Page 35 of Forever Endeavor

CHAPTER 11

Billie

I splashed a shock of cold water on my face in the men’s room, wondering if I should kiss you. Ask you out on a date? Beg you to marry me on the spot? You had glamour, wealth and doors of opportunity about to open ahead of you, while nothing I could offer amounted to more than a fifth of whiskey. Yet, I could not shake the notion that being in the presence of an angel had resuscitated me with the reminder that there is still good left in the world.

Returning to our table, my heart pounded wildly with a fool’s anticipation. But you were gone. I would have questioned whether you had been a dream-like apparition, if it not for a napkin bearing traces of your lipstick. I went back to that diner for months, hoping to discover what had happened to you, but it was not meant to be. Yet, the time spent in your company buoyed me above the seas of self-loathing and the idea of leaving this world suddenly became less appealing than the promise of seeing your beautiful face one more time.

I have never given up that hope as a sliver of you remains in my heart. Serendipity and a snowstorm brought us together once before, and I promised myself that should I ever fulfill the dream of seeing you again, I would not waste a moment before telling you how grateful I am that we met. You saved me, and by reviving me, gave me reason to live and to love again.

Orchestrating a reunion for Cal and his mystery woman would be icing on the cake of the storybook romance baking in Billie’s hot little imagination. She had opened an account on the Star-Crossed Connections website and posted about the young, shell-shocked cop and the debutante fleeing a fate of being married to a man she did not love. Along with the ultra-fake alias “John Smith,” she included Cal’s photo in uniform, hoping it would stand out among the thousands of lovelorn souls searching for the ones who got away, as well as spark familiarity to the right pair of eyes. Billie sent the message into cyberspace and then sat back with a smile, content to let destiny take over.

That evening at dinner, Sonny and Cal were more focussed on shoveling in food than talking. It made perfect sense now that Billie was keenly aware of the longstanding tension between the two men, but she was hungry for more scintillating discussion than the sound of chewing punctuated by an occasional grunt or burp.

“And how was your day, Billie?” she said aloud to herself. “Oh, I had a lovely day, Billie, thanks for asking. By the way, I have some good news to share! I began working on my new novel today. So far, the research is going very well, and the characters and outline are shaping up quite nicely.” She squeezed lemon over her pan-fried fish until her plate was glistening in a puddle of juice. “Good for you, girl. That does sound promising. I can’t wait to find out what your story is all about.”

Sonny and Cal finally looked up from their plates. “Congratulations,” Cal said with a grin. “You busted through the writer’s block.”

“I don’t want to bite off more fish than I can chew, but it looks promising. Things are still in the plotting stage, so I haven’t actually written much yet, but it looks promising. Only issue is, I’m not sure I can write my novel here.”

Sonny’s brow creased. “Why not? You have your laptop with you, right?”

“Yes, but I need to work with minimal distraction. I can’t do that on the kitchen table.”

“What’s wrong with your room upstairs?” he asked. “Princess got a pea under her mattress?”

“Har de har. It’s best that I don’t work where I sleep so I can power down my brain at night,” she said. “But I did think of a place where I could probably get a lot of work done. I’ll set up an office in cabin three.”

“Cabin three?” Cal looked at Sonny and they both barked out laughing.

“I know it’s not luxurious, but it is peaceful, it has a lakeside view, and no one else is using it. It’s idyllic, other than the occasional bird and the obvious bucket-for-a-bathroom issue.”

“Wouldn’t you rather be in cabin one? It has running water,” Cal said. “So do cabins two, four and five for that matter.”

Billie glared at Sonny. “What the hell? Then why’d you stick me in cabin three?”

He snickered as his shoulders shook. “I thought it’d be funny.”

“Son of a—” She shook her head, trying to keep from laughing along with them.

“Look at it this way,” Cal said, wiping away a tear, “if I hadn’t found you swatting at that poor bird, we may not be in your company tonight. I’d say things worked out fine. Besides, we both kinda like having you around here, don’t we, Sonny?”

Sonny shrugged.

Billie smirked. “Gee thanks, I’m touched.”

“Sonny’s got all the keys at the garage. Swing by and take your pick.”

Chatter gave way to silence again until Sonny spoke up. “I have news too,” he said, clearing his throat. “Melissa wants the house back. We have to move out before the end of this month.”

Billie dropped her fork. “Wait a minute…what? I thought this was your place.”

“Technically, it still belongs to my ex,” Sonny said, defeat clouding his eyes. “And that’s not all. While serving my eviction notice, Chad dropped the bomb that they’re getting married and have a kid on the way.”

“Who’s Ch—?” Wait a minute. Chad was the buddy who helped Sonny build that clubhouse on the island. Oh shit,thatChad screwed Sonny’s wife? The gloomy expression on his face was all she needed to connect the rest of the dots. “Never mind, got it. I’m sorry.”

He shrugged. “It is what it is. She wants this dump, then she can have it.”

Billie shook her head. “But she can’t uproot your entire life on a whim.”

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