Brushing away tears she hadn’t even realized were falling, Sara let the curtain slide closed, scooped up her keys and went out the door to Mirabelle. A few false starts later, she coughed and choked her way to life, sounding like a three pack a day factory worker, and they were off in a hail of blue smoke. No sneaking away in this old girl. She caught sight of Nick and Frank through her rear view mirror as they walked out his front door and almost braked. Really though, what was there to say? So instead she goosed the gas, and with a burp and a fart, Mirabelle gave a gratifying leap away.
Pulling up in front of The Craft Shack a few minutes later, Sara sat for a second and admired the new window display. Annie had played well on the country theme by placing an old provincial wooden rocking chair in one corner draped with a beautiful handmade wedding ring quilt done in soft rose and white. An antique side table covered by a crocheted tablecloth edged with pink roses, and an English tea set beside an old, leather bound book looked warm and welcoming. A Tiffany table lamp finished the display. Its shade threw prisms of light made of many different colored pieces of glass shaped into dragonflies.
Sara could see herself rocking that chair as she sipped tea and enjoying the mountain view.
Annie’s shop was a beacon to the women of Tidal Falls and maintained a steady business going by the flow of traffic through its doors. Some of that could be attributed to her sunny personality though. To be around Annie Campbell for a few minutes was akin to a day at the fair, it brought a smile to all.
Sara opened the door and stepped through, catching a little tinkle from the bells set above and the cheerful chatter of at least ten women browsing the shelves for the latest patterns or most colorful wools. Towards the back, Sara could see Annie’s brown bob as she bent over one customer showing her the intricacies of knitting. She glanced up at the sound of the bell and, seeing Sara, motioned over her shoulder to the door tucked neatly in the corner of the room.
Smiling her thanks, Sara navigated the busy front end and ducked through the back to see Jessica and Chris up to their elbows in colors of blue, green and magenta as they endeavored to cover every square inch of the giant poster board Annie must have laid out on the floor for them. The leafy, lemon smell of children’s paints filled the room with the aroma of simpler times.
“Yes Chris, like that, that’s a perfect tree. Now you should put a house underneath it, one like you hope you and your Mom can have one day. How about a castle?”
“I was going to do that, but I’m going to make a tree fort instead, way cooler.”
Sara chuckled under her breath as Jess rolled her eyes at the obvious boy answer.
“That’s silly, how are you going to live in a tree house? It’ll be too small for all your stuff.”
“Then I’ll make a giant one, and it’ll be the best house in the whole wide world. If you’re not nice to me I won’t let you in.”
“Oh yeah, well I’m making a pretty pink house filled with dolls and boys aren’t allowed because they’re dumb.” Jess replied, standing and putting her hands on her hips for emphasis, immediately tie-dying what once were pristine white shorts.
Before the war could start, Sara moved further into the large shop-like space, her heels click clacking on the cement floor bringing the children’s heads around.
“Mommy, look what we made, Chris helped too.” Jessica held her arms wide, ever the drama queen, all the friction gone in an instant.
“Looks like you two have been busy. Good job, you guys. I think you’re going to put me out of work one day. Everyone will be buying your paintings instead of mine.”
“That’s okay, Mom, Chris and me will take care of you.” Jess said and tears welled as Sara realized she wasn’t alone in this world at all. Instead she’d been blessed to have the most beautiful child to ever grace this planet, with real friends such as Fiona, Annie, Tess and Grace. She even had the support of Nick and his friends, at least until this nightmare with Tom were over.
“I’m going to go and have a quick cup of coffee with Chris’s Mom and then we’ll get going, alright, Peanut?”
“Sure, Mom, we need to finish this anyway so it can dry. Come on, Chris, I was thinking, what about a dog, maybe like Jake?” They turned and ran back over to their masterpieces. Sara swiped at her tears—now they’d started she couldn’t get them to quit— and went in search of the coffee machine in Annie’s cluttered office.
