Love Finds You in Hershey, Pennsylvania (28 page)

Sadie swallowed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that. What were you saying?”

“I was only saying it’s just as well you didn’t win since you likely won’t be here next year to compete again anyhow, what with Jasper’s new job. I assume you and Kylie will be moving with him?”

In that moment, the final thread holding together Sadie’s fragile world snapped, and the bottom fell out from everything keeping her sane for the last five years. Something, however, some last shred of rationality, held her poise and expression momentarily intact though she had shattered into tiny pieces inside.

Roop remained clueless as she demurely questioned, “Now, Principal Roop, how did you find that out?”

Roop guffawed, his fetid breath fanning Sadie’s face. She stifled a gag. “Why, my dear girl, as Jasper’s boss and the man who recommended him for the job, how could I not know?” He laughed and slapped his thigh as though this were a tremendous joke, and it was just as well that the remains of Sadie’s mousse lay at the bottom of a nearby garbage bag. She might have upended it into Roop’s red face otherwise.

“Fact is, Ms. Spencer, I’d wager I knew about it before you did!” He laughed again.

Only her deepest reserves of self-control kept Sadie from slapping him silly. “And do you plan to come visit us in…oh, where is it we’re going again?” she queried.

“Colorado,” he easily supplied, none the wiser for her baiting him. “I rather doubt it, my dear, what with all my responsibilities here. I’ll miss that daughter of yours, though, that’s for certain.”

He positively beamed at her, as though she should kiss his balding head with benevolence for singling out her child in this manner. She couldn’t help recalling last year’s interview with Principal Roop, when he’d informed her of Kylie’s attempts to wallpaper the school bathroom with construction paper. “Unacceptable shenanigans” had been the words he used.

“I assume you and Jasper are planning to tie the knot before the school year begins?”

Sadie gripped the edge of the table with abnormal force. “Oh, I don’t know. I suppose we’ll have to take it slow and see.”

Roop nodded sagely. “Quite right. That’s just what Jasper said when I mentioned it to him.”

Sadie unclenched her jaws long enough to ask, “And tell me again, Principal Roop, what sort of job is it that Jasper’s been offered?”

Now at this point, even the dim-witted Roop seemed to be finding Sadie’s tightly clenched fingers and expressions somewhat suspect. Her last question left him a bit flustered.

“Well, now, my dear…of course you already know… .”

“Oh, but Principal Roop,” she cooed falsely, “I’d like
you
to tell me.”

Roop’s naturally crimson shade had lessened by several degrees, and he bordered on what could even be considered “pale” for a man of his perpetually florid complexion.

“Why…it’s, er… The offer to teach…at Westing’s Private Academy for Boys in Colorado. Where you and Jasper will be headed this fall.”

He delivered the words in a prompting tone, as if he could recall them to Sadie’s mind just by speaking them. When this answer was met with silence, he began looking around none too casually for an avenue of escape.

“Ahh, you recall the job offer? It came through weeks ago. Surely you and Jasper have discussed it?”

Sadie watched the perspiration bead along the principal’s brow as his eyes made frequent darts toward the exit doors. She suspected that he had never been overly fond of her and was only speaking to her now out of a sense of duty to Jasper.

Sadie narrowed her eyes. “You’ve never liked me much, have you, Mr. Roop?”

“Oh, now…well, m–my dear…I don’t think…” He continued to stumble until she cut him off.

“Did you happen to try any of my dessert entry?”

His jaw sagged. He may not have tried it, but he’d likely heard plenty about it. “I—I do wish you all the best, Ms. Spencer,” he offered and began backing away. “And do…keep us up-to-date on…on…”

She took one step in his direction, and he uttered a strangled “
Eep!
” before rushing off, merging into the mingling crowd, and blending seamlessly into the landscape.

Sadie glared at his departing figure, and for a moment she knew how cavewomen must have felt—this overwhelming urge to club something…or some
one
.

And then for a brief moment, the anger dissolved…and all that was left in its place was an aching, hollow space thrumming with emptiness as she realized what Roop’s words truly meant.

Leave her. Jasper meant to
leave
her? How was that possible? Not Jasper, the one constant—the steady anchor. Not him. But what else was there to think? It sounded as though things were finalized. An honorable position at a prestigious academy—why
wouldn’t
he choose that over her?

But then her spirit rose up in protest.
No!
She was his best friend—and now so much more! There was Kylie and Aunt Matilda, his students at the school, his church friends…he wouldn’t just think of leaving all that, would he?

Would he?

For the first time ever, she doubted Jasper.

Maybe it was her. Maybe he thought it was a mistake to have taken their level of friendship to true love. Maybe he wanted out and this was the easiest way to do it. A clean break. No awkwardly running into each other or explaining to Kylie why he couldn’t come around anymore. After all, the last few weeks had probably been hard on him. He’d seen more than he cared to see of her life. He didn’t enjoy the prospect of full-time care of Kylie, even though he’d been pretty much her full-time caretaker for years now.

In the end, her excuses didn’t matter. It all came down to this— people left her. That was what they did. She could never be what she needed to be in order to keep them. She hadn’t been good enough to earn her father’s constant presence, she couldn’t make a decent dessert without failure, and now she couldn’t even compete with Westing’s boys’ academy. She should have known better. She should have listened to that tiny voice of doubt, whispering in between her reason and her newfound love for Jasper.

