Sweet Misfortune: A Novel (25 page)

Chapter 36

You have overcome everything in your life,
except for your own shortcomings.

S
ETTING JACOB’S LETTER DOWN ON HER NIGHTSTAND
, Sophie wiped her tears on her sleeve, and then immediately called Ellen.

“You’re not going to believe the day I’ve had,” she said as soon as her foster mom answered.

“It’s late, but try me.”

For the next thirty minutes Sophie shared in great detail the ongoing saga of her and Garrett, starting with him showing up unexpectedly at Chocolat’ de Soph, followed by the accident, and his admission that he knew who she was before their first date. Then she explained his claim of responsibility for the accident that killed their parents, and ended with a verbatim reading of Jacob Barnes’s letter.

“Good Lord,” Ellen said slowly when Sophie was done. “If you don’t see something more at work here than dumb luck or happenstance, then you’re as blind as a bat, and I feel sorry for you.”

“Ellen—”

“Don’t ‘Ellen’ me. I’ve been saying right from the beginning that something good would come out of that accident. Mr. Barnes saw the good of it in his life, and I hope you recognize it, too.” She paused to let Sophie speak, but there was only silence on the phone. “You were meant to be with Garrett, Sweets,” Ellen continued. “It’s been twenty years in the making, but now’s the time. So what I want to know is, are you going to keep sitting there moping about the past, or are you going to do something about the future? Remember—God’s steering the boat to shore, you just need to paddle.”

“It’s not that easy, El—”

“What’s not?” she shot back.

“He has a girlfriend. Jane.”

Ellen laughed. “Is he married to her?”

“No.”

“Are they engaged?”

“I don’t think so.”

Ellen’s voice dropped. “Do they share a history that started two decades ago?”

“Probably not,” said Sophie tenuously.

Chuckling again, Ellen said, “Then I have just one more question.
Do you still love him?
In the end, that’s all that really matters.”

Sophie waited before responding. “Do I have to answer that right now?”

“You don’t have to answer it at all. Not to me, anyway.”

Sophie exhaled loudly into the receiver. “Thanks for listening, Ellen. And for your advice. I’ll think about what you said.”

“So do you think you know what you’re going to do?”

While Ellen was speaking, a text message popped up on Sophie’s phone. It was Garrett. A gust of hope filled her lungs, and a grin spread across her face. “Ellen,” she said, “I gotta go.”

“Why? You got somewhere else to be at this hour?”

“No, but I’m going to try putting my paddle in the water, and see what happens.”

“That’s my girl! Love you, Sweets. Let me know how it goes.”

“Good night, Ellen.”

S
OPHIE PRESSED A
button to open Garrett’s message. It said,
FYI: I stopped by your store on way home, let Randy know you’re okay.

Typing with both thumbs, Sophie wrote back.
Thanks. Very thoughtful.

He said a bunch more letters arrived today. I took a peek.

And???

100 letters, all from the same sender. 

Shut up. Serious??

Yep. All of them are from your guy, Alex.

What??

Yep. Don’t worry, I only read a handful. He’s very optimistic. U R lucky.

At first Sophie wasn’t sure how she should respond, mostly because she didn’t want to continue letting him think that Alex was anything more than a friend. To a large degree, her failure to be completely honest with Garrett—and he with her—had been the thing that had torpedoed their relationship in the first place, and she knew that if she had even the slightest chance of ever winning him back, she had to be truthful with him. It was that line of reasoning that suddenly prompted an idea.

Can I call U?
she typed.

She didn’t have to. Five seconds later, her phone rang. “What’s up,” Garrett asked. “Thumbs out of practice?”

“No,” said Sophie, more reserved than normal. “I just wanted to say this to you in person.”

“Uh-oh.”

“No, it’s not bad.”

“Then why do you sound so gloomy? What’s going on?”

She took a deep breath. “Okay. Don’t freak out, but… I’m getting married.”

There was a prolonged silence.

“Garrett?”

“Wow… Soph. I mean…
wow
. Don’t you think maybe you’re rushing things?”

“Nope. Not this time.”

“Well… are you sure you love him?”

“More than I ever thought I could love anyone.”

