Page 74 of Valentine's in Bayberry

He went to give her a hug but then hesitated. He didn’t want to hurt her injured arm. Instead, he kissed her cheek.

When he sat down in a hard plastic chair next to the bed, he asked, “What happened?”

“Oh, I wasn’t paying attention. I tripped over a book I dropped on the floor. I told them I would be fine. That I didn’t need to come here. But they insisted.”

He glanced at her sling. “It appears you aren’t exactly fine.” When he looked at her face again, he noticed a bruise forming on her forehead. “Looks like you got pretty banged up.”

“I’ll be all right. I feel terrible that you had to drive all that way.” Sadness shone in her eyes. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a bother. You should be in London instead of here, taking care of me.”

He reached out for her hand. “I’m right where I need to be.”

It was then that he recalled his valentine’s dinner with Carrie. He knew how slow hospitals operated. He didn’t think he would make it back to Bayberry in time.

He looked at his mother. “Are you up for talking?”

She sat up straighter. “Certainly. What do you have on your mind?”

“It has to do with Carrie.”

His mother smiled brightly. “Do you know that her mother and I always thought we’d one day be in-laws?”

“We definitely need to talk...”

So, her secret valentine was Jackson.

A big smile pulled at the corners of her lips.

Carrie rushed out the back door of the chocolate shop. She slipped and slid on the icy alleyway. When she reached the store next door, she grabbed the door handle. It wouldn’t budge.

When she tried again and it still wouldn’t move, she looked around for Jackson’s vehicle. It was nowhere in sight.

She reached for her phone and tried to call him. The phone rang once before going to voicemail. She hesitated before deciding to hang up. What she needed to say to him should be done in person.

Maybe he was at home. She rushed back to the chocolate shop. She wanted to run home and see him, but when she checked the time, she knew she didn’t have time. In a half hour people would start to show up for their Happy Hearts chocolate.

And so, she stayed and did her job. But as soon as it was over, she blazed through the clean-up.

“I can finish this,” Alice said. “You know, if you have somewhere else to be.”

Normally, Carrie would decline the offer, but this was far from a normal time. “Thank you. I promise to make this up to you.”

“Just go find Jackson.” Alice sent her a knowing smile. “And have a memorable Valentine’s Day.”

Carrie didn’t have to be told twice. She rushed out the door. The drive home was slowed by the falling snow, but it wasn’t anything that she wasn’t used to.

When she reached her parents’ house, she glanced at the house next door. The Wrights’ place was dark. He wasn’t there. Where was he?

She parked, and as was her routine, she grabbed the mail before going into the house. On her way up the driveway, she squinted in the darkness, trying to search the mail for another valentine, but it was just too dark for her to see.

In her rush to get into the house, she dropped the keys. She picked them up and slowed down. This time she got the door unlocked.

She was barely in the house, and the door wasn’t quite shut when she focused on the mail. She flipped through the junk mail and bills until she found a pink envelope with a big red heart sticker.

She smiled. She closed the door, kicked off her boots, and shrugged off her coat. She took the envelope to the family room, where she turned on the light and settled on the couch. She ripped open the envelope and pulled out a handmade valentine. She liked those best.

The cover read:To my Valentine

She opened it and kept reading:

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