He made it a personal point to keep that list short. But when Anna had handed his hurting little girl that shabby stuffed dog, she had crossed deeply into that territory.
He hadn’t realized how deeply until this very moment.
He drew in a slow breath and considered the dangling light fixture. He had a lot of things to think about.
Not the bookstore repairs. He already knew what he was going to do about those. That crazy wiring had to be fixed and soon. That was a no-brainer.
But figuring out what he was going to do about his feelings for Anna Delaney? That was likely to take a while.
* * *
“Now, then.” Mabel Abercrombie finished arranging a display of mysteries on a small table and stepped back to squint at her work. “That just about does it. You’re all ready to open up tomorrow morning.” The trim African American woman dusted her hands briskly and glanced at her watch. “Barely ten o’clock, too. We’ve been very efficient.”
“I appreciate your help.” Anna tucked the last chair back into place under a scarred library table.
“Oh, I’ve quite enjoyed it, my dear. If you ask me, retirement’s overrated. I do enjoy a good project. The next time you plan an event like this, let me know. I’ll be delighted to come and help you.”
“I’m afraid there’s not going to be a next time.” Anna picked up a bottle of James Coulter’s special brand of sparkling water and chucked it into the trash. Hard. “This was a disaster.” She picked up a damp cloth and began wiping off the table.
“I think perhaps you need to review the definition of disaster, Anna. In any case, you mustn’t be discouraged. The man was a bore, and his book certainly didn’t live up to its reviews, but that’s hardly your fault. On the other hand, you got twenty Pine Valley residents interested in a literary event, including Hoyt Bradley.” The older woman chuckled. “And did I hear that he actually sponsored this? As his former English teacher, I’d consider that a resounding success.”
Anna picked up a garbage bag stuffed with paper plates and half-eaten treats. She twisted the top closed with more force than was actually necessary. “I wouldn’t get too excited about Hoyt, Mrs. Abercrombie. For him, this is more about helping Jess than it is about promoting literature. He didn’t even finish reading the book.”
“He started it?” Her former teacher laughed again. “That’s a great deal more than I would have expected. Unfortunately, Hoyt’s never had much time to devote to reading. He’s always been focused on other things.”
“Like sports, you mean.” Anna plopped the cinched garbage bag by the door. She’d take it out to the dumpster tomorrow morning.
It took her a second to realize that Mrs. Abercrombie hadn’t answered. She looked up to see the other woman studying her. Her former teacher wore an expression that made Anna feel as if she’d just turned in a paper with a run-on sentence.
“No,” Mrs. Abercrombie corrected quietly. “I mean like survival.”
As Anna met her teacher’s unflinching brown eyes, Mrs. Abercrombie made a soft tsking sound with her tongue. “My dear girl, you were the finest literature student I ever had the pleasure to teach, but I’m afraid you’ve always read books far better than you read people.”
Anna frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Come sit down with me for a second.” When they were settled at the table, Mrs. Abercrombie tilted back her head, looking at Anna through the bottom of her glasses. “You did know, of course, that Hoyt’s father was an alcoholic?”
“Everybody in town knew that.”
“Yes. What everybody didn’t know was that from the time Hoyt was about twelve years old, he was functioning as the responsible adult in his family. His mother, God rest her soul, was such a scatterbrained woman.” Mrs. Abercrombie pursed her lips disapprovingly. “Quite incapable. I tried to help Alicia Bradley myself on several separate occasions, but she never could muster up the gumption to leave her husband. No,” the older woman continued, “Hoyt got every scrap of the backbone in that family. By the time he was in high school, he was managing the majority of his father’s construction business, too. Of course his schoolwork suffered, but Hoyt had very little choice, I’m afraid.”
“That’s terrible.”
“Yes, it was. And though I never could prove it, I always suspected there were other issues going on in that home, as well. Far worse ones.” The retired teacher fell silent, but something in her expression made a shiver run across Anna’s shoulders.
“I didn’t know.”
“Nobody knew the whole of it because Hoyt ensured they were kept in the dark. He wanted nobody’s pity and nobody’s interference. A lot of young men would have been destroyed by such problems, but not Hoyt. In fact, in all the time I’ve known him, I’ve only seen Hoyt Bradley brought to his knees once.”
Anna nodded slowly. “When Marylee died.”
“Yes. He took that loss very hard. For a time I worried that... Well, no matter. Those fears came to nothing, thankfully. Hoyt bobbed back up to the surface, just like he always has. He set his own grief aside to help that dear little girl of his. As I’ve said, I’ve found retirement overrated, so I volunteer at the pre-K program. I’ve had plenty of opportunities to watch Hoyt advocating for Jess. He never seemed to care all that much about his own schooling, but Jess’s education is certainly a top priority for him. No father could have done more, I assure you. Personally I’ve found it all quite heroic.”
“Heroic? Hoyt?”
