Sweet Persuasions

She lifted her shoulders. “I don’t know.”

Xavier smiled. “That’s what I want you to find out. All of you have textbooks and access to the internet. Please use them. Remember, we’re going to cover every battle and skirmish beginning with the opening salvo of the shelling of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor on April 12, 1861 to Lee’s surrender at Appomattox April 12, 1865. You may think the issues I listed are inconsequential. But because of them battles were won and lost, heroes were revered and vanquished. Most of you have heard of the battles at Vicksburg, Lookout Mountain, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Bull Run and Manassas. But there was also Mechanicsville, Sailor’s Creek, Missionary Ridge, Strasburg, Philippi, Rich and Cedar Mountain. We will go over military tactics and strategies from the point of view of both armies. What we will not discuss is the political or the moral implications of the war.”

He glanced at the wall clock. “You have fifteen minutes to copy the notes on the board.” The cadets opened their laptops, waited for them to boot, then began typing. Unlike some instructors, Xavier preferred his students not take notes during the lecture because it was a distraction. He wanted them to absorb as much information as possible before transferring it to their notes. Times truly had changed since he’d attended military school. Yes, there were computers, but not every cadet had their own laptop.

Xavier dismissed the class. He knew the cadets were anxious to start the weekend. Having the next two days off let them blow off some steam. Come Monday morning the rigorous military education would begin again. And it wasn’t the first time Xavier thought he was grateful he didn’t live on campus. Once he’d received his official discharge from the marines, he was a civilian now living the life of a civilian. He was well aware that the transition from almost three decades in a military to civilian life wasn’t going to be easy. But teaching at a military academy had made it easier.

A knock on the classroom door caught his attention. He looked up. “Have a good weekend, Major Eaton.”

Xavier nodded to an instructor who taught mathematics at Munroe. “Thank you, Captain Alston. You do the same.”

For Xavier, every weekend was good, because for the first time in his adult life he would be able to go home and do whatever it was he wanted to do. He was no longer Captain Xavier P. Eaton, a rank he’d held for years before his promotion to major. The promotion had come when he’d risked his life to save three of his men who’d been wounded when they tripped an improvised explosive device—or IED. He’d managed to save two of them. After a month in a military hospital, where he was awarded a purple heart and another medal for bravery, Xavier was promoted to the rank of major, followed by several weeks in a rehabilitation facility that led to his medical discharge.

There were days when the pain in his leg had been so intense it made walking difficult. But he managed to work through the discomfort in order to maintain a relatively normal lifestyle. He’d gone from wheelchair to walker and eventually to walking with a cane. It had been more than two months since he’d used the cane he’d stored in the trunk of his car. Although he knew it would be some time before he’d be able to jog or run laps around a track, his orthopedist had assured him that there would come a time when he’d forget that rods, pins and screws had replaced his shattered bones.

Xavier walked out of the classroom and into the office he shared with two other history instructors, unlocked the drawer to his desk and retrieved his cell phone. He had two voice mail messages: one from his mother and another from his sister. He listened to his voice mail, smiling when he heard Paulette Eaton’s message:

“Thanks so much for the incredible box of goodies. I shared them with Roberta who couldn’t stop talking about them. She’d asked me whether I’d made them, and I couldn’t lie. But I didn’t tell her where I’d gotten them from, which truly made my day. Call me when you get a free moment. Love you.”

Xavier shook his head as he scrolled through the directory for his sister’s number. He wanted to tell his mother to give up her pointless undeclared war with her sister-in-law. The sooner Denise made their mother a grandmother, the better.

He hit the speed dial for New Visions Childcare, identifying himself and requesting to be connected with Denise Eaton. Her voice came through the earpiece less than sixty seconds later.

“What’s up, brother love?”

A rich chuckle greeted her response. “I think it’s Rhett who’s brother love.”

“Now, don’t tell me you’re not seeing anyone?” asked the director of the D.C.-based childcare center.

Xavier sobered. “I’m not seeing anyone. Does that satisfy your curiosity?”

“For now,” Denise quipped. “What I can’t understand, Xavier, is that you’ve been involved with some really nice women.”

“Nice doesn’t translate into special, Denise.”

“How special is special?”

“I can’t explain it. But I’ll know when I meet her.”

“Does she exist?”

He smiled even though his sister couldn’t see his expression. “Of course she exists.”

