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Raquel was deeply in love with Patrick. When he abruptly left her three years ago, she was devastated. Patrick had always encouraged her to pursue her dream of running her own coffeeshop. As she serves hot coffee and mouthwatering pastries her patrons see her as a successful businesswoman. In spite of her accomplishment, she still grieves over her broken relationship.
Her life takes a drastic turn when she receives a phone call from a mysterious stranger. The caller tells Raquel that her father is in hospice and must see her before he dies. Initially, Raquel doesn’t believe the caller – her father died when she was a baby. The stranger proves that the call is legit and that Raquel must come right away.
Patrick shockingly strolls into her shop just as she receives this devastating news. He comforts her. Since she doesn’t drive, and a massive snowstorm is brewing, he offers to immediately take her on the long road trip to see her father – the father whom she believed was dead her entire life.
Patrick has a secret. Three years ago, he told Raquel that he had to return to Ireland since his mum had died. He became the guardian of his teenaged sisters. However, he never revealed the REAL reason why he was forced to abandon their relationship.
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Excerpts from Butterscotch Bliss
Hopefully she’d be able to open the coffee shop tomorrow. Since it was snowing so hard, she wondered if she’d get many customers over the next few days. She dug her keys out of her purse and pushed the door open. A blast of frigid air spilled inside. Her face tingled from the cold. Just as she stepped onto the sidewalk, the door still open, the coffee shop’s phone rang. She groaned. Not now. Maybe they’d leave a message. She’d take care of it tomorrow.
No, she’d better answer. Fast as she could she rushed to the phone and answered it. “Butterscotch Bliss Coffee Shop.”
Silence.
“Hello?” Perhaps the person who called hadn’t heard her. She glanced at the caller ID. The long-distance number was unfamiliar. “May I help you?” She tried to recall if there were any special orders that had been placed. It was possible that a customer was calling to cancel an order because of the snowstorm.
“Raquel? Raquel Reese?”
“Yes, this is Raquel. How can I help you?” She didn’t recognize the slightly husky female voice.
“You don’t know me. My name is Ama—” A loud noise, perhaps a cry, echoed through the phone.
She frowned as her heart skipped. Something was wrong. She could feel it. “Are you okay?” Maybe she needed to call the police or paramedics. Another sob resonated from the phone.
“I’m…sorry.” The woman’s voice wavered, as if it pained her to speak. “There’s no easy way for me to tell you this.”
“Who is this? Did you need some help?” Raquel gripped the phone. Dread filled her soul like an erupting volcano. Why would a stranger call her and start crying on the phone? It didn’t make any sense.
“I’m Ama, your father’s wife.” She jerked back and frowned. This was obviously a mistake. This woman was distressed and had reached out to the wrong person.
She took a deep breath. All she needed to do was to explain to the caller that she had used the wrong number. Reese was a common last name. The woman was obviously trying to connect with somebody else. “I’m sorry…Ama. I’m afraid you’ve reached the wrong person.”
“This is Raquel Reese, correct?” The woman’s voice went up a few decibels as if she were getting ready to have an argument.
“Yes. I’m Raquel Reese, the owner of Butterscotch Bliss Coffee Shop on the Outer Banks. But I’m afraid you can’t be looking for me. There must be some mistake.”
“No mistake. Your father is Gregory Dennis Montague.”
Her head buzzed as she took a deep breath. Maybe this was a prank. All she needed to do was hang up. But she couldn’t. Her legs felt shaky, like jelly. She slowly walked to the nearest table and plopped onto the seat. “I don’t have time for jokes.” Her voice sounded funny. She almost felt as if she were a voyeur, staring at herself in the coffee shop, like a dream. Hey, that’s probably the case. She had to be dreaming. Her momma once told her that if she ever wanted to figure out if she were dreaming to pinch herself. “If you pinch yourself and you can’t feel it, then you know you must be dreaming.” Her head felt so light that she didn’t even have the energy to pinch herself.
She needed to get this woman off of her phone. Hey, wait a minute. She knew what happened. Perhaps this woman had been scammed. Maybe somebody had stolen her dad’s identity. Was it possible to steal the identity of a dead person?
“Gregory Dennis Montague is your father, right. I’m his wife, Ama.” The lady repeated the words slowly.