“Ouch. That stings a little,” Garrett mumbled. “Well, I guess you know what you’re doing then. So… congratulations… or something like that.”

“Thank you,” she whispered. “Hey, I know I’ve been kind of a pain about all of the want ad responses; I want to apologize. And I know me getting married puts a bit of a damper on our deal, but I’d still like to read what all of this mail says. It’s starting to pile up again. Do you think you could come by the store sometime and help me finish going through it?”

“Of course. Just tell me when.”

“How about tomorrow night?”

“I think that’ll work. What time?”

“Is eight thirty too late? I’m covering for Randy tomorrow, so I won’t really be free until then.”

“That’ll be fine, Soph,” Garrett said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Great,” she replied. “Good night, Garrett.”

Biting her lip nervously, Sophie hung up the phone. “Well, this should be interesting,” she stated out loud to herself. “I guess I’d better get baking.”

Chapter 37

Between the sun and the rain, there are rainbows.
That’s where you’ll find the pot of gold.

I
T WAS RAINING OUTSIDE THE NEXT DAY WHEN SOPHIE
walked out to the bus stop, but she didn’t care. In fact, unlike previous rainy days, she welcomed the moisture as a way to wash away the past and start anew. As she paced along the street without an umbrella, the water pelting her face made her feel strangely alive. She smiled and strode confidently onward.

The bus driver was surprised to see Sophie step onto the bus with dripping hair and a bright smile. “Oh, snap,” the woman grumbled, eyeing Sophie from head to toe. “Hell must’a froze over when I wasn’t lookin’. What’s gotten into you, girl? Don’t you know it’s droppin’ cats and dogs out there?”

Sophie smiled even bigger as she paid the fare. “Without a storm now and then, how would we ever appreciate sunny skies?” She didn’t wait for an answer, but just walked to the rear of the bus and took a seat.

Chocolat’ de Soph was always busy in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, but this day was especially hectic. In addition to a large, last-minute order of pumpkin truffles for a corporate party, Sophie was scrambling to complete something special for Garrett before he showed up later that night. To make her schedule even tighter, she lost an hour in the afternoon because she had to temporarily close the store to accommodate a trip to the auto repair shop where her car had been towed.

After the evening rush, Sophie focused every spare second on her newest creation, wanting it to be just right when Garrett arrived. It took multiple rounds of failures before she got the cookies just the way she wanted them, but she was pleased to have them done to her satisfaction by the time she turned on the Closed sign in the front window at eight o’clock.

For the next half hour Sophie cleaned furiously. She started with the display case and serving area out front, then moved quickly to the kitchen, and in the final minutes before eight thirty she wiped a few flecks of chocolate and flour from her own face, then tussled her hair lightly.

A series of loud knocks on the front door echoed through the store right at half past the hour.

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, Sophie glided around the wall that divided the front of the store from the kitchen and waved at the face peering back at her through the window.

“Hey, Sophie,” Garrett said as she opened the door for him. A cold wind blew in from the street as he entered. Under one arm he held a small box.

“Hi.”

“Did you make out all right tonight without Randy? That’s a long day.”

“I managed,” she said.

Garrett looked at her like he wanted to say something, then his face changed. “Well, shall we get started on the mail? I probably shouldn’t stay too long… you know, Jane might start to think something’s up.”

“Understood,” said Sophie, wanting to cringe, but maintaining her composure. “But before we start, can you spare a minute for something else? I have a new creation I’d like you to try. An unbiased opinion would be helpful before I put them out to sell.”

“Sure,” he told her with a dimpled half smile. “I’d love to.”

Sophie led the way to the back of the store, past two large copper vats, to a small counter on the opposite side of the kitchen from the new bins of mail. Sitting on the counter was a plate with two chocolate-dipped treats that looked suspiciously like Misfortune Cookies, with the exception that instead of only having dark chocolate exteriors, they also had thick stripes of white that curved all around in an ornate zebra pattern.

Garrett frowned when he saw them. “Misfortune Cookies? Umm, no thanks. Fool me once, shame on you. But not twice. I’ve still got the aftertaste from the one you gave me in September.”

Sophie tilted her head and grinned. “Oh ye of little faith. Trust me. I promise, these will be better than the last ones.”

