Adams Grove 03-Wedding Cake and Big Mistakes (9 page)

“Wait.” She swept her hand across her mouth. “What was that?” She twisted from him and shoved the box into her purse as she made her way around to the passenger seat.

I wish I knew.
He let out a sigh and got behind the wheel of the car. “It was just a kiss.”
Well, almost a really good kiss.
He wanted to let it go, but she looked even prettier sitting there at a loss for words. It wasn’t his imagination. He’d felt the attraction, and it wasn’t one-sided.

She fondled the pendant hanging around her neck. “Why—”

“Don’t ask. Don’t analyze it. Just let it be.” He kissed her again, on the cheek this time. “It’s OK.”

She mouthed the word
OK
and avoided eye contact as he started the car.

He squeezed her hand and smiled, hoping maybe she was feeling something. She hadn’t gotten mad—well, not redhead mad—and that had to mean something. “It’s all good.”

They’d ridden in complete silence for more than ten minutes when Carolanne said, “Do you want to know why I wanted this necklace so badly?”

“Because you thought it was pretty?”

“No. It’s more than that.” She shifted in her seat. “I don’t know if it’s even remotely like it, but in my mind, the one piece of jewelry that my momma always treasured was a pendant that had been in the family for years. I remembered the bow of diamonds above the teardrop stone mostly. She lost it when I was a little girl. I remember her crying. She was so sad to have lost it and so scared to tell my dad.”

“That sounds special.”

Carolanne swept her hand underneath her nose, then pushed her hair behind her ears. “Dad wasn’t mad, though. I remember how gentle he was with her. He never liked to see Momma sad.”

“Ben loved her. Still does as much today as back then, I think. You should have heard the way he talked about your momma with my mom. That’s the real deal right there.”

“He loved her more than anything.”

“Do you think that necklace belonged to her?”

“I don’t know, but it sure hit those memories hard. I knew I had to have it. At whatever cost.”

He brushed his thumb across her knuckles. “I’m glad you shared that with me.”

She smiled. “I am, too. This has been a really special night. Perfect timing. Thank you, Connor.”

“You’re welcome. I enjoyed it, too,” he said. “It’s still early. Do you want to stop by your dad’s and see what he thinks of the necklace?”

She involuntarily tensed under his grip, and he tugged his hand back from her.

“Oh, I don’t know if I’m ready for that.”

“He’d probably like to know you have good memories of your mom. He worries about you.”

That kiss may have confused her, but her guard was clearly up again, and she managed a feeble answer. “I’m not ready to just pop in on him.”

Connor knew his disappointment showed on his face. “One of you is going to have to make a move someday. Seems like this necklace is as good a reason as any for y’all to get together to talk.”

She turned and stared out the window. “Not tonight. OK?”

He didn’t want to push, but it was hard to understand how Carolanne could shut out her father. His own dad had walked out on them when he was just a kid—no hero, by any stretch of the imagination—but he’d never turned his back on his dad. Parents are parents—flaws and all. He’d give anything to have even five more minutes with his mother. He hoped Carolanne would never regret the time she didn’t spend with her father.

When they got back home, Carolanne made a hasty retreat to her apartment—saying good night and slipping inside the safety of her apartment before Connor could corner her for a good night at the door.

Confused, she paced the room, then dropped down on the couch, hugging a throw pillow. “Don’t overanalyze it,” he’d said, but that was impossible.

That kiss was a mistake.
But her heart refused to listen to what her mind was trying to tell her. There was no mistaking that when he’d kissed her, she’d felt something. Something different. A reckless abandon to the tenderness of his touch in a way she’d never felt before.

How did that happen? Why in the good Lord’s name did I like it so much?

“This is nothing but trouble,” she muttered to the dark room. “Not a good idea.”

Carolanne had nothing against having fun, but Connor wasn’t a have-some-fun-and-move-on kind of guy. Plus, she’d have to face him in the office, and that was already going to be awkward.

She ran her hand through her loose hair. When he’d pulled that barrette from her hair and run his fingers through it to loosen the tight braid, she’d felt his every pulse tweak her own into a double count that had almost made her hyperventilate.
Heck, I might hyperventilate just thinking about it.
She swung her legs around to lie flat out on the couch, then took in a deep breath and let it out slowly to a three-count.
Get it together.
The streetlight danced against the panes of the turn-of-the-century windows, sending a wavy stream of light against the ceiling.

The thought of how she’d gotten lost in those blue eyes forced her to take another deep breath, but the truth was, in that moment, it felt like the safest place on earth.

She laid her hand against the jewels that hung from her neck.
Is this you, Mom, sending me a message? Was this your necklace, or even anything like it? Or am I just wishing so hard for you to be here, to guide me, that I’m making all this up?

Lying there in the quiet, Carolanne took a deep breath and tried to let the images go.

