Fitting The Pieces (The Riverdale Series Book 3) (22 page)

           
Cara stood up and walked over to sit
beside Sam, wrapping her arm around her shoulders as she opened the box with
her hands that trembled. There lay an antique silver pin framing the tiniest
photo of Jake smiling.

December
14

           
Cara knocked on the office door at
Lanza Automotive before she stepped in and looked over at Nick, who was
scratching his head as he chewed on the end of his pen. He lifted his gaze from
the sheet of paper he was staring out.

           
“Am I interrupting?” She asked.

           
Nick shook his head. “Is there a
time limit on how long your vows can be?”

           
She smiled and shook her head. “I
don’t think so.”

           
“How the hell is someone supposed to
say everything they feel about the person they are marrying? I mean Sam said
the ceremony is only like thirty minutes.” He lifted all the papers he had,
half of them crumbled into balls, some of them with lines crossed out and the
rest underlined to emphasize the important words. “The baby will be born before
I’m done.” He said, exasperated, dropping the papers back onto the desk.

           
“You’ll get it right and if it takes
you a long time, no one’s going to say a word. Just say what you feel.” Cara
offered.

           
Nick sighed and then nodded. “I
guess you’re right.” He studied her for a moment. “Luke isn’t here.”

           
“I’m not here for Luke.” She said
and sat in the empty seat in front of his desk. “I found a box after Jake
passed away. It was full of journals he wrote when he was sick.” She watched as
he looked down for a moment.

           
“I gave him the journals.” Nick
said.

           
“That’s not all that was in the
box.” She said and slid a silver wrapped box almost the same size as the one
Jake had left behind for Sam. “He left instructions to give this to you before
you, and I quote, ‘Marry the hell out of Sam’.”

           
Nick stared at the box for a moment
his hands stretched out to take it, but never did. It was as if he was afraid
to touch it, like it would disappear if he did. He lifted his eyes to Cara and
she nodded encouragingly.

           
He blew out a breath and took the
box gently in his hands, lifting the corners of the wrapping paper ever so
delicately. He looked at the white box that had a note scribed to the top of
it. Nick cleared his throat and read.

           
“Mr. Suit and Tie, you probably have
a pair of these babies already. But help a brother out and wear them when you
marry my sister. Your brother from another mother, Jake.”

           
 
He flipped the box open and stared at the
silver cufflinks, a gift from his brother.

December
15

           
Luke sat in Pete’s chair at
Riverdale Ink with his forearm flexed as Pete traced the buzzing needle over
his skin. He finally was putting the finishing touches of the warrior on his
arm. He looked towards the front of the shop at Cara, who was sitting on top of
the front counter smiling at him. He winked at her and looked back down at his
arm as Pete inked Jake’s name in italics below the warrior.

December
16

           
Cara carried a step stool tucked
under her arm as she walked into the kitchen. Luke was cooking dinner, one of
his three specialties. She placed the step stool beside him and climbed it.

           
“What’re you doing?” He asked
amused. He put the wooden spoon down in the spoon rest and leaned a hip on the
counter, turning his body to face her. She whipped something out from behind
her back.

           
“It’s tradition! You have to kiss me
under mistletoe.” She grinned at him as she held it over his head. He glanced
upward and then back down at her feet that were on tiptoes as she wiggled the
mistletoe over their heads. He took a step to her, wrapping one arm around her
waist as he leaned into her. His lips fused with hers wondering if she knew she
was becoming the meaning of Christmas to him.

           
Cara dug into her purse for some
coins to feed the parking meter. It was a typical brutally cold day in upstate
New York. The weather forecast was calling for another snow storm and she was
currently trying to beat it. She drove two towns over, when she located the
hobby shop that had the perfect Christmas present, for Luke. She had a half
hour on the meter and figured that was enough time. She called beforehand and
spoke to the sales clerk, so they were holding the gift behind the register for
her.

           
Her phone rang in her coat pocket
and she glanced down at the caller ID. Luke would have to wait. She would call
him after she completed her shopping trip. After all, the meter was running and
the sky was becoming gloomier by the minute. She silenced her phone and glanced
at the traffic coming from both directions before she ran across the street.
The door chimes sounded when she stepped inside the hobby shop, yet she didn’t
see anyone. That was probably because she was the only Christmas-crazed idiot
shopping when the state officials were warning people to stay indoors and wait
the impending storm out. Oh well, the look on his face would be worth it… she
hoped.

