Mara apologies here, and then three more next week. On Wednesday, we'll open voting, and ask all of you readers to cast your vote for the hero you feel best fits Mara. Are you ready? Do you have a favorite already or are you withholding opinions until the very end?
Read Chapter One.
Read Chapter Two.
Read Chapter Three.
Read Chapter Four.
Read Chapter Five.
Read Chapter Six.
Read Chapter Seven.
Read Chapter Eight.
Read Chapter Nine.
A Dozen Apologies
Chapter Ten - October
Caden Martin
Mara
paced in front of her boss’s desk waiting for him to come in and lower the
boom.
A
courier job, for goodness’ sake. All she had to do was drop the well-marked
envelopes off at the addresses printed on them, pick up envelopes from those
offices, and deliver them to where they needed to go. Lucille Ball couldn’t
have messed this one up any better.
Mara had
been running around all afternoon trying to clean up her mess.
How had
it happened? She’d checked the addresses on the main envelopes, delivered them
as noted, and walked away.
Mr.
Dibble’s voice had been calm at first, but after the fifth call, his voice had
risen to the shriek of an eagle cutting across the sky.
In order
to deliver her items to the wrong address, the mistake had to come from …
A
shuffling sound pulled Mara to the door.
Petunia.
The one hired to make sure the items went into the proper envelope and into the
couriers’ bags. Pet, as she was called, got the office job. Mara received the
route.
Mara
stepped out of the office and into the sorting room. “Why?” She stood behind
the younger girl.
Pet
looked up, her neck and face flushed a crimson red.
Pet
backed away from the table, stopping when she found the wall.
Mara ran
her hand along the table, taking time to collect her thoughts. Inboxes
stretched across the table, five shelves high. Pet’s job was to separate the
items in the couriers’ bags, put them in the proper main envelopes, and have
them inside the couriers’ bags for the next day’s deliveries.
Pet
hadn’t said a word. She just stood there as if she thought Mara might hit her.
“Pet,
why? You sabotaged me today.” Mara raised her hands and dropped them. “If you
wanted my job, why didn’t you say so? I’d gladly trade.”
Pet
looked around and lowered her voice. “I don’t have a vehicle. My husband drops
me off on his way to work. We’re about to lose our house. I messed up. Mr.
Dibble explained the process to me so quick, I didn’t understand. I tried to
straighten out my mess.” She shook her head and sobbed. “All the bags looked
alike. I was hurrying to correct everything. Mara, I must have missed your bag.”
Well, at
least Mara could rest in the fact that she hadn’t been Lucy in this situation.
The door
opened, and Mara held up her hand as Mr. Dibble entered. She put a finger to
her lips and then stood at attention.
Mr.
Dibble glared at Mara through narrowed eyes.
Maybe
she could save both of their jobs. Groveling might help. It had worked for Pet.
“Mr. Dibble, I’m sorry for the mistakes I made today.”
Pet
gasped.
Mr.
Dibble stared for a long moment as if weighing a decision. Then he shook his
head. “In this economy, small companies can’t afford to lose an account, which
is what happened today. One of the packages you delivered to the wrong address
was a time-sensitive court document. The judge wouldn’t grant an extension for
our client.”
Mara
looked to the floor. “I’m so sorry.”
He
turned his back and entered his office.
“Mara,
I—” Pet started, but Mara waved her away.
Dibble
returned. “This is your severance pay.” He held out an envelope.
She took
it from him. “Thank you, Mr. Dibble,” Mara managed. “Pet, it was so good to
work with you. Please take care.”
What was
one more job loss in a field with no chance of advancement? She could afford to
lose the position, but Pet obviously couldn’t.
What was
next? A business mascot? No way would she do that.
****
Mara followed
the harping GPS and turned at Ghost Town, Maggie Valley, North Carolina’s
once-famous tourist attraction. She turned left and began to climb Fie Top
Road.
The route
was familiar to her. If she kept driving, she’d end up at the Cataloochee Ski
Resort where she and her sorority sisters used to spend several weekends in the
winter. Caden lived near Cataloochee, and she’d made sure this was where she’d
publicly dumped him, not just among her sisters but some of his local friends
as well.
As she
remembered, with a growing lump in her throat, she’d made her sorority proud
that day. Her arrogance made her shiver.
Caden’s
business address was in Asheville. C. Martin, stair architect and builder.
Apparently, Caden had made a name among the wealthy who had vacation homes in
and around Asheville and other small mountain towns like Maggie Valley. The
designs on his website were spectacular. Who knew stairs could be so elaborate?
