Mac headed to one corner and flipped on the lights, then watched his son through narrowed eyes.
Alex surveyed the shop with mixed emotions. Fish squirmed in his arms, so he let the puppy down to sniff and shoved his hands in his pockets. The place would be perfect for restoring vintage trucks and maybe even trailers -- the door was wide and high enough.
“You been scarce lately,” Mac muttered.
“I’ve been working.”
“Oh, I’m sure you have,” Mac replied, “but on what exactly?”
Unperturbed, Alex wandered along the workbench, picturing his tools hanging on the pegs along the back of the ancient wooden worktop.
“So, you finished the RV park,” Mac continued.
“You got the invoice,” Alex answered, opening the door of the nasty little bathroom in the back corner of the shop. His words echoed off the walls and back to his father.
“How’s your leg?” Mac asked, with uncharacteristic directness.
Alex turned to eye his father in silence. He whistled for the dog, and Fish trotted to his side. “It’s there, but it’s doing better,” he replied.
“Well—” Mac said, stuffing his hands in his pockets, much like his son. “You look good.”
“Thanks,” Alex replied, deciding to take the compliment. “How much would you charge me for this place?”
“I’d consider it a favor if you’d use it,” Mac answered, the tone of his voice making it clear he wouldn’t accept any other arrangement.
Alex considered his dad’s words. Could he really open a shop? Was this what he wanted? What about his electrical work? Hershel had mentioned this place to him months back, asking if his dad still owned it. Had that wily old man known Alex wanted this?
“How many hours do you think you’ll have open to work for me?” Mac asked as if he could read Alex’s thoughts.
Reaching down to scoop up Fish, Alex offered his dad a grin, then headed back toward the open garage door. “I’ll let you know,” he called over his shoulder.
* * *
Placing her arm on the back of the seat, Katherine twisted to look out the back window of her truck. Unfortunately, all she could see was the front of the trailer hooked to the hitch. With a grunt of frustration, she turned to the front and bent closer to the window, trying to get a better view from the side mirror. Inching the truck backward, she craned her neck to see the other side of the trailer in the passenger side mirror.
Unsure if she’d hit her mark or something else entirely, Katherine put the truck in park and threw open the door. Catching sight of Chad’s box truck turning onto the gravel road, she hurried back to see if she had indeed moved the little Aljoa into position near the electrical and water connections.
The Santa Fe was already in its spot, along with the El Rey and the Shasta. Once she got this trailer unhooked, she’d be able to see how they looked all lined up, end to end in a semi-circle. To keep it simple, she’d decided to place the five trailers on the side of the road without sandbag holes, and the choice looked to be a good one.
As she hefted a cinder block under the foot of the front trailer jack, Chad’s truck rolled to a stop, and the passenger door flew open. Bobby jumped from the truck, his eyes wide through his thick lenses.
“Miss Katie!” he called, jogging toward her. “These trailers are amazin’!”
Excitedly, the little man ran from trailer to trailer, tugging open the doors to peer inside.
Chad circled the front of the truck to head toward Katie. Julia’s truck pulled up next to the box truck, and he waited for her to climb out and join him. As the couple neared, Katherine couldn’t help but notice the difference in their height. Julia was a petite little thing, and Chad’s lumberjack size dwarfed her.
Smiling to herself, Katherine bent to grasp the handle and crank the jack into position. The foot of the jack made contact with the cinderblock, and the crank slowed.
“Here, let me get that,” Chad offered, jogging around the front of the truck to take over.
Katherine gladly moved out of his way, wiping her forehead on her shoulder.
“Look at this!” Julia chimed, cupping her hand over her eyes to block the early morning sun as she surveyed the trailers. “It’s starting to look like an RV park!”
“It will look a lot more like one with your help,” Katherine scoffed.
“How high do you want this?” Chad asked.
