A Wildflower Summer

by Caroline Flynn

  ‘Show me what?’

  ‘Eden, want to help me pull this cover off?’ Jason’s fingers gripped the edge of the black fabric, but he waited.

  ‘Yeah!’ Eden took a step, then stopped, second guessing whether she should or not. Her pleading gray eyes were round as saucers.

  ‘It’s okay.’ Lily motioned for her to go on.

  In one fell swoop, and with the echoed laughter of her daughter as Jason picked her up in one strong arm, they tugged the cover past the cab, unveiling the car hidden beneath. Dropping the cover to the floor, a few pieces of rust flaked off with it. Lily wasn’t sure whether to cringe at the falling pieces or the overall state of the classic car itself.

  She pointed. ‘Is that—’

  ‘Cruella’s car!’ Eden cheered.

  And it was. At least, she thought it was, or would be if it were restored to its former glory. As it stood, the car that sat before her was rusted badly along the fenders and missing a headlight. And those were only the things she could describe. Pieces and parts rested against the tires, awaiting their turn to be installed. Regardless of the disrepair, there was no mistaking it.

  Jason Forrester owned his own Cruella.

  ‘Not quite.’ Jason patted Eden’s head, smiling from ear to ear. ‘It’s actually a Panther Lima, not a De Ville,’ he explained. ‘And it’s a 1981 model. They weren’t produced in ’74.’

  ‘Looks pretty close to the car in the movie to me,’ Lily said.

  Circling it, she was in awe. Having a car in front of her like this wasn’t something she experienced every day. Heck, she didn’t know if she had ever seen one like it before in real life. Despite its age and weathered appearance, it was a sight to behold. ‘And you just happen to have one of these cars sitting in your garage.’ It wasn’t a question, though her voice raised at the end of the sentence, sounding dubious. It all seemed too surreal, too convenient.

  Jason chuckled, watching Eden run her hands along the chipped paint near the door handle. ‘Trust me, when you referred to your old car as Cruella, I was thinking the exact same thing. I had to show you this old girl.’

  There was no mistaking the adoration in his eyes as he stared at the classic car. Lily didn’t think he saw the rust or dents or flaking paint when he looked at it. In his mind, he saw the gleaming beauty it had once been and could be again, all shiny paint and polished steel. ‘Why is it sitting out here, covered up?’

  Jason glanced up from the car. His expression made Lily feel like he just noticed she was still standing there. Wherever he had been a moment ago, it wasn’t there, with her. ‘It’s my grandfather’s,’ he explained, then flinched. ‘Was my grandfather’s. He’s in a nursing home in North Springs now, with dementia.’

  ‘I’m so sorry, Jason.’

  A somber nod was his response. ‘He signed over the car to me when I first got my driver’s license, long before his illness.’ He spoke so fast that Lily’s chest constricted, pained that he felt he had to prove he had been given the car while his grandfather was still of sound mind.

  ‘You’ve had this car since you were sixteen?’

  ‘On paper.’ Jason crouched and boosted Eden, whose hands were cupped against the murky glass windows trying desperately to see inside. Knowing the little girl’s vivid imagination, Lily figured she was probably checking for spotted puppies or one of Cruella de Ville’s red heels. ‘She was in Grandpa’s garage when I was growing up. His most prized possession. I can still remember when he hauled it home on a trailer. My grandmother was livid—she’d known nothing about it until it showed up in the driveway.’ He stifled a laugh.

  ‘Oh, I’ll bet that was an interesting conversation.’ Lily could almost picture it. She was pretty sure Jason was, reliving every moment and cherishing it as it played out in his mind.

  ‘You have no idea,’ he chuckled, shifting his weight as Eden squirmed in his arms. ‘Grandma Mary-Jean didn’t know it at the time, but I’d known all about it. To be honest, I’m thirty years old and I still haven’t told her that.’

  Lily’s eyes bulged. ‘You’re scared of your elderly grandmother?’

  ‘Petrified,’ he laughed. ‘The woman’s the best thing ever, but she’s as feisty as a wildcat.’

