She's the One (Lowcountry Lovers Series Book 2) (14 page)

Another call came through and Pearl answered, her tone borderline rude. “Shane Carver on two. Oops. I just disconnected him.
Again
.”

Since that day at Shane’s and soon-to-be Cassie’s house, Pearl had been a godsend. While she had been Team Shane all the way before, it was apparent the only team she was on now was Melissa’s. Pearl didn’t let Shane anywhere near her, and Melissa had done a good job of avoiding him. Not that he didn’t come by her house, but she didn’t let him in. Wouldn’t let him in, but she had. A little bit—okay a lot. Big mistake. Lines one was still blinking.

“Jack. What a surprise. Are you interested in looking at property?”

“I’m not interested in real estate. Set me up.”

“Oh, okay. Why don’t we meet for coffee on Thursday? I can get to know you better so that I can get a good sense of who to match you up with.”

“You know who I want to be set up with.”
Yeah, I do, but you’re going to say it, buster, loud and clear.
More silence.
Wait for it. Wait for it.
“Savannah, damn it. She has all these guys parading in and out of her place, and she won’t even talk to me. It’s making me crazy.” Chalk one up for The Parent Trap.

“Jack, it’s taken three years for Savannah to even think about getting over you. If this is this is just a competitive thing—”

“Hell, yeah, it is.”

“Wrong answer.”

“Or it was at first, but it’s not now. I love her, Melissa. I never stopped loving her.” He paused, probably for Melissa to applaud or let out a great big ‘aww’.

But she wasn’t giving him that. He needed to say the right things.
Do
the right things, and if he really was over himself and whatever drove him away from her, he would.

“God, you don’t make this easy, do you?”

“You had it easy and look where that got you.”

“There was nothing easy about Savannah. She’d stopped being the party girl just before she met me, but she’d made the tabloids a lot of money and the paparazzi wouldn’t leave her alone. I thought things would be better after we got married, but they got worse.

“You can’t imagine what it’s like living under a microscope like that, having guys with cameras jump out of bathroom stalls or airplanes, all for a stupid picture. We were fighting a lot then, and were in the middle of a fight the night they came out of nowhere. They rammed our car and I lost control. Nobody got hurt, but it wasn’t the first time it had happened, and I knew it wouldn’t be the last. Even though we had a security detail, Savannah was terrified, and she had every right to be. The paparazzi were crazy and ruthless. I was afraid for her, too. I didn’t know what to do, so I took myself out of the equation. Went as far away as I could to keep her safe.

“So why didn’t you contact her after things died down.”

“I thought she was better off without me. Besides, it wouldn’t have mattered, in the village where I worked, there was no phone, no Internet. I made it to Kananga a couple times a year for supplies. Used one of those computer cafes and searched the web, but there wasn’t much about her. The press called her a recluse; that was good. Problem solved. Right?

“I was so grateful and relieved they’d left her alone. Other than her charity work, there was no mention of her at all. I love her, I missed the hell out of her, but she was safe. That was what mattered most.

“Then, I took the job here in Charleston, and there she was. But she was as afraid of me as she was those crazy paparazzi bastards. I understood; they’d hurt her.
I’d hurt her
,” he paused. “Look, I know I told you I’d moved on, but that was a lie. I still love her. I want her back.”

M
elissa unpacked a paper grocery bag of items, all from the stash she’d inherited from Auntie Jo. Among the objects, Lodestone, magnetic sand, marsh mellow root, Adam and Eve root, and love drawing herbs.

Savannah watched with curiosity. “So, you really think I need this?” Savannah asked.

“If my great Auntie Jo was still living, she would have cut right to the chase and made you wear this conjure bag to wear around your neck. But I like for things to happen naturally, without potions or charms. Since you say you’re ready for love, and you haven’t had any luck so far, this little pouch is your best bet.”

Melissa dangled a small red flannel bag in front of Savannah, who picked up a piece of marshmallow root, sniffed it, and wrinkled her nose. “No guy in his right mind would get within ten feet of me if I smelled like this.”

Melissa dropped a small piece of the root into the pouch. “That’s why you add orange blossom oil, then lavender.” She also added a couple spoonfuls of magnetic sand, a shiny gold lodestone and a few more love-drawing herbs. “Now, just a bit of Solomon’s root. It seals off the past, and makes the healing complete. It will be as if your heart was never broken.” She pulled the drawstrings taught and handed the pouch to Savannah.

“That’s it? It will be like Jack and I never happened.”

“If the charm works, yes, you’ll feel that way.”

“Oh.”

“I hope I have this right. I haven’t done one of these in a while.” Since she was eighteen watching Auntie Jo. “One more thing, maybe the most important thing, your wish paper.” She handed Savannah a pencil and a small piece of paper, white and unlined, rolled into a scroll.

“So I write a person’s name on the wish paper?”

“You can write qualities you want in your match, or yes, you can write someone’s name. Then you put it in the pouch and let the conjure bag do the work.”

Savannah nodded, but didn’t write anything. “And then it just happens?”

