Be Sweet (12 page)

“Right. Once the syrup is in the finishing pan, you take over,” I say to Candy and Stephanie with a smile. “You'll add the filter aid at this point. The syrup will boil a little more. Then it will go through the pump via the filter press for final filtering.”

“This is where the filter aid is sifted out,” Janni says.

Daniel walks up behind us. “Then the syrup is pumped into the syrup holding tank in the canning room. It drops into the canning tank, where it's heated to 190 degrees for bottling, and pours out of the spigot into a bottle. And that's it.” He grins.

“Wow, I had no idea so much went into the syrup process,” Stephanie says. “No wonder my dad always bought the imitation stuff. He said it was cheaper.”

“Cheaper, but there's no comparison in taste,” Janni pipes up.

“It's worth every bit of the effort,” I say, smacking my lips together.

“We're not doing all that tonight, though,” Daniel says. Once it goes through the evaporator, we'll shut down things and start with the filtering process tomorrow. We have more people coming to help then.”

“Great. We'll be done soon, and then we'll go up to the house to start dinner preparations,” Janni announces. “You kids want to join us?”

“Candy and I are going to head over for pizza,” Ethan says, giving Candy a sideways hug. “You guys can come along, if you want,” he says to Blake and Stephanie.

Blake turns to Stephanie, who shakes her head. “You guys go on. I'm going to finish up here.”

“You don't need to stay, Stephanie. You've done your part,” Janni encourages.

Stephanie looks from Janni and Daniel back to the kids and finally shrugs. “Okay, if that's what you want.”

Janni smiles and waves as the kids leave.

“You have to stay, Russ. You've earned it,” Daniel says with a playful punch at his friend's arm.

And they keep throwing us together, why? Daniel just doesn't get it.

Russ's gaze flits to me. For some reason, I look at the floor. Yeah, that's me. Miss Confidence comes to Tappery, and she's reduced to staring at the floor.

“Sure, I'd love to stay.”

“I've got an idea,” Daniel says, causing me to hold my breath. “Why don't we go to the Tappery Grill for dinner?”

Janni claps her hands as though she's just been told by Mr. Dentist that she is cavity-free.

Russ looks at me. A smile starts at his mouth and soon flickers in his eyes, causing my stomach to flutter. The thought of running occurs to me, but even a Prada sale couldn't motivate these weak knees right now.

nine

“I don't know why you get so nervous around Russ.”
Janni walks over to her dresser, lifts a comb and starts teasing her hair.

“Who says I'm nervous?”

“Otherwise, why would you be eating those cookies before dinner?” Janni's hair is now three times its normal size. One stiff wind, and we're liable to find her in Wisconsin.

“Well, if you'll glance at your watch, you will see that it is way past dinner. Besides, there are only a couple of crumbs left.”

She sighs, still teasing her hair. “It took longer to do the sap than I thought it would. Oh well, at least the restaurant stays open until eleven o'clock.”

She drops her hands, and her hair is sticking straight up in every direction. It's scary, really.

“You're nervous.”

“That too,” I say, munching through another hunk of sugar.

“For goodness sakes, Char, he's just a friend. Why are you so upset about all this?”

“Could be your hair, but I'm not sure,” I warble with a full mouth behind my hand. I have some manners, after all.

“What?”

“I'm not upset. I'm fine.” I root through my bag in search of more crumbs.

“I'd love to believe you, but your behavior suggests otherwise.”

I stop rooting long enough to look up at her. “So what's your point?” Lifting the bag, I tilt it over my open mouth and let the crumbs fall.

After spraying her hair in place, Janni turns and gives me a hard stare. “How do you stay so thin eating like that?”

“Whoa, sis, unless you want to be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame, you'd better tone that hair down.”

Her hands reach up and touch it. “That bad?” She turns back to the mirror.

“Think basketball on steroids.”

“Thanks. Aren't you going to get ready?” she asks, clearly wanting me out of her, um, hair.

“I'm going, I'm going. Besides, I'm out of cookies. Need to make another run to the Lighthouse Bakery.”

