Page 57 of Christmas at Black Cherry Retreat
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Tom wiped his sweaty hands on his jeans and glanced around the small Knoxville airport. If his grandmother was wrong he was about to make the biggest fool of himself. He’d taken a chance and bought a seat on the earliest flight out of Knoxville to Charlotte and on to New Orleans. If Fee didn’t check in he’d be stumped.
He’d worked non-stop allday and barely finished in time to shower and change and race to the airport. Of course he hadn’t been able to keep his plans quiet because he’d needed his family’s help and everyone had given him their two cents worth. In the end his younger sister, Rayna, who taught at a year round school and had a week off for their equivalent of the normal fall break, volunteered to help him out. She insistedthat looking after a dozen or so guests would be easier than dealing with a classroom full of third-graders. At eight months’ pregnant she intended spending as much time as possible with her feet up. Her husband, Billy, would stay with her every night and all the way through the weekend plus his father promised to do frequent radio checks to make sure Rayna was okay.
In the end they’dshooed him out after insisting they were perfectly capable of reading and following the ten pages of instructions he’d given them.
Tom spotted Fee’s gleaming black hair and air of purpose as she strode down the hallway in his direction. He briefly considered sliding behind the pillar in case she hadn’t noticed him but stood his ground.
‘Please tell me you’re meeting someone orgoing anywhere other than New Orleans.’ For a few seconds Fee’s accusatory tone made him doubt his grandmother’s wisdom.
No woman likes a dishonest man. Tell her where you stand and how you feel. After that it’s up to her.
‘That’d be a lie, sweetheart, and I’m not doin’ that any more.’ Tom’s heart thumped as her eyes flared with surprise. ‘How about we go on through security andfind us a coffee shop?’
‘Fine,’ Fee snapped and hurried away, leaving him to follow along.
It could’ve gone worse. She might have slapped you.
After going through the usual rigmarole involved in travelling these days Tom led the way into a small cafe near their departure gate.
‘I’ll get our drinks if you tell me what you want.’ The disdainful look he received suggestedshe’d be more than happy if he bought a glass of poison and drank it down in one gulp. If this was a woman in love she sure had him fooled.
‘Water will be fine, thank you.’ Fee left him standing there and went to sit at a table in the corner, taking out her phone and not looking at him again.
While he waited for their drinks to be fixed Tom watched her. As neat and self-containedas always, nothing about Fee suggested extreme emotion one way or the other. Tom guessed she used this outward persona while working along with her camera to keep a necessary distance between her and her subjects. The only way he’d get through to the real woman underneath was to break it down. Fee would make it as hard as possible but Tom was through with being a dismal coward.
With anextra shot of espresso in his coffee he was ready.Bring it on, Fee Winter. You’ve met your match.
The determined glint in Tom’s eye as he marched towards her, brandishing two cups, dried up the challenge she’d been about to make and Fee took the one he thrust at her without saying a word.
‘You want to know why I’m here and on your flight?’
She shrugged as if it didn’tmatter to her one way or another but the corners of his mouth twitched. Plainly she hadn’t hidden her interest well enough.Damn the man.
‘Play it whatever way you like. I don’t care. I’ll tell you and if you want me to leave and not go to New Orleans with you I’ll respect your choice.’ A stony cast darkened his face. ‘I won’t like it, but I’m not goin’ where I’m not wanted.’
Fee was intrigued by this new more forceful version of Tom.
‘I’ve been a moron. At least that’s what my grandmother called me when I told her about you.’
She squashed down a smile.
‘You’ve stirred up feelings I didn’t expect to feel again and it scared me.’ His honesty took her breath away. ‘I’d mixed my guilt and grief over Gina with everything else. Might as well havebeen wearing a damn hair shirt.’ Tom’s angry scowl broke out the bubble of laughter hiding inside her and Fee giggled, gulping and struggling to breathe. He glared as though she’d stabbed him through the heart but all of a sudden his deep, rich chuckle filled the room and made everyone turn and stare. ‘Don’t do anything to make me feel better will you?’ Tom seized hold of her hands.
Fromthe first time he ever touched her there’d been something about his quiet, warm strength that spoke to her closed-off heart.
‘Tell me right now if I’m way off base.’ His bluntness touched her and Fee leaned in to kiss him. Tom sighed and rested his forehead against hers.
‘No, you’re not,’ she whispered.
‘Good. I’m not sure how I would’ve stood it.’
Fee swallowedhard. She needed to give him something in return. ‘I care for you, Tom, very much but I’m… scared. My mother fell in and out of so-called love at regular intervals and it never lasted. The closest I’ve come to trusting any man with my heart was Pierre and you know how that ended. I’m not a good bet for any man.’
‘I’ll take the odds I’m being offered. I’ve always been a gambling man. Meand my brothers love a good poker game. I buy far too many lottery tickets and loved Las Vegas the one time I went.’
‘That only proves how little we know about each other,’ she joked. ‘I can’t even imagine youinLas Vegas let alone enjoying it.’
