Thwarting Cupid (20 page)

Unable to stand anymore, he interrupted. “I’m going to bed.” He turned on his heel and stalked away.

“Hutch, wait!” he heard Carissa call after him, but didn’t break stride. He even sped up when he heard her chasing him down the hall. He took the stairs two at a time up to his room and closed the door.

She shoved it open and strode inside. “What is your problem?”

She wanted to do this now? He was exhausted and had used up his filter with Trudy.

“My problem? You want to know what my problem is? Well, I‘ll tell you. I’ve just had one of the worst days of my life and I come home to find my girl laughing it up with some other guy in front of a cozy, romantic fire after she couldn’t be bothered to show up and support me at all. That’s my problem.”

She slammed the door and planted her hands on her hips. She looked furious. Though, for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what she could be mad about. He was the wronged party here.

“So let me get this straight. You leave me alone in this monstrosity of a house with no way of knowing where you are, what you’re doing and when or even how to get there, but you’re pissed at me for not showing up? Brilliant, Hutch.”

“What are you talking about? Trudy left you a detailed itinerary since I thought it was rude to drag you out at the crack of dawn.”

“There is no detailed itinerary, Hutch. I was stuck in this house by myself until Del came back this afternoon. And when exactly were you going to tell me about the ball? You know I didn’t bring a gown.”

“It was on the itinerary,” he insisted.

“Oh, yeah. The itinerary Trudy never gave me. Great. And speaking of Trudy…she’s pretty possessive of you. What’s that story?”

“There’s no story.” God forbid. He’d rather slit his wrists first. Given his recent wound, he didn’t take that notion lightly. “Not like there apparently is with you and Del. You just met the guy, Carissa. What the heck?”

“I’m not allowed to make new friends? Is that what you’re saying? Just the other day, you were griping about me being disconnected. Make up your mind.”

“I have made up my mind.” Ignoring the throbbing in his arm, he grabbed her shoulders and did what he should’ve done days ago. He kissed her. Or at least Hutch tried to. She turned her head so he got her cheek instead. He didn’t care. He could work with that.

“I know you are not trying to turn our first kiss into some stunt because you have something to prove.”

He froze, his lips still on her jaw. Was that what he was doing? He straightened up and looked at her. “I’m not kissing you because I have something to prove. That’s ridiculous.”

Carissa pulled away from him and strode to the door. “I can live with ridiculous. I won’t live with being a prize in some stupid, non-existent game.” She pulled the door open. “Take your pills. You look like you’re in pain.” Before he could respond, she closed the door with a quiet click.

Hutch stumbled over to his bed and sat down. How had he managed to make such a mess of things with Carissa? He longed to go after her, but he had no idea how to set things right. He was so tired he’d probably just say something else stupid to Carissa and make it worse. He decided to follow her advice. Things would be better in the morning.

Hutch rubbed the bridge of his nose. The only upside to this whole mess was that his face seemed to be healing well. He dug the pill bottle out of his bag and popped one in his mouth. He winced at the taste, but swallowed it without water.

He spied his sketch pads on the table and pulled one from under several others. Lying back on the bed, he flipped through the pages until he found the portrait he’d done of Carissa several years ago. He had to make things right in the morning. He closed his eyes and dropped off to sleep still clutching the portrait.

* * * *

Carissa stared out the window from where she huddled in bed. She couldn’t believe it was morning already. She’d hardly slept at all the night before. The fight she’d had with Hutch still weighed on her mind. Had she a made a fatal mistake by not letting him kiss her? With a sigh, Carissa rolled to her back.

No. He’d had plenty of opportunities, but he’d chosen a moment when he was trying to show someone up. Call her crazy, but when they kissed, she wanted it to be about them. Of course, that was assuming there would be a next time after their little falling out. It was very possible she’d shut down that possibility for good.

There was a knock on the door. She didn’t get a chance to answer before Hutch pushed it open a bit and poked his head inside. “Good. You’re awake.”

“I’m awake, but I’m not sold on the idea that it’s good just yet.” Carissa sat up, but tucked the blankets around her like a shield. She was
 
glad to see him, but wary at the same time. Was he coming in to tell her they were over before they’d gotten started?

He cracked a brief smile, then came in and closed the door behind him. Was that good or bad? Was he gearing up for round two? Was that why he wanted privacy?

“I brought you something.” He held up a sheet of paper and crossed the room to sit on the edge of the bed.

“An itinerary. How thoughtful.” Even though she’d been determined to let yesterday go, her words came out pretty snarky. Great going, Carissa. Way to kill a peace offering.

“You’re still upset. I don’t blame you.” He handed her the sheet. “I just don’t want today to be a repeat. Although, we’re already off to a good start since you’re awake this morning.”

She frowned. What did he mean by that? He forged on before she could ask.

“Anyway, the times and locations for each event is listed on the sheet. I’ve already programmed the addresses into the GPS.” He handed her the keys to his car.

Her anger dissipated at his thoughtfulness. How could she stay mad at him when he was being this sweet and addressing her concerns? If he could move past their fight, so could she. She looked over the paper. “Seriously. Who schedules a picnic right before a ball?”

He smiled. “You noticed that, too.” Hutch tapped the page. “On the bright side, the ball is here so we can disappear whenever we feel like it.”

“I like the sound of that.” She took his uninjured hand in hers and looked in his eyes. “Thank you.”

“I’m not finished,” he informed her.

Carissa tensed again. Was the other shoe about to drop? He didn’t look like he was still upset. If anything, Hutch looked…nervous? What was that about? He reached in his jacket pocket and pulled out a little velvet box. Her heart sped up.

