Christmas in Bayberry

He smiled. “Glad it’s nothing serious.”

“How about a slice of that blackberry pie? I baked it.”

He’d been eyeing the pie displayed on the counter on a pedestal with a glass dome. He hadn’t had berry pie since he was a kid. And it looked picture-perfect. If he stayed in Bayberry much longer, with all of its sweet treats, he was going to have to start running twice a day.

Before he could respond to Carrie, the door opened and the bells jingled. They both looked toward the entrance. When Kate entered, Wes sat up a little taller. He waved at her. When he caught her attention, she smiled. Again, that warm fuzzy feeling filled his chest, making his heart beat faster. He motioned to the empty stool next to him.

Carrie glanced back at him, expecting an answer.

“It looks delicious,” he said. “Can you give me a minute?”

Carrie smiled knowingly. “I have a feeling it’s going to be pie for two.”

Wes grinned, but didn’t say a word.

“I’ll check back.” Carrie waved to Kate before walking away.

Kate brushed snow from her coat, pulled off her knit cap, stuffed it in her pocket and then headed for his table. “It’s starting to snow out there.”

“Did you have dinner yet?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I didn’t have time. I was talking to my aunt about the changes to the dance.”

His body tensed as he waited to hear how Penney had taken to the idea. He didn’t push, but quietly waited for Kate to direct the conversation.

“When I told her about your idea, I wasn’t sure she’d go with it. But she surprised me, and told me that, basically, change is inevitable. And then she said she should have done these things a long time ago. So I have her blessing to start switching things up with the contracts and the dance and whatever else needs changing.” Kate smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Sympathy welled up in him. He knew she was relieved to have her aunt’s blessing, but that didn’t mean changing things was going to be easy. Routines were comforting. Change could be unsettling at first. He knew, because his life had been a constant series of changes until he’d settled in Manhattan.

He reached out and squeezed her hand. “It’ll be okay. Everything will work out. You’ll see.” He just hoped it would work out in their favor.

Her eyes met his. “Do you really believe that?”

“I do. But sometimes there are detours, and the result isn’t exactly what you imagined.”

“That’s what worries me.”

“All you can do is your best. The rest just has to work itself out.”

“I wish you were staying to see it all through to the end.” There was a sadness in her eyes that reached out and touched his heart.

He cleared his throat. Still, when he spoke his voice was deep with emotion. “As tempting as that sounds, my life is in New York. But I’ll be here until the New Year.”

“I guess we’ll have to make the most of the time you’re here.”

“Let’s get you some dinner.”

“What about you?” she asked.

“I already enjoyed a nice hot turkey sandwich.”

“Oh, that sounds good. I haven’t had one in a long time.”

When Carrie returned to the table, Kate ordered the sandwich. Wes went ahead and ordered a slice of pie.

Kate had asked Carrie to stop back when she had a free moment. Carrie did just that after most of the dinner crowd cleared out. “It’s my break,” Carrie announced. “What did you want to talk about?”

“You’d better sit down for this one.”