“Hey, sorry about that, I’ve just started a new class on beginner knitting, which by the way you should come to, it’s a blast, and had to help Mrs. Robinson learn how to make a slip knot before casting on.” Annie blew into the room; a mini tornado in a handmade moss green tunic stretching to slim thighs covered in black leggings and ballet flats.
She grabbed up her favorite coffee cup, a bright yellow with a giant black happy face, and set it under her well-loved Keurig machine. Picking a capsule, she set it in its slot, pushed the button, and closed her eyes, inhaling the fresh ground smell as the liquid splashed into her mug.
“Mm heaven, nothing quite like a good cup of Joe on a busy day, is there? So tell me all about it. How did you and Mr. Irresistible spend your evening? Laundry, dishes, mowing the lawn? Yeah, I didn’t think so.” She grinned at the bemused look on Sara’s face. “I’m kidding, I don’t want to know, and besides my virgin ears couldn’t handle the details. I wouldn’t know what to do with a man if I had one.”
Sara burst out laughing. “Well you must have known one at least once, the proof is in the back room.” A shadow darkened her friend’s eyes for a brief moment before disappearing away, the usual sunny look filling the bright green orbs.
“True that, but we’re all allowed one mistake, not that I’m sorry, I won the lotto with Chris.”
“Funny you should say that, I was thinking the same thing a minute ago, we are lucky, aren’t we.” Sara sat on the edge of the overflowing desk, store samples, a leftover donut box and papers galore fighting over the small space with Annie’s oversized ancient computer system. “If you have a moment, I’d like to fill you in on what’s been going on. I don’t want to keep it hidden any more.”
“That sounds ominous. Yeah, I have as much time as you need. Chief Garrett’s daughter, Tina, is helping me out right now, so I’m good. Let me catch the door so we have some privacy first.” She used her foot to close it and then plunked down in the room’s only other seat, a squeaky rollaway vinyl office chair that threatened to break at any moment.
“Okay, shoot.”
“I don’t really know where to start. I was in a bad marriage. My ex-husband is a very powerful man in Boston, a U.S. Attorney. He’s made some very influential friends over the years, not all of them on the right side of the law. When I found out what he was involved in I knew I had to get out of there. He didn’t agree, so we ran, all the way across the country to here.” She looked down at the floor, absently noticing the scuffmarks and donut crumbs before settling on a blue crayon scribble on the opposite wall, reminding her why this was so important.
“Long story short, he called my cell last night and said he’s taken my best friend as a hostage until I return something I took from him. I’m scared he’ll hurt her the way he hurt me. And before you ask, I also found out Nick knows Tom, my ex, from a long time ago, and conveniently forgot to mention it to me. He did call in some of his friends to help me, but I don’t know. I don’t think I can trust him anymore.”
“Honey, that sucks. I thought you and Nick were going to last, he has that look whenever he sees you. Maybe after all this gets sorted out, you could sit down together and talk? I think he’s a good guy, Sara, unlike some.” She muttered.
“As to that creep you married, it sounds as if he needs a comeuppance and I’d be willing to bet Nick is the man for the job, so take him up on it. Listen, why don’t you let Jessica stay with Chris and me for a while? We’re happy to have her and it would free up your time for more important things, like nailing the sucker.” Annie grinned ferociously.
/> “Oh, Annie, are you sure? That’d be such a relief; I’d know she’s safe. I was going to ask Tess but with her right next-door I’m scared Tom might find her. I don’t think he’d ever discover her here, but then I didn’t think he would find us in Tidal Falls either.”