“Hutch, what is that?” She eyed it with a wary look on her face. That couldn’t be a… Not this fast.

“Just in case things go sideways again today. I wanted to make sure I gave this to you first thing. Happy birthday, Carissa.”

Her mouthed dropped opened. He remembered her birthday? No one ever remembered her birthday. It was part of the burden of having it fall on Valentine’s Day. People were always
 
busy celebrating with their significant others, they never gave her a thought. She never made a big deal about it. Just figured it was her lot in life. Even her parents had forgotten one year.

“I never told you it was my birthday.” The joy that had started to blossom in her heart deflated when a thought occurred to her. “Oh. You’ve been on Facebook.”

He shook his head. “I haven’t been online today,” he reassured her. “And you did tell me. Way back when we were working together.”

“You remembered all this time?”

“Kinda hard to forget since it’s also Valentine’s Day. A double whammy, I remember thinking.”

Carissa laughed. “Perhaps under some circumstances.” She opened the box and gasped when she saw the necklace nestled inside. She was both relieved and humbled. Relieved he wasn’t asking her to change her entire life based on a couple weeks together. Humbled he thought enough of her to give her this magnificent necklace. “Oh my. It’s so beautiful.”

“And just to be clear, I bought it for you on Tuesday. I don’t want you thinking that I’m trying to prove anything.” He winked.

She bit her lip. “Yeah, about that…”

“Jimmy? We’ve gotta go,” Trudy called down the hallway. Her voice sounded like she was approaching.

“It’s forgotten.” Hutch leaned over and kissed her forehead, then hopped up from the bed when there was a knock on the door. Without waiting for an answer, Trudy poked her head inside.

“There you are. We must be going if we’re going to make it to the starting point in time to get your instructions.”

“I’ll be there in a minute,” he said. Carissa hoped the woman would give them another moment alone. There was still much to be said and she didn’t want an audience. She hoped in vain, because Trudy pushed the door all the way open and leaned against it.

“Good morning, Carissa. Did you sleep well?”

“I did. Thank you,” she lied and tucked the velvet box behind a fold in the comforter.

“I’ll see you at the parade,” Hutch reminded her.

“I’ll be there,” she reassured him. Trudy hustled him from the room.

When the door closed behind them, Carissa checked the itinerary he’d given her. She still had a couple hours before the parade was to begin. She set the alarm on her phone and settled back under the covers for a quick nap. Hutch’s gift remained clutched in her hand.

* * * *

Carissa ran into Del on the way out the door and they decided to carpool to the parade route. He showed her where to park. They walked together toward the street where people were already gathered.

Del took in all the folks bundled up in heavy coats, hats and mittens along the town’s main thoroughfare and shook his head. “Seriously. You’d think they’d reconsider a parade in February.”

Carissa chuckled. “Careful, there. Your outsiderness is showing.”

“And yours isn’t?” He cocked his head to the all-white crowd. Carissa did stand out a bit.

“Good point.”

A sharp whistle blew, signaling the start of the parade. Carissa craned her neck to find Hutch. She elbowed Del and pointed. “There he is! Looks like he’s fourth.”

A float with HTHS painted all over it began down the route.

“Who’s that?” she asked Del and tried to contain a giggle. The float sucked at setting a steady speed. It lurched forward, stopped, then sped off again only to repeat the process in another few yards.

“That would be the high school.” Del shook his head. “I swear I’ve sent each one of those kids back to driving school at least twice each.”

She bit the insides of her cheeks. “I don’t think it took.”

Del winced when the float came dangerously close to the crowd, righted itself, then continued down the route.

The Grand Marshal was next. His uniform, with its pressed creases, made him a striking figure in the back of the bright red convertible in which he rode–when the car wasn’t jostling him about while trying to keep pace with the float in front of it, anyway. The man grabbed his huge hat and gripped the edge of the car for dear life.

After the third jolt, he slid down in the seat and yelled at the driver, “Let them fool kids go! Just drive the route.”

Carissa clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Del looked everywhere except at the parade. Snickers skittered amongst the rest of the crowd, but they managed not to laugh aloud either. Barely.

The Color Guard was next. Three high school-aged kids carried the American flag, the California flag and what Carissa assumed was the town flag. They marched along, sharp and proud, bringing some dignity to the parade. Just in time. Hutch was next.

He waved at the crowd from the back of a light blue convertible. Carissa clapped and cheered him on. He spotted her in the crowd and grinned at her direction. Trudy rode beside him and waved to the people like she were a queen on her throne.

“Awww. They make such a cute couple,” a woman near Carissa gushed. “He should just hurry up and propose already. I wonder what he’s waiting for.”

Carissa looked at the woman and fingered the necklace Hutch had given her just that morning. Why did people around here assume he and Trudy were together? Del elbowed her, dragging her from her thoughts.

“Ignore it. Small town.”

She nodded and forced her attention back to the parade. A banner introducing the Hutchin Town Mighty Eagles cleared the way for a small marching band. She was surprised at how full and well-rehearsed they sounded. Arabian horses trotted along in formation behind the band. The rotund mayor who reminded Carissa of a penguin followed the horses in a black convertible. She knew who he was because Del kept up a running commentary to introduce her to the key players of the area.

From where they were standing on the corner of Main Street and First, Carissa could see through to the next block behind the crowd. She couldn’t be sure, but she sure though she saw Hutch running back along the parade route like the hounds of hell were on his tail.

She shook her head. It must be hallucinations brought on by lack of sleep. Then she saw some kids with instruments dash by, too. She nudged Del. “Did you see that?”

“See what?”

“There are people running along the next block. What do you think that’s about?”

“What people? Everyone in town is here at the parade. There are no people left to run the next block.”