“Let me check the level,” Katherine said, climbing up on the back of the truck to get over the tongue of the trailer. She opened the small storage compartment on the side of the trailer and took out a level, then opened the door to place it on the floor of the trailer just inside the door. “Looks like you’re still a few inches low,” she called to Chad.
He cranked two more rounds on the jack. “Now?” he called back.
“Perfect!” Katherine hollered, retrieving the level.
Julia peered into the little trailer. “Oh my, this one is much smaller than yours, isn’t it?”
“Yes, and at this point,” Katherine said with a sigh, “I’m glad because I’m exhausted.”
“Oh, but now comes the fun part. You know, where every day you’ll see big changes.” Julia assured.
“I hope so,” Katherine answered, catching sight of Alex’s truck as it turned onto the gravel road. She watched as he approached, then realized that Julia and Chad both eyed her in speculation.
“What!” she huffed.
“Nothing,” both hurried to reply at the same time, but the smile they tossed each other told Katherine otherwise.
Looking to change the subject, Katherine moved on. “Hey, I wanted to thank you two. You’ve done so much for me.” The words were simple, but she meant them.
Seeing that her new friend was struggling for words, Julia simply moved in for a hug, catching Katherine off guard. “It’s no problem,” the tiny woman assured, then patted Katie on the back and added “I’m so excited about this project! I’ve been driving everyone crazy.”
Katherine smoothed her hands down the front of her shirt. “Who— who is everyone?”
Julia laughed. “Everybody.”
“Since the flood, your RV park is all people can talk about,” Chad added.
“Winnie and Tara have been calling me nonstop asking how they can help.” Julia said. “They’d already be out here, but I told them to let me warn you first.”
Alex’s truck pulled up next to Julia’s flower shop truck, and Katherine saw Fish’s silly little face hanging out the passenger side window. Then to her surprise, she saw a big yellow pickup truck and an old station wagon coming down the gravel road. She turned back to Julia in question.
“Consider yourself warned,” Julia said.
“I don’t underst—” Katherine protested, but Fish flew across the yard and vaulted against her legs, nearly knocking her feet out from under her. “Oh, my goodness,” she laughed, bending to ruffle the puppy’s ears. “I’m happy to see you too!” She scooped up the little dog, soaking up his enthusiasm.
Alex joined the group, offering Katie a one-armed hug and a kiss on the cheek.
Chad and Julia exchanged a grin and Katie blushed.
“Looks like we have reinforcements,” Alex said, motioning toward the women climbing from the vehicles pulled up along the gravel road.
Katie eyes narrowed with trepidation. “You know how I love surprises.”
He smiled reassuringly. “This is a good thing, you’ll see.”
* * *
Alex moved back as the throng of women approached. He wasn’t all that familiar with the ladies in town, but he recognized Tara and Winnie, as well as Becky, and of course Marge from the diner. How on earth did that woman manage to maintain that hairdo?
In the crowd, he spotted Gloria, who had changed from the freckled, busty, insecure girl he’d known before he left into a glowing bride. And a new lady was also in the crowd. Chad had mentioned that the exotic, curly-haired beauty ran the spa out at the bed an
d breakfast and was engaged to Tara’s architect. His brow puckered as he worked to remember her name. The woman in question cooed over Fish, then passed him along to the next woman in the group for cuddles and kisses. Lizzie, he remembered, proud of himself.
Each of the women offered Katie encouraging words about the park and the trailers, their voices rising and falling, mixed with intermittent laughter, reminding him of the cackling chickens his grandma used to raise.
He glanced over their heads to see Chad and Bobby unloading tools from the back of the box truck, and he headed their way. Halfway there his step hitched, and it had nothing to do with the lingering puddles or his limp. He was stunned to realize that this place felt like home.
* * *
Tara’s hand glided over the stainless-steel countertop of the Mansion kitchen. “This is the most beautiful trailer I’ve ever seen,” she gushed. “I have so many ideas of things for you to put in here. The boutique is crammed full of midcentury items, thanks to Becky. But of course,” she took a deep breath and pulled a face. “…I need to find out how you’d like it decorated.”