She
slowed her car as the engine started to protest the upward climb. She’d been to
his home once before. Scenic View Road was ahead on her right—if her car didn’t
decide to have carburetor arrest on her.
The old
family home seemed like the last place a successful stair designer would
reside. Yes, it was an easy commute to Asheville, but when she’d visited, the
place had been a little rundown. She turned onto the road and drove until she
found the rusty mailbox with the name MARTIN.
As she
pulled down the lane, she slowed. The dilapidated home she remembered had been
renovated. The wood was painted a soft green. The metal roof was new. A low
porch with two steps up greeted her as she hurried against a slight October
chill and made her way to the wood and glass double doors. Pumpkins and hay
bales with scarecrows perched on the porch and provided an authentic autumn
welcome.
She
knocked and a moment later, little feet on wood could be heard running through
the house. “Uncle Coot!”
“Wait,
Temperance.” A man rushed toward the door.
Mara
smiled and wiggled her fingers at the sweet little girl who pressed her face
against the glass. Mara lifted her gaze to the handsome man. She couldn’t say
that Caden had ever been unattractive to her. His biggest quirk was his
indecisiveness, and the fact he always seemed to be insecure about any course
of action he took. And Mara had used those two qualities against him.
Caden
picked up the child, held her in his arms, and opened the door. “Mara?”
She
tilted her head. A question or surprise? Neither fit. Caden had asked her to
meet him here.
“Hi.”
Mara pressed her best smile into place.
“Uncle
Coot.” The tiny child tugged on the open collar of Caden’s blue plaid flannel.
“Yes,
Temperance. I forgot my manners. Ms. Adkins, I’d like you to meet my niece, Temperance
Martin.”
“Nice to
meet you,” Mara said. “How old are you?”
The
little girl leaned her head against Caden’s shoulder and held up three fingers.
“But I be four next month.”
“Come
in.” Caden held the door open wider.
Mara
stepped in.
“Jayce,”
Caden called.
A woman
came from the back of the house.
“Tempie,
I want you to go with Jayce. It’s time for your nap.”
The
little one didn’t need much convincing. She went into the arms of the other
woman who smiled a greeting. “I set the table out back. I thought your guest
might be hungry.”
“Thank
you.” Caden nodded and with a hand on Mara’s back led her down the hallway to
the kitchen.
Mara
gasped. The kitchen of her dreams invited the outdoors in with the wall of
glass and doors that opened to a deck and a view of the mountains beyond.
“You’ve done a wonderful job with the place. I would never dream …”
“You’ve
been here?” He blinked as he opened one of the glass doors and bid her to step
onto the deck where a small table was set with sandwiches and a pitcher of tea.
Maybe
she hadn’t hurt him too badly if he didn’t remember her visit that infamous
day. He pulled out a chair. She sat and wrapped her coat tightly around her.
“Is it
too chilly for you?” He stood beside her.
She
looked up into luscious green eyes, surprised that she didn’t see worry or
hesitation.
“I
thought it would be a nice place to sit. Still, if you’d like, we can take our
plates inside.” Not indecisiveness or insecurity. Just a desire for Mara to be
comfortable.
“No.
This is fine.” And it was. She couldn’t think of a nicer place to be.
He sat
without questioning her further, something he would never have done before.
Instead he would have badgered her about what she truly wanted. With his desire
to please her, she’d hurt him terribly. Yet, he acted now like it was no big
deal.
“Sweet
tea,” Caden said as he poured her glass. “No unsweet in the Martin household.”
“How is
your mother—”
He
stopped her with a shake of his head. “Tempie and me. We’re it.”
“Oh, but
…”
“I’m
Tempie’s guardian. My brother and his wife died two years ago.”
“Caden,
I’m so sorry.” She sat back.
He
winced at her words. “Momma died soon after, and Daddy, well, he left us long
before, but you probably know that.”
He knew
she did. He’d told her the day she’d been here, his voice broken, and his eyes
filled with pain.
And
still, she’d set about to destroy him even further.
She
closed her eyes. Why did these men even give her the time of day? Dominic was
right to leave her on the golf course. Ted had every right to make her muck the
stalls. The others … she’d hurt them so badly.
“So,
Mara, tell me why you’re here today?”
“Well,
first of all, thank you for allowing me to return after what I did the last
time.” She stared at her untouched meal.
He
leaned back. “Why don’t you tell me exactly what you think you did to old Caden?”
