by Becky Melby
“That’d be fun.” Adam held out a fist and tapped knuckles with Michael. “And I know just the place we could hide.” He responded to Emily’s warning look with a deliberately blank look.
“Awesome.” Big brown eyes turned on Emily. “Did you make cookies again?”
Her throat tightened, but only momentarily. She ruffled Michael’s hair. “As soon as Jake’s done making a mess in my house, I’ll bake peanut butter cookies from scratch and you guys can help.”
“Awesome.”
Emily turned away. Her gaze followed the outline of the trapdoor and she smiled at the squabbling coming from the blue spruce. “Yeah. Awesome.”
“The guy you met in the kitchen earlier? That was the old me.”
Jake folded onto the floor of the now empty porch and picked up a glue stick. He didn’t seem capable of eye contact.
“The old you told me about Jesus.”
“Right. The guy in the kitchen was the guy I became after that, that I’m trying not to be anymore.”
In spite of the twisted sentence, she had no problem deciphering. There were strange parallels in their lives.
He picked at a flap of peeling paint. “We haven’t had a chance to talk since the cemetery, and I have no idea how you’re doing about that or where your head’s at about me, us, and besides that I was covered with drywall dust, and then I go and… It’s just that you looked so amazing when you flipped you hair like that. That’s not the only reason, I mean I don’t come on to every beautiful woman, but you and I—” He groaned and ran both hands over his face. “I’m sorry.”
How long could she stay angry at a guy for thinking she was beautiful? “All’s forgiven.”
“Does that mean…?” His eyes sparked.
“No.”
“Fine.” His sigh was probably heard in Burlington. “Does it mean I can take you to dinner?”
“Jake, I—”
“I know. We’ve had this conversation a few times now. Let me take you to Chances. For research.
She sucked in her bottom lip. “That’s a line for the books.”
“Did it work?”
“No. I was there with Dorothy yesterday.”
“Great. How’s this one? I need to take you out for your health. You shouldn’t be breathing all this junk. Actually”—the wink made a reprise—“you should be living with me. It’s not healthy here now that we’re sanding.”
A full-blown laugh shook her. “Your house is no longer a safe place. Besides, there’s no room for me there anymore. I don’t think Lexi’d jump at the chance for a roommate.”
“Duh.” His face sobered. “I feel really dumb that I didn’t think of this before.”
“Think of what?”
“We need to trade places. You take my room and I’ll take yours. It makes perfect sense. I’ll be here to work as late as I want and you’ll be there to breathe clean air and help my mom with the kids.”
His last few words closed her mouth on her protests. “There is some sense in that.”
“I do, occasionally, make a little. So we agree?”
She shrugged. “We agree. If Lexi doesn’t have a cow.”
“Then I’ll be back here at seven to pick you up for dinner and move your things when we’re done. Feel up to walking?”
“That sounds nice.”
“It does, doesn’t it?”
She walked him to the front door, listened to the truck’s engine start, sputter, stop, and rev again. He waved as he pulled away. She turned and leaned against the door frame, surveying what Jake referred to as the wreckage of her main floor. From the front door, she could see straight into the kitchen. The dining room wall was gone and the narrow kitchen door had been widened to an eight-foot opening. The decision to cave on keeping the original woodwork had been a smart one. The house kept its old-fashioned charm but was now entertainment-friendly. “You and I make a pretty good team, Mr. Braden.”
As soon as her lungs were good, she’d be rolling up her sleeves, sanding, staining, and painting. She liked the idea of working next to and learning from Jake. Learning, so at the next house she could tackle more of the work herself. The thought did things to her stomach that she shouldn’t allow an hour before he was picking her up for dinner. She walked out onto the back porch and put away tape and scissors. She leafed through a pile of construction paper quilt squares. Time with the boys had gone fast. Too fast. She’d slid into teacher mode as if she hadn’t missed a beat, as if that chapter of her life weren’t closed forever.
Even if she could handle it emotionally and physically, there wasn’t enough money in it. She needed to make fifty thousand dollars a year for the next four years. After she’d made restitution, she’d have the luxury of choice.
As she closed the craft box, her phone vibrated. She pulled it out of her back pocket and stared at the screen. Speaking of making money. “Hi.”
“Hey.” Cara’s first syllable was loud but slightly garbled.
“Not a great connection. Maybe you should call me back when you get to a better—”
“Is this better? I was lying down.”
“A little. You sound funny. Are you sick?”
Cara answered with a deep laugh. “Not the contagious kind. Went to a gallery opening last night. I’m sleeping it off.”
Two years ago that would have produced a laugh and a round of Can You Top This? But not a single morning-after story came to mind. That was the old me. She looked at the clock on the microwave and subtracted two hours. “It’s four o’clock. Did you stay home from work?”