The women all laughed.
“Don’t let her kid you, she already has it finished in her mind,” Gloria said from the sofa with Fish on her lap.
“I do love that mid-century look,” Becky laughed.
“That retro look is very chic.” Julia agreed.
“Some of us lived through that stuff the first time,” Marge said with a frown. “Frankly, I don’t understand why you find it so attractive.”
“Now, now,” Winnie interrupted, raising her hand for all to hush. “Let’s give Katie a chance to speak.”
All eyes turned to Katie, and she swallowed hard.
Taking pity on the woman, Tara put her hand through Katie’s elbow. “I’ll tell you what, let’s do a walk through, and I can give you some ideas. You give me a yay or a nay. Sound good?”
Katherine reluctantly agreed, as if she had an option.
Tara led her into the living room, forcing Becky and Marge to squeeze into the corner of the small room. “I see you’ll need curtains,” Tara pointed to the bare rod over the windows.
Katherine nodded.
“I can sew those for you,” Gloria piped up, smoothing her hand down Fish’s head. “But you’ll have to let me dog sit from time to time.”
“Fish belongs to Alex,” Katherine said, causing the women to titter and glance amongst themselves.
“Oh, right,” Gloria corrected, her cheeks flaming under her freckles. “Anyway, I have a ton of fabric, some that’s got a cute vintage vibe. I’ll give you my number, and you can come over for lunch and pick out what you like.”
“That’s so nice, but really, I can just buy—”
“You’ll need some pillows for the sofa,” Tara interrupted. “And maybe a throw rug? What do you do think?”
Katherine was still stuck back on the curtains.
Pointing to the small desk in the corner, Tara continued. “I have the sweetest vintage typewriter that would look adorable there.”
“Oh,” Katie gasped, “I hadn’t thought of that, but it would be perfect. I—”
Before she could finish Tara dragged her into the kitchen. “I think we have a matching toaster and coffee maker that I picked up at a yard sale.” She tapped her lips with her finger. “Becky!” she yelled, in order to be heard over the cacophony of voices. “What color is that retro kitchen set? Red?”
Katherine’s ears rang.
“Yes, dear! Red!” Becky hollered back.
Lizzie pushed her way into the room. “I have some adorable, cherry print potholders and dishtowels that would match.”
Katherine blinked, working to remember names. Nothing came to her, so she turned back to the kitchen, trying to imagine a chubby, red toaster on the counter next to the matching coffee maker, with potholders and towels to match. It was exactly what she’d been planning to buy.
She pulled her arm from Tara’s grasp, her eyes gleaming. “That sounds lovely. What else?”
* * *
As the women headed toward their vehicles, Becky lagged behind, animated and in mid-story.
“So anyway,” she said to Katie. “I told Hershel that Maybell could really use his car, given her husband’s health and all, but he was determined to give it to me. I tell you, girl, I can’t drive that thing! I’ve never been able to drive a stick shift. So I was thinking, if it’s okay with y—”
“Becky!” Tara bellowed. “Come on. I’ve got to pick up Isabelle!”
“With you,” Becky continued, waving off Tara, not missing a beat, “I’ll go ahead and give Maybell the car.” Her blue, glittery eyelids fluttered in expectation as she waited for an answer.
“I don’t have any prob—” Katherine started.
“Of course, if you’d like to see the car first, I can understand that.” Becky bit her bright red lipsticked bottom lip. “I have no idea how I’d get it out here, but—”
The horn of Tara’s truck honked, causing Katherine to flinch.
Becky turned and lifted the skirt of her caftan to jump over a puddle, waving behind her, her jewelry swinging and bobbing in time with her bun. “I’ll call you!” she shouted over her shoulder, then hurried toward Tara’s waiting pickup.