           
“Hello?” Cara called into the quiet
store as she began to check out her surroundings. The shelves were full of a
variety of things. Some she supposed people enjoyed making themselves, like
model airplanes. Other shelves showcased a variety of things that required no
assembly, but were simply made to sit on a shelf and collect dust, hoping one
day they would be worth a small fortune. Her gift that was being held by the
phantom clerk didn’t fit into either of these categories. It was the sentiment
behind it that mattered.

           
She reached the counter and heard a
girl’s voice. “I’ll be right with you.” She said to Cara, but still Cara
couldn’t make eye contact because the girl was crouched down behind the
counter. “Dad, I have one customer and then I’ll lock up and be outside. Okay,
okay! I will hurry. Read the newspaper or something.” She said before ending
her call. She bounced up, and faced Cara her smile infectious.

           
“Sorry about that. My old man can be
a pain in the ass. He doesn’t want me on the road with the snow lurking so he’s
waiting for me outside.”

           
Cara smiled. “I’m sorry to keep you
then.” There was something oddly familiar in the girl who stood before her, yet
she couldn’t put her finger on what it actually was. She studied her for a
moment. Her auburn hair, straight as a pin, was cut to her shoulders. She wore
glasses, but behind those glasses were the prettiest eyes. They were golden
brown with flecks of emerald green. The girl’s brows furrowed and Cara snapped
out of her trance, realizing she was staring.

           
She cleared her throat. “I called
earlier, you’re holding…” Cara was cut off by the young girl.

           
“Ah yes. Cara right?” She reached
behind the counter and handed over the merchandise that Cara had put on hold.
“This is the right one, right?”

           
Cara took the box in one of her
hands and then reached for her phone again. She scrolled through her pictures
until she came up with the one she was looking for and compared the box in her
hand to the picture she had found on the internet. She lifted her eyes to the
girl and smiled.

           
“Yes. It’s perfect. Thank you for
holding it for me.”

           
“Not a problem.” She said as she
snapped her gum. “Alright then, let’s get you rung up so we both can go home
and sit this one out.” She said motioning towards the window. Cara glanced
outside and saw the snow was beginning to fall.

           
Her phone buzzed in her pocket and
she handed her credit card over to the girl. She stared down at the text
message Luke had sent her.

Cara
not playing around. Call me.

           
Her fingers busied themselves typing
out her reply…

Miss
me don’t you?

           
She smiled and tucked her phone back
into her pocket as the girl slid a slip a piece a paper across the counter for
her to sign. Cara scribbled her name and took the bag she handed her.

           
“Thanks again for holding it. Merry
Christmas.” Cara said with a wink.

           
Another snap of her gum and the girl
with the pretty eyes smiled. “No problem. Right back at you.”

           
Cara looked at her for another
moment before turning on her heel and walking out of the hobby shop. She pulled
her hood up and crossed the street. She spotted a coffee shop right by where
her car was parked and decided to grab a latte for her drive back to
Riverdale.
 
She stepped into the coffee
shop just as another text came in.

Call
me

           
She sighed and dialed his number
while she mentally pictured him pacing with that all so serious look on his
face, the look that always left her hot and bothered.

           
“Well, it’s about damn time.” He
answered.

           
“Well, hello to you too.” She said
with a smile and then covered the phone with the palm of her hand. “Can I have
a caramel latte with skim?”

           
“Where are you?” Luke asked
curiously.

           
“I’m in Pine Bush. I had some last
minute Christmas shopping I wanted to knock out of the way.” She paid for her
latte and waited for the barista to make it.

           
“Cara, we’re having a blizzard and
you’re Christmas shopping.” He said incredulously and shook his head.

           
“Okay, to be fair, they said it
wouldn’t start to snow for another hour and I would’ve been back by then.” She
took her coffee and headed out of the coffee shop. “I will be back in an hour.
It’s not even that bad yet.” She paused as she dug into her purse for her keys.
“Please don’t worry about me.”

           
“I can’t help it.” He admitted
honestly.

           
“That’s sweet.” She said softly as
she got into her car, shoving her purchase, into the back seat and her coffee
into the cup holder. She turned her key in the ignition and glanced across the
street. The young girl who had helped her was pulling the gate down to the shop
when an older man came around and shooed her hands away then started to do it
himself. She squinted as the man turned around and draped his arm over the
young girl’s shoulders. Cara remembered the girl saying her dad was waiting for
her because he didn’t want her on the roads by herself. The doting dad walked
his little girl to the SUV that was parked just out front of the hobby shop.

           
“Spunky, you there?” Luke asked into
the silence.

           
“Oh my God.” Cara whispered as she
got a good look at the man who was walking around the truck to the driver’s
door.

           
“Cara, what’s the matter?” Luke
asked, instantly not liking this game she was playing with him for one minute.