“They can’t be worse. They are Misfortune Cookies, right?”

“Well, yeah. But the recipe is very different. Seriously, Garrett, trust me.” Biting her lip, she picked up the cookie that was closest to the front of the plate. “First, try this one.”

Skeptically, Garrett took the striped cookie from her hand and sniffed it. “You seem awfully eager for me to put this in my mouth, and that has me worried.”

“Chicken,” she said, egging him on. “Just eat it.”

“Fine. But if this is a trick…” He lifted it again and hesitantly bit into the chocolate shell, allowing a chunk to sit on his tongue long enough for his taste buds to make a decision. Then he closed his mouth and chewed. He smiled just before he swallowed. “Wow, Soph! That was… I don’t even know how to describe it. Uniquely delicious. I can still taste the bitter chocolate from before, but mixed with the sweet it’s a completely different experience.”

She curtsied playfully. “Thank you, kind sir. I’m glad you approve.”

“So why the change?”

“It just felt right,” she said matter-of-factly. “I think my perspective has changed a lot in the last couple of months. Yes, life can have many bitter moments. But those are tempered here and there by sweet bursts of happiness, which make the whole experience more palatable.”

“I’m impressed. Have the fortunes changed as well?”

“Sort of. They still have Misfortunes in them, but now each cookie has two slips of paper—one positive, and the other, well, the same as the one you got last time. I guess you could say you get the good with the bad. Read yours,” she told him, grinning.

Garrett carefully pulled two slips of paper from the cookie, and read the top one aloud. “
You have a knack for hurting those you love. Be grateful they still love you
. Ouch. Thanks for the reminder. I take it that’s the bad one?”

Sophie nodded as Garrett pulled the second paper closer to read. He noticed that the second fortune was typed, not handwritten, and was printed on paper that felt old and wrinkled. Some of the ink was even smudged. “
Happiness is a gift that shines within you. The wish of your heart will soon come true.
Sophie, is this the fortune you told me about that came with the want ad responses?”

She took a deep breath and nodded. “It’s also the fortune I got the night my family died. I just thought… your dad died that night too, and you might like to share in my good fortune.”

He nodded appreciatively. “Thank you.”

“Now try the second cookie,” she said, taking another deep breath to quell her nerves.

“Is it different?” he asked, questioningly. “I thought that one was yours.”

“Umm, no. It’s definitely… different.”

“Ah. Is this the one that’ll have me spitting in the bathroom for the next ten minutes?”

“No, nothing like that. In fact, you may not even taste a difference. But I still need to know what you think of it.”

Shrugging, Garrett set down the remnants of the first cookie and picked up the other one, then he took a bite and smiled as before. “Tastes the same.”

Sophie tried to force a smile, but the knots in her stomach were making it difficult. All she said was, “Hmm.”

Cracking off another piece of the black-and-white cookie, Garrett lifted it closer to his face and studied it briefly. “There aren’t any fortunes in this one,” he said.

“Oh? That’s… odd.”

As he tore off another chunk, the cookie broke completely in half, and something shiny and metallic fell out onto his palm. “What in the world is this?”

Sophie held onto the counter to steady herself. Her moment had arrived.
Paddle for shore, or sink trying
, she told herself. Taking a final, extended breath, she said, “That, Garrett Black, is an O.”

“I see that,” he chuckled. “It looks like something from a car.”

Grinning awkwardly, she said, “It is. But more specifically, it’s the O from the rear logo on my Explorer. You know, the one I killed yesterday. I had the guy at the auto body shop pop it off for me today.”

“But why would you do that? And why is it in this cookie?”

Paddle faster!
“Because… really, it belongs to you.”

“The O?”

“The
car
.”

“Huh?”

Breathe. Just breathe.
“Did I ever tell you how I paid for that thing?”

“Uh… no.”

She forced a chuckle. “It’s actually a funny story. Well, maybe not exactly funny. See, when I was absolutely sure that we were through, I took the engagement ring you gave me down to a local thrift store and turned it into cash.”

Garrett swallowed. “You hawked the ring at a pawnshop to buy a car?”

“Uh-huh.”