  For the first time since her car broke down the night before, Lily realized she was enjoying herself. Normal conversation with someone about normal things. It was hardly a mundane topic seeing as the car and its previous owner meant the world to this man, but the back and forth was easy, unrushed. It was hard to believe she hadn’t known Jason Forrester existed twenty-four hours ago. ‘So, you’re going to fix it, then?’

  Lowering Eden to the floor, Jason tilted his head. ‘Grandpa and I always talked about it. You know how it goes, though. Life gets in the way, time passes, and before you know it, the opportunity is gone.’

  Another ache pierced her chest. ‘You can still do it, though,’ she said, softer this time. ‘You’ve got the car, and those are obviously parts for it.’ She pointed at the pieces leaned against the cracked tires. ‘You could still make it shine.’

  This time when his gaze met hers, it was like he was trying to figure her out. ‘Who’s the optimistic one now?’ His smile was crooked as he waved a hand. ‘Trust me, I’d love to restore her. Time is a factor, unfortunately. And every time I tell myself I’m going to get started and actually do it, I talk myself out of it or something comes up.’

  ‘Oh, come on, it can’t be that hard.’ She leaned down and pointed at one of the parts resting on the floor. ‘You just put this metal piece over the rusty piece, and slap some paint on this here front thingamabob …’ She grinned at him. ‘See, piece of cake.’

  He took the bait, his ever-tightening features easing into softer contours. ‘Wow, I didn’t know you were so mechanically inclined.’

  Lily raised her eyebrows, thankful for the shift to a more lighthearted topic. ‘What, like it’s hard?’ She stepped to the left, pressing a finger against a curved piece of sheet metal. ‘You just put this whatchamacallit—’

  He crossed his arms, amused, and closed the gap between them. ‘The caustic panel,’ he corrected her.

  ‘That’s what I said. You put the caustic panel here, and replace this rounded thingy—’

  ‘Spheric widget.’

  ‘Right, the spheric widget,’ she continued. ‘Then, you put the—’ Lily was hoping she could remember all the part names he was teaching her for future reference, attempting to convert them to memory when another voice echoed through the room.

  ‘There you are.’

  Both she and Jason whirled around as though they had been caught red-handed. Doing what, she wasn’t sure, but having the sudden interruption in their unexpected playfulness made Lily’s cheeks burn. The expression on Branch’s face as he stood in the doorway only added to her embarrassment. He seemed to be just as confused by their close proximity as she was. She didn’t remember Jason moving closer, but now there was less than a foot between them, with her pointing at car parts and his gaze sparkling as he named them for her.

  She took a step back as though she had been scalded, which probably made her look even guiltier than she felt.

  Branch adjusted his Lakers cap. ‘Benji’s on the phone,’ he advised Jason. ‘About tomorrow’s shift. Want me to tell him you’re busy?’ He emphasized the last word, drawing it out like it meant something more. Like he knew it was something more.

  Jason remained unfazed, though he took a step back, too, tucking his hands into his pockets. ‘I’ll be right in. Just got to cover up Cruella again.’

  Uncomfortable in the sudden tension, Lily blurted, ‘Jason was just showing me the … I mean, he was teaching me about caustic panels and spheric widgets on this old car.’

  Branch’s eyebrows rose. ‘Say what now?’

  ‘The caustic panels,’ she sputtered, desperate to make him understand that it had been a harmless venture out to the garage. With one finger, she pointed at the curved metal piece to clarify.
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br />   Jason’s coworker stared at her as if she had grown a second head. ‘The caustic panels,’ he repeated slowly, testing the words out on his tongue.

  ‘Yeah,’ Lily said, nonplussed. She stabbed a finger in the direction of the round piece beside it. ‘And the spheric widget.’ Her gaze snapped from Branch to Jason, just in time to see Jason’s pursed lips burst open and release a loud, unabashed laugh.

  Realization dawned on her. ‘Oh my gosh, you were making it all up!’

  Jason buckled over, laughing even harder when Eden rounded the corner of the car, spurred on by his genuine amusement, and began to laugh with him. ‘I didn’t know you were going to actually use the information I gave you!’ he managed to get out. Tears glittered at the corners of his eyes.

  Undoubtedly seven shades of crimson, Lily stared at him with widened eyes. With Eden joining in, and Branch trying hard to stifle his own laughter, she was outnumbered, three to one. It shouldn’t have been funny. It shouldn’t have been absolutely, positively hilarious.

