Love, Jacobwas a hard sign to miss.
Neither Pearl nor Jacob commented, but the looks they gave each other were telling, and one day after Pearl had closed the Rose, and everyone was at their clean-up task, Davey asked Pearl a question she hadn’t seen coming.
“Hey, Pearl, I know it’s none of my business, but if you and Jacob really get together, are you two going to keep living alone?”
Pearl hadn’t dared get that far in her head, and the question took her aback. And Pearl, being Pearl, fired off a snappy answer to hush him up.
“If my apartment upstairs winds up empty, you could consider transferring your living quarters from the Crossroads Inn to the Yellow Rose.” Then she laughed. “Even then, you’d likely still be late to work.”
Everybody laughed, even Davey. “Well, I wouldn’t say no if the offer ever came,” he said. “The guy in the room next to mine snores the roof off every night.”
They laughed again, and the moment passed. Except now the question was in Pearl’s mind. Would she want to, if he asked? And the little bee in her bonnet quickly reminded her.He built the house for me.
Chapter 20
It was Nora who found out about Jacob and Pearl, when Jacob called to welcome her to the family.
When she answered and heard that big, booming voice, she knew he was well on the way to being healed.
“How’s my girl, this morning? Are you all settled into the Austin scene?”
“I’m getting there,” she said. “Are you ready for another girl in your family?”
“Aw, honey, I always thought you’d be the first. Right now, I’m about as happy as a man can get. I have my sons. You and Angie are like daughters to me. And I cleared the slate between me and Pearl.”
Nora gasped. “Wait. What are you saying? Are you and Pearl back together?”
“Getting there,” Jacob said.
“This is the best news, ever! You do know I can’t keep this a secret,” she said.
He laughed. “It’s not a secret in Crossroads, that’s for sure. No reason it needs to be. Anyway, I suspect I’m interfering with your work. Next time I see you, I expect a big hug. Tell Asher that I’m proud of you both.”
“I will, I will,” Nora said. “So glad you called, and even happier that you are still in the world with us.”
“Lord have mercy, sugar, so am I,” he said.
The call ended, but the smile on Nora’s face was still there. “Oh my gosh. OH. MY. GOSH. Jacob and Pearl!”
She did a little two-step across the floor on her way to the office, then sat down and sent a text to Asher.
Your dad called. All is well. More than well. He and Pearl are an item. I think we’re going to need two round-trip tickets for our wedding. Jacob and Pearl. The weirdest thing. Brenda broke them up. And the secrets she left behind were the trigger that also brought them back together. Karma is real.
Asher was working a new case, sitting in a parking lot across the street from a dry-cleaning shop, taking pictures of every person who went in empty-handed, without garments to drop off, and exiting the same way. Carrying nothing visible to the eye. Something was changing hands in there, but it wasn’t clothes.
As he was waiting, he got Nora’s text. His first emotion was pure delight. And then he reread what she wrote about Karma, and got a lump in his throat. She saw the world in a purer way than he ever would, and he was forever grateful that as they were growing up together, she’d seen value in him, when he had not seen it for himself.
This also meant his dad was obviously much better, which meant he and Nora needed to apply for a marriage license. There was a seventy-two-hour waiting period, then they could pick a day, and notify the family.
It also reminded him to swing by Koen and Sons Jewelry. Nora wasn’t the only one capable of surprises.
* * *
Angie had been giving Nora tips on easy cooking, and when Nora found a digital version of a slow cooker on a shelf in Asher’s kitchen, she decided to experiment.
Meat and veggies go in. A set-and-forget timer, and dinner is served. Nothing undercooked. Nothing overcooked. Turns itself to warming when it’s done. Martha Stewart she was not, but they weren’t going to have to live on scrambled eggs and DoorDash, and that was a plus on any day.
* * *
