Page 59 of Valentine's in Bayberry

“But then we worked out a system to pick up the speed. Thank goodness.” She glanced at the clock. It was almost time for Happy Hearts.

She hadn’t gotten everything done that she had planned, but she’d put a big dent in the workload. Maybe she could come in extra early the next morning to finish what needed to be done. The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea.

“What are you smiling about?” Alice eyed her suspiciously.

“It’s not a big deal.”

“I beg to differ. That smile on your face says otherwise. So, what’s going on? Does it have something to do with your secret valentine?”

Carrie shook her head. “It’s Jackson. He wants to have dinner. I told him I was too busy and working late.”

Alice smiled and nodded. “And now you aren’t busy, and you don’t have to work late.”

“I promise I’ll be in early tomorrow.”

“What are you telling me for? You’re the boss, remember? You get to make the rules.”

Carrie paused. Alice was right. She was in charge, but that didn’t mean she would slack off.

“So, after tonight’s Happy Hearts event and we clean up, I’m going to take off.”

“We’ll clean up extra fast. We don’t want you to be late for your date.”

Carrie shook her head. “It’s not a date. It’s just two old friends sharing a meal.”

Although, she wouldn’t mind if it was a date. Jackson had really gone out of his way to remind her of how things used to be between them. Now she wondered if things could be that good in the future.

She had a lot of questions and some worries about their future. But Jackson didn’t seem in a rush to leave town. Maybe the emergency with his mother had him re-evaluating his life. The real question was: did Carrie have a part in it?

Chapter Eighteen

So close...

And yet it was another miss.

Jackson couldn’t believe their kiss had been interrupted. He was beginning to think if he didn’t have bad luck where Carrie was concerned, he wouldn’t have any luck at all. Still, he wasn’t giving up. This was way too important to him.

If they hadn’t been interrupted, he was certain they would have kissed. Would it have changed things for them in a positive way? He’d like to think so. But he knew to have a committed relationship with Carrie, it was going to take so much more than a kiss. That was the part of his plan that needed work. Decisions had to be made.

Of course, his boss was making his choice so much easier. After awakening to an irate phone call from Mr. Baldwin, in New York City, Jackson was growing weary. Mr. Baldwin had ordered him back to the office right away because the launch of their latest product was continuing to encounter snags.

Of course, Jackson wanted to point out that the problems were not his nor were they his employees’ fault. The source of theproblem was the responsibility of the development department. There were known bugs with the program that had not been ironed out before they rolled it out.

And yet, Jackson was expected to drop everything to go back to do what? Try to convince their clients that the program was flawless? He was not about to put his professional reputation on the line to boldly lie.

When Jackson stood his ground with his boss, he was told if he wasn’t back in the office by the following Monday, he didn’t have to bother coming back. In a restrained tone, Jackson told Mr. Baldwin that he would be there. After all of the years of devotion to his job, this was the thanks he got. He felt like a fool for sacrificing his personal life for a company that didn’t care about him. He needed to make his happiness the priority, and the rest of his life would fall into place.

Although, he refused to let Mr. Baldwin help him out the door. He would go back and leave on his own terms, even though he wasn’t happy about the circumstances. He told himself not to let it get to him. He already knew he was needed elsewhere—someplace where his presence would be appreciated.

He was moving back to Bayberry. Carrie had inspired him with her entrepreneurial spirit. He loved the idea of being his own boss without a board constantly breathing down his neck for ever-increasing profits.

He liked the idea of slowing down—as his mother would say: taking time to smell the roses. He liked the idea of buying his childhood home and remodeling it to make it more modern. And he liked the idea of sharing that vision with Carrie.

With a plan in mind, he headed to his meeting with Mark. He knew exactly what he wanted them to do with the space. Although the meeting ended up running longer than he’d anticipated, they’d parsed out the necessary details. He didn’t realize just how much planning went into a project of this scale.But with Mark heading up the project, he felt confident it would be done correctly.

It was dinnertime by the time they shook hands and parted. Jackson had a lot of things to do. Since the local bank was already closed for the day, talking to them about a mortgage for the house would have to wait. But he rushed toward the real estate office so he could let Brittany know that she could take the house off the market. There would be no house showings next week after all. No strangers would tramp through his childhood home.

He thought for sure this life-altering decision would make his stomach knot up or cause his head to pound with a stress headache, but none of that happened. Instead, he felt calm, and his steps felt lighter.

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