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Before he could respond one of the crew members waved Tom over to the work trailer. “Hey, Tom, can you come take a look at this?” It was Hard Hat. He spotted Allie and his face split into a grin. “God Almighty, it’s the Flaky Biscuit. Hey!” He shouted, “See that?” He pointed to where the building had once stood. “It’s all gone! What do you think about that? Huh?”
“I take it he doesn’t like me,” she whispered to Tom. She smiled and waved to Hard Hat. “Thank you for your help the other day, Keith! I really appreciate it!”
Hard Hat frowned, like he was confused by her friendliness.
Tom grinned. “Oh, it’s not that he doesn’t like you. He thinks you’re, um…interesting.”
“Right.”
Tom turned serious again. “So, what do you mean maybe forever?”
She found herself shuffling from foot to foot. Any second now, she’d start her babbling. “The thing is, I think I might have a story after all. I’m going to work on it with Roger Van Cleave. Actually, I’m going to move in with him.”
Tom raised a brow at that. “Go on.”
“And, it just doesn’t feel right leaving now, what with Mimi and Zeke and their current situation.”
“That’s it? That’s why you’re staying?”
She took a deep breath. And there it was. Lemons. Jean Nate. Despite the fact that no one else seemed to smell it, it was there. Sure as Allie had a nose to sniff it out with. Maybe the Jean Nate was like Roger’s pennies. Wishful thinking. Like believing that the music in her head had been put there by Buela. But who’s to say it hadn’t been? What had Lauren said? That maybe some things weren’t meant to be figured out.
If Roger thought the pennies were a sign from his late wife telling him that everything was okay, why couldn’t the Jean Nate be a sign from Buela telling Allie that it was time to get on with her life? That she’d forgiven Allie for shutting her out in those last couple of days? And that it was way past time Allie forgave herself. “You know, your ex is a really smart woman.”
Tom narrowed his eyes. “Because she divorced me?”
“Remind me to thank her for that one day.” Roger told her she should go with her instincts. She was doing that with her story. Now it was time to put those instincts to work on her personal life, as well. “The real reason I stopped by is that I never told you the fourth part to my life plan.”
He stilled. “The one you don’t tell anyone?”
“Do you want to hear it?”
He nodded slowly.
Here goes everything.
“I want to tell someone I love them again. And I want to mean it, with all my heart. Like I did with you twelve years ago. I loved you, Tom. I really did. And I know I was only eighteen and so damn stupid—”
He slapped his hand over her mouth. “Shut up.”
Allie could feel her eyes widen.
“Sorry to ruin your part four, but I’m not going to let you be the first one to say it again. So, here goes. I love you,” he said quietly. “I think I loved you all those years ago, too, and I think a part of you knows that. The minute you showed me that ghost detector app? I was already gone. Head over heels. I’ve got it bad, and whatever it takes, no matter how much time you need, I can wait. Hell, I’ll wait another twelve years if you need it, but I hope it’s not going to take you that long.” He went to take his hand from her mouth, then stopped. “And you want to know the real reason I didn’t hit Zeke back? I mean, yeah, I deserved it, but more importantly, I don’t think it’s good form to hit your future brother-in-law.” He removed his hand. “You can start talking now.”
“I can’t believe you told me to shut up. Wait. Was that a proposal?”
“Did it sound like a proposal? When I ask you to marry me, you’ll know all right.”
“Oh, okay, just checking.”
“I thought we could start by going out on a date. Maybe tonight? There’s this new seafood place I’ve been wanting to try out.” He reached out and cupped her chin and stared into her eyes with an intensity that nearly buckled her knees. He loved her. Tom Donalan loved her. And she loved him back.
“All right,” she squeaked, “but only if you take me parking afterward. There’s this little place I know over by the bridge…”
He smiled and it was like no smile Allie had ever seen before.
It had been a long time since Allie had visited her mother and Buela. They were buried next to each other in what most people in town called the “new” section of Whispering Bay Memorial Gardens. Fresh flowers adorned both graves. Pink roses on her mom’s, and daisies on Buela’s. “Zeke always did like showing me up,” Allie muttered.
A cold burst of air swept through the cemetery, causing Allie to tighten her jacket. It was January and according to the weather man, temperatures were supposed to drop into the low thirties tonight.
