Caroline

Chapter 3

Caroline slowly munched on a piece of bacon as she skimmed through the messages she had avoided the day before. Most were promotional and were quickly deleted. A few pertained to her father's (now her, she reminded herself) investments. And an annoying number, as usual, were from Derek. The man who had been unavailable to her when she'd needed him most was determined to get her attention now. Most of his messages were headed by some variation of "PLEASE!" She had read a few in the days after she had left him, but had never answered. At one point, she was afraid she might be moved by them. Instead, she'd found him to be repetitive and whiny, which, she'd realized to her chagrin, he always had been. It was her capacity to overlook and forgive that had changed. Again, she deleted them all.

She closed out her texts and was beginning to check her voice messages when she realized that a smear of strawberry preserves had migrated from her toast to the side of her hand. Without thinking of how it would look, she raised the hand up and licked. At the same moment, her eyes looked up and into those of the occupant of the booth adjacent to hers; blue eyes that were looking right back at her, and a face that was stretching into a slow smile. Her first, unbidden thought was how attractive those eyes and that smile appeared on the stubble-faced man in front of her. Her second thought, to her budding shame, was that she still had her tongue out with the bit of preserves clinging to the tip. Quickly, she drew her tongue back in, snapped her lips closed, and felt the tell-tale heat of a blush creep over her.

Damn, she hated blushing. It was her body's traitorous way of displaying a weakness she would prefer to keep private. Of course, her embarrassment at being embarrassed only made her blush more. Acting as if she had not seen him at all, Caroline made a vain attempt to hide her face with a long sip of coffee, and refused to allow herself to look back in his direction. Though there was still food on her plate, her breakfast was done. She hastily collected her things and rose to pay her check at the counter. Resolutely keeping her eyes ahead of her, she walked purposefully by him. She didn't even falter when she heard a low voice saying as she walked past, "I think you got it all." She did, however, surreptitiously check her hand and lips as the cashier counted her change.

A cool breeze fanned her cheeks as she stepped outside, and she closed her eyes briefly to enjoy it. It was the beginning of "leaf peeping" season, when the air felt and smelled perfect. She had seldom been able to experience this time of year at her family's cabin; it had conflicted with school while growing up. One of the factors in her decision to relocate was to experience all the seasons where her favorite summer memories had been made. After taking a deep breath, she reopened her eyes and pointed herself in the direction of the grocery.

The selection at the store was meager compared to what had been available to her in the city, but she didn't mind. Her favorite foods were simple. Baked macaroni and cheese with a broccoli salad were going to be her meal that evening. She stocked up on a week's worth of basics, but did make two concessions that were available to her: a good quality coffee and a carton of moose tracks ice cream.

While she waited her turn at the checkout, she picked up a local paper catering to tourists and glanced through it, getting a feel for which areas to avoid while the leaves were in their glory. Finally, the conveyor was available for her to load her selections. As she was bent over, retrieving some smaller items from the bottom of her cart, she heard the cashier say, "Well hey, stranger. Didn't think I'd see you in town this week."

Caroline straightened herself and dropped her final items onto the belt. Her eyes automatically snapped to her left when she heard the same voice that had spoken to her in the restaurant.

"Hey, Carla. I ran out of peanut butter and bread. Even a hermit has to eat."

Carla the cashier let out a sharp laugh and shook her head. "As if you couldn't find a woman who'd be willin' to feed you."

That smile was back on his face. "Hermit, remember?"

As Carla continued laughing, the "hermit" directed his attention to Caroline, but said nothing. Instead, he tapped his finger against the side of his mouth as if suggesting that she had something on hers, then walked away. Caroline's hand instantly shot to the spot he had indicated, but found nothing there. However, the blush was back with a vengeance. Carla announced the total, then gave Caroline a concerned look.

"Are you okay, hon? You look flushed."

"I... I'm fine. Could you tell me though....do I have jelly on my face?"

Carla made a concerted effort to peer at Caroline's features.

"Not that I can see. I can give you a wet wipe if you're feelin' sticky, though."

Caroline shook her head as she paid for her groceries and murmured a barely audible "thank you" before taking her purchases and her full-body blush out to her car.