“But my dad’s dead. He died when I was a baby.” She needed to make this person understand that there was some kind of mix-up.
“No, he’s alive.” The woman sniffed. “You’ve got a birthmark on your lower back shaped like a butterfly. That’s what your dad told me.”
She squeezed the phone and closed her eyes. Absolutely nobody knew about that birthmark except her mom, close friends, medical doctors…and Patrick – the only man with whom she’d ever been intimate. Oh, how she hated the cherry-colored, slightly raised birthmark. Whenever she went to the beach, she made sure the mark was covered with her bathing suit.
The caller cleared her throat. A noise, like a sharp cry, cracked through the phone like thunder. Lord, if I ever needed your help, it’s now. Please help me to understand what’s going on. This has to be some sort of prank. “I’m sorry. This is a lot to tell you right now. We don’t have much time. Your father is sick. Cancer. They don’t expect him to live through the night. He wants you to come and see him before he dies.”
“What?” Her hands shook so hard that the phone slipped and dropped on the floor. She quickly picked it back up. Her heart pounded like a sledgehammer. “That can’t be.”
“Honey, I’m sorry. It’s true.”
Tears slivered down her face. She tasted mucous on her upper lip. She grabbed a napkin from the dispenser on the table and wiped her face. She balled the napkin in her hand, holding onto it in a vice-like grip.
She could barely listen. As Ama continued speaking Raquel’s breath caught. Blackness swirled around her like a swarm of angry birds. For the first time in her life, she thought she would faint.
—
Patrick rushed down the snowy street. Raquel’s shop was only a few blocks away from his dad’s office. Hopefully he could catch her before she left. As he rounded the corner his heart lifted when he spotted the light spilling out of Butterscotch Bliss. Good. Somebody was still there. He slipped on an icy patch. “Ugh.” His loud cry ripped through the snowy street as he slammed into Raquel’s glass door. “Ugh.” He rubbed his head and stood up. He swiped the snow away from the glass as he spotted Raquel. She slumped on the table. Lord, have mercy. He pushed the door open. Thankfully it wasn’t locked.
“Hello? Anybody there?” A voice echoed from the receiver from the cordless phone. Looked like Raquel had dropped it. Ignoring the phone, he pulled Raquel into his arms. He touched her chest. Her heart pounded as she slowly opened her eyes.
“Patrick?” Her voice sounded slurred.
“Honey, what’s wrong? We need to get you to the hospital.”
“Hello? Hello?” That blasted voice again echoed from the phone.
Raquel cried.
“Baby, what’s wrong?” He stroked her face. It almost felt like they’d never broken up. It was just as it was when they’d been dating three years ago. She pointed to the phone.
He picked it up. “Who is this?”
“Who’s this? Where’s Raquel?”
She looked so frightened. Tears streamed from her eyes. “Patrick. My dad…”
“Baby, just take a deep breath.” Raquel rarely mentioned her father. She’d never had a relationship with him since he died when she was a baby. Strange that she’d speak of him now…he was obviously missing something.
“Who is this?” Again, the voice on the phone. Well, he needed to take charge. Whoever this was, the phone call had upset Raquel. She looked like she was in shock.
“Hi, Raquel isn’t well.” He glanced at the display on the phone. He recited the number. “Can we call you back when she’s feeling better?”
“Yes. You must hurry though. Not much time. He’s not expected to live through the night.” The woman sighed. “You must come now before it’s too late.” The stranger ended the call.
—
Ten minutes later Raquel warmed her hands on the mug of hot chocolate that Patrick had kindly provided. As she’d sipped her rich, hot drink she’d had to get over her shock of suddenly seeing Patrick, in the flesh, for the first time in three years. He looked good – his pale skin, deep emerald-colored eyes, and thick red hair had made her swoon with pleasure years ago. She’d not been saved when they were dating, so, their relationship had been intimate. With vivid clarity, she recalled the times she used to spend in his apartment.
Now he was here, with her, during one of the most shocking moments in her life. Could God have had a hand in Patrick’s presence here, right now? She took another sip of the hot chocolate. The drink tasted warm and sweet, kind of like the kisses she used to share with Patrick. She pushed the unwelcome thoughts away. Not wanting to think about the phone call she stared at Patrick, still trying to come to terms with his presence. “What are you doing here?”
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