Fighting Fate (7 page)

She felt her eyes widen and she didn’t have to look in a mirror to know that her cheeks had turned crimson. If she had any doubt, Cole’s laugh confirmed it. He was still chuckling when he turned around and walked away.

When Sarah turned back to her locker, she realized Cassie had been standing right behind her. She had no idea how long her friend had been there.

Cassie’s eyebrows were perched near her hairline. “What in the world was that about?” she demanded.

Sarah shook her head as she glanced over her shoulder. Cole had disappeared into the crowd. “I have no idea.”

Chapter Five

“Mission accomplished,” Gretchen said with a little squeal into the phone.

“I take it that means Cole showed up at Lucky’s,” Liz said.

“He did. Like I’ve told you, its fate,” Gretchen sighed.

“Just don’t let Sarah find out that you knew he would be there,” Liz warned. “I don’t think she would feel quite the way you do.”

“First of all, I had
no
way of knowing he would be at the hardware store. As for yesterday, I didn’t
know
he would be there, either,” Gretchen reasoned. “Just because he and that Alex guy have been there the past two Tuesdays for happy hour didn’t mean that they would be there yesterday. I mean, they could’ve decided they were tired of hot wings. Or they could’ve given up drinking. Or one of them could’ve had a family emergency. I mean, a million little things could’ve stopped them from being there yesterday.

“I’m telling you Liz, it’s meant to be. The same day I ran across that old picture of Sarah and Cole, I saw him at Lucky’s Tavern. It was a sign.” Gretchen was sitting outside of the bakery. She had a few minutes before her shift started.

She couldn’t believe how things had worked out so far. She was sure it was more than simple luck that had caused them to run into Cole twice. It was serendipity. Her initial plan had been to get Sarah out as much as possible. She had hoped that eventually, the two of them would meet up again. Never in her wildest imaginings did she think that they would come face to face within the first few days of her sister’s arrival.

True, she had a hunch he would be at the bar. A few weeks ago, her friend Naomi had invited her to come along for the Tuesday hot wing special. That was when she’d first seen Cole. And yes, maybe out of curiosity she’d been stopping by Lucky’s periodically, only to find that he seemed to prefer Tuesdays. But she hadn’t known for
sure
he would be there.

After running into Cole yesterday, Sarah had insisted that she needed to get home to get back to work. Gretchen was sure that Sarah was simply in shock and needed a day or two to adjust to the fact that Cole had landed back in her life. So she’d taken her home and Sarah had insisted on starting her first project.

Gretchen now knew that scraping off old wallpaper was a messy, tedious task. There was nothing enjoyable about it. Sarah had kept at it long after Gretchen thought they should be done for the day.

She knew her sister well enough to know that Sarah had a reason for throwing herself into projects. It was so that she didn’t have to deal with reality.

As far as Gretchen was concerned, Sarah had been doing far too much of that for far too long. She needed to stop avoiding her past. It was the only way she was going to be able to truly get on with her life. That was exactly what Gretchen intended to help her do.

“I don’t know if it was a sign or just the fact that you live in a small town,” Liz said with a laugh.

“It was a sign,” Gretchen stubbornly told her sister’s best friend. “She zerous. “Shoed right in on him the other day at the hardware store. She tried to act like it was no big deal but you should’ve seen the look on her face.”

“She was happy to see him?” Liz asked skeptically.

“Well…not exactly,” Gretchen admitted. “She was surprised. Just like she was surprised yesterday. They both were.”

“Was he happy to see her?” Liz asked.

“Of course he was,” Gretchen said.

“I don’t mean to rain on this matchmaking parade of yours but are you sure this is a good idea? In all the years I’ve known Sarah, she’s never mentioned this Cole guy,” Liz pointed out.

Gretchen wasn’t shocked by this. Liz and Sarah had been working at the same school in Crawford for the last three years. Liz was a few years older but they had quickly become friends.

Gretchen could count on one hand the number of times she and Liz had met. However, the amount of time they spent chatting on the phone was endless. It had started when they decided to work together to throw Sarah her bridal shower nearly two years ago. They had met for the first time at the shower.