“Yeah. Not a problem. That’s what I’m calling about. Work, I mean. Are you ready for this?”
Doubt it. “What?”
“I found you a job. A crazy-paying job that’s, like, made just for you.”
Emily’s spine straightened. Was this Destiny disguised as a hung-over friend? “I’m listening.”
“The gallery owner—did I mention she owns three others? Freaky successful. She has three kids under five and she’s interviewing nannies. But she doesn’t really want a nanny, she wants like a substitute mom, you know? And she’s paying eleven hundred dollars a week and room and board is included. I told her to stop looking. She’s never home so she wouldn’t be interfering with anything. Her house sounds insane—built into the side of a hill in Sausalito. Can you imagine? You could play with kids all day long. All the good stuff of being a mom, but they wouldn’t be yours. How cool is—”
It wasn’t the first time she’d hung up on Cara.
Upset as she was, she did the math.
Lifting her top layer of hair with a round brush, she spritzed it with hair spray and calculated the numbers one more time. Eleven hundred dollars a week times four was forty-four hundred a month.
With money like that she could even provide an expense card.
And all she’d have to do for it was play a role she’d never fill in real life.
If she’d wanted to take care of little kids she would have stayed right where she was.
But if she took the job she wouldn’t have to gamble on the housing market, on making enough money on this house and the next.
She couldn’t turn it down.
But what if there was a future for her right here?
She’d know by the end of the night. She would not say good night to Jake without telling him everything he needed to know to decide if there’d be a second date. Even the slightest hesitation on his part and she’d know. And she’d program her GPS for Sausalito.
As she rolled another swath of hair onto her brush, her phone rang. She answered it without looking at it. If it was Cara, first she’d say “Sorry” then she’d say “I’ll give you an answer tomorrow.”
“Emily? It’s Blaze. I’m calling for Jake. He’s on his way out the door and he couldn’t find his phone. Evidently he double-booked without realizing it. Lexi has a ballet rehearsal tonight, and I guess he promised to take her and a couple of friends out afterward. With all that’s be
en going on lately, it’s no wonder he can’t keep things straight. Anyway, I’m so glad you’re coming here. I know I’m a really poor alternative, but I was wondering if you’d like to come over early and hang out with me tonight. I’m looking for a reason to laugh and can’t seem to come up with one.”
“I’d love that.”
“Good. I’ll set out a picture of Jake and you can pretend you’re with him.”
With a hollow laugh, Emily said good-bye. Blaze was one sweet but pushy mama.
Maybe she’d have an extra picture she wouldn’t mind Emily keeping.
She could pack it away in the Conestoga.
CHAPTER 22
Settling back in the end of the couch, Emily let out a sigh. She felt so relaxed here. As long as she kept her eyes off the eight-by-ten glossy in the middle of the coffee table.
Blaze had a flare for decorating and color. Gold walls, upholstered furniture in burnt orange, gold, and splashes of cobalt blue, and a perfect balance of stripes, florals, old, and new. “You have the coziest living room.”
“Thank you.” Blaze tucked her legs beneath her on the opposite end of the couch. “Abby helped.”
“You must miss her so much. I can’t imagine what that kind of loss feels like.”
“I hope you never have to.”
Emily sipped her coffee and looked away. Her gaze landed on the one spot she needed to avoid. Redirecting brought her to a wall of black-and-white family pictures. One showed Abby seated in a rocking chair. Blaze’s arms wrapped around her shoulders from behind. Her face nestled next to her daughter’s. “Imagine living in a time before photography.”
Blaze nodded. “Memories fade. I’m so glad I have these.”
The silence that enveloped them was peaceful and reflective. After several minutes, Emily nodded toward the wall. “There aren’t any pictures of Jake the way he looked when I met him nineteen years ago.”
“They don’t exist. He burned them all when he ‘turned cool.’ His words, not mine. Believe me, there was nothing cool about him from my perspective. I was reeling from losing my husband and all I could do was sit back and watch as my sweet boy morphed into Dracula and then woke up one morning convinced he was Brett Favre.”
“You seem to have a good relationship now.”
“We do. I wouldn’t have made it through Abby’s death without him. He’s a good man.” The look she jabbed at Emily seemed laden with meaning. Smile lines sprouted at Blaze’s temples. “There aren’t any pictures of Topher when you first met him, either.”
Emily put her hand over her face. “Jake told you.”
“No.” The lines deepened. “Topher told me. I practically raised that boy. He calls me Mom Two. He tells me way more than my own son ever has.”
Emily shook her head. “I wish he’d quit acting like we were star-crossed lovers meant to be together for eternity.”
“That’s pretty much what he’s been telling Jake at every opportunity, I think. He’s harmless. He makes my boy laugh and I love him for that.”
“And I’m supposed to be making you laugh.”
