Across the Creek (5 page)

Rachael took a seat next to Sarah. “Does Kevin know about this?”

Sarah nodded. “But Dad doesn’t.”

“Sarah! You haven’t told your father? This is your guys’ dream.”

“I know. I know. But what was I supposed to do? If I’d told him, then he wouldn’t have agreed to the medical procedures. You know how he is.”

Rachael put an arm around her. “I get it. But don’t you think he’s going to notice when the greenhouse doesn’t get built?”

“I’m down, not out. I’m waiting to hear back from a few banks. They’re looking into this for me.” She took a look at the empty rows of plowed earth, trying to imagine it thriving with trees and shrubs. It had been all that she and her father had talked about ever since she was a little girl. She squeezed the water bottle and bit back tears. “They have to say yes, right? I mean, how could they not?”

Rachael’s grip tightened. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out.”

Sarah drew in a breath and let out a long sigh. “I hope so. Dad’s going to love it.”

“What about you?”

Sarah looked Rachael in the eyes. “Of course I’m going to love it. It’s my dream, too.”

Rachael gave her a studied look. “Hey, as long as you’re happy, I’m happy,” she said, sitting up. “Speaking of happiness, what’s keeping that gorgeous man of yours so busy?”

“What else? Work.”

“It’s Saturday.”

“Saturday, Sunday, Monday, it’s all the same to him.”

Rachael placed a hand on Sarah’s shoulder and grabbed one of the shovels. “Well, at least you have me. So are we still on for the surprise birthday party?”

“Surprise birthday party?”

“You forgot Kevin’s party?”

“No,” she said, feeling a pang of self-loathing for forgetting. “I just have a lot going on right now.”

Rachael shot her a yeah-right look.

“Seriously. Everything is set. Everyone has been notified, the cake’s been ordered. It’s fine.”

“I know you have a lot on your plate right now. The nursery and your father. Just let me know if there is anything that I can do.” Rachael dug into the hard clay and gave the shovel a kick. “Man, this isn’t going to be easy.”

Sarah smiled. Rachael could be a real handful, but she could also be a real jewel. She often complained about being unlucky in love. But Sarah believed it was because she often took a man to bed before she first heard the words ‘I love you.’ And the idea of finding your soul mate in a place called JOEY’S GRUB AND PUB was as likely as running into Santa Claus. Rachael had a lot to offer; she was just too impatient when it came to men. Too much, too soon.

“Nothing worth anything is easy.”

Rachael shrieked and pointed at the ground. “Look at the size of that worm!”

Sarah thought about the size of hole that worm could have dug for her dying lilies. Then she thought about Jesse. Grounded, good head on his shoulders, the type of man Rachael deserved. An idea began to form, like a seed whose roots took hold on the ground, readying itself for something great.

Rachael looked at her watch. “Just a few minutes until noon. You want to grab a bite to eat after we get these next few holes dug?”

Noon already? “Sorry. I have somewhere I have to be. How about a rain check?” Sarah grabbed her jacket and climbed into her father’s car, which she had borrowed when making the lengthy trip out to the plant nursery.

“Are you late for a date or something?”

Sarah pushed the key into the ignition and paused. She turned to Rachael. “Sorry, I’ll have to tell you about it later. But thank you for your help.”

“What are friends for?” Rachael waved her shovel.

Sarah started the car and pulled out of the drive. She checked the time and pressed down on the accelerator, watching as the needle climbed, hoping she’d be there before Jesse was gone. And smiling about the idea of seeing him again.

Jesse

Jesse had been waiting for twenty minutes before Sarah arrived. She stopped just inside the diner, looking for him. He thought about waving to get her attention, but paused to take in the sight of her. Sun shining through the diner’s glass door made her hair look like golden curls cascading down her shoulders. Her form-fitted t-shirt and tight jeans clung to her body. She was simply…beautiful.

She scanned the room. Her eyes lit up when she saw Jesse. He stood and waved her over.

“I’m so sorry I’m late.” She drew in a deep breath. “I was working and lost track of time. Have you been here long?” she asked, glancing at his glass of Coke.

“No. Not long.” He motioned to the chair across from him. “Please have a seat.” He waited for her to sit before reclaiming his place. “I hope this table’s okay with you.”