“As I said, pathetic.”

I shuffle out of her room, and once I'm out of reach, I holler, “Pathetic, but I have normal hair.” A cookie fetish, yes. Bad hair, no.

The restaurant is located east of town in an area
that's just starting to build up. A couple more buildings are midway through the construction process, with signs that say a plaza of some sort will be coming soon. Might be a good place for the Scottenses' store. As we make our way to the table, I claw my Palm Pilot out of my bag and scratch out a note to check into the land.

“This is great, thank you,” Janni says as the hostess leads us to a large table in a back room where some of Daniel and Janni's friends are already waiting on us.

One glance at the flickering candles on the white linen tablecloths, and I feel as though I'm back in Maine where life is good and little thought is given to the cost of fine dining. I must say I'm surprised Daniel was willing to come here. He must have a coupon or something.

Russ pulls up a chair beside me. “Okay if I join you?”

He seats himself before I can answer, and I smile.

Over stuffed chicken, sautéed vegetables, chocolate mousse, and dark gourmet coffee as soft as velvet, Russ and I discuss our occupations and his life in the military. Not only am I attracted to him, but also by the time the evening is over, it occurs to me that it can't hurt to be seen on the arm of such a fine dentist while I'm in town. He's highly respected, after all, and it might give me a little leverage if I find the right land to dicker over. When I get ready to go home, there's no harm done. Just two old friends going their separate ways.

“Do you remember the time I helped you with your homework, and Eddie thought I was moving in on his territory?” Russ asks the question in total innocence, not realizing he's stirring loose the dust of old memories better left forgotten.

“Uh, I'm not sure I do.”

“Oh, now that I think of it, maybe you didn't know.” He takes a small bite of roll, chews, and swallows. Then he snaps his finger. “That's right. He approached me after school one day and told me to stay away from you.”

I gasp. “He did? What did you do?”

“I told him it would take somebody bigger than him to keep me away from you.” Russ grins, and my heart lodges smack-dab in the middle of my esophagus, allowing no air to pass whatsoever.

“Eddie was a pretty big guy. He could throw his weight around.” I'm stunned that Russ would take him on. He could take him now, no doubt about it, but back then he wasn't all that meaty.

Russ laughs. “He'd have killed me, sure as I'm sitting here. But I wasn't going to let him bully me into staying away from you.” Here he turns to me and looks me square in the eyes. “I liked you too much for that.”

His words make my face hot. Eddie's face flashes before me. Russ's smile torments my peace of mind. The room suddenly feels small, stifling. I can't breathe.

“You okay?” Russ asks, concern in his eyes.

I claw at my jacket, and he helps me pull it off.

“You're burning up. You all right?” Now panic lines his face.

Grabbing my glass of ice water, I gulp it down. The meal is over, why torture myself? I turn to Janni, “If you'll pay for my meal, I'll pay you when you get home,” I say.

“Are you all right? Your face is red.” Janni looks worried.

“I'll be fine. I just want to go back to your place.”

She nods.

I turn to Russ. “I'm sorry, Russ. I don't feel so well. I'm going back to Janni's. It was nice to see you again.”

“Can I drive you home?”

I muster a smile. “I'm thinking Seafoam, Maine, is a little too far of a drive. See you later.”

What has gotten into me? Sure, coming here
brings back painful memories, but for crying out loud, I've been divorced forever. I'm not in love with Eddie anymore, so what's with me?

Shoving the car gear into park, I haul myself out and see lights on in the house. Mom's already there. I'm not in the mood to face her right now, so I grab the sketch pad from my seat and head for the barn.

The night air is cold, which is a good thing. I'm so hot my body could generate enough heat to bake cookies. Once I'm in the hayloft, I pull off my scarf and unbutton my coat.

Settling into the straw, I try to figure this out. A kitten finds her way up to me and curls around my feet, meowing here and there. Wonder if she's hungry? Before I can get up, she climbs on my lap and falls into a heap. I smile in spite of my mood.

“Oh, to have your uncomplicated life.”