With a look of stupor, he glanced down once more at his open palm, and then back up at Sophie. “So why the O?”

Sophie willed herself to keep looking him in the eyes. “Well,” she started, her hands trembling, “no matter what happens, when the insurance check comes, I want you to know that I’m handing it all over to you. It’s your money.”

“You don’t have to do th—”

“Let me finish,” she interrupted. “It’s your money, and I’m giving it back, like it or not. But I chose the O… ” Her voice trailed off as she reached out to take the chrome letter from his hand. “I chose the O,” she said again, much quieter, “because out of that entire car—which used to be a beautiful ring—it was the only shiny part I could find that I could squeeze into a cookie and still, well… ” As her voice trailed off, Sophie stuck her pinky through the center of the O, and then carefully slid it all the way to the base of her hand. “It’s too small for my ring finger, but close enough.”

Garrett’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “Sophie, what are you—”

“I’m not done! Hear me out, Garrett. I’ve lived a long time with regrets, but I’m done with that. So even if I don’t get what I want, if I don’t say everything I want to say to you right now, I know I’ll regret it later.”

“Sophie, just let me—”

“Nope! Not done yet. The first cookie that you opened tonight had two fortunes. The first one may be a little cryptic, but what I meant for it to mean is that even though you hurt me, I understand why you did what you did, and… I still love you. And I don’t care that you’ve met this…
Jane
. I know she can’t love you as much as I love you. And the second message is really for me more than it is for you. My father promised me when I was a girl that I’d get the wish of my heart. That same night Ellen promised me the same thing.” She gulped for air. “Garrett, there’s no way I could have ever known that while I sat there crying along the side of the road, that the ultimate wish of my heart—
and the greatest fortune of my life
—was sitting at home wishing he could get through on a radio just thirty yards away from me.
You
are the wish of my heart, Garrett Black. My happiest moments are when I’m with you, and I’d love nothing more than to take the good with the bad,
with you
, for the rest of my life.”

Garrett’s eyes were still bulging. He let a moment or two pass, listening to the sound of Sophie’s rapid breathing. “Are you done?” he asked finally.

She nodded reluctantly, unable to read the expression on his face.

“Good.” In one swift motion he leaned into her, wrapped his arms around her back, and kissed her. It felt just like the first time they’d kissed in the very same spot.

“What about Jane?” Sophie asked, blushing, when she came up for air.

Garrett leaned back and laughed. “Jane’s her middle name. Olivia Jane Black DeMattio.”

Sophie gasped. “Your mother?”

He chuckled again. “All I said that night was that I was on the phone with a woman. I didn’t say with whom. If you thought I meant a pretty young woman, then good! I was jealous, and I wanted you to be too.” As he said that, his smile dimmed slightly, and his brow furrowed into a knot. “What about Alex and the wedding.”

Standing on her tiptoes, Sophie kissed him again. “I said I was getting married. I didn’t say to whom. If you thought I meant Alex, then good! That was part of my little plan.” She winked. “I guess it worked.”

“Wait a minute. So is there even a guy named Alex? Who sent all those letters yesterday?”

She giggled. “Yes, Alex is very real, and the fact that he sent those letters is so sweet. Alex Barnes is very special to me. And hands down the happiest guy I’ve ever met. He just has this innate ability to make me smile and laugh, and to remind me of all the things in life that there are to be happy about.”

“But you’re not in love?”

“Oh, I do love him. He’s incredibly lovable. But it was never what you thought.” Sophie unwrapped herself from Garrett’s embrace and went to her purse on the opposite counter, then searched its contents for the letter from Jacob Barnes. “Here, you need to read this. It’s from Alex’s father. Not only will it tell you what makes Alex so special, but it also clears up a few of our past, umm,
misconceptions
about the accident that killed our parents.”

“Huh?”

“Just read,” she said as she handed it to him, and then gave him another little kiss.

Garrett grimaced. “Not yet.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of notebook paper. Every line was filled on both sides. “I wasn’t planning on giving this to you until later. But you can read it now. It’s my own list of happiness. I figured since your dreamboat, Alex, was able to come up with one hundred different things that make him happy, then I could too. You’ll notice as you read that every single one of them is about you.”