Katherine waved goodbye and the two laden vehicles backed up, nearly running into each other. “Don’t—” Katherine called, raising her hand to signal, but Winnie’s station wagon pulled forward, allowing Tara to turn the truck around, and the vehicles made their way down the road.
“Whew!” Julia laughed, coming up to stand next to Katie.
“They’re something, aren’t they?” Katherine said to her new friend. But she was thankful. Never in her life had she been swept up into the nest and tended to by a bunch of mother hens.
Chapter Twenty-Three
By the time rays of purple sunset streaked across the sky, the park looked like a completely different place than it had that morning.
Chad lowered the chainsaw to survey his work on the trees along the edge of the property.
“This looks so much better,” Katherine exclaimed, wandering up and down the tree line, remembering her first attempt to cut back the jumble of branches.
“I cut a few paths to the river,” Chad said, wiping his forehead with his shoulder.
“I’m so glad you did this,” Katie told him. “My first effort didn’t go so well.”
“It’s no problem,” the big man assured as he turned to scan the field where Julia and Bobby worked near the trailers. “Look at that, will you? Julia never ceases to amaze me.”
Katherine cupped her hand over her eyes to scan the RV Park.
Julia had planted various wildflowers amongst the wild grass around the campsite, brightening the field and offering the perfect touch of romance. The holes pitting the site had been filled in, and gravel was spread around each trailer site, even the empty ones, alleviating the remaining mud. A large circle of fresh green sod lay split in half by the gravel drive through the park, with the five trailers parked end to end, facing into the circle along one side. What had been a muddy, trench-filled mess was now a pretty, well-groomed campground.
“She’s amazing; I can’t believe how much they’ve accomplished.” Katherine had to agree. “Come on; I’m ready for some lemonade.”
“Oh, twist my arm,” Chad teased, following her back toward the trailers.
Fish barked in greeting, straining against his lead and harness. Alex stepped out of the Aljoa and motioned toward the roof. “Can you hear it?”
Katherine broke into a jog, heading toward him. “You got the air unit put in!” she cried, poking her head into the little trailer. Julia joined her, and the two women inspected the air unit, laughing and joking.
“That was a job,” Alex said to Chad outside. “Next time I do that it will be in my shop. This heat is killing me.”
“Shop?” Chad asked, a grin lighting his face.
Alex ducked his head, embarrass
ed that he’d said anything. “Yeah.”
“I’ve been wondering when you were going to get around to that,” Chad said, “You’ve been talking about it since we were kids.”
“Mac wants me to use his old place out on county highway not far from here.”
“That’s a great little shop,” Chad said. “But, I didn’t know you were going to restore trailers too.”
Alex glanced toward Katie. “That part is still in the works; I’d appreciate it if you’d keep it under wraps for the time being.”
“I understand completely,” Chad assured, his face serious. “I’m sure glad to have you back around. I’ve missed our chats over an engine.”
Remembering all the vehicles they’d pieced together back in the day, Alex grinned. “Me too.”
* * *
An hour later, Alex knocked on the door to Katie’s trailer with Fish at his feet. When she swung open the door, the puppy bound up the steps.
“Julia and Chad just left,” he said, watching the dog jump and beg for Katie’s attention.
She picked up the puppy and glanced over Alex’s shoulder toward the gravel drive. “Oh, I meant to say goodbye.”
“Bobby was going on and on about dinner and his momma. Julia said she’d call you later.”
She shrugged. “Oh, okay. Come on in.”
He trudged up the steps. “What are you working on?” he asked, motioning toward her computer on the bar, amidst various paperwork and reports.
“I was logging in receipts and sending last-minute email confirmations. I can’t believe visitors start arriving soon.”
“Well, the place looks a lot better tonight, so you must be relieved.”
Remembering her outburst the morning before, she blushed. “I was a little frazzled, wasn’t I.”
“You’re fine,” he assured, wishing he could take her in his arms, but he was filthy. “What smells good?”
Hometown Series Box Set Page 118