It wasn’t too much later that tragedy struck and they were meeting again.

This time, for the funeral.

It was then that they vowed to keep in touch. So they had. As always, their mutual concern for Sarah was at the center of their conversations. It was Liz who let Gretchen know just how miserable Sarah was in Crawford. It was also Liz who, even though she knew she would miss her friend like crazy, suggested to Gretchen that Sarah needed a major change.

After Liz had filled Gretchen in on the details of just how miserable Sarah’s life had been, she had fully agreed. Sarah always kept up a stoic front when she was around her sister. Not once had she mentioned the harassing she had endured after Aaron’s death. Just the thought of it made Gretchen livid.

It was Liz who had carefully put the idea into Sarah’s head that she should move back to Laurel. Gretchen was completely on board with the idea. Cole Montgomery, however, had not been part of the initial plan.

It was only when Sarah had asked Gretchen to look for some paperwork regarding the farmhouse that she had run across a box of keepsakes Sarah had kept under her bed. Sarah was a bit like her grandmother in that way. She didn’t like to get rid of anything. That particular box held photos of her and Cole. Gretchen had quickly flipped through them, feeling certain Sarah wouldn’t mind.

If she hadn’t just looked at the photos of him, she never would’ve recognized him. In the photos with Sarah, his hair was unruly. He’d sported the messy but sexy look and he’d worn it well. Now, his hair was close cropped. Respectable. His cheekbones were a little more defd.
all of him
was more defined.

Photo after photo showed Sarah looking at Cole with nothing but adoration.

The only other person she had ever seen her sister look at that way was Aaron. But now Aaron was gone. Forever. And Sarah, Gretchen and Liz feared, was having a hard time letting go. Not that she thought Cole would replace Aaron. It was just that she was sure Cole still held his own place in her sister’s heart.

It was Gretchen’s mission to make sure that someday soon, he would own her heart completely.

No matter what had happened between them all those years ago, Gretchen knew one thing was certain. Her sister had been completely, wholly in love with Cole. When Gretchen spotted Cole the very same afternoon that she’d leafed through those photos, her mind had begun to spin a web of possibilities. After that, she’d started spotting him all over town.

“By the time you and Sarah met, she was with Aaron,” Gretchen easily explained. “She had no reason to bring up Cole. He disappeared from Laurel when he graduated. Then Sarah left the following year when
she
graduated. They haven’t seen each other for a long time.”

Gretchen didn’t feel the need to bring up the way he had left. How he seemed to have simply vanished, leaving her sister broken-hearted.

“”Remind me why you think this is a good idea,” Liz said with a sigh.

“Because Cole was her first love. And you never forget your first love. And okay, maybe she wasn’t exactly excited to see him. But she did show some emotion. And we both know that’s got to count for something,” Gretchen pressed. For far too long now, Sarah seemed to be just…
existing
. Maybe seeing Cole hadn’t exactly brought a smile to her face but it had at least ignited some emotion.

“Gretchen,” Liz said patiently, “you can’t make two people fall in love.”

“I’m not going to
make
them do anything. I’m just going to remind them—”

“Hold on,” Liz interrupted, “how do you even know this guy will be interested?”

Gretchen tapped her fingers against the steering wheel. “Until yesterday, I really had no idea if he would be or not. I was just hoping for the best. But after they talked for a few minutes, he couldn’t keep his eyes off of her.”

Liz sighed. “I don’t know about this.”

“Liz,” Gretchen began, “she finally took off her ring.”

Gretchen was met by a moment of silence. She knew that this, more than anything else she may hav0"> she mae said, would grab Liz’s attention. No need to tell her that she’d taken off the ring so that her rubber gloves would fit. That wasn’t important. What
was
important was that Sarah had not put the ring back on.

“Okay,” Liz finally said. “I miss her like crazy already but I think she needs this change. She was miserable here. Aaron’s family—”

“They’re horrible,” Gretchen finished for her. “Or at least Brynn is.”

“You’ve never told Sarah that I told you about the things Brynn did, have you?”