“Precisely.” A little smile flickered across Mrs. Abercrombie’s face. “Perhaps that’s another definition you need to review, my dear. I believe a person could learn a great deal from a man like Hoyt Bradley. If she paid close attention, that is. Now, then. I’d best be getting myself along home.” Mrs. Abercrombie stood. She leaned down and laid her hand gently over Anna’s. “We teachers plant seeds, you know. Hundreds of them. Some take longer to germinate than others, that’s all. But it’s never too late to learn something new.” She smiled. “Good night, Anna.”
After Mrs. Abercrombie had gone, Anna remained at the table, tracing the wood grain with one finger, mulling over what her former teacher had said.
Heroic. Hoyt Bradley.
Go figure.
* * *
“Wow.” Hoyt whistled through his teeth as he scanned the sketches Abel Whitlock had unrolled on the makeshift desk in the work trailer. “That mantelpiece is absolutely amazing. My customer’s going to be over the moon. No wonder your business has taken off.”
Abel’s mouth tilted up in a crooked smile. “I’m obliged to you for the referral. I’m looking to stay busy now that I’ve got some new mouths to feed.”
“How are Emily and those new twins of yours?”
“Doing just fine.” The other man’s expression softened. “All fat and sassy, just like they should be.”
Hoyt laughed, and Abel’s lean cheeks colored red.
“The babies are fat, I mean. Not Emily.” A look of panic crossed Abel’s weathered face. “I don’t reckon I’ll ever quit stumbling over my own tongue.”
“Hoyt?” Mitch Connor stuck his head into the trailer. “There’s a lady out here asking for you, if you’ve got a minute.”
This was shaping up to be another crazy morning. “I don’t have a minute, but I’ll see her anyway. Thanks for bringing the sketches by, Abel.”
“No problem. And you won’t...uh...repeat that little slip I just made to Emily?”
Hoyt grinned. “Not unless you get on my bad side.”
As Abel opened the flimsy door to leave, he stepped politely aside, nodding to the woman who was mounting the shaky wooden steps. “Morning, Miss Anna.”
“Good morning, Abel.” Anna edged past him and looked around the cluttered trailer. “Hi, Hoyt. So this is where you work?”
“For now.” Hoyt rerolled Abel’s sketches and se
cured them with a rubber band. He’d run them out to the customers later, but there was no big rush. He knew he’d get the go-ahead once the wife got a look at Abel’s plans. “We can move it to whatever work site we’re on, so it’s convenient. One of these days, though, I’m going to have a real office.” He set the sketches to the side and drew in a deep breath. “I’m glad you stopped by, Anna. I think I owe you an apology.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I told you I’d read that book and attend your thing. I didn’t follow through. I’m sorry.”
“Please don’t worry about it.” Anna brushed the apology away with a quick gesture. “I’m the one who was in the wrong. You were right about the book. It wasn’t a good choice. I don’t blame you for not finishing it.”
This was unexpected. “Well, I probably shouldn’t have gone elbow-deep in your ceiling while Trisha Saunders was nosing around, either.”
“I’d rather have had an opportunity to deal with the problem before Trisha found out about it, yes. But if it’s a serious concern, it’s a good thing to know about. Not that I can afford to do anything about it. Not right now, anyway.”
Alarm stabbed at him. “Anna, look. I understand you’re in a tight spot financially, but this really isn’t anything to play around with. That wiring—”
“Has been in the building since it was built and hasn’t caused a problem yet,” Anna finished his sentence for him. “I’m not saying it won’t have to be dealt with at some point. I’ll just have to pray it doesn’t catch fire until I can afford to have it repaired or I sell the building, whichever comes first.”
Hoyt believed in the power of prayer, but he also believed in using common sense. Still, he couldn’t force Anna to fix the wiring, no matter how much he wanted to.
But the city inspector could. Knowing Trish like he did, he imagined the whole mess would be taken out of Anna’s hands before long anyway.
He let a beat of silence fall between them and then sighed. “So what can I do for you, Anna?”
“Actually I came by to ask you for a favor.”
“Anything.” He meant it. “Do you need money? Because I’ll be glad to—”
“No! I’m not about to let you throw more of your money away. I don’t even know how I’m going to pay you back for that other loan now.”
“You don’t have to. Consider it a gift.”
“Hoyt.”
“Call it a lease payment on Chester, then. That dog’s worth a million dollars as far as I’m concerned. I still feel bad about you giving something that special to Jess. And I want you to know, I’m going to return it to you, just as soon as I can.”
“Don’t bother.” Anna made an exasperated noise. “As far as I’m concerned, Jess is welcome to him. And I’m certainly not going to let you pay me rent on the stupid thing.”
Hoyt raised his eyebrows. Stupid thing. Chester? Something wasn’t adding up here, and given the elaborate pay-Anna-back plan he’d already set in motion, he’d better figure out what was going on. “But something like that’s irreplaceable. I mean, a toy your mom gave you right before she died...that’s something you’d want to hang on to.”
“She didn’t give him to me.”
“What? I thought you said—”
“I said that’s what my father told me. It wasn’t true. He lied.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Neither did I. Until I found my dad’s journal a few months ago. Apparently he lied about a lot of things where my mother was concerned. That trip she was on when she died? It was one way. She was moving to France to be with some man she met at a conference. She was leaving my father. She was leaving both of us.”
“What?”