“This table’s fine,” she said. “I just love this place. Have you ever been here before?”

“No. I’ve driven by it a few times but never actually stopped in. The sign out front says that they serve the best cup of coffee in Chicago.”

Sarah grinned. “That’s a bold claim,” she said. “I actually come here for their iced green tea. It’s my favorite.”

A waitress, whose nametag introduced her as Darlene, dropped a drink napkin on the table in front of Sarah. “What can I get you?” she asked her.

“I’ll take an iced green tea and one of your chocolate chip cookies.”

The waitress wrote it down on her pad and turned to Jesse. “Do you want anything to go with your Coke, hon?” she asked, smiling at him.

“I’ll try one of those cookies, too. They sound delicious.”

The waitress jotted his order down, still smiling at him. “Oh, they’re the best. You haven’t tasted anything until you’ve tasted one of our cookies. I’ll be right back with everything. Let me know if there’s anything else you need.”

“Wow,” Sarah said, watching the waitress sashay back to the server station. “I think she likes you.”

Blood rushed to Jesse’s cheeks. “No. She just seems friendly.”

“I don’t know. She might be one of those girls who can’t resist a man in uniform.”

Jesse looked down at the dark blue polo shirt with Sam’s Pet Shop embroidered on the chest. “I’m sure this has the same sex appeal as a police officer or a firefighter.”

Sarah laughed a melody that went straight to his heart. “I don’t remember you being this funny before.”

“We were twelve; no one’s funny at that age.”

“Gosh, I can’t believe it was that long ago.” Light from the window turned her eyes two shades bluer.

Jesse couldn’t believe it had been that long either. Time had a way of robbing people of their youthfulness, forcing them to grow up. But Sarah hadn’t changed much. She had the same soft smile, eyes that radiated with life, and skin that looked as soft as freshly weaved silk. “Of all the pet stores in Chicago, I can’t believe you walked into mine.”

Their waitress returned, a bright smile on her face again as she set down the cookies and drinks. “Let me know what you think of the cookie,” she said to Jesse before walking away.

“I told you,” Sarah exclaimed after she was gone. “I think Darlene has a crush on you.”

“I doubt that.” Jesse took a drink of his Coke. “It’s just part of her job.” Then he took a bite of his cookie. “Wow, this could be the best cookie I’ve ever tasted.”

“I told you this place is great. The food, the tea, the atmosphere, Darlene,” she teased him.

Jesse laughed and looked around. He liked the place. The black and white checkered tile reminded him of Dogs n’ Suds back in New Haven. The place where he and Sarah had shared their first dinner together. “Do you remember when we had those chili dogs?”

“Of course I remember. That was my first chili dog experience.”

“Are you serious?”

Sarah took a bite of her cookie and nodded. “My parents never took me to places like that.”

Jesse thought about that for a moment, remembering how different her life had been living in the giant Victorian home while he and his brother and mom hid in their rusted tin box trailer. “A Whispering Meadows princess.”

She shot him a give-me-a-break look. “I was never like that.”

“You were definitely different. I doubt too many girls in your neighborhood spent time fishing at the creek or catching crawfish with buckets.”

She smiled and looked out the window as if remembering their time together.

“So when did you guys move to Chicago?”

She took a drink and turned her gaze back to Jesse. “When I was a freshman in high school. When they shut down Powers Pistons, my dad found a job here.”

“I bet that was a tough adjustment.”

“It was a bit of an adjustment for the both of us,” she said, nodding. “But my dad always said to look at this like an adventure. An adventure with new friends, new places to discover, and new experiences to be made. And he was right.”

“Chicago does have more to offer than tiny New Haven,” Jesse agreed.

“In some ways, I guess. But there’s something to be said about living in a small town, too.”

For Jesse, New Haven had been a shelter from the monster his family had left behind. A shelter of poverty where the kids at their school often talked behind his back and made comments about the trailer court he lived in. But for Sarah, growing up in Whispering Meadows meant living at the top of the middle school food chain. She had friends and family and cherished memories. He used to hate people like her, the ones “who had.” Although they were raised in the same small town, it may as well have been two different countries.

