My Best Friend’s Valentine (1 of 4)

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A Brief Introduction

Welcome to this episode of the Donald Jay Author Podcast titled My Best Friend’s Valentine, Scene 1: Not Romantic and Scene 2: The Accident. I’m Donald Jay.

I wrote and published my short story My Best Friend’s Valentine in February 2021 to share with readers one small part of the rich tapestry of relationships that exist between their favorite Dickens Station characters. The relationship between Jacob Marley’s mother, Leah Marley, and Dickens Station’s trusted general contractor and hardware store owner, Mason Carver, is a true love story born of friendship to survive the test of misunderstanding. I also thought you might enjoy exploring how our favorite Christmas-themed village celebrates other holidays, in this case, Valentine’s Day. I even included a luscious Valentine’s Day recipe for good measure.

So, let’s kick things off with My Best Friend’s Valentine, Scene 1: Not Romantic and Scene 2: The Accident.

My Best Friend’s Valentine – Scene 1: Not Romantic

MY BEST FRIEND’S VALENTINE
A Dickens Station Romantic Short Story
By Donald Jay

Scene 1 – Not Romantic

You are not romantic. Not in the least.

The words of Mason Carver’s ex, delivered just before she left for Chicago, flitted through his mind as he stared into the charred box on the wall. The mouthwatering scent of warm vanilla from the batch of Valentine’s cookies Tabitha Flowers removed from the oven beside him had sparked the memory.

At his other shoulder, Tabitha’s mother, Charlotte, stuck her head between the curtains separating the front of the bakery from the kitchen. “What’s the verdict, Mason?”

“Not good, I’m afraid. This disconnect panel is shot. Your new ovens pull such a heavy load the installers should have replaced this box.”

Charlotte slipped past the town’s general contractor and slumped onto a stool. “Mason, it’s Valentine’s Day in Dickens Station, Vermont’s Christmas wonderland. It’s one of our slowest seasons of the year. I don’t have the money for a new electrical panel. Cookie?” She held out the tray of red-sugared hearts before snapping one up and chomping into it.

The big man waved off the calories. “Char, listen. How about this? I’ll sell you the panel at cost. Then I’ll install it as a favor to you, no extra charge.”

Charlotte bit off another hunk of cookie. “Mason, I can’t ask you to do that. You can’t go around giving away your services for free. You and Grant have got to eat, too. He just graduated. You’ve got student loans to worry about. I have to figure out college tuition for that one over there.”

Tabitha grinned, tucked a stray strand of strawberry-blond hair around her ear, and kept working.

“Char,” Mason said, holding up both hands, “we’re fine. And you’re going to be fine, too. But I would never forgive myself if we set this place on fire or if anything happened to you or Tabitha. So, please, let me do this for you, okay?”

“Well, okay. You talked me into it.” The bell over the shop door tinkled, and Charlotte slid off the stool. “But take a dozen cookies to your sweetie for Valentine’s Day. My treat.”

“Charlotte, you know I’m not romantic, and I haven’t got a sweetie.”

She spun to face him as she backed through the curtains. “Yeah? Who put that idea in your head, anyway? Mason Carver, you’re fifty years old.”

“Forty-eight.”

“Forty-eight years old. A big, strong, handsome man like you should have remarried years ago.” The curtains fell together.

“Don’t back up!” Tabitha warned as she opened the oven door behind Mason. He spun in place to see her slide in a fresh batch of cookies and close the oven. “It’s a good thing one of these is still working.”

Mason snapped his fingers. “Oh, Tabby, that reminds me.” He dug deep into his jeans’ change pocket and produced a neatly folded piece of pink paper. “Here. Can you take care of this for me?”

“Oh?” The high-school senior grinned at the tidbit of gossip and snatched the note from him. “So, you do have a sweetie. I’ll bet it’s for Leah Marley. Am I right?”

“Now, don’t you start. Can you do this for me? And do not tell your mother.”

“My lips are sealed.” She tucked the note into the pocket of her apron.

“By the way,” Mason said casually as he pulled out a screwdriver to tighten a screw on the electrical box, “what is the Valentine’s Day special going to be this year?”

The teen whipped around, and her jaw dropped. “Like I’d tell you.”

“What? You can tell me.” He stopped tightening. “I’m no blabbermouth.”

“You were last year.” She glared at him before returning to her duties.

***

My Best Friend’s Valentine – Scene 2: The Accident

MY BEST FRIEND’S VALENTINE
A Dickens Station Romantic Short Story
By Donald Jay

Scene 2 – The Accident

Leah Marley was relieved to find the Plum Pudding Bakery practically empty.

Charlotte appeared between the curtains. “Good morning, Lee. All dressed up and off to a meeting at the bank, I see. Need a pick-me-up to face all those difficult financial decisions?”

Leah hurried over to a corner table and plopped down into a chair.

Charlotte took one look at her, grabbed two cups of coffee and the creamer, and waltzed between the maze of chairs with a scowl on her face. “Lee, honey, what is it? What’s wrong?”

Leah welcomed her offer of caffeine with shaking hands and gathered herself before attempting to add cream.

“Lee, you’re trembling. Now, just calm down and tell me what’s happened.”

“Oh, Char.” Leah tugged off her gloves, snatched up a napkin, and dabbed below her eyes. “I’ve just done the stupidest thing.” She sipped her coffee. “You remember I told you the tractor has been acting up?”

“Yeah, I thought you asked Mason to fix that.”

“I did.” Leah gulped some coffee. “Or I was going to. But I thought I should get it fixed, by, like, someone else. And I was in a rush to get to the board meeting this morning, and I had to move the tractor to get the truck out, and …” She dabbed her eyes again while Charlotte laid a steadying hand on her other arm. “The clutch slipped again. This time, I flew across the front lawn, and … and.” She sniffed several times to hold back the tears. “And I ran into the swing that Evan built me for our anniversary. In a split second, I destroyed the sweetest thing he ever did for me and my favorite place on earth.”