“Yeah, right,” Denise drawled. “I want to thank you for the wonderful birthday gift. It was delivered minutes before this morning’s staff meeting, so I shared them with everyone. Preston and Chandra invited me and Rhett to hang out with them for a couple of days, so I want to order something from Sweet Persuasions and have it delivered directly to them.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” he told his sister.

“Will they deliver to the Brandywine Valley?”

“I suppose they will. It may be a little remote compared to Philly, but it is on the map.” His cousin Chandra had married award-winning playwright P.J. Tucker, who owned a condo in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square and a farmhouse in the historic Brandywine Valley.

“Can you please go to the shop and check it out for me, Xavier?”

“You have the telephone number. Why don’t you call?”

“I’ve been calling, but all I get is a busy signal.”

He smothered a groan. “When do you need to know?”

“Like yesterday. We’re leaving tonight, and plan to stay through Wednesday.”

His plans included going home and unwinding. “Give me the Brandywine address and telephone number.” Reaching for a pen, he wrote it down, repeating it to make doubly sure.

“I’ll send you a check if you order—”

“Don’t worry about sending me anything,” Xavier said, interrupting her.

“But I want—”

“I don’t want to discuss it, Denise. Save your money. Remember, you’re the one planning a wedding.”

“Have you forgotten your future brother-in-law is a multimillionaire?”

“And have you forgotten that it’s the bride’s family that usually pays for the wedding? So if you mention money to me again, I’m going to hang up on you.”

“Damn, brother. There’s no need to get hostile.”

Xavier ignored her. “What do you want me to order?”

“I’d like a brownie-fudge cheesecake and a pound of chocolate-and-peanut-butter pretzels. I found out from Preston that Chandra has been craving chocolate and cheesecake.”

“No comment.” He knew any reference to food and a woman’s weight was certain to set off an argument, so he made it a habit to remain silent on the subject. Chandra, who was due to deliver her first child a month after the wedding, had been chosen matron of honor. “I’m going to hang up because I want to go home and change before going into town. I’ll call you later.”

“Thank you, Xavier. You’re the best brother a girl could have.”

“Is it because I’m the only brother you have?”

“That, too,” she said, laughing.

He ended the call, and put his cell phone into the leather case along with his laptop and lesson plans. Going downtown to order and ship pastries wasn’t how he’d planned to begin his weekend. He managed to stave off his curiosity about the journals Charlotte Burke had given him until later. Once he sat down to read them, he didn’t want any interruptions. He planned to read the entries and also take notes. As a student of American military history, he would know if details of the battles were accurate or not. But first he had to stop by Sweet Persuasions and place another order for his sister. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for Denise. Memories of her crying whenever he returned to school after spending the weekends with his family had remained with him for hours. It had been impossible to explain to a toddler that her older brother wasn’t deserting her, and that he would return home the following weekend to play with her.

It wasn’t until Denise enrolled in school herself that she understood what her brother did when he went away to school. The guilt had bothered him for years. Ever since then he was helpless upon seeing a woman cry. It was the reason he’d remained friends with some of his former girlfriends. If they called to ask whether he would escort them to a social event he always agreed. That’s what friends were for.

Returning to Charleston meant starting over for Xavier. It wasn’t about looking for a woman as much as it was discovering who he was. For years he’d been a cadet, a first and then second lieutenant, captain and eventually a major. In Charleston, and away from military school, he could be Xavier Eaton—someone not bound by rules and regulations.

He left Munroe through a side door, leading directly into the faculty parking lot. Ninety minutes after driving away from the academy he maneuvered onto a side street behind Sweet Persuasions. Crews and trucks from a utility company had blocked off King Street to cars. It was apparent they were there to restore telephone service to the area.

Xavier walked around the corner and when he approached the shop with the blue awning he saw Selena standing outside watching a workman scale a telephone pole. His penetrating gaze lingered on her hair pulled into a ponytail before it traveled downward to a white camp shirt she’d tucked into the waistband of a pair of skinny jeans. The outline of her breasts under the shirt and the roundness of her hips quietly shouted her obvious femininity.

He slowed his approach, studying her delicate profile as she tilted her chin to watch the man perched atop the pole. Xavier didn’t know what it was about Selena Yates, but there was something special about her. Xavier was less than a few feet from Selena when she turned and stared at him. Her expression of uncertainty gave way to recognition as her lips parted in a smile.