“Something like that. It’s good that you’ve been dating, opening yourself up to new possibilities. That will probably make the charm work faster.” Still not writing. “Is something wrong Savannah?”

Savannah’s eyed her fingers traveling over the fuzzy red flannel pouch that was, in all honesty, probably not a charm. While Melissa believed wholeheartedly in her matchmaking instincts, she had always been skeptical about Auntie Jo’s and Gramma’s hoo-doo.

A tear slid down her cheek. “I’ve tried on a lot of shoes, Melissa, but none of them fit. I could probably date every man in Charleston and then work my way up the coast to Boston, but it wouldn’t matter. None of them are Jack.”

“If you want him, Savannah, you don’t need a charm or a love potion. Just tell him.”

“I love him, more than anything, but I’m afraid.”

“So, you’re going to let your fear of having your heart broken keep you from the one thing you want most in this world?” Maybe Melissa needed a little of that Solomon’s root for herself.

U
ntil Savannah and Jack, Melissa had never brought two people together who were once a couple. Now, whether Shane liked it or not, she could add him and Cassie to that list. Maybe, with Melissa out of the picture, Shane would come around the way Jack had.

Since Shane and Cassie’s nuclear kiss, Melissa had been tempted to answer Shane’s texts and phone calls, open her door to him, but she’d tried to go against her gift and look where that had gotten her. Thankfully, he had backed off, and she had six weeks to work on steeling herself so that she could sit across a closing table from him and Cassie. And if she couldn’t bring herself to be there, Pearl had been working on getting her real estate license. Maybe she’d have it by then and could sit in for Melissa. She was sure Cassie wouldn’t mind, but she would definitely feel a little bit sorry for Shane having to sit through a closing with Pearl giving him the stink eye.

For now, Melissa and Pearl were peeking out the blinds of the lobby at Savannah and Jack who were lip-locked in the parking lot of the strip center. They’d come into Island Bliss to make last minute changes on the slew of vacation rentals they’d made for friends and relatives who would be coming to town for their wedding next month and they couldn’t keep their hands off of each other.

“Well, looks like you’ve done it again,” Pearl chuckled.

“They made me work awful hard, but yes.” Savannah and Jack were quite a milestone for Melissa, fifty couples. But ultimately, it hadn’t come down to charms or spells, or anything more than two people surrendering to their destiny.

The happy couple was still in the throes of their celebratory kiss. Some kiss. They had decided to stay on Isle of Palms so Jack could continue to work at MUSC Hospital. For now, they were in Savannah’s rental in Mermaid Cove, but they would soon break ground on a beautiful beachfront home on north end of the island.

“I’ll bet there was some hoo-doo or something involved to get Jack Johns to put a ring on it, especially after all the crazy he went through the last time he and Savannah were married. And, good Lord, what a ring it is.”

“Same ring. Savannah wanted it that way; it’s her something old.”

Mitzi, who didn’t plan weddings like she did when she first went into the business, made an exception after she met Savannah and had moved heaven and earth to plan a smallish ceremony on the beach Saturday.

“I guess the house Shane’s building them is her something new,” Pearl snapped. “And you know they’re gonna invite him to the wedding. Makes me wish with all those little cards they send with the invite, there was one to let you
un-invite
the guest of your choice. I know who I’d pick.”

“They should invite him, Pearl. Savannah and Jack like Shane, he’s building their forever house.” Savannah had shown Melissa the plans. For someone of hers and Jack’s means, it was modest, but it was going to be beautiful.

“And I hear you’re going to be a bridesmaid. Again.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being a bridesmaid. It’s an honor. And give it a rest with Shane, Pearl, he’s a good guy.” A really good guy who Melissa missed.

She missed the way he looked at her, like she was the only thing that mattered. She missed his kiss, the crazy current that always passed between them. She missed him always being there for whatever she needed, but it was more than that. She missed him.

O
ut of all the weddings Melissa had ever been to or been in, Savannah’s and Jack’s was the most fun. It was held on the beachfront lot they’d bought, the altar right in the center of where the foundation for their house would be built. Melissa had expected a clash of downhome Iowans and Massachusetts upper crust, but it turned out to be a hundred and fifty of the people who loved Jack and Savannah best. The ceremony had been beautiful and when Jack and Savannah kissed, their auras were blinding. Good to know Melissa’s gift was still in tact, even if she still felt a bit off.

After Jack kissed his bride, the party began. The band’s playlist consisted of a bunch of U2 songs, with the occasional wedding reception standard thrown in. Not the most romantic music in the world but definitely the bride and groom’s favorite. Little kids in church clothes played with sand pails and blew bubbles. Some, much to their parent’s dismay, couldn’t stay away from the ocean. But, hey, it was the beach.

The bass thumped and Melissa smiled, immediately recognizing the song. Savannah and Jack joined the couples headed to the dance floor as the singer crooned the words. “When the night has come and the land is dark and the moon is the only light we’ll see. No, I won’t be afraid. No, I won’t be afraid. Just as long as you stand by me.” And while U2 had sung this song beautifully, it was pure South Carolina beach music.