Taste the Heat (20 page)

Her talk with Cane, discovering the letters from her parents, and almost losing Jason,
had put everything into perspective. She awoke this morning a new woman. Or at least
one with a new mindset. She’d made mistakes in her life and she had regrets—too many
to count—but her father had loved her. He’d kept her apron. In his letter, he apologized
for not being her hero, and then said that even though she had failed to show it,
he never once doubted that she loved him, too.

Colby couldn’t change the past. But the future was a whole different story.

In Jason’s room, she tucked her parents’ now wrinkled letters inside her purse with
a contented smile. She was going to be okay. And now that phase one of her plan to
win Jason back was complete, there was only one thing to do before she went to get
her man: decide on her wardrobe. Should she go with choice a) the totally fashionable,
day-old cat pajamas, or choice b) something of Jason’s?

She glanced in the mirror and nodded.
Jason’s
.

Dressed in a MSFD t-shirt that smelled like his aftershave and a pair of workout shorts
rolled about a bazillion times, she emerged from Jason’s room to greet a yawning,
shuffling Emma. “Morning, sunshine.”

The girl rubbed her eyes and shot Colby a look as they padded into the kitchen. “You’re
two seconds away from humming a show tune, aren’t you?”

Colby laughed as she loaded a plate with beignets, dusted them a second time with
powdered sugar, and slid the plate across the island. “I shall attempt to contain
the perkiness while you eat,” she said with a wink.

“That’s all I ask,” Emma replied, taking a huge bite of a fried doughnut.

As Jason’s daughter made yummy noises, Colby set to work cleaning the mess she’d made
that morning. Then she packed the rest of the beignets for the hospital. She knew
it might be too late. Jason could have decided she was a head case after all and he
was better off without her. But she wasn’t leaving that hospital room until she’d
put herself out there and, for once in her life, put her heart on the line.

At exactly ten past nine, their time slightly delayed by traffic, Colby and Emma walked
back through the sliding door to Northshore Hospital. Her ratty slippers glided over
the smooth linoleum as they made their way to the elevator. She was sure she looked
a mess, but Jason had witnessed every one of her awkward stages growing up and had
even seen her naked. A mismatched wardrobe was the least of her concerns today.

When they reached his floor, Colby’s heart began to pound. Two doors down, she lost
feeling to her feet. And just outside his door, she forgot the pretty speech she’d
spent all night rehearsing. Emma scrunched her nose as she curled her hand around
the handle. “You’re coming in, right?”

Hugging the bag containing her peace offering, she nodded. “Most definitely.”

This time when they walked into his room, Jason was awake. And he wasn’t alone. Sharon
and the Chief were seated along the left side of the bed, apparently
not
having fallen victim to the traffic. Colby’s nervous stomach flipped. But then she
got a good look at her captain, and suddenly she could care less if the whole hospital
wanted to listen in on her groveling. Lying above the covers in track pants and a
t-shirt, hair damp from a shower and feet wonderfully bare, Jason looked good enough
to eat. And when he halted his channel-flipping to stare at her in obvious surprise,
eyes raking over her body draped in his clothes, Colby half-wished she’d brought the
jar of chocolate body paint from the nightstand.

“Daddy!”

Emma ran to the side of his bed, and Jason blinked as he shifted his attention to
his daughter. “Bug!” He raised an arm slowly and said, “Be gentle. A house kicked
your old man’s butt yesterday, but I desperately need a hug from my girl.”

Easing a knee onto the bed, she crawled beside him. He put his arm around her and
closed his eyes tight. “I love you so much, Emma. I’m so sorry.”

Sharon grasped her husband’s hand and placed her other on Emma’s head.

Colby’s chest squeezed watching their four-way embrace. This was her family. Her second
family. And she no longer felt like she was intruding or giving anyone the wrong idea
by being there. This was where she belonged.

Emma sniffed into Jason’s neck. “I was so scared.”

“I know, baby.” He opened his eyes and looked at Colby. “But it would take a lot more
than that to take me away from you.”

Hoping with everything in her that Jason was giving her an opening, Colby took a step
forward and held up the bag. With only a quick glance at his parents she said, “We
brought breakfast.”