Blaze closed her eyes, sighed, and stared down at Jake’s picture. “We got word about Ben today. He only has to serve twenty-eight days altogether. They charged him with disorderly conduct.” Blaze ran fingertips over her lashes. “We did some research. With the kids so close, and shooting across the highway, they could have slapped him with so much more. He could have been behind bars until after Adam and Lexi were out of high school.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“I guess we need to be thankful for temporary guardianship. Every day we can keep that man away from those kids is a gift.” She grabbed a box of tissue from an end table as tears started in earnest. “Did you know that seeking permanent guardianship was Jake’s idea?”
“I gathered that.” She gave herself permission to linger on the framed picture. “You’re right. He’s a good man.”
“I’m so proud of that boy. He’s given up so much already.”
“For the kids?”
Blaze nodded. “He’d just finished remodeling his own house when we found out Abby was sick. He had a girlfriend I think he could have gotten serious about. He was on his way to having everything a guy could want. When Abby died, he sold the house dirt cheap and moved back home. At the time, we thought the kids would be living here.” She picked up her mug. Her lips lifted in a halfhearted smile. “In case you’re wondering, none of us are heartbroken that his relationship ended. On the one-to-ten scale of maintenance, she was a twelve.”
“Did he break it off?” The question put her at a thirteen on the scale.
Blaze gave an overly understanding smile. “Yes. Another reason I’m proud of him. To my knowledge he hasn’t dated in months.” She turned toward the window. Emily was sure she was fighting to keep the smile tame. “Anyway, a friend of his from high school is a lawyer. He’s agreed to cut way back on his charges, but if we ever get to court and Ben decides to fight dirty, I have no idea what it could end up costing.”
“Why is it taking so long?”
“There hasn’t been enough evidence. The kids claim he’s never hurt either one of them.”
“You don’t believe them, do you?”
Blaze shook her head.
“Won’t this latest incident help?”
“We’re pretty sure Ben lied to the police about how close the kids were when he shot Pansy. The neighbor didn’t actually see it happen, and the kids would go along with Ben’s story.” A shaky sigh rattled from her throat. “Ben’s threatened them with something to keep them from talking. I’m sure he has all along. If I press it, they both get mad. Too mad. They’re hiding something.”
“If Jake got guardianship, does he plan on living here or—”
The front door burst open. Adam bounded in, looked at Emily, and stopped in his tracks. His head cocked to one side like a puzzled puppy. “What are you doing here?”
“Having coffee with your grandma.”
“I thought you and Jake were going out.”
Blaze pointed to his shoes. “He forgot he’d promised Lexi to take her and her friends out after rehearsal.”
“Huh? I thought Mrs. Benner…” He kicked his shoes off and into the corner, shaking his head as he did. “Hey, I’ve got an idea. Wait here.” He ran toward the back hall.
Emily smiled. “What I wouldn’t give for just an ounce of that energy.”
“You and me both. And a few of his brain cells.”
“He’s amazing.”
“He’s in advanced classes at school. That’s hard on Lexi. She gets good grades, but she has to work for them. Adam has almost a photographic mem—”
Adam bounced in, brandishing the thick pamphlet Emily had glimpsed in the van during their Pansy stakeout.
“Let’s do this. Right now.” He plunked onto the middle of the couch and put Jake’s picture facedown on the floor. Emily’s mood lightened. The pamphlet unfolded to the size of a road map. “The other side has all the stuff in Burlington.”
The BuR SPUR of Wisconsin’s Underground Railroad. The Burlington, Rochester, and Spring Prairie Underground Railroad Trail. Emily’s eyes traveled from the map labeled “Out-of-Town Driving Tour” in the center to the pictures of buildings and numbered paragraphs framing the page. “There are thirty-two sites on this. If we start now, we’d be lucky to make it to the last place by breakfast.” She ruffled his hair. The crazy waves invited it, and there was no sister around to get jealous.
Blaze shook her head. “It’s suppertime. Let’s wait till morning. I have a friend who volunteers at the museum. He’s working on a book, so he’s there on Saturdays. We can start as early as you want.”
Adam didn’t hide his disappointment.
“Well…” Emily stretched the word like a drumroll. “I suppose this means we should let your grandma in on our little secret.”
“Cool. But not till tomorrow. She’s making us wait, so we’ll make her wait.” He scrunc
hed his nose and stuck his chin in the air. “I’m going to pack my camera and my digital recorder and my…” His voice trailed off as he ran down the hall.
Emily stood and picked up her cup. Blaze stretched to one side and then the other. “You asked about what would happen to the kids.” She bent down slowly, picked up Jake’s picture, and set it on a shelf. “I can tell you my plan for those kids.” Her hands folded and pressed to her chest. “I plan to find that boy a woman who can love him and those kids with all her heart.”