Page 36 of Just Can't Fall for the Enemy

“I talked to her at the reception. Interesting, but not what I’m looking for.”

“Why don’t you interview Mari, the baker? Or those farmers from the other day? I’m sure they have some pretty funny stories.”

“Sophie.” He gave a self-deprecating laugh and shook his head. “I’m asking if you’d consider letting me share yours.”

I stared at him, letting his words sink in. Then I continued in a rush. “How about Helen, with the black hair and bright-red dress? She has seven children. Some of her stories are hilarious. Oh, look—she’s coming over here.”

“Sophie.” He put his hand over mine as if to quiet me. “At least consider it. I know a lot of people would be touched by what you’ve been through. But if you aren’t comfortable with that, all you have to do is say no.”

“No.”

His hand recoiled for a second, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

I forced a smile. “Sorry. You’re right. I don’t feel comfortable with that. Thanks for asking first. I don’t mind being in a few clips, but I don’t want them to know anything about me.”

He studied me for a long moment, disappointment in his eyes, and finally nodded. “Okay. You have my word.”

Just then, Helen arrived with a plate of food in one hand and a toddler in the other. “Are these seats taken?”

“They’re all yours. Helen, have you met Tanner?”

“No, I haven’t,” she said, grinning so wide I could see every single one of her straight, white teeth. She’d worked as a dental hygienist once upon a time. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Carmichael. My kids are obsessed with your show.”

She found a seat and started to ask questions between bites and directing her little ones. I watched Tanner carefully, but he seemed to have gotten over his disappointment already. None of our earlier tension remained. Every smile, every laugh, every question was genuine, and he seemed to be truly interested in what Helen had to say. He even pulled out his phone and asked her to repeat something so he could record it. Maybe it would all be okay after all.

After the luncheon, we helped clean up and carry the tables to the storage shed behind the chapel. Mari, wearing her bakery name tag even though everyone knew her, grabbed my elbow when Tanner wasn’t looking and pulled me over to whisper. “I hoped you would snag him before he left town. You’ve always been a smart girl.”

“I don’t know if he’s officially snagged,” I replied, watching him single-handedly carry a table like it was nothing. His sleeves did little to hide the muscles flexed beneath, and I wasn’t the only one noticing. Lucille stood in the corner with her arms folded, pouting, her short dress seemingly unnoticed by her target.

“Oh, he’s snagged. I’ve been watching how he stares at you.” Mari gave me a quick side hug. “Your mama would have liked him, too, I bet. Much better than that Alan character. This is one you can trust with your heart.”

I swallowed at that, hoping she was right. “But how do you know? He’s only been here five days.”

“Sometimes fiveminutesis long enough to know. Your heart will tell you if you listen to it. In fact, I remember your mama giving me similar advice before I married Calvin. It took me months to accept that she was right, and I’d been guided all along.”

I stared at her. “You never told me that. You two are such a perfect couple. What stopped you from jumping in?”

“A previous heartbreak. Trusted someone I shouldn’t have and then stopped trusting my feelings when the right one came along. Deep down, I think I felt I deserved to be punished. That I had to atone for the first one before I could truly be whole for the second. You know?” She peered at me as if looking into my soul. “No, you probably don’t.”

I took a deep breath and released it, feeling the internal conflict ease a bit. “You’d be surprised.”

She clapped her hands on my shoulders. “Well, then. Trust me when I say you deserve this. Lord knows you’ve suffered enough. Happiness will find you if you don’t drive it away before it can take hold.”

“Thank you, Mari,” I said, squeezing her hand. “I don’t know where I’d be without you.”

“The whole town would be slightly lighter without me, I wager,” she said, patting her soft tummy with a laugh. “Oh, but pastries do soothe the soul. Come by sometime so your boyfriend can try a few.”

That meant bringing him by in the next thirty hours because Tanner intended to leave tomorrow by sunset. But I didn’t want to dampen her smile, so I nodded. “You bet.”

Feeling rooted to the floor with the weight of the moment, I watched her carry the empty pastry boxes away.

Deep down, I felt that I deserved to be punished,Mari had said. That I had to atone for the first one before I could truly be whole for the second.

Did I feel the same way about Alan? Had I been scared of my instant chemistry with Tanner and concocted a reason to hate him because at my core I believed I didn’t deserve to love again?

Near the parking lot, I caught sight of Nate in his wheelchair. He watched a group of kids playing ball with a wistfulness that stabbed my gut. He seemed happy most of the time, but like most kids who’d survived terrible accidents, he seemed to have moments where reality hit harder than others.

“Everything okay?” Tanner asked, wiping his dusty hands on his pants and coming to a stop in front of me. “You look a little sad.”

---