This man
had definitely grown into his own skin, and he knew how to make her
uncomfortable in hers, but she’d play along.
He shook
his head. “Let’s eat first. Jayce makes a great ham and cheese.”
She
liked this controlled nature, not too overpowering, but confident. The first
bite of her sandwich was so good, she took another, and another. “She should
open a sandwich shop. This is delicious. Is she a housekeeper?”
“Housekeeper,
nanny, cook. I work in Asheville as you know. I don’t want Tempie in daycare.”
“I was
surprised this was still home. I saw the pictures of your offices in Asheville,
and”—she looked into the house—“this house is one story. No master stair
designs here.”
“I have
a more personal project here.”
When
Mara took her last bite of sandwich and wiped her mouth with her napkin, Caden
leaned forward. “So, tell me. What is it you did?”
Mara
lowered her head but decided she needed to stare into those green eyes, the
ones that filled with unshed tears so long ago. “When I came here with you that
weekend, your mother was so gracious. I enjoyed my visit, but …” She swallowed.
How had
she gotten so far away from common decency back then?
Caden
remained silent.
“My home
life was such a wreck, but you seemed to get along with your mother so well. We
all cooked dinner together, remember?”
He shook
his head.
Maybe
this one didn’t need an apology. He didn’t recall her at all.
But that
wasn’t possible.
“Caden,
that was the loveliest time I ever had, in this house. Well the old home. I
felt like family.”
“Yes, we
were always very close.”
“When we
went skiing later that day, and your friends met me on the mountain. I remember
the cute blonde. She was so sweet to me. She invited me to church with you the
next morning. To my shame, I don’t recall her name.”
“Reese,”
he said without emotion. “Had to be Reese.”
She
stared at him for a long moment. Did the man truly have a memory loss? “Are you
okay?”
“I’m
fine. I want to hear this from you.”
She
nodded and the warmth of a full blush warmed her cheeks against the October
breeze. “You were so wonderful … and nervous. You kept asking me if everything
was okay. Was I comfortable? Did I want hot chocolate? Did I need my coat? I
should have realized I was in the company of a gentleman, one who respected me
and wanted me to be happy.”
Caden
pushed back his chair and walked to the edge of the deck. He turned away from
her, looking out over the scenic view with the leaves of red, orange, and
yellow bursting out on the landscape.
Finally,
they were getting somewhere. He could yell and scream or tell her to leave.
“And after you were made comfortable, what did you do?”
“Not
what I did. What you did.”
He
turned now, one eyebrow raised in question.
She
fought not to ask if he’d had a brain injury. “You proposed to me.”
He
laughed. “What a dweeb, Caden. Really?”
“And
since you want me to replay it all here, I told you in the ugliest of terms
that I would never marry a hick from a nowhere town like Maggie Valley. What
would I do for fun, milk your cows?” For the first time, she noticed that the
old barn at the back of the property still needed renovating. But there was no
livestock in the pasture.
“My
friends laughed. Your friends wanted to kill me. Reese slipped her arm through
yours and walked you away.” Mara stood and moved to Caden’s side.
He
turned and stared down at her, running a hand through his luscious thick brown
hair.
“Caden,
you can stand here and act like I didn’t hurt you, but I know I did. I hurt
myself, too. I’m asking for your forgiveness. I’m very sorry. I’m a different
person.”
Caden
left her without a word, stepping inside the house. When he returned he held
out his hand. “Come with me. Tempie’s sleeping. Jayce is watching her.”
She
hesitated. “Where?”
“Worried
I might ask you to marry me? Not a chance.” He lowered his hand.
She
laughed. “Don’t blame you there.”
She
followed him down the deck stairs and to the rustic barn, wishing she’d given
her parents the address. That way Caden wouldn’t get away with homicide—justifiable
or not.
He
tugged on the wooden door. It moved over a grooved-out rut.
He stood
by the door and allowed her to move past him.
She
stopped and covered her mouth with her hands and turned back to look at him.
She lowered her hand. “It’s so beautiful and so big and … and … Caden, it’s
wonderful.”
Mara
moved into the barn, the straw under her feet reminding her of a carnival
midway where she would find something like the fantastic piece of art before
her now: a full-scale wooden replica of a carousel. “It looks so real.”
“Hop
on,” he said.
Like a
little girl at a county fair, she didn’t need to be coaxed. She grabbed on to a
pole and hoisted herself onto the make-believe ride. The wood was smooth and
each horse was painted with different colors. She ran her hand along the back
of a bench and stared up at the wooden rods that resembled the mechanics on a
real carousel.