My head leans back against the wall. If only I hadn't agreed to come. But I wanted to show them that I've changed. Unfortunately, so far I've only managed to make matters worse and prove what an idiot I am. I'll see the syrup season and the party through, but once I get back home, I'm staying there.

I want to talk to the Lord about it, but I don't know what to say any-more. My face begins to cool, and I start feeling better. Reaching for my sketch pad, I bend my legs so I can prop it up against my knees and not bother the kitten. After grabbing a pencil from my handbag, I turn to a blank page and set to work.

Let's see, the Parnell family from my church in Maine is looking for a Cape Cod home. I'm not their Realtor, but it doesn't hurt to sketch something out for them. They're a family of four, so four bedrooms allow for a guestroom. Working my pencil feverishly against the paper, I sketch out upstairs bedrooms and baths, dormer windows, a living/dining area combo on the main level, and a kitchen. I decide a guestroom might be nice tucked into a corner on the main level to give guests easy access in and out and still give the family privacy. To me, finding the right home is as important as picking a spouse—for those who are looking for one, anyway. After all, it's where people spend the majority of their time outside of work. It should be a happy place.

“Are you all right?”

Janni's voice startles me, and I jump, causing the kitten to saunter off of my lap in search of a more restful place.

“I'm sorry, I thought you heard me come up.” She climbs off the ladder. “Seeing that pad in your hand, I guess I should have known better. Always working.” Boots scuffing against the floor, she walks over to me. Her bones creak as she kneels down.

“I've told you before, I don't sell residential property anymore.”

“Then what are you doing?”

“Just sketching.”

“So, what happened back there?”

“I'm not really sure, but I had to get out of there.” A front porch would be nice on this house, a small one, but big enough for the family to sit out and visit with the neighbors.

Her hand stops my pencil in place.

“What?”

“You need to deal with things, Char. You're not the only one with a past, you know.”

This from Miss Perfect. She knows nothing of my pain.

She stares at me. “I know they hurt you. It was awful what they did. But you've let them stop you from living. You don't come home because of something that happened over six years ago.”

I don't say anything. I can't say anything. She doesn't understand. No one does.

“I don't mean to minimize your pain, Char. I know Eddie hurt you, but he didn't deserve you.” Janni takes my hand, causing my pencil to fall and my sketch pad to teeter on my lap.

“Who says it had anything to do with them?”

“Russ is worried it's all his fault because he was talking about Eddie.”

My gaze is fixed on a hay bale. “I tried to play by the book, do every-thing right. It doesn't work.” My voice sounds hard and it startles me. Hadn't I worked through all this?

“There are no guarantees in this life, Char.”

“Then what's the point of it all?”

“We do the best we can, leave the rest to God.”

“That's easy for you to say.”

“I won't bother you any longer. See you in the house,” Janni says, edging down the stairs.

I know she's trying to help, but she only makes me feel worse. There's no way she can help me.

Someone like Janni could never understand.

Before leaving the hayloft, I decide to place a
call to the Scottenses. It's better to do it in private so I don't have to hear my sister harping about me being a workaholic. After several rings, I get the Scottenses' answering machine and leave them a message about the possible property out east of town and how I will look into it unless they tell me otherwise. Just as I flip my phone closed, someone's scream brings all of us out into the cold night air. Mom's kicking and fighting, while Dad's trying to hold on to her.

“Dad, Mom, what's going on?” Janni asks.

“You see there? He's trying to kill me.” Mom yanks herself free from Dad's grasp and points at him. “Milton, now what are you going to do? They caught you red-handed.”

Dad lets out a tired sigh. “Forevermore, Viney, I wasn't trying to kill you. I was trying to hold you still long enough to talk some sense into you. And to see why you were peeking through the windows of our home this afternoon. You've got a key. Why didn't you just come on in?”

Mom hikes her nose. “I wasn't peeking.”

“You were too.”

“I thought I spotted something on the window blinds. Wanted to check it out.” A rush of sharp air whips past us, and Mom shivers.