  But it was. Even to her.

  Her first strangled chuckle bubbled up from her throat. ‘Oh, Jason, you are going to pay dearly for that.’

  It only made them laugh harder. By the time it died down, Lily was sure her sides were going to split in two. She hadn’t laughed like that in ages. Especially not at her own expense.

  ‘Give me a second and I’ll be right in to talk to Benji,’ Jason announced finally, reaching for the black cover.

  Branch gave a slight nod, but he stayed rooted in the doorway. Lily could see the faint upturn of the corners of his mouth from where she stood. ‘Haven’t seen that old car in ages, Jay. You never did tell me, what’s the special occasion?’

  Something passed between the two men, silent but clear. Lily didn’t understand it, but judging by Branch’s bright eyes, alight with unmasked humor, he did. In the aftermath of their unadulterated laughing fit, the seriousness of their unspoken communication caught Lily off guard.

  ‘Tell Benji I’ll be right there,’ Jason said again, the faintest edge in his voice this time.

  His coworker chuckled and disappeared out into the sunshine, closing the garage door behind him with a loud click that echoed in the ensuing silence.

  Jason went about covering up the car. Lily was surprised at the sadness she felt, watching as it disappeared once again beneath the opaque black fabric, hidden away from the world. A car with that much class—that much history—deserved to be on display for everyone to see.

  Especially when it meant as much to Jason as it did.

  ‘Why did your coworker ask you if it was a special occasion?’ The moment the question left her lips, she regretted it. Not because she wasn’t curious, but because her gut told her there was history between the two men, and that his coworker’s question had ruffled some feathers. She didn’t relish the idea of adding to it.

  Jason continued to drape the fitted cover over the car. ‘That was just Branch being Branch. I don’t show Cruella to many people, that’s all. I doubt half the town even knows I still own her.’

  ‘Can we drive her?’ Eden piped up, tugging on Jason’s shirt hem.

  Instantly, Lily felt bad, hoping the simple question didn’t pour salt in a proverbial wound. Her daughter’s innocence shone like a diamond. What it must be like to look at a rusted old car through the eyes of a child and see the shiny showstopper it might someday be. The way her daughter referred to the car as her rather than it, mimicking Jason’s term of endearment, wasn’t lost on Lily, either. ‘Eden—’

  ‘You know what?’ Jason ran a hand through his hair, offering the little girl a crooked grin. ‘Someday I’ll fix ’er all up and we can take her for a spin. It might take me a while, but someday we’ll be able to drive her around town. Sound good?’ He held out a hand, which Eden promptly high-fived.

  ‘Yeah!’ she exclaimed.

  Lily cringed inwardly. It was obvious that Jason meant well with his response, but she could already bet that Eden was going to ask again and again about their upcoming ride, waiting as impatiently as a five-year-old could for someday to come—a someday that they wouldn’t be in town to see.

  ‘There’s no rush,’ she added, seeking out her daughter’s hand and hoping to level out the empty promise. ‘Jason’s got lots of work to do, Eden. For now, looks like you’ve got your own Cruella to hang on to. As long as it’s still okay that you’ve got it.’ She added the last part, giving Jason an out in case he had rethought his kind gesture.

  Pulling the final corner of the cover into place, the Panther Lima disappeared. ‘Of course, it’s okay,’ he replied.

  ‘Your daughter won’t mind?’

  He paused, mulling over his response carefully. ‘Honestly, Carlie’s only here every second weekend. She lives in North Springs with her mama.’ He cleared his throat, and when he spoke again, the tinge of sadness was gone from his voice. ‘You hang on to her, Eden. That way, it’ll be a fair trade when I get your mama’s car back to her in working order.’

  ‘Okay.’ Eden stared down at the toy in her hands like it was a cherished memento she was never going to let out of her sight. To her, maybe it was.

  Lily, however, wasn’t focused on the toy at all. She was still a few sentences behind, processing the bombshell she hadn’t expected. Jason’s daughter didn’t live with him full time, and he wasn’t with Carlie’s mother anymore. Not only that, but there was no mistaking the pain that coated every word as he had admitted it. Lily could hear the truth just as clearly as if Jason had enunciated every syllable himself—the split hadn’t been amicable, and he would give anything to have his daughter around each day. Her heart broke for the man standing in front of her, and she reached out and touched Eden’s silky curls, suddenly desperate to confirm she was still there, within arm’s reach.

