Home on Apple Blossom Road (Life in Icicle Falls) (21 page)

Chapter Fifteen

T
alk to Pat. That was simple enough. “It looks like you’re our next clue,” Colin said.

“It so happens that I am. I knew your grandmother for years. She was quite the woman.”

Yeah, she was. And now she was gone. She’d never see him get married, never meet his kids, never see him...go somewhere in life. That made him feel doubly sad.

“And she thought you were quite the special young man. She bragged about you, about what a help you were to your grandfather with the orchard, how you pitched right in when the men were putting the addition on your church.”

A lot of the teen boys had helped. That was nothing special. And all this talk about his grandmother was making his chest hurt. “No offense, Mrs. York, but could you just give us our next clue?”

“No offense taken. I’m sorry, though. I can’t. Your grandmother warned me you wouldn’t have the patience to stand around and talk. However, I’m afraid that’s what you’re going to have to do.”

Colin frowned, feeling both chastised and annoyed. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Mia biting back a smile. He sighed. “Okay, what else are you supposed to tell us?”

“A little more about your grandmother. How much do you know of her life after your grandfather died?”

What was there to know? She hung out with the church ladies, baked apple pies and asked about his love life every time she saw him. He shrugged.

“Funny how easy it is to think of old people as not really having a life. Their job is to exist on the periphery of ours, to cheer us on and admire our exploits. But your grandmother wasn’t the kind of woman to sit on the sidelines, even after she reached an age when people might have thought that was all she was good for. Your grandmother had her share of losses, as we all do if we live long enough, but she never stopped living life to the fullest. Two shop owners here in town are still in business because she lent them money when they were struggling. And she was writing a cookbook with Beth. Did you know that?”

“No,” Mia said. “I wonder why Aunt Beth hasn’t told me.”

“Well, she’s had other things on her mind lately,” Pat said. “Anyway, they were going to self-publish it and sell it here in the store. I do hope Beth completes it.”

“I do, too,” Mia said.

So did Colin. All those delicious things Gram made—it would be great to have them in writing so they didn’t get lost. More than that, though, it would be like keeping part of her alive and with them.

“And she had a secret,” Pat continued.

“What kind of secret?” Mia asked.

“I can’t tell you yet. But I
can
tell you that you’ll get closer to learning it if you look in the nonfiction section,” Pat said, pointing to a far corner of the store.

“So our clue’s in one of those books?” Colin asked.

“Yes, it is,” said Pat.

“That’s a lot of books.”

“Yes, it is. Don’t make a mess while you’re looking.”

“If you want to take off, I can look and then call you when I find something,” Mia offered. “I know this is complicating things for you.”

Things
being Lorelei. He wondered what she was doing now. And who she was doing it with.

But tired as he was of the game, there was no way he was leaving it. Anyhow, he wanted to know what Gram’s big secret had been.

“Come on,” he said, and trudged to the nonfiction section.

“If you start at the top, I can start at the bottom over here,” Mia said, pointing a couple of shelves over. “Then we can meet in the middle.”

“Works for me,” Colin said, and took a cookbook from the shelf. Gram writing a cookbook. Who knew?

There was nothing in the book. He picked up another. Nothing in that one, either, or the next three.

He moved on to books on knitting and struck out there, as well.

Now he understood the meaning of that old saying about looking for a needle in a haystack. Mountain Escape Books carried books on every imaginable subject—gardening, health, money management, business, how to lose weight, how to gain confidence. Several shelves were dedicated to biographies of everyone from Nikola Tesla to Charles Dickens, not to mention the latest reality show celebs. One of these books would have a folded piece of pink stationery between its pages. The cookbooks and gardening books were probably the best bet. Hopefully, he’d stumble on it in a few minutes.

Half an hour later, he’d gone through every cookbook, gardening book, sewing book, do-it-yourself book and self-help shrink book on the shelves, and nothing. Mia wasn’t having any luck, either. And, checking the time on his phone, he saw they were down to fifteen minutes until the store closed.

He was about to return the phone to his pocket when Lorelei called. “Are you still in that bookstore?” she demanded.

“Yes.”