“I’m sure, we’ll be fine. Who’s going to look in a little craft store for her? It’s a good plan, don’t worry.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Nick stared after Sara’s wreck of a car as it hiccupped and belched its way down the street. Had she noticed the flowers he’d begged old Mr. Abraham down the block to part with? He’d never brought flowers to a woman before, well discounting the dandelion and daisy bouquet he’d proudly picked for his mother as a child. Hurt and frustrated last night when she’d refused to acknowledge his apology he’d stormed out as if he was still that little boy not getting his own way. After another sleepless night, his second in a row—though he couldn’t complain about the first one—he didn’t know what was up and what was down. He understood her hesitancy, but at the same time, was she going to give up on them at the first bump in the road? That didn’t bode well for their future. He’d spent half his life believing love was a myth. Then came Sara. Now he was afraid she was sliding through his fingers, and he wanted to grab and hold on for all he was worth.
The hard, heavy clap of Frank’s hand as it landed on his shoulder reminded Nick why they had stepped out the door in the first place. Right, luggage.
“She’ll come round, give her some space. Sorry if I created some discord between you two, that wasn’t my intention. I’m open to anything you can come up with that will work better. But know this, if she does help us, we’ll make double damn sure nothing goes wrong, okay?”
“I know, Chief, I get what you’re saying. Sara needs to feel she has a part in this too, so she can put an ending on that piece of her life. I’m just scared shitless something will go wrong and she’ll get hurt. I don’t think I could handle that.” Agitation propelled him to the back of the sedan.
“Believe me, I understand what you’re going through, but if you don’t give her the room to make her own choices, you’re smothering her, and you’ll lose her.”
Nick heard the regret in Frank’s voice and it made him wonder again about the chief’s history. Frank reminded him of the lonely Mesquite trees standing sentinel on his land in Texas. He hoped to repay the big guy one day. Nick meant to make sure they stayed in touch after this.
The car, a four-door beige Chevy Impala, was plain as can be, but Nick would bet his bottom dollar under the unassuming hood lurked a monster, probably an LS7 pushing about 505 ponies if he had to guess. Frank popped open the trunk, and Nick had to grin at the mismatched luggage within, kind of like the two men who owned them. One was an old army duffle still meticulously clean though it had obviously seen better days, the small rip in one corner tacked with precise even stitches. The other, as flamboyant as its owner, a rich coffee colored leather satchel, straining the zipper open to overflowing with striped cotton shirts and high-end jeans, Jared’s.
Hefting the case out—shit, did he have bricks in there or what? —Nick grinned at Jared’s bragging from the doorway, “Careful there, mate, that case is going to net us a whole school of bottom feeding scum.”
“Humble, isn’t he?” Nick mumbled, and Frank let out a rusty bark of laughter as he lifted his own bag effortlessly before slamming the trunk closed.
“I can’t rightly say I’ve ever heard that in connection with Jared. Now if you wanted to call him immodest, conceited or egotistical, I’d know who you were talking about.”
Nick lugged the heavy bag up to the house where Jared stood, shirt undone soaking up the morning rays. He’d missed the camaraderie of these people. He’d made a few good friends over the years, but nothing compared to the connections between those who go through fire together, literally, and come out the other side changed, some for the good, some not.
“Hey, thanks man, I could’ve grabbed that. Let me change my shirt and then I’ll treat you guys to the best breakfast to be found anywhere on the west coast. Is Grits and Grace still open downtown?”
“Yeah, it’s there. You’ve been here before?”
“I grew up here. Left to go to college and never came back. Small world, hey.” A somber look stole over his face, and he grabbed the first clean shirt to jump out when he unzipped the suitcase, heading down the hall to the can.
Frank shrugged, grabbed his own change of clothing and disappeared into the spare room to change, leaving Nick to ponder the craziness of the last few days. He wanted to see Sara again, talk to her about what happened. He hoped she would be more amendable to listening to him today. He hated the distance that had sprung up between them.
He should have told her as soon as he’d made the connection, instead of which he’d given her dickhead ex the chance to play a stupid mind game with her. He knew she was hurting, had wanted nothing more than to follow her to her room last night and force her to understand and accept his apologies. Not let one mistake tear them apart this way.
Who was he kidding? How much could she really care if she was so willing to take her a-hole husband’s word over his anyway? Maybe he should forget it. Help her get her friend back, send dick-wad to jail for the rest of his natural born days, and then blow this place, move on.