  ‘Well, it sounds like I’m needed in the shop.’ Jason dusted his hands off. ‘We’re good, then? I mean, you’ll let me know when to order those parts, once you’ve talked to the hotel about a refund, and we’ll see what Nancy has to say about you two staying at her place?’

  Lily found herself nodding before she had even fully thought it through. While she could only pray that the manager of the Starbucks would give her a few days’ leeway to deal with this mishap and that the daycare spot could be held, she reminded herself that it wasn’t like the recruiters in Chicago that she had submitted design job applications to were blowing up her phone. She shrugged. ‘We’re good. Besides, I need time to get you back for making me look like a fool in front of your coworker.’

  ‘Branch,’ he corrected her. ‘Call him Branch. He’s been my best friend since we were kids—coworker sounds way too formal. And, as funny as it was to hear you say those made-up terms out loud, it’ll be even funnier to watch you try to retaliate. Bring it on, Lily. I’m ready.’ He held up his hands, waving his fingers inward.

  Lily chuckled at his bring it on gesture. So, that was that, then. She was going to stay in Port Landon with the hope that she could come up with the funds for this ruggedly handsome man to fix her car. This ruggedly handsome man who made her smile and laugh.

  Jason might be ready, but she wasn’t sure she was.

  Chapter 6

  Jason

  Before yesterday, Jason had all but given up on a lot of things. One of them was Cruella.

  His grandfather loved that car. Still did on the days when he could remember her. Even as an adolescent, Jason understood the love a man could have for a vehicle—he had felt it right alongside his Grandpa Wes.

  Jason wasn’t lying. The day Cruella showed up in the driveway on a trailer, his grandmother had been on the verge of a conniption fit. It wasn’t that she had anything against the car, but his grandfather had failed to mention it, knowing Mary-Jean would bombard him with a list of other things that the money could have been used for. Other rational, more logical things. Wesley Forrester had saved her the trouble, deciding it was easier to ask forgiveness than permission. What his grandfather ne
ver realized, Jason thought, was that his grandmother understood the relationship between a man and his car, too. More than once, Jason had caught her watching him as he tinkered away on the old Panther, hood up and hands blackened with grease, and he had seen the same adoration in her eyes that Grandpa Wes reserved for only three things in life—his wife, his car, and Jason himself.

  It’s how Jason ended up with Cruella in the first place. Even before his grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, it was an unspoken agreement—or, if it was spoken of, Jason had never been privy to the actual conversation. Wesley’s beloved grandson would get the car they had spent so much time dreaming of, and so much energy planning to completely rebuild.

  A complete rebuild that didn’t happen in time. Thinking about it, even all these years later, got to Jason. He stored Cruella away in his garage, carefully and lovingly, in exactly the same state of disrepair she’d been in when his grandfather was admitted to the nursing home in North Springs, purely because it hurt so much to look at her.

  Until today. He knew that’s what Branch was getting at when he asked what the special occasion was. As Jason’s oldest friend, he knew what the Panther Lima meant to him, and he knew that every time he headed into the garage to unveil the car and get to work on restoring it, he rarely got the cover off before giving up and deciding it was just too hard to do. In his mind, it would always be his grandfather’s car, and alone, he would never do it justice.

  Then, a woman called him in the middle of the night because her own Cruella had broken down. Jason didn’t know what drove him to show her the Panther Lima, or to give her little girl the model car and practically promise her a ride in the real car someday, but he had. He’d done all those things, and he didn’t know why he wasn’t riddled with the usual guilt that accompanied the reminder of all the times he’d said he would work on it and didn’t.

  Branch seemed to think he knew, though.

  ‘You’re interested in her,’ his best friend told him once he made it back into the repair shop. Lily and Eden had ventured off, intent on walking back to the bed and breakfast rather than taking him up on his offer to drive them there. It was a relatively short walk, and the warm summer sunshine was a bonus, but he had felt compelled to offer, anyway.