“Well, are you about done?”

“No.” He was never going to be done. He was going to spend the rest of his life wandering around Icicle Falls looking for clues, like some old miner searching for El Dorado.

“Well, how much longer?”

He could feel a pain starting behind his eyes. To match the pain in the butt at the other end of the call. “I’m not psychic, Lorelei. I have no way of knowing.” Why did he feel that every time they talked they were covering old ground? “I told you not to come.”

“Yeah, and I think you did that so you could mess around with some old girlfriend,” Lorelei snapped. This from the woman who was picking up guys in Bavarian Brews?

Patience, never Colin’s strong suit, vanished. “Damn it all, Lorelei, it’s enough that I have to deal with losing my grandma and wandering all over town remembering things I’d like to forget. I don’t need you ragging on me on top of everything else.”

“Ragging on you?
Ragging
on you?”

Maybe that reaction had been a little extreme. “Okay, I’m sorry.”

“Well, sorry doesn’t cut it. I’ve about had it with you.”

“Yeah? Well, I’ve about had it with you, too.” The words were barely out of his mouth when he realized he’d just committed romantic suicide.

“Are you breaking up with me?” Lorelei’s voice was dangerously quiet.

This wasn’t how he’d meant to have that important conversation. But they’d been edging toward it ever since she came up here, ever since he’d looked around his hometown and started opening his eyes. And his heart. He and Lorelei didn’t belong together. If he was going to be honest with himself, he’d have to admit that, deep down, he’d known it for some time. He’d blamed his reluctance to buy a ring on cold feet. Not ready to give up his freedom, wanting to be sure. Blah, blah. That wasn’t really the problem, though. He’d liked Lorelei a lot. Okay, maybe not so much since she’d come to town and started driving him nuts. But liking wasn’t the same as loving. He was only hanging on for something to hang on to. Dumb. And unfair to her.

He softened his voice. “Lorelei...”

“What?” Not the sweet, soft voice of reconciliation.

That was just as well. “It’s not working between us, you know that.”

“It was until you came up here,” she insisted.

Yeah, it sort of had been. But in the end they would have split. They were destined to go down different paths in life, and regardless of what he found or didn’t find on this crazy hunt, he knew his path led back to Icicle Falls. And Mia. Always Mia. No matter what he did, no matter how he tried to escape the fact, he was bound to her, heart and soul. Time and distance hadn’t changed that. So hanging on to one woman when you were in love with another—not the right thing to do.

“Look, I’m gonna end up here. You want to be in Seattle. You want a gym, I want an orchard.”

“A what? Since when?”

“Since I was a kid.”

“You never told me.”

There was so much he hadn’t told her, whole sections of his life she had no idea about. He’d never told, she’d never asked. What did that say about them? “We don’t belong together.” He looked at Mia as he said this. She was kneeling in front of a row of biographies. She had a book open and was staring at it. Was she hearing what he was saying? Did what he was saying matter to her?

“I came all this way for you,” Lorelei said as if she’d followed him to another country instead of a couple of hours across the state.

“I’m sorry. It looks like you wasted your time.”

“A lot of it. You are such a loser, Colin.”

Yeah, he was, but he was hoping to change that. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

“You know what? I don’t need you,” Lorelei informed him. “I’ve got executives hitting on me at the gym all the time. Executives! And I bet one of them will want to invest in a fitness club.”

“I hope you find one who does,” he said, and he meant it. Even though he didn’t want to be with her anymore, he still wanted her to be happy. He wanted both of them to be happy.

She made one final snort of disgust and then the line went dead. He pushed End and shoved the phone back in his pocket.

Mia looked at him. “Did you just break up?”

“Seems that way.” Lorelei was right. He really was a shitty boyfriend.

Mia frowned.

“What?” What was she thinking?

“Nothing. That seemed a little sudden is all, kind of like a volcano erupting. Are you sure you want to do that?”

He’d hated wounding Lorelei’s pride—but yes, he was sure. “Volcanoes don’t erupt suddenly,” he said. “It only looks like it because you don’t see all the stuff building under the surface.” And there’d been more building under the surface than he’d wanted to admit.