“Hello again, Xavier,” she said in greeting.

His eyebrows lifted. “So, you remembered my name.”

Selena’s smile grew wider. She wanted to tell Xavier Eaton that not only had she remembered his name but also his gorgeous face and magnificent body. The man was the walking, breathing personification of everything exquisite about the male species.

“I remember all of my regular customers.”

He took a few steps bringing them only inches apart. She had to tilt her head to meet his eyes. “What makes you think I’m going to be a regular customer?”

“Don’t play yourself, Mr. Eaton. You’re here two days in a row.”

Xavier felt his pulse quicken when she lowered her seductive voice. “Yes.”

Selena forced herself not to look below his neck. Today he’d worn a long-sleeved pale blue shirt with a pair of black tailored slacks. She’d noticed with his approach the corps insignia on the buckle on his black leather belt. It was apparent Xavier Eaton was a marine in every sense of the word. It was as if he’d taken the service motto, Once a Marine Always a Marine, quite seriously.

“Did your mother and sister like their gifts?”

Xavier nodded again. “That’s why I’m here. They both loved them. My sister tried calling you to place an order, but got a busy signal.”

Selena pointed to the man on the pole. “That’s why they’re here. My phone has been out all day. I can’t call out or receive incoming calls. Of course, the disruption also affects my internet service.”

“Can’t you access the internet on your cell?”

“No! Once I leave the shop I try and distance myself from business, if only for a few hours. Having internet access on my cell is a temptation I’m not willing to risk.”

“Are you still taking orders?”

“Sure. Please come inside.”

Xavier found himself watching the gentle sway of Selena’s hips as she turned and walked into the shop. She hadn’t worn a hint of makeup, and he found her natural beauty refreshing. He wasn’t into women who wore fake hair, nails and eyelashes because he didn’t know whether he could touch them or not.

He’d dated one woman who wore makeup to bed, and even after several washings the stains from the makeup were still visible on the pillowcase and sheets. Another wouldn’t let him touch her hair, and another one didn’t want him to touch her breasts. To say that those relationships ended before they began was putting it mildly. All of the women were intelligent and attractive, but they’d come with a boatload of issues. When he shared a bed with a woman, nothing was off-limits.

Selena stared over her shoulder at Xavier as he glanced around the patisserie. Her last customer had left fifteen minutes ago, and in another hour she would close the shop. She doubted whether she would get too many more customers with the street blocked off to traffic. She would’ve closed earlier, but she was waiting for someone to pick up an order for a restaurant.

“What time do you close?” Xavier asked.

Her smile was dazzling. He’d read her mind. “Normally at six, but with no phone and the street closed to traffic I’m going to close early. I’m waiting for a pickup and then I’m out of here.”

Xavier walked over to the table with the shipping slips, and retrieved his BlackBerry. He jotted down the Brandywine Valley address of the Tuckers in the delivery section. “I’d like to order a brownie-fudge cheesecake and a pound of chocolate-and-peanut-butter pretzels.”

“When do you need them and where are they being shipped to?”

Selena stared at Xavier; he met her curious gaze with a penetrating one of his own. It had been a long time since she’d found a man intriguing and was uncertain why she felt strangely connected to him. Maybe it had something to do with his being in the military service. She wasn’t superficial, so her attraction to him wasn’t simply because of his handsome appearance. That was something she’d done as a teenager. At twenty-six she wanted to believe she was beyond the goo-goo-eyes stage in the presence of an attractive man. Yet the man standing in her shop, Xavier Eaton, had proven her wrong.

“They’re to be shipped to…” Xavier’s words trailed off when the bell above the door chimed. He stood straighter, his eyes widening in surprise. “Bell?”

The tall dark-skinned man with a shaved pate, mustache and goatee stopped short. “Holy…” He swallowed the expletive at the last possible moment. “Eaton?”

Xavier took a step, finding himself in a bear hug that nearly crushed his ribs, and making it difficult for him to breathe. He pounded the broad back of the man he hadn’t seen since they’d graduated from The Citadel. He rarely read the alumna updates online and had lost contact with many of his former classmates.

Robert Bell pulled back, released Xavier and shook his head. “What the hell are you doing in Charleston? Wait, don’t tell me. You’re Selena’s mystery man.”

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