They will give orders for Yuri and Petrov to leave, although they will probably still send them to check on me occasionally. But they will do what I ask of them, and your family—your restaurant—will be safe. I swear it on my life.” He shook his head. “I am so sorry, Sadie. If I had known…”

She smiled at him. “But you didn’t. And I believe you. I just
knew
you were hiding something all along. But here I was thinking it was some sinister plan to overthrow all my hard work.” She laughed. “I never would have guessed it. You’re part of the
mob
.”

He corrected her. “
My family
is part of the mob. I had never joined in the family business, by the grace of God. And now I never will.” He paused. “But I pray for them. Every day, I pray for their lives and their souls.”

“No wonder you’ve been such an enigma,” she commented. “That is one heck of a secret to live with.” She paused. “But you’re a good man, Dmitri Velichko. I’m sorry I couldn’t admit that sooner.”

Dmitri dismissed her apology and continued, “I must plead with you, Sadie, not to share this with anyone. It would mean the end of my business before it has begun. And I would have to leave.”

“Oh, Dmitri. I should have put a little more faith in you. Your secret is safe with me,” she promised. “Besides, knowing all this, I’d be afraid of what you’d do to me if I blabbed.”

For a minute, he was startled. And then he saw the teasing glint in her eyes and smiled.

“You say you did not like me when I first came,” he softly remarked. “But you were the first person here to show an interest in me beyond what you initially saw.”

She shrugged. “God can still use us, even in our worst moments, I guess.” She rolled her eyes. “I hope so, anyway. Heaven knows I’ve had some bad ones.”

She chewed at her lip for a moment. “So…what do you think of the dessert menu at Suncatchers?” she asked Dmitri.

He hesitated.

“Seriously,” she prompted. “Tell me the truth.”

He winced a little when he answered. “It’s a bit…unoriginal.”

“Exactly!” she agreed without malice. “Maybe I should just eliminate desserts completely and incorporate a new line of appetizers. Besides, with your place only a few steps away, they could head out of Suncatchers and right over to Just Desserts if they’re craving something sweet. Maybe we could offer discounts or something for people who eat at
both
our establishments.”

Dmitri grinned. “I would like that.”

Sadie affected her best Humphrey Bogart imitation as she said, “You know, Dmitri…I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

Sadie left Dmitri’s house feeling quite pleased with her fellow man and life in general. Her heart swelled as she realized that Dmitri had been a little lonely. Not that she’d ever tell a soul about his past, but now that she knew, she’d really have to find a way to help him start meeting more people. Maybe even get him dating—she knew plenty of girls who’d be up for a chance at that.

Sadie had a feeling of triumph inside her. It was even better than the time she’d pulled her first successful soufflé from the oven and realized it hadn’t fallen. She had never equated this feeling with anything other than personal success.

But now she realized there was a whole other type of personal success she’d never known about. She felt more airy and light than she had in weeks. It made her think of angel food cake—spongy and slightly sticky and faintly sweet.

She felt so buoyant and indestructible that she thought now was the time to swing by Jasper’s and have the long-overdue talk with him she knew she’d been avoiding.

The truth was, she didn’t know what to expect from Jasper. He’d been right on so many counts that she was more than a little ashamed to admit just how
wrong
she’d been. But the points that hurt the most were the ones he’d made about her selfishness. She
had
been abominably selfish, continually taking from their friendship without putting anything back into it. It was only inevitable that this tendency would grow worse once they moved from friends into a relationship. But she had recognized the error of her ways as well as realized that there was little she could do to make up for the imbalance she had created over the years. The best she could do was apologize and hope Jasper understood if he wanted to be friends again that she would try to live up to a different standard from here on out.

She had learned her lesson, but she didn’t know if Jasper would even care. After all, he had a whole other life to tempt him now. But even if he chose that life over this one, she had to let him know he’d been wrong about one thing.

She
did
care about him. Their friendship and relationship
wasn’t
just about her needing something from him. She loved Jasper. She’d loved him for a very long time. If she hadn’t met Ned, who knew how things would have gone?

She didn’t regret that, and she wouldn’t change a thing about her courtship and marriage to Ned. He’d given her Kylie—he’d given her himself, totally and unconditionally. And she had loved him for it. But Ned had been a high, an exhilarating, breathtaking fireworks display of beauty and light.

Jasper was something different. Steadier. The anchor that had always kept her grounded and sane. Ned made her happy; Jasper made her feel safe
and
happy.

She loved him enough to not want to hold him back. But she was still just selfish enough to tell him how much she needed him, wanted him, back in her life.

She held a thousand of these thoughts close to her heart as she walked the distance from Dmitri’s house to Jasper’s. She had a million things to tell him, and she couldn’t think how she was going to begin. But just the thought of seeing him again sent darting thrills through her. She’d missed him like a drowning man craves air.

She would tell him that, she decided. She would tell him he was like air and water to her—she couldn’t live without him. She never could.

With this thought, she found herself under the faint glow of his porch light. Drawing a deep breath and mumbling an incoherent prayer, she rang the doorbell and waited.

Air and water, air and water
, she kept reminding herself.

“Jasper,” she tentatively tested the sound of her voice in the stillness, “I love you.” She cleared her throat and tried again. “I love you, Jasper. Please don’t move to Colorado.”

She swallowed. It sounded good.

And then there was the sound of shuffling feet and the doorknob rattling as it turned. She braced herself and ran a brief hand over the mess that was her hair, wishing she’d asked Dmitri for a comb.

The door slid open, and she hoped she looked properly humbled. But the effect was rather wasted, as Mac stood before her in the light of the porch lamp.

“Oh,” tumbled out of her before she could catch it.

Mac was on her “talk-to” list as well, but she had momentarily forgotten about his moving into Jasper’s house. She had planned to catch up with him tomorrow, maybe even invite him over for dinner so he could see Mama Belva again, as well.

“Hi, Dad.”

Mac seemed stunned as much by this greeting as by her disheveled appearance. To be honest, she was rather surprised herself. She hadn’t really planned to call him that. It had just sort of popped out.

“Hey there, Sadie girl,” he greeted once he recovered.

She cleared her throat again. “I was planning to call you tomorrow to see if you wanted to have dinner with us—Kylie, Belva, and me.”

Mac smiled at this. “I’d sure like that, Sadie girl.”

Belva was right. This was getting easier by the minute.

“I know there’s a lot we need to talk about, Dad”—there it slipped out again, though she didn’t actually mind this time—“but I came to see Jasper. Is he around?”

As she waited for an invitation to come inside or hold on while Jasper was told he had a visitor, she watched Mac’s smile dissolve by centimeters. He finally ended up sadly shaking his head, and Sadie felt her heart drop to her feet and land with a sickening flop.

“Oh, Sadie girl.” He shook his head, and Sadie fought a wave of panic. “Why don’t you come inside?”

She decided if she pretended everything was fine, then it would be. “That’s all right; I’ll just wait here for him,” she perkily declared.