“He didn’t want me to be...hurt, so he made up this big story. He told me she was going to visit long-lost relatives, and he bought me a stuffed dog and said it was from her.” Anna shrugged shortly. “But none of it was real, and I can promise you I don’t care a thing about that dog now. Jess is welcome to him. Anyway, Chester isn’t what I came to talk to you about. I wondered if you’d be willing to give me some professional networking lessons.”
“Professional networking?” He was still trying to wrap his brain around what she’d just told him, but he did his best to switch directions. “You mean like with computers?”
“No, that’s not what I meant. I’m thinking more locally than that.”
“Locally.” He repeated the word, puzzled.
“Yes, I think you were right in what you told me before. Improving my perspective on the local community could have a positive impact on my business.”
Light dawned. As usual, Anna was throwing five-dollar words at a two-dollar problem. “You want me to help you make some friends with other business owners around here? Is that what you’re saying?”
Color flushed into her face, just the pink of the wild roses that were climbing all over his pasture fence this time of year. Whenever Anna Delaney blushed she was the prettiest woman in Pine Valley, no two ways about it.
“Yes, but you can probably cross Trisha Saunders off the short list since I’m doing this to avoid selling her the building. I have to warn you, though. Socializing has never been my strongest skill. You’ll have your work cut out for you, trying to teach me.” The smile she offered him was stiff, and she’d twisted her hands together so tightly that her knuckles were white.
The expression on her face reminded him of an afternoon last fall when Jess had tried riding her two-wheeler bike for the first time. She’d fallen off about six pedals in and skinned her elbow. After he’d finished bandaging her up, Jess stomped over to the garage and dragged her tricycle out.
It had taken Hoyt two solid months to get his daughter back on that two-wheeler.
Anna didn’t need another setback right now. She needed a sure thing. An idea occurred to him.
“Tomorrow night I’m going for pizza with a group of business owners in the area, guys we went to high school with. We get together every few months or so and brainstorm ways to cross-promote our businesses. You should come.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” He was sure. Wasn’t he? “Mitch and I will be by your place around six.”
“Mitch Connor? Isn’t he the electrician you work with?”
Hoyt grinned. Nothing got by Anna Delaney.
“Yeah. And he’s going to look over your place and come up with an estimate while we’re out. Plus, he’s going to install you a state-of-the-art smoke alarm. Nope.” She’d opened her mouth to protest. “That’s the deal. An estimate’s free, and it’s always better to know what you’re up against. And the smoke alarm’s a nonnegotiable gift from me. Trisha might be trying to cheat you, but she does have one halfway decent point on her side. There are other buildings attached to yours, so you’re not the only person who could be injured if that wiring goes up. There needs to be an alert that goes out to the fire department if anything happens before the repairs can be made. Mitch can set the alarm to send an alert to your cell phone. Mine, too, unless you have a problem with that. It’s always good to have more than one phone number programmed in, just in case.”
She hesitated and then nodded. “Okay. I guess you have a point. As long as Mr. Connor’s only giving an estimate, at least for now. And if you’re sure your friends won’t mind me tagging along with you.”
“Are you kidding? Like I said, we all went to high school together. They’ll be glad to see you again.”
Anna flashed a skeptical smile at him, her cheeks still that rosy pink. “If you say so.”
As her eyes met his, something buried deep in his chest rolled over and came to life for the first time in years. Suddenly there seemed to be too much space between them—and too little—all at the same time.
The feeling was both strange and familiar. He’d felt it before, sure, but not for years, and only ev
er with one woman.
He was starting to think these weird feelings he was having for Anna Delaney ran even deeper than he’d thought.
Maybe a lot deeper.
And he had absolutely no idea what to do with that.
Chapter Eight
Tino’s Pizzeria had been around forever. Sporting red-and-white-checkered tablecloths and fat white candles flickering in the center of little tables, Tino’s was the closest thing to fine dining Pine Valley had to offer. As long as she could remember, it had been the high school hot spot for dating and hanging out.
Anna had only been there a handful of times, usually to pick up takeout for her and her father. She remembered standing uncomfortably in front of the high, polished counter, breathing in the heavy scent of Tino’s signature sauce, acutely aware of the laughter and loud talking coming from the tables of her classmates in the back.
They hadn’t been laughing at her. She knew that. They probably hadn’t even noticed she was in the room. But she’d been glad when her father had decided to drop some weight and had cut pizza and pasta out of his diet.
She’d never felt very much at home at Tino’s.
“Anna? Are you all right?” Startled, she glanced over to find Hoyt watching her from the driver’s seat. “Sorry. You had a funny look on your face, and you haven’t unfastened your seat belt.” He lowered his voice. “Don’t get freaked out, okay? This is just dinner with old friends. No big deal.” He raised his voice. “What about you, Jess? You ready for some pizza?”
“Pizza!” Jess sang out from the back seat of the truck. She kicked her pink tennis shoes against the base of her booster seat. “Pizza with Miss Bailey!”
“That’s right, kiddo. Bailey’s running a little late, so you’ll have to hang out with Daddy and Anna for a few minutes, okay?”
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