“Were you hurt?” Charlotte asked.

“No.” Leah wiped her nose with the napkin.

Charlotte slumped back into the replica antique, hoop-and-stick-backed chair. She wrinkled her nose. “Was there much damage?”

Leah nodded emphatically and gulped more coffee. “Unrecognizable. It’s a mangled mess. Not to mention what it did to the tractor.”

“Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry.” Charlotte patted Leah’s hand. “Mason’s in the back looking at my ovens. I’ll go get him.” She rose.

“No!” Leah lunged and grabbed Charlotte’s arm.

Charlotte sat back down and raised one eyebrow. “Is there something going on between you and Mason?”

“No,” Leah snapped. “Nothing is going on between me and Mason Carver.”

Charlotte recoiled. “No, Lee. I didn’t mean like that. I just meant, did he do something wrong?”

Leah scolded herself for the overreaction. “No, Char, he didn’t do anything wrong.”

The bakery owner squinted with one eye. “Is Mason part of what’s got you so upset?”

Leah nodded, dropping her head into her hand. “Oh, Char. I’m fifty years old. I’ve got a grown son, and I’m acting like a schoolgirl.”

Charlotte settled back in her chair. “Want to tell me about it?”

Leah rolled her eyes. “You already know, Mason and I were sweethearts in high school.”

Charlotte shook her head and leaned forward on her elbows. “Sweethearts, really?”

Leah nodded and shrugged. “Everybody thought we would get married.”

“What happened?”

“I got accepted into Champlain. Mason didn’t have the grades. He said he didn’t want to hold me back, so we broke it off. I went off to college, and he went into the Navy. Neither of us planned to come back to Dickens Station.”

Charlotte sipped her coffee. “So, how did you wind up back here?”

“I couldn’t stay away, Char. I got my degree in finance and accounting. I interned with Dickens Station Savings and Loan while I was getting my master’s. The branch manager position opened up here, and I jumped on it.” Leah scanned the nineteenth-century bakery displays surrounding them and grinned. “I don’t know. There’s just something about growing up in a Christmas village from the eighteen hundreds that gets in your blood, you know?”

Charlotte nodded with a wry smile. “So, why didn’t you and Mason get back together when you came home?”

“He wasn’t here. When we parted after high school, we sort of lost touch. Mason became a Seabee and loved it so much he stayed in the service after his original hitch. Right about the time I moved back, this handsome, charming entrepreneur bought the maple farm just outside of town.”

“Evan?”

Leah nodded with a soft, sweet smile. “As branch manager of the Savings and Loan, I helped him with the purchase. He loved horses and added a stable. I, of course, have always loved horses. We bonded over riding lessons and fell in love. We were married the next year, and the year after that, Jacob was born.”

“That’s when Mason came back?”

Leah gazed out the display window. “Yep. His dad had some health issues and needed his help with the hardware store. So, Mason put in for a hardship discharge and came home.”

Charlotte’s brow wrinkled. “What happened?”

“Mason was great about it. We stayed friends, and he and Evan hit it off right away. Mason married and had Grant, but the marriage failed. Our two families have lived all these years as close friends. Grant and Jacob are practically brothers.”

“And now?”

“And now Evan’s gone.” Leah pressed her lips into a flat line. “Mason has been a lifesaver this past year, helping wherever he can.”

Charlotte leaned forward and took Leah’s hand in hers. “And you’re developing feelings for him that are, maybe, different than friendship?”

Leah pulled away and rubbed her forehead. “I can’t, Char. Evan only passed away a year ago. It’s too soon.”

“Oh, sweetie, I know. But love doesn’t go by a calendar. Do you think Mason feels the same way? I mean, if putting in the hours means anything, he sure has been there for you this past year.”

Leah glanced up from beneath her hand. “That’s just it, Char. That’s all been charity, just charity.”

“Charity?” Charlotte sat up straighter. “How do you figure that?”

Leah sighed. “Before Evan passed, I overheard him ask Mason to take care of me after he was gone.”

“I see.” Charlotte shifted in her seat. “So, you think all this help that Mason has been giving you was because of that promise?”

Leah nodded. “I don’t think Mason knows that I know about the promise.” Her tears flowed, and her voice quivered. “I’ve been selfish, Char. I knew, and I just let it happen. I’ve taken advantage of my closest friend. I couldn’t run the Savings and Loan, the horse farm, and the maple business all by myself. I was alone and scared. And I thought, what’s the harm? Mason didn’t complain, or pry, or try to tell me what to do. He was just there. He fixed everything in sight, built what needed building, and listened. He was always good at that. He just listened.”

Charlotte winced. “And you think he did all of that because he promised Evan?”

“Why else? Char, let’s face it. I’m not the cute high school cheerleader he fell in love with thirty years ago.”

“No, but for a tall, brunette bank executive who still runs at your age, you’ll do until a cheerleader comes along. Girl, what you’ve lost, most of us wish we started with. Besides, I don’t think Mason Carver is looking for a young high school coed. In fact, I don’t think he’s been looking at all since the day his wife left because he knows no one else could measure up … to you.”

Leah considered her friend’s words and then shook her head. “I don’t know, Char. But I guess there’s only one way to find out, and that’s to release him from his promise and see what happens. I just don’t know how I’m going to do that.”

She rose to leave, and Charlotte walked her out.

A Few Closing Thoughts

Be sure to join me for the next two scenes of My Best Friend’s Valentine on the next episode of the Donald Jay Author Podcast. Until then, I’m Donald Jay.