Jared came back into the room tucking a western style charcoal grey dress shirt into the waist of his jeans, the color highlighting his weird eyes glowing behind his glasses in the ambient lighting, a teal blue. He’d wet his hair and slicked it back, and when he noticed Nick watching him he grinned, “Gotta look good for the babes, you never know.” Frank moved up behind him and gave him a cuff across the head. “Hey, don’t mess with the goods. Just because you took a vow of celibacy doesn’t mean we all have to.” He smirked, easily blocking the next shot.
“Just because I’m a lot more discriminating than some people I know,” Frank threw a pointed look in Jared’s direction, “it’s got nothing to do with being abstinent.”
“Oh, is that what you call it? I thought you were saving yourself, or maybe you’re impotent, I hear that happens as you get older. They make little blue pills to help you out with that you know. Come on, we won’t tell, you can trust us, your bosom pals.” As he went to give Frank a commiserating hug, the pained look on the chief’s face made Nick snicker.
“Okay, before he kills you and I get no breakfast, let’s hit the road. I want to get back here before Sara does so we can figure out our next move.”
“Why don’t you give her a call, maybe she’ll come and meet us, help break the ice?”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea, safety in numbers, right.” Nick grinned doubtfully.
“There you go, buddy, positive thinking, that’s the way to win the girl.”
“Okay, Dr. Love, if you’re done handing out advice on that of which you know absolutely diddly-squat, we’ll get out to the car and leave the man in peace to make his call. Come on, let’s go.” Frank bullied Jared out the door squabbling all the way to the car, man he was glad they were here.
Screwing up his courage, he woke up his cell and speed dialed Sara’s number, hoping she would at least pick up and give him a chance.
***
The two women were in the back on the floor with the kids. Annie had brought the donut box half full of slightly stale offerings, and a couple of juice boxes, along with an obviously much-loved old wool blanket and they were now all enjoying an impromptu picnic. Amid the laughter and the teasing, there were lots of oohing and ahhing over Chris and Jessica’s art. They had managed a more than credible job of depicting their own ideas of a perfect house down on paper.
Jessica’s work had the requisite two story pink mansion built like her dollhouse at home, the back open to show each of the rooms cluttered with furniture, and Jake guarding the entry with a big smile on his doggy face. Chris’s picture depicted a tall bushy tree, a ladder attached to the trunk led the way up, and he had
actually done a masterful job of hiding the tree-house, with a wall here and a window there peeking out from behind the leafy branches. The kids had painted their families beside their homes. Both featured two adults holding hands with a child in the middle, causing lumps to form in the women’s throats as they looked at each other and silently acknowledged their children’s deepest wishes laid out in watercolor.
After finishing the snack, the kids jumped up and began running around the cavernous room, pretending to be airplanes dive-bombing the various pieces of pottery equipment and crates of craft supplies, convincing blasts coming from their small throats.
“It’s none of my business, so please don’t feel you have to answer, but is Chris’s father a part of his life?”
A cloud fell over Annie’s usual sunny disposition. “Chris never met his father. He left here the night after he got me pregnant, and he’s never been back.” She spoke matter-of-factly but her feelings manifested themselves with the darkening, bruised look of her normally green apple eyes.
“Oh honey, I’m sorry I opened my big mouth, let’s forget about it, okay?”
“No, its fine. I learned a long time ago I could only count on myself, so no worries. He and I should never have happened anyway. He was the high school quarterback and I was the geeky girl. Half the time I wore whatever art project Mr. Hammond had going on, and he, he always had his choice of adoring fans. I thought he was nothing more than a pretty face. Art was the only class we shared, thank God, because I couldn’t stand listening to all those simpering girls vying for his attention. Then one day a couple of boys had me pinned by my locker, they liked to tease me a lot because I was kind of chubby back then. No, really,” At the disbelief on Sara’s face.
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