Caden’s
whistle caught her attention. He held up a wooden token. “Find your favorite
horse, Mara Adkins.”
She
gawked. There was no way this beautiful piece of art had workable parts, but
she did as he asked, sitting on a white mare with a brown mane. Caden dropped
the coin into a box. Music began to play, and the ride jerked to a start,
sending Mara around.
Nothing
could best this moment. “Why didn’t you ever share your talent with me when we
were in college?”
No
answer. As the ride took her around, Caden was gone, but around the backside of
the ride, on the central part separated from the turning carousel a plaque
caught her eyes. “In Loving Memory of …”
Mara
gasped and held her breath until the ride took her around again. “…of Caden and
Reese Martin and for their daughter, Temperance Martin.”
She slid
from the horse even as the ride continued.
If Caden
had died, who was this man who looked so much like him? She backed away but met
a warm embrace.
“Caden
was my brother, Mara. My twin brother. I realized when you called the office
that I use only my initial for business purposes. You mistook me for Cay. My
name is Connor.
“He—he
married Reese, the girl that walked away with him?” She turned and almost
stumbled. He helped her to stay on her feet.
“My
fiancée. Things changed for us that day. Reese broke her engagement, said she’d
always loved Cay. She’d settled for me because Caden was in love with someone
else. She never told me who she thought he loved.”
“Caden
never mentioned he had a twin brother. You weren’t here.”
“Caden
was a little quirky. You didn’t miss that, right?”
Despite
her sorrow, Mara giggled. “Yeah, just a bit.”
“When
something bothered him, he refused to talk about it. Caden was a little angry
that I left him and Mom and went to school out west. Might be why I never heard
of you, and you never heard of me. Reese would never betray his trust. When you
called, I was curious.”
“They
died together. An accident?”
“Car.
Date night. I came to watch Tempie for them. Haven’t left her since.”
“I’m so
sorry for your losses, and Connor, I’m so sorry I cost you your happiness.”
The
carousel slowed, and Mara stepped off. She had to get away from this monument,
from this man who apparently still grieved, from the little girl who only had
her uncle, and from the place she should have appreciated more.
Connor
stopped her with a touch. “You have nothing to apologize to me for, Mara. Caden
was happy with Reese. God meant for her to have that short bit of happiness
with the man she loved. If it took your cruelty to give them that, who am I to
judge?”
Mara
swiped the tears from her face. She could only nod.
“Caden
forgave me for leaving. He would have forgiven you.”
“Thank
you for telling me that,” she said.
Connor
nodded.
“You’re
such a good, good man.” She moved to him and kissed his cheek. “I hope you and
Temperance find all the love in the world.”
“You,
too, Mara. And if you ever want to visit and ride the carousel, Tempie would
love to share it with you.”
Mara
smiled through her tears. “I’d like that, too.” She started away.
“And
Mara?”
She
turned.
Connor
tilted his head, and a smile tipped the corner of his lips. “Her Uncle Coot wouldn’t
mind sharing it with you either.”
UPDATE:
VOTE FEBRUARY 5 THROUGH FEBRUARY 8 FOR YOUR FAVORITE HERO!
Voting opens at Noon (EST) on Feb 5.
Because we want YOU to choose the best hero for Mara, we're going to try to keep the author/creator of each chapter a secret until after the voting is over. If you know one of the authors, and pick out her chapter, please help us keep the secret. We want the hero chosen based on his personality and his chemistry with Mara, and not make it a contest between authors.
We're depending on you to help us spread the word!
Our authors are also offering some inside glimpses into the writing process, some interviews with authors, heroes, and even the publisher. And that Marji - she somehow got hold of Mara's journal, so you'll be able to read some of her thoughts as she goes through this experience. Fay snagged interviews with all the heroes too. Check out all the links below to stay on top of the latest.
Thanks for joining us in Mara's adventure - we hope you have a great time!
Friday's Bonus Blogs
Betty Owens–Fall is in the Air in Western North Carolina
Theresa Anderson interviews on Heart of the Matter Radio with Cynthia Simmons
Part 2 of Fay Lamb's fun interview with the Scriblerians
High Five Friday!
Theresa Anderson interviews on Heart of the Matter Radio with Cynthia Simmons
Part 2 of Fay Lamb's fun interview with the Scriblerians
High Five Friday!
Thursday's Bonus Blogs:
Wednesday's Bonus Blogs:
Tuesday's Bonus Blogs:
Monday's Bonus Blogs:
