“What?”he replied somewhat harshly as her momentum twisted him harder than intended.“Do you want to punch my other eye?”he barked.
Noel instantly let go of his bicep and took a couple of steps back.“No.”
“Then just let me go, Noel, so you can go back to your life the way it was before I showed up in Beaufort.”
Noel ignored the comment.“Who did this to you?”she questioned, staring at his eye.
“Why don’t you ask around?”he snapped.“I am sure you can figure it out pretty quickly since you seem to be so good at coming to conclusions.”
“What does that mean?”she retorted.
“It means I am leaving Beaufort,” he informed her, “just like you and everyone else wants.”
“Did you call the police?”Noel asked.
“Did I call the police?”Cavin quizzed with a furrowed brow.“Why?”he questioned.“Why do you want to know?Are you afraid that you or someone you know might get into trouble for this?”he asked, pointing at his aching eye.
“No, because I want whoever did this to you to be held accountable.”
“You did this to me, Noel,” he declared.
“Me?”she asked with a puzzled face.
“Yes, you.So I am not calling the police.I am just leaving,” he reminded her.
“Cavin, I was upset with you yesterday, but I have never punched anyone in the face.”
“We both know you did not physically punch me in the face,” Cavin clarified.
“I didn’t want you to get punched in the face,” Noel explained.“Well, that’s kind of a lie, but I quickly came to my senses, and I certainly didn’t ask anyone to hit you.”
“Well thanks for telling the truth,” Cavin retorted.“By the way, I told you the truth, too,” he decided to add.“For the record since I now seem to have your undivided attention, I will tell you the whole truth.When I met Georgia and a bunch of her friends at the restaurant the weekend I came to town, she invited me to church, and the mayor and his wife invited me to their party that Saturday night.I told Georgia I would probably see her at both, but neither was ever a date.I was just trying to get to know people in Beaufort.I ended up forgetting all about the party because I spent that Saturday evening with you, and I loved every minute of it,” he declared.“Well, that is kind of a lie,” he clarified just as she had a few moments ago.“I almost turned around and brought you home by the time we reached the Beaufort line because even though I tried to be as nice as possible to you, you snapped at me several times those first couple of days and blamed me for things that were not my intention.”
Noel thought about responding but decided to let Cavin continue because he seemed to have a lot to get off his chest.That’s when she noticed that for the first time since she met him, he wasn’t dressed up.He was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a hoodie.
“Then things shifted when you were transparent with me that evening when we went to Swansboro, and I am not going to be all cliché and say I started falling in love with you, but I could definitely see why someone would.I can imagine why Fletcher did.I loved every moment I spent with you and the kids this week, and I second-guessed nearly every decision I have ever made to this point in my life.”
Noel didn’t know exactly when she started crying, but she felt tears sliding down her face one by one as she stood there with her arms crossed while listening to this man pour out his heart.
“Yesterday I went back to the church service, but I did not sit with Georgia.After service, she randomly kissed me on the cheek.I was not even talking to her; I was chatting with some guys I played golf with.I do not like her, Noel.I like you!”
“Stay then, Cavin,” Noel demanded surprisingly.“Let’s get to the bottom of all of this nonsense like mature adults.”
“I cannot stay,” Cavin answered, wondering if her comment was an apology.“I quit my job which means between that and this black eye, I no longer have any reason to be here.”
“But you work for your dad, for the family business.Why would you quit?It’s obvious that you all are doing well.”
“There is more to my story, Noel, and you are not going to want to hear it,” Cavin acknowledged.
“I do,” Noel reassured him calmly.
“I met a man yesterday who rocked my world,” Cavin shared.“And you, you have been rocking my world ever since I stepped inside your candy shop.I decided I no longer want to work for my dad; I want to do what I am passionate about.”
“Golf?”Noel queried, genuinely interested.
“Maybe, but I do not know for sure,” Cavin replied.“I just do not want to do what I came here for anymore.”
“What did you come here for?”Noel asked curiously.