Mia’s gaze shifted away from him. “Is that what happened with us?”

He squatted down next to her. “I honestly don’t know. Sometimes I look back and try to sort it all out, and it’s like a maze I can’t find my way through.”

“You might wind up thinking that about what just happened with Lorelei, too.” Now she did look up, her expression earnest. “You don’t want to do something you’ll regret. Call her back, tell her you made a mistake. Go meet her for drinks. I can finish here.”

He shook his head. “No, that would only drag things out. We weren’t right for each other. It wouldn’t be fair to keep stringing her along.”

“Are you
sure
?”

“Yeah. I’ve made lots of mistakes, but this isn’t one of them. Want me to tell you how I know?”

She bit her lip and nodded, her gaze locked with his.

“Because I’d rather be here with you than hanging with Lorelei.” He winced. What man in his right mind hit on his ex the minute after he’d broken up with his girlfriend?

Mia pressed her lips together and returned the book to the shelf.

“I know that sounds bad,” he said, “but it’s the truth.” She still didn’t say anything so he pressed on. “Have I just been imagining something happening between us these last few days?”

“Colin, I don’t want my heart broken again.”

Wait a minute.
He
was the one who’d had his heart broken. He was about to say so when Pat approached them. “Closing time, you two.”

“But we’re not done,” Colin protested.

“You are for today.”

“Can’t you stay open a little longer?” he pleaded, offering his most ingratiating smile.

She smiled back.

Good. Success.

“Afraid not, even for you. We have a big wine-tasting party over at D’Vine Wines and I promised my husband I’d be there. I’m afraid you’ll have to come back on Monday. I’m sure you two can find something to do over the weekend.”

Wouldn’t you know? The bookstore was one of the few shops that wasn’t open on Sundays. But maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. There was no Lorelei waiting for him now. Colin was free to spend the rest of the weekend with his family. And Mia. Most important, Mia.

“Monday?” Mia repeated weakly. “I have to be back at work on Monday. I’m supposed to fly out tomorrow.”

Pat looked surprised. “So soon?”

“I left Chicago on Wednesday.”

“I would’ve thought you’d be able to take a week,” Pat said. “I give that much to my employees when there’s been a death in the family.”

Mia was shaking her head.

“You must have some vacation time,” Pat persisted.

“I can’t afford to take time right now. We’re working on an important project.”

“I’m sure your boss would understand,” Pat said gently. “I know I would.”

“You couldn’t let us in on Sunday for a while?” Colin asked.

“Sorry, I really can’t. Ed and I will be in Seattle for my daughter’s birthday, and I know all my employees have plans. If it’ll help, you can come in before we open on Monday. I’ll be here at eight.” She looked at her watch. The store phone rang and a moment later Theresa, her right-hand woman, called, “Pat, Ed wants to know if you’re on your way.”

“Tell him yes,” said Pat. “Sorry, kids. I hope you can work this out.”

So did Colin. How were they going to finish their search if she had to leave? How were they going to put their lives back together?

* * *

Mia reluctantly took her phone out of her purse. How did you tell your boss that you wouldn’t be back in the office on Monday as promised because you were in the middle of a treasure hunt? It sounded so crazy. And even if she was searching for a million dollars, she wasn’t sure Andrea would understand. As far as Andrea Blackburn was concerned nothing was more important than the marketing of GF Markets products. Mia knew she needed to show her own dedication, especially now that she was in charge of marketing Sprouted Bliss.

“If you can’t stay, don’t worry. I’ll finish the search and split whatever I find fifty-fifty,” Colin said.

“Really?”

He nodded.

“But we’re supposed to do this together.”

“We have been. In fact, you’ve figured out most of the clues. It’s about time I pulled my weight. Anyway, if you’ve got to get back...”

She did. That shiny new job on the next rung of the corporate ladder could be as easily caught by any number of people. Still...

“Then go. I promise I won’t screw you over.”

So there it was, permission to leave, to return to Chicago, to the life she was building, a safe life with no heartbreak. She liked Chicago. And so what if there was no man waiting for her there? She’d find someone—eventually.