She should never have let Jasper this close. Their friendship had been safe—it had worked for years. Love was not so simple.

So much for it conquering all.

It was as she reached this devastating conclusion that Jasper finally broke through the crowds and approached.

Having been successful in his mission to locate Mac and place Kylie into the older man’s care for the remainder of the day, Jasper approached Sadie with a mixture of relief and sympathy. She had tried so hard with this competition, and his heart ached, having witnessed her disappointment. As he closed the distance between them, he saw her expression in profile, face partially hidden as she stared at the floor. The deep concentration on her brow made him hope she wasn’t still dwelling on her dessert failure.

Despite the slump to her shoulders, Jasper was hopeful she would rebound quickly from the dessert affair. And once she did, he could share his news and ask her what she thought. He had no doubt moving to Colorado was the furthest thing from her mind, and he was willing to turn down the job rather than leave her. But he wanted her thoughts on it first…if he could present it in such a way that she didn’t automatically assume he was pulling up stakes on her and heading out.

But there was time for that later. Right now she needed his love and reassurance, and he was determined to provide it for her. As he approached her at the table, he reached out a hand and laid it against her shoulder, planning to pull her into an embrace. But as soon as he touched her, she shot forward, stepping away from him and whirling around as though she’d been tightly wound, just waiting for his touch to set her off.

Then she exploded.

“COLORADO?!?”

He froze, completely unprepared for this assault. His delayed reaction caused Sadie’s lip to quiver.

“What were you going to do, Jasper—leave a note? Call me from the airport?
Send an e-mail?”

She let out a shriek of dismay, fingers clenching into fists at her side. Jasper winced at her reaction.

Unfortunately, most of the rather substantial crowd in the nearby area heard her outburst as well, and within seconds, Sadie and Jasper had an absorbed audience.

Thankfully, at this point, Jasper was catching up. He held up a hand.

“Now, Sadie, listen to me.”

“No.”

He clenched his jaw. “I can explain.”

“I don’t care,” she volleyed back. “It was
your
idea to begin dating! If you didn’t want a relationship, you should have just said so!”

“Sadie, I
do
want a relationship! That’s why I was going to ask if you wanted to come to Colorado
with
me. You’re totally blowing this out of proportion.”

She seemed to have lost all sense of reason as she shouted, “That’s not true! If you really wanted a relationship with me, you’d never ask me to leave here in the first place. This is my life, Jasper—
my life
. I have a career and a daughter to think about. I have the restaurant and my mother’s home—the home I grew up in. I have friendships and memories…. You
know
I’d never leave all that behind.”

Jasper felt a slight tingling of guilt—she made a valid point—but at the same time, he was indignant. He
had
been thinking of her all along—if he hadn’t been, he would have accepted the position straight away rather than putting off the board for weeks while he tried to find the right time to ask her opinion. But beyond all this was the piercing knowledge of what he felt Sadie was trying to tell him—she had a life. A life filled with things far more important than he could ever be. A life that would go on…with or without him. How could he have ever thought otherwise?

“Of course you have a life!” Jasper rarely raised his voice, but when he did, it became unforgettably raspy with emotion. “How could we forget?” He waved his hand to encompass their large audience. Sadie’s gaze followed his gesture briefly, and she blinked at the sight of so many onlookers.

“ ‘Cause you see, Sadie, it’s always about
your
life. It’s about the restaurant or Ned’s death or your mother’s cancer or your father’s leaving, and when all else fails, it’s just about
desserts
.” He had worked himself into a state of high passion now, feeling every bit as tortured as she did.

Her face flamed, either with anger or shame, he wasn’t sure which. “Don’t minimize my problems! I’ve had a hard time the last few years,” she savagely defended. “Anyone here would admit that!” She copied his gesture to gather the crowd to her side. “And I thought if anyone would understand the pressure I’ve been under the last few years,
you
would. You’re supposed to be my
best friend
.”

“Why?” he demanded angrily. “Why am I your best friend, Sadie? Is it because you care about me, because you love me for who I am?” His voice dropped several levels, and the crowd gathered in tighter to catch what he said as he stepped toward Sadie. “Or is it because I made a convenient doormat—free babysitting for Kylie, free shuttle service when you needed a ride, a shoulder to cry on, someone to sympathize with all your problems—was it that, Sadie? Did you really convince yourself you cared about
me
? Or did you just care about needing
someone
?”

The crowd expelled a soft “Ooh” at this point.

“So that’s how you solve it when people you
supposedly
love become an inconvenience?” she asked with more than a touch of sarcasm. “You decide to disappear to Colorado, move yourself up in the world and, oh—see ya, sorry if you need me, but I’m
gone
. Is
that
how it works, Jasper?”

All eyes shifted toward Jasper to see his response.

“When have I ever…
ever
…not been there for you?” he countered.

She ground her teeth together, eyes sliding to the side as she shifted from foot to foot. She was clearly at a loss to recall a single episode to throw back in his face. After a moment, she chose instead to retort, “Maybe you never felt like you had a choice if it’s
always been about me
.”

“Maybe I didn’t,” he shot back. “But I have a choice now, don’t I?”

The crowd gasped at the implications of this statement. Even Sadie took a step back at these words.

“Wh–what are you saying?”

“Maybe I should choose Colorado,” he answered darkly. “After all, the winters there can’t be half as cold as the summer I’ve spent
here
.”

And with that parting shot, he turned on his heel and strode for the door.