The whole Landry family smiled at her, though the one from the man in the bed was
closer to a wicked smirk. He lifted an eyebrow in question, and she took another step
toward the bed.

“I come bearing bribery,” she said, her voice wobbling but determined. “But homemade
beignets are just the first phase of my master plan. The second phase is letting you
know I’ve decided to stay in Magnolia Springs.”

At the revelation, Jason’s mouth fell open. She smiled as she took the third and final
step. Things still needed to be ironed out, both here and in Vegas, and she had several
phone calls left to make, but she knew what she wanted. She set the bag of beignets
on the bed beside Emma, biting back a laugh. It looked like she was the one doing
the surprising today. Remembering the outcomes of Jason’s surprises—the blindfolded
meal and their amazing night in New Orleans—gave her faith that this one would have
a happy ending, too.

“The third phase is the most important,” she said, crawling in on his other side,
careful not to jostle. Sharon caught her eye over her son’s head and smiled in encouragement.
Wow, this is embarrassing.
Smiling through the awkwardness, Colby forged ahead, looking only at Jason. “And
that’s making sure you know how completely, hopelessly, and unalterably in love with
you I am. The both of you,” she added, grabbing Emma’s hand and ignoring the happy
noises from her audience.

“I have made so many mistakes,” she admitted, “and I’ve been terrified to open my
heart. But Jason, it’s
always
been yours. I’ve loved you ever since I can remember, and I will gladly spend the
rest of my life making up for not telling you that sooner.” She cupped his cheek with
her free hand, desperately wanting to erase the memory of the night in his gym when
she’d done the same—the night she’d almost lost everything. “I love you, Jason Landry.”

For a moment, he just lay there, staring into her eyes. It had to be the longest moment
ever recorded. But then he placed his hand over hers and the light she feared she
had snuffed out came back into Jason’s eyes. Colby began to hope.

And then, a nurse came in the door.

“I’m sorry, but Mr. Landry needs his final CT scan now.”

Colby blinked her eyes.

Seriously?
This couldn’t wait, like, five seconds? The woman who Colby was almost certain was
pleasant enough when she
wasn’t
interrupting life-altering moments continued into the room, rolling a wheelchair.
Colby looked to Jason, unsure of how to proceed, hoping he’d step in and ask for a
few minutes of privacy—and discovered he had the audacity to be fighting back a smile.

“I really should do this now,” he told her, making a move to scoot toward the edge
of the bed. Colby stood, dazed and utterly confused. Gingerly, Jason pushed to a sitting
position and took her hand in his. When he looked into her eyes, she noticed his were
shining with an emotion she couldn’t name. “This could be a while, so why don’t you
go to the restaurant and I’ll come by there as soon as I get released. We need to
talk.”

Uh, yeah we do.
“What about Emma?”

“We can take her home, dear,” Sharon said, offering a smile though she looked as bewildered
as Colby felt. The Chief, however, seemed to be in on Jason’s private joke because
his whiskers were twitching.

Now
Colby felt like she was intruding. Had she really waited too long?

Picking up the purse she didn’t even remember discarding, Colby padded to the door,
stopping just outside it to turn around. “See you later?”

Jason met her gaze. “I promise.”

In those two words, Colby felt there was some sort of message. A message she wasn’t
getting. But she nodded anyway, and continued padding down the hall, back to the elevator.

What in the heck just happened?

Hours later, Colby was in the kitchen of Robicheaux’s,
just as confused as when she left the hospital, except now she was less dazed and
more depressed. Jason never called. He never came by. She really had lost him.

It seemed her career as the future cat lady was trucking along right on schedule.

“Hey
Coley
, can you help me roll silver?”

Biting back a sigh, Colby tore her gaze away from her silent phone. If her sister
was evoking her nickname and asking for help on a mindless task—an
unnecessary
mindless task, since Colby knew for a fact the silver was well stocked—the situation
must be as bad as she’d thought. It was a good thing she hadn’t called her head chef
Matt yet, because it looked like she wouldn’t be staying after all.

“Why not?” she replied. Rhonda and the rest of her staff could hold down the fort
for a few minutes. Mindlessness sounded pretty good right about now.

