Indivisible. Part 49

"I make investments."

"I appreciate the offer, Miles, but ..."

"I want you to stay."

She released a slow breath. "It's a long shot that Sarge will even consider it. Change is hard for him."

"Change is hard."

They went out, and she locked the bakery, then took the box from him.

He said, "Can I see you tonight?"

She smiled. "Okay. We could try out some soup recipes in your big sterile stainless steel kitchen."

"Okay."

She drew a deep breath. "Well, wish me luck."

"You don't need luck. Everything you need is right inside you."

"What a nice thing to say."

"I don't lie."

Tears rose. "I know." She held his gaze like an eye hug, then jumped when a car skidded in the street.

"What the-"

Bob Betters hung an arm out the Camaro window, glaring. "You really do prefer that freak-tard."

She turned stiffly. "He's smarter than you with his brain on hibernate."

He pointed his thick ringed finger. "You caused me a lot of trouble. I haven't forgotten." His tires squealed as the smell of burnt rubber engulfed them.

Coughing, she noticed Miles's bone-white knuckles. "Don't bother. He's just a bully."

Leaning forward in the bed, Jonah stared. "Buckley?"

Tia nodded. "She confided in her good friend Sarge." He was almost crushing her hand, and she wiggled it looser. "What does it change? Neither one of them cared two fish for me."

"Does he know?"

That gave her pause. Maybe he didn't. She looked so much like her mother; neither the mayor nor her erstwhile dad would know by recognizing himself. Would Stella tell Sarge and not Owen Buckley? "Maybe that's why he cut it off-if he was the one who did. The point is, I don't care. I only told you because you're ... the one I've never kept things from."

"Except for two college degrees. A prayer line. EMT certification ..."

"That's just stuff I've done. The EMT isn't even valid still. That was way back when Reba first left, and you were hunting every female that walked."

"I was out of my head, Ti. Self-destructive."

She stared at their joined hands. "I've never had anyone but you."

"Once I got sober, there's been no one but you."

She met his eyes.

"That's the truth. Jay will tell you. I hung on to what I couldn't have rather than settle for someone I didn't want. Even for a night."

"And Reba?"

He shook his head. "No. I wanted her for all the wrong reasons and ... truthfully? We weren't even compatible."

"And you know this because ..."

"I went looking for you. If you hadn't pushed me away-"

"What was I supposed to do? Start dating you? They hated hated me. You talk about shunned? They did everything but wear garlic. I slept on the mountain instead of my bed because the freezing night was warmer than my home." me. You talk about shunned? They did everything but wear garlic. I slept on the mountain instead of my bed because the freezing night was warmer than my home."

Tears filled his eyes. "I didn't know."

"I didn't want you to."

"I should have seen. But I was too messed up, thinking I'd killed the b.a.s.t.a.r.d I'd dreamed of killing for so long."

Through her own tears, she whispered, "How did you make it?"

"G.o.d. And Jay." He rolled her fingers one by one. "And the hope of you."

She wiped a tear. "I thought you hated religion."

"I hated the sham."

"But you go to church. The same one even."

He leaned back, nodding. "G.o.d ... found me there. In my confusion, my disgust, my hatred-G.o.d said it doesn't matter what anyone in these pews says or does. I am."

Tia blinked. "That's profound."

"Jay pulled me through a bender that should have killed me. I was ... so empty. I had nothing left. So I offered that. And in return? Unconditional love." He huffed a breath. "I had no concept."

"Oh, Jonah."

"That's how I held on. It's how I'll make this marriage work."

"How we'll make it work." She kissed his mouth, salted with their tears. "I won't doubt you again."

"I won't give you reason to."

She pressed her hand to his heart. "This is better than how we would have spent this time."

"No."

Laughing, she kissed him again. "Well ..."

He stroked her cheek. "You're the love of my life."

Thirty-One.

Nothing is more n.o.ble, nothing more venerable than fidelity. Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellences and endowments of the human mind.-MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO Following Tia's directions to Jonah's cabin, Piper could not stop thinking about an expanded bakery bistro. There weren't that many restaurants in Redford. The hotel, and the diner, and the Summit Saloon. Hers-Sarge's-would be completely different. She chewed her cuticle. If he'd even consider it.

For the first time she had the urge to pray for something she she wanted. Was that okay too? Tia had said she couldn't mess it up. wanted. Was that okay too? Tia had said she couldn't mess it up. So, G.o.d? I'd really like to stay. Could you give Sarge just a wee little nudge? So, G.o.d? I'd really like to stay. Could you give Sarge just a wee little nudge?

She bit down on the nail and remembered Jonah. Show the confidence to do the job. She pulled the fingernail out from her teeth and knocked on the door.

Jonah's cabin was nothing like Miles's home, but no less appealing. She could smell the lumber of the new part built onto the back. She smelled the wood smoke from the chimney. Gripping the box, she knocked again.

She heard the sc.r.a.pe and b.u.mp of the walker long before he opened the door. "Hi, Sarge."

"Where's the fire?"

"Sorry. I wasn't sure you could hear the knocking in the back."

"What's that?" He zeroed in on the box.

"This is a sampling of specials I've made since you said I could. I want you to decide which ones should be keepers."

"Why should I decide?"

"Well, I thought I'd know by which ones sold and which ones didn't. But they all sell out, so I thought you could judge."

"Oh, you did, did you?" But he moved aside to let her in.

She opened the box on the table, and the fresh, mingled aromas rose like ambrosia. "Willing to try?"

He sat down, growling. "You won't go away unless I do."

She beamed. "Start with the wild huckleberry maple sugar coffeecake." She cut a corner and handed it to him. "I might not be able to get huckleberries all the time, but I bet good old blueberries would work too."

He ate the piece with a shifting emotion that was the polar opposite of Miles's poker face. Brow buckled, he closed his eyes, chewing and swallowing, then groaned.

"Sarge?"

He put his palms flat on the table and opened his eyes. "What tomfoolery did you pull to make something so ..."

"Yummy?"

He glowered. "What's next?"

She had started him on her very favorite-Miles's too-so he'd be likely to continue. "Why don't you choose?"

"What is this, a game?"

"This is serious business, Sarge." And she hadn't even broached the most serious part. "Try the sage and lemon salmon puff."

"Fish pastry?" He scrunched his face. "No, thanks."

"Then the apple smoked-turkey arugula croissant."

"Croissants are too time consuming." But he accepted the part she cut for him and popped it in his mouth with another attempt at disinterest. Humoring her.

"They are complicated, but I've got the process down so it's not unreasonable. I think the results are worth it. But you're the judge."

"Sure I'm the judge," he grumbled. "Don't think I can't see mutiny."

"No mutiny, I promise. But I want to talk to you about something. You know how Tia's closing the shop next-door?"

"Closing her mother's store." He shook his head.

"What would you think about expanding? We could knock down the wall and make it a bakery bistro serving breakfast and lunch, with your old favorites and my new specials."

He stared at her as though she'd told him he had three days to live.

"If the Pine Crest annexation happens and with all the new development, we'd have the population to support another restaurant. We're already known for the best baked goods-"

"Were known. Not sure that's still so."

"You bet it is."

He scowled. "Even if you're right, you think I'm made of money? Paying you is all the expanding I can afford."

"What if you had a partner?"

"You?"

She shook her head. "A silent financial partner investing in both of us."

His eyes reddened. "That store has served this community for thirty years. Now you want to change it."

"It would be a change."

Sarge slumped. "Who's this silent partner?"