Sweet Tomorrows (13 page)

I've had a change of heart when it comes to Nick Schwartz. He went from being a zero to a hero in a single heartbeat when he delivered Emily back to the inn.

Just when I was about to panic, wondering what had happened to my summer boarder, I heard from Nick. Emily was with him at urgent care; she'd fallen and twisted her ankle. Nick had found her, gotten her dry and warm, and then taken her to a local walk-in clinic, although from what he said, she wasn't walking.

An hour after he called to give me the news, Nick delivered Emily to the inn. She arrived with a pair of crutches and a bandaged ankle. Instead of letting her struggle up the porch steps, Nick lifted her into his arms and carted her up the stairs as if she were the lightest of loads. With tenderness and care, he set her on the sofa and scooted the ottoman over to elevate her bandaged foot.

When he stepped back, I saw the way he studied her as if she were a priceless work of art. I'd seen that look in a man's eyes before. Twice. With my husband, Paul, and again in Mark just before he left me.

I knew what it meant. The intensity of it helped explain Nick's hot-and-cold behavior toward Emily. He didn't want to care but he did and the strength of his feelings, the strength of his need, was alien to him. He seemed uncomfortable with these emotions but felt powerless to do anything about it.

He spoke before I realized he was talking to me. “Sorry,” I said. “What was that?”

He narrowed his eyes as though worried I wouldn't take proper care of her. “Emily needs to stay off that foot for the next few days,” he said. “Is that going to be a problem? I know her room is on the third floor.”

“Nick…”

He ignored Emily, turning to face me and presenting her with his back.

I hid a smile. “No problem, she can take a room on the bottom level for the time being.”

“Good. I'll check on her later.”

I had a strong feeling he'd be checking on me, too, to make sure Emily had whatever she needed.

Nick left before I could ask any other questions, so I looked to Emily to supply the answers.

“What in the world happened?”

“I twisted my ankle.”

“Well, duh, I can see that. I meant what happened between you and Nick?”

“What do you mean?” Emily asked, playing dumb.

“Come on, girl. Where's the disgruntled, surly man you've been telling me about?” Emily couldn't possibly be blind to the look he'd given her. It was as if she was an ice-cream cone on the hottest day of summer.

Her eyes widened and her face blossomed with color. “I…I don't know what you're talking about.”

So that was the way it was going to be. I arched my brows so she'd know I wasn't fooled.

“He found me…and I was in pretty bad shape stuck in the rain, chilled to the bone…and he took care of me and everything.”

“It's the
and everything
I want to know about.”

Emily pressed her hands on her cheeks. “I'd rather not talk about that, if you don't mind.”

I couldn't hold back my amusement. “All right, all right, I won't bug you with questions. I can't help but be curious.”

Emily closed her eyes and relaxed against the back of the sofa with her bandaged ankle extended.

“Are you in much pain?”

“Not now. The doctor prescribed pain meds, which Nick insisted on picking up for me after we left the clinic. I'm sorry for being such a hassle.”

“You're no hassle.”

“I mean, having to take the room on the bottom floor.”

“No worries. I only have one set of guests coming this week and I'll put them on the second floor.”

“I appreciate it,” she said, yawning.

Seeing that the events of the morning had worn her out, I collected an afghan and tucked it around her and lit a small fire in the fireplace. The high temperature for the day was only going to get to the mid-sixties, but we needed the rain and the break from the heat was welcome.

When I checked on Emily a few minutes later, I saw that she was sound asleep. No doubt the pain meds had something to do with that. She slipped sideways and I lifted her leg and placed it on the sofa and covered her with the blanket.

About an hour later Nick returned. He had Emily's running clothes, freshly laundered and folded. I met him at the door and invited him inside.

He looked toward the living room, where Emily remained asleep. “How's she doing?” he asked, his gaze warming when it landed on her.

“She's been asleep almost from the moment you brought her back.”

He looked away. “I don't mind telling you she was in bad shape when I found her. Hypothermia had set in. Do you have any idea how long she was out there?”

“None, sorry, I didn't hear her leave.”

He nodded, accepting my answer. I noticed how his eyes wandered back to her with that same intense tenderness.

“Would you like to come inside for coffee?” I hoped he would accept, because I was full of questions. If Emily wouldn't answer me, then perhaps Nick would.

“Another time,” he said. “I should get back to the house. I'll check on the patient later.”

He was out the door when I stopped him. “Nick?”

“Yeah?”

I had one arm on the frame. “I'm glad you were there.”

He cracked a smile and nodded. “Yeah, me, too.”

Seeing that the sky was gray and the day gloomy, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to do some baking. I had a new recipe for cranberry scones that I wanted to try and another for an egg casserole. Both were out of the oven before I noticed Emily was awake.

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” I teased.

She stretched her arms above her head. “How long was I out?”

“A couple hours at least.”

“That long? Oh dear. I was supposed to meet Dana later this afternoon. She had a few listings she wanted to show me.”