Following Sherry into the dining room, Colby couldn’t help scouting the faces, hoping
to see
his
. Even though it had been a long shot, her shoulders still deflated. Her sister wrapped
an arm around her waist and said, “Don’t worry, girl. I’m sure Jason just got caught
up with Emma. He’ll be here soon. I know it.” She pulsed a squeeze and gave Colby
an optimistic smile.

Colby returned it, although her hopes were sagging around her ankles. “You’re right,”
she said, stopping next to the rolling station. “That’s probably all it is.”

Sherry grabbed four sets of silver and tapped Colby on the shoulder. “Now get to work,
lazy bones,” she teased. She scooted off to man more tables and the second Colby was
alone again, her worried frown made its reappearance. Lazy was the opposite of what
she was. Since leaving the hospital that morning, Colby had changed into her own clothes,
washed a load of laundry, scoured the kitchen sink, inventoried the walk-in, and even
cleaned the bathrooms. She’d just completed her
second
impressive pyramid of silver when the wail of a siren came from outside.

Like, right outside.

Concerned murmurs broke out as the patrons closest to the windows stood from their
tables. The sound grew louder, closer, and more customers joined them, blocking Colby’s
line of sight.

“Did something happen to the building across the street?” she asked aloud, worried
about the historic Southern style home, but her question was lost in the excited chatter.
The wail seemed to come to a stop just outside Robicheaux’s and Colby bolted to see
what was happening.

“Excuse me,” she said, politely shouldering her way past customers gathered near the
front of the restaurant. Cane stood head and shoulders above everyone else near the
main door and she raised her voice to ask, “Cane, can you see what’s happening?”

Flashing red lights highlighted his wide grin, dimple in full view—an odd reaction
to an emergency, she thought, but maybe it wasn’t as bad as she’d thought. But then
he grew serious, wiping any trace of amusement from his face. “You better come with
me, Colby. I think you’ll want to see this.”

The solemnness of his voice paired with the intense look in his eyes got Colby’s feet
moving double-time. More than a few of the customers grinned in her direction, another
weird reaction, and when she reached Cane she asked, “What on earth’s going—”

He yanked her outside the door.

“—on?” Colby blinked, unable to process what she was seeing.

A fire truck was indeed parked in their lot. The siren had been silenced, but red
lights still flashed. A semi-circle of fire fighters dressed in uniform stretched
on either side, joined by handfuls of familiar civilians. But they weren’t fighting
a fire. They were just standing there, smiling.

That was enough to put the wrinkle of confusion on her forehead, but it wasn’t what
had Colby blinking her eyes like a crazy-eyed chica. No,
that
was due to the highly adorable, brightly colored, handmade banner attached to the
ladder on the truck that said:
Will You Marry Us???

Colby’s jaw gaped open. She was definitely dreaming.

As if to prove that this wasn’t some wonderful stirring of her imagination, Sherry
suddenly appeared by her side, latching onto her right hand. Cane grabbed the left.

Colby looked up at her big brother with a question in her eyes, and he smiled.

“I was worried you’d both get hurt,” he explained, referring to his obvious prior
objections. “I see now I was wrong.” When Colby mock-gasped in shock, Cane shrugged.
“What can I say? Even
I’m
wrong from time to time. Guess no one’s completely perfect.”

Sherry snorted. “Lord, it’s getting deep out here.”

Cane chuckled and ducked down to press a kiss on the top of Colby’s head. “Make each
other happy,” he whispered.

Awed, Colby nodded and looked out at the wide arc of friendly faces. If her hands
weren’t otherwise occupied, she’d pinch herself to prove this was happening. Sharon
and the Chief were front and center in the pack, Jason’s dad smiling and his mom dabbing
at her eyes. To her right was old Mrs. Thibodeaux, who for an old lady seemed to pop
up everywhere in Magnolia Springs. Jake from Jake’s Seafood, Missy from LeJeune’s
bakery, and Tootsie from Trosclair’s Convenience store were all there, too. It was
like a strange, Cajun version of
The Wizard of Oz.
Of course, the arc was mainly made up of fire fighters, a few of whom Colby recognized
from Taste the Heat and the hospital yesterday. And then there was Angelle.