           
Cara swallowed the lump in her
throat. It couldn’t be. The man lifted his head as if he felt her staring and
she was able to take a better look. She hadn’t seen him in nearly fifteen
years, but there was no mistaking him. The man who broke her spirit and
neglected her after her mother passed away. The man who raised his hands to
her, who never had the decency to be a father was standing across the street
being a father to someone else.

           
“Cara? I’m not fucking around,
answer me. Where are you?”

           
“Luke.” Cara whispered, remembering
he was still on the phone.

           
“Baby, what’s going on?” He said
with concern etched through his voice.

           
She watched on as her father got
into the truck slowly pulled out of the spot. She watched through the side view
mirror as his car turned off the main road.

           
“I just saw my father.” She said and
as the words came out of her mouth she couldn’t believe did. She had blocked
him from her head. Sure, she wondered where he was from time to time. She
wondered if he was alive and if he was still the miserable man who destroyed
her childhood.

           
“What?” Luke asked, confused and
then decided it didn’t matter. He heard the strain in her voice. “Nevermind,
you can tell me when I pick you up. Where are you?”

           
“He has a daughter.” She said more
to herself than to Luke. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the
headrest. At that moment, every horrible memory she had surfaced, every wound
reopened. She remembered running from her house to Jake’s. She remembered
hiding her bruises with a baseball cap. She remembered that at fifteen years
old, she basically left home and he never had even looked for her. Her father
had never once reached out to her. It was as if Cara had died along with her
mother. Since her mother died, that’s what she felt anyway. She always wondered
if he wished she would’ve died instead of her mom.

           
“Cara, you need to tell me where you
are. I can’t help you if I’m not there with you.” She heard Luke plead softly
into the phone.

           
The pain cut deep, like it always
did when she allowed herself to go down that path. The pain of feeling not good
enough, not accepted, never loved. She closed her eyes and tried to fight off
her demons, struggling not to let them take her over.
 

           
“I need a pill.” She heard herself
say. That’s right, she wanted to wash away her troubles, she wanted a quick
fix. Desperation clawed her, tearing at her sobriety.

           
“You listen to me, Cara and listen to
me good. You take a pill, he wins. Every shitty thing in your life that that
man caused can be put to bed. You don’t need to let him take any more of your
life from you.” Luke said firmly, praying to God he was getting through to her.

           
Tears fell from her eyes as she
listened to Luke. “He has another daughter…” She whispered into the phone.

           
“Baby, I know you’re hurting. Please
let me help you.” He was beginning to sound desperate.

           
She wiped her cheeks with the back
of her free hand. She took a deep breath and dug deep into her soul, pulling
out whatever courage she could find. “I’m going to come back to Riverdale. I’m
going to go to a meeting. I’m going to be okay.” She paused. “I’m not going to
relapse. I’m going to be okay. I’m going to be okay, right Luke?”

           
“Right baby.” He whispered and took
a deep breath. “You’re upset though. I can come and pick you up. I’ll take you
to the meeting.”

           
“I can do it.” She said
affirmatively. “I’ll be okay.” She said knowing that this was a part of her
recovery. She had to get herself to a meeting and fight the urge to take the
pills. She needed to get a grip on herself and she needed to be her own goddamn
hero. She gripped the steering wheel. “I’m going to hang up so I can drive.”

           
“Please be careful.” He said hoarsely
and he never received a response. She ended the call and prepared to save
herself from the latest tragedy to turn her life upside down.

* * * * *

           
Luke sat in his living room with his
elbows on his knees, his foot tapping impatiently as he watched his daughter
continue to make a gingerbread house on the coffee table. It had been almost
three hours since he had spoken to Cara. Not a word. Not a phone call. He was a
nervous wreck. He wanted to hold onto faith and believe she would get her ass
to a meeting, but that shit was hard and he wasn’t going to pretend he knew the
struggle. Truth was, he had no idea what she was going through, but he did know
she had worked so hard the last couple of months. He didn’t remember the whole
back story of Cara and her father, didn’t even know if he ever really knew. It
was as if she just showed up one day at his parent’s house and never left.

           
The doorbell rang and Luke sprung to
his feet immediately he bent down, placing a quick kiss to his daughter’s head.
Ava raised her eyebrows curiously, but didn’t move as she continued to apply
the frosting to the walls of her gingerbread house. Luke reached the front door
and pulled it open, his coat and keys already in his free hand.

           
He met Sam’s worried gaze and then
turned and looked at Nick, who wore a blank expression.

           
“The roads are bad, watch yourself.”
Nick stated.