“No worries. Dana called to verify the appointment and I explained you wouldn't be able to meet her.”

“Thanks. I'll reschedule later.”

“How about a cup of tea and a fresh scone?” I asked.

She sighed and awkwardly transferred her leg from the sofa to the ottoman. “That sounds divine.”

While I was in the kitchen, she grabbed hold of the crutches and uneasily made her way into the bathroom, pausing when she saw her running clothes in a neatly folded pile just off the foyer. It was almost as if she'd forgotten she had on one of Nick's T-shirts and his sweatpants, which were huge on her.

“Nick was here?”

“He stopped by earlier. You were sleeping and he said he'd check on you later.”

“Oh.” She looked away as if afraid I'd read more than warranted into her response.

I wasn't sure how to interpret that small sound, whether she was happy Nick was coming by or if she dreaded seeing him again. I tended to think she wasn't sure herself.

Once the tea was brewed and Emily was comfortable on the sofa once more, I carried in a tray with the pot and two of the scones, still warm from the oven. I poured and handed her the cup.

She stared down into the hot liquid as if reading her future in the tea leaves and then said, “Do you remember when I first arrived how you mentioned that the inn was a special place?” She didn't wait for me to answer. “Can you tell me what you meant by that?”

“Sure.” I explained how Paul had come to me that night and what he'd told me.

Emily listened intently, but she didn't seem to fully understand.

I settled back in my chair, Rover at my feet, and crossed my legs. “As you can imagine, I was skeptical about this dream myself. I mean, think about it. I wasn't sure if in my grief I had conjured up Paul—and you need to remember that at the time I was half asleep. It was only natural to wonder if the entire episode had been a figment of my imagination.” I didn't know how best to explain what the death of a loved one does to a person. It was as though with that one person gone, the entire world is suddenly empty.

“I'd have questions, too,” Emily agreed.

“Then my first two guests arrived. Josh Weaver was a construction project manager who'd been raised in Cedar Cove. He booked a room at the inn when he'd gotten word that his stepfather was dying. From what I learned, there was no love lost between the two men. Josh's mother died when he was in his teens and Richard had made Josh's life miserable in a multitude of ways.

“Unfortunately, Josh was Richard's only family. His stepfather's only son had died and Richard deeply resented the fact that it was his natural son who was gone and not Josh. I never got the full story of what happened between the two men, but from what I could read between the lines there was plenty of bitterness and resentment.”

Emily frowned and shook her head. “I don't understand what you're telling me. Are you saying that his stepdad got better? Is that the healing you're explaining?”

“No, as a matter of fact Richard died, but before he passed, Josh and his stepfather made peace. Josh was with the older man when he died, and there was real forgiveness and love between them, something that seemed impossible only a few days earlier.”

Emily eyes brightened with unshed tears. “They made peace with each other. That's an amazing story.” From her look I could tell that what had happened between Josh and his stepfather had touched her heart.

“Healing comes in different forms,” I explained, feeling inadequate. From the first moment Emily had arrived I sensed that she, too, had come with a burdened heart. She'd chosen not to disclose it to me and I respected her privacy. In sharing the story of Josh and Richard I hoped that she'd find whatever she needed to find a path to healing.

“That's just one incident, though,” Emily said, as if uncertainty had already started to filter in.

“I can't say I blame you for having questions,” I said, countering her skepticism. “It seemed pretty convenient that my very first guest would have this amazing story of forgiveness. You can talk to him about it if you want. He's married now, to a girl who once lived next door, and they live right here in Cedar Cove. The thing is that very same weekend I had another guest. Abby came into town for the first time in ten years for her brother's wedding. I discovered that the first winter after high school Abby was in a terrible car accident with her best friend, who was killed. Angela's parents blamed her for their daughter's death and worse, Abby blamed herself, although no one was at fault.”

“What happened?”

“Abby went to visit the parents. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult that must have been. Fortunately, they were ready to look beyond their pain and give her the forgiveness she needed.”

“Thank goodness, that poor girl.”

“It was like Abby was a different person following the visit to her friend's parents. She'd been set free.”

Emily went still and quiet. “She'd been healed.”

“Exactly. After my first two guests both experienced life-changing weekends, my skepticism vanished, and since that time I've trusted that there's a special healing quality that comes from this inn. I can't explain it; I don't even try.”

“You've had dozens of guests since you took over the inn.”

I nodded in agreement.

“Does every single one of them receive some form of healing?”

“I don't know. Most of the pain my guests carry they keep to themselves. I'm a stranger and they would be uncomfortable unburdening their troubles onto someone they barely know. The stories I'm aware of are ones I've learned by accident, but I will tell you this. They are powerful. I no longer question that dream.” I paused, letting Emily reach her own conclusion. It was difficult to hold back from telling her of other healings, some that I felt were almost miraculous. Perhaps it was wrong of me to take a certain pride in this inn and what happens here, especially since I had very little to do with events that had helped change lives.