She jerked with a start at what sounded like the snarling of a wounded warthog, which made her sit up and start laughing. Just as she was thinking of Connor all sexy and romantic, his snoring blasted her perspective back right-side up.

She looked to heaven. “Mom, I know that was your doing. You always had the best timing.”

Chapter Eight

Carolanne tossed and turned all night, thinking about the random kiss Connor had planted on her. She kicked the covers off.
I’m never going to figure that out. I wish I could talk to Jill but dumping this on her the day before her wedding isn’t the best timing. It’d be selfish, if anything.

She forced herself out of bed and got dressed in a black scoop-neck T-shirt and slacks, then put on the necklace even if it was a little fancy for the outfit. She brushed her hair without taking her eyes off the lovely pendant reflecting in the mirror. She could almost see her mother’s image rather than her own, brushing with long strokes. There was something peaceful about feeling so close to her right now.
Mom, I wish you could give me some guidance, a sign, anything.

Carolanne picked up her purse and headed for the door, but at the last minute, she went back and tucked a note under the edge of the coffeepot on the kitchen counter that simply read:

Good morning.

Off to help Jill with wedding stuff.

Help yourself to the coffee.

See you tonight. C-

Pulling the door closed, she left it unlocked so Connor could still get his coffee. He’d be shocked that she was already up and out at this hour. Comfortable with the time that note would buy her until the rehearsal dinner tonight, she hurried to leave before he woke up.

Carolanne felt like a criminal on the run the way her adrenaline was pushing her to rush to her car. A sense of relief washed over her once she backed away from the building. It was still too early for Jill to be at the artisan center, so she rode through the neighborhood, trying to waste a little time, and then took the long way to the artisan center, turning down Old Horseshoe Run Road toward the church. She pulled into the church parking lot and sat there, trying to understand the tangle of emotions she felt right now.

Years ago, she’d walked hand in hand between Mom and Dad every single Sunday up the long walkway to the front doors of this church. Even when Mom was really sick and had to wear a scarf over her bald head from the chemo, they’d never missed a service.

She’d been a daddy’s girl up until Mom died. Everything changed then. She’d been shepherded along from neighbor to neighbor the first couple of weeks, and then Pearl had taken control. Almost a month passed, and she hadn’t only lost Mom, but hadn’t seen her dad, either. Carolanne remembered crying night after night wondering if Dad had died, too.

That sadness had long since been replaced by anger, and she wasn’t sure how to start again without the weight of that negativity. She shoved the gearshift back in drive and headed to the artisan center.

Carolanne parked next to Jill’s car, relieved that Dad’s car wasn’t there. She went inside. “Hello, anyone around?”

“Back here,” Jill’s voice came from somewhere toward the back of the building.

Carolanne followed the voice but didn’t spot Jill until she looked down behind the counter. “There you are.” Carolanne
laughed at the sight of Jill on the floor surrounded by packing peanuts and Bubble Wrap. “Looks like you just popped out of that box. Are you practicing for Garrett’s bachelor party tonight?”

“Oh no. Garrett already promised me that he and the guys will be having a calm evening.” Jill stood up and tried to brush the peanuts off her pants, but the static kept reattaching the white nuggets to her legs. “Are you OK? You look awful.”

The day before Jill’s wedding was not the day to dump all of her drama on Jill. “I’m fine. Sinuses, probably the weather changing, and I didn’t put any makeup on this morning.”

“Or maybe it’s just that you pale in comparison to that necklace. Get over here. How did I not notice that when you first walked in?” Jill stepped closer to Carolanne. “I love that. When did you get it?”

“Isn’t it amazing? It’s like one my mom had.”

“Where’d you find it?”

“I went to an estate sale with Connor yesterday. It was so much fun.”
Too much fun.
There was that tingle again.
Better change the subject or Jill will be matchmaking, and I can’t take that right now.
“But tomorrow’s your big day. Anything we need to do for tonight or in the morning?”

“No. Patsy’s handling the rehearsal dinner. I swear I’m going to have the best in-laws in the world. She won’t even let me help. I’m meeting Izzy in town in a little while to go over the limo stuff one last time.”

Carolanne started scooping the packing trash into one of the boxes while they talked. “Only Izzy Markham could make a limo service work in Adams Grove. I still can’t believe she married a mortician. Don’t you think that’s creepy?”

“I met him a couple times before they divorced. He seemed like a really nice guy.”

“Until he turned into a cheater?”

“Yeah, until then. I don’t know what would have made him think he could get away with something like that with Izzy. That’s one girl who doesn’t take any mess,” Jill said.

“I know. I always thought I was tough, but Izzy makes me look tame.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Jill said with teasing laughter in her eyes.

“Well, you know what I mean.” Carolanne helped Jill put the items from the boxes on the shelves and price items until it was time for Jill to go to town to meet with Izzy.