“No. You know how stubborn she is,” Gretchen said with a sigh. “She values her privacy and she hates that people worry about her. It’s clear that she didn’t want to worry me or our parents with it. But I’m glad you told me.”

“So what do you plan on doing next?” Liz wanted to know.

*
*
*
*
*

Sarah had thought she would never get to sleep last night. But in what seemed like the next moment, the doorbell rang.

She blinked a few times, quickly realizing that sunlight was streaming through her curtains. So, she had fallen asleep after all. The gritty ringing of the old doorbell grated through the house once again. She quickly threw her legs over the bed as she glanced at the clock. It was nearly nine. She couldn’t believe she’d slept so long. Then again, it had been early morning by the time she’d managed to doze off.

Her bare feet padded across the creaky hardwood floor of her bedroom, down the hall and down the staircase. Just before she reached the door, an impatient pounding erupted from the other side.

“Coming!” Sarah called. She pushed the curtain aside as she reached the door.

She was met with Gretchen’s smiling face, framed by the window that comprised the upper half of the door. She held up a tray—with what Sarah assumed was coffee—and a white bag from the bakery that Sarah hoped contained cheese Danishes.

“Don’t tell me I woke you up,” Gretchen warily said as she stepped inside.

Sarah shrugged. “I had a hard time getting to sleep last night. So yeah, I’m just getting up.”

Gretchen was instantly alert. “Why the trouble sleeping? What’s wrong?”

Ignoring her questioning, Sarah reached for the coffee. “Thanks, I’m guessing this is for me.”

Gretchen nodded as she followed Sarah to the table. “It is. Mom also sent Danishes and a few of those fried cinnapan fried mon rolls you like so well.” She placed the pastry bag on the table and then quickly went to the cupboard while Sarah took a seat.

“I wasn’t expecting you today,” Sarah said.

“I know.” Gretchen placed two plates on the table while Sarah pulled the pastries out of the bag. “I was supposed to work but the new girl got the schedule mixed up. She showed up this morning too. She said she could really use the hours so we decided to split the shift. I’d rather not deal with the morning rush but she said she didn’t mind. I have to go back in a little bit.” She smiled sweetly at Sarah. “I had some time to kill so I thought I’d come see how my favorite sister is doing. I knew you wouldn’t turn me away if I brought your favorite breakfast.”

This earned Gretchen a small smile. “I would never turn you away and you know it,” Sarah said. “But sugary food is always a bonus as far as I’m concerned.”

Gretchen slid into the seat next to Sarah’s.

For a few moments, the two of them ate in silence.

Sarah sleepily sipped at her coffee, willing the caffeine to kick in. She wasn’t used to her sister being the chipper one in the morning. After her second pastry, both the caffeine and the sugar seemed to be having the desired effect.

“It looks good in here,” Gretchen said as she glanced around.

“Thanks,” Sarah replied. She was sure Gretchen was referring to the lack of grime.

“What are you going to work on today?” Gretchen asked as she pulled her pastry apart.

“I’m hoping to get the last of the wallpaper scraped off in my bedroom. The walls need to be scrubbed down after that. Then I need to prime the walls tomorrow so that I can paint them.”

“Sounds fun,” Gretchen said sarcastically.

While Sarah appreciated Gretchen’s help, she had known it wouldn’t last. She typically tired easily of any type of manual labor. Though she hadn’t flat-out said it yet, Sarah was sure that Gretchen’s days of helping were over. Sarah didn’t mind in the least. She was happy to do all of the work herself. Keeping busy had its advantages.

Gretchen noticed the color strips that rested near a pile of mail in the center of the table. She licked her sticky fingers and then she reached for them.

“Have you decided on colors yet?” she wondered.

Sarah shook her head. “I haven’t really had time to look.”

Her sister nodded as she began thumbing through the samples. “How about this one?” she asked. “This one is pretty. It would be perfect for the kitchen. It would liven the place up a bit.” She held up the color strip, showing Sarah five different samples of a cheery yellow. She pointed to the one on the bottom, the brightest of rahrightesthe choices.