Jesse thought better about saying another word. Instead, he took another drink and changed the subject. “So, you said that you graduated with a degree in finance?”

Sarah nodded. “My dad and I had a plan to buy some property just outside of Chicago and start our own plant nursery. He had the plant knowledge, so I focused more on business. I figured someone had to manage the money side of things.”

“That does sound logical.”

“What about you? You said you still have a semester left of school.”

“I’m majoring in Architecture.”

“Wow.” She folded her arms and sat back in her seat. “What turned you on to that?”

Jesse looked out the window again. “When I first came to Chicago I was enamored. I’d never seen anything like this place. The buildings went up to the sky, never ending. From the backseat of my uncle’s car, I couldn’t even see the top of them. I was in complete awe that humans could create something so magnificent. From then on, it’s all I wanted to do.”

“So you’ll be going to grad school then?”

A question he’d asked himself a thousand times. “Well, that’s the plan.”

“You don’t seem confident about that.”

Jesse reached for his Coke. He traced the drops of condensation with the tip of his finger. “My Uncle August bought the pet shop about three years ago. He died about a year after that, leaving the place to me, my brother Robbie and Aunt Sherry. As you can see, she isn’t exactly the type who can run a pet shop. It was my uncle’s dream, not hers.”

“What does that have to do with you going to grad school?”

“With him gone...” Jesse paused. “I owe them everything. They took me and Robbie in when we had nowhere else to go. They took care of us and raised us as if we were their own. I can’t just abandon my aunt now.”

“I see.” Sarah sat forward and picked up her cookie. “And what about Robbie?”

“That’s a good question.” Jesse drew in a deep breath and let it out. “He’s found himself in some trouble the past few years. He’s not exactly up for the challenge himself. Besides, he’s been training for an upcoming boxing match.”

“He’s a boxer?”

Jesse nodded and lifted his glass. “Let’s just say he’s trying to make a comeback.”

“That has to be hard.”

“What’s that?”

“Going to school. Running the family business. Watching after your aunt and brother. You’ve placed the world on your shoulders. You haven’t changed much, have you?”

Jesse knocked over his glass and a brown puddle formed on the Formica table. “Oh, crap.” He reached for the napkin holder at the same time as Sarah, her hand landing on his. Electricity flowed from her through him, waking the butterflies in his stomach. She held the touch for a moment, their eyes locked. He wanted to reach over and place a hand on her cheek, feel her lips pressed against his, taste a kiss from the only girl he had ever loved.

What’s happening?

He pulled his hand away and looked down at the mess on the table as he wiped it away, as if trying to wipe away the feelings he had felt for Sarah.

“Jesse?”

Jesse looked up at her.

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what? I’m the one who spilled the drink.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” She looked down at her glass and turned it with her fingers. “I’m sorry for not…doing more to help you when we were kids.”

And there it was. The past rearing its ugly head, like a snake crawling out from a bush, ready to strike. He balled the wet napkin in his hand and tried to force the pit from his stomach.

This was a mistake. The thing he had fought so hard to forget stared right at him now through the most beautiful blue eyes he had ever seen. A reminder of everything he had spent ten years trying to forget. Everything but her, the only shining light in the darkness of his past, like a beacon in the storm. Except this light was leading him to a shore, a place he could never return to. His past.

Jesse pushed his cookie to the side. “I should probably be getting back to work.”

Sarah placed her hand on his. “Did I say something wrong?”

He looked up at her, wanting to run, wanting to kiss her. His heart pounded from the touch of her hand. A simple yet powerful gesture. “I just can’t go back there.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“It’s okay, really.” Jesse pulled his hand back and then stood up. He pulled out his wallet and tossed a twenty on the table. “Sarah. It was great seeing you again. I wish…I wish things had been different.” He paused, his feet frozen to the ground, a command coming from his heart. Time to go. Time to run, just like he had done so many times before whenever he started to feel something “real” for a girl, just like his mother had done for years as a means to protect herself and her children. Sarah was the one person who knew more about his past than any other girl he had ever dated. With her, running made even more sense. Better she remember the boy who had kissed her beneath the willow tree than to discover the real truth. The truth he kept hidden deep within the shadows of his past.