by LoRee Peery
I have the Spirit.
Now, I have Sage.
Did she have Sage? Lanae believed with all her heart the Lord had brought Sage into her life for a reason.
When she pictured Sage, Lanae said, “Uh-oh.”
“What?” Geneva and Moselle questioned.
“Remember, Sage wants me to stay out of their family business. I’d better run this by him before we get more carried away.”
“Uncle Rainn’s here,” Mia announced.
The men arrived all at once, getting acquainted as they shouldered through the door.
Lanae caught the other women’s gazes, thinking Mia should call her uncle “Daddy” one of these days. “No doubt about it, we need some men around Frivolities.”
****
“Hey, guys, welcome. Sage, you’ve met my sister. Looks like you’ve met Eric and Rainn. My niece, Moselle here, is still on her honeymoon with Eric. And this big girl is Mia.”
How could the warmth of a woman’s voice sound so comfortable, reminding him of holes in his life? Sage tipped the brim of his hat toward Moselle then swept it off his head.
“Moselle, Sage is a horse whisperer.” The sisters said in tandem.
“I doubt I deserve that accolade. Pleased to meet you, all around.”
“Even Lezlie says you have a gift,” Lanae emphasized.
He was in trouble if Lezlie had talked about him with Lanae. Especially if they were in cahoots over the letter business.
“I don’t believe we’re meant to control but to observe and absorb nature. I learn about a horse by watching its ears. I try to see what it’s reacting to, ignore it, and let the horse come to me.”
“Well, I still say, you’re a horse whisperer,” Lanae insisted.
“My name is Mia Harris. What is a horse whisperer?”
“I’m pleased to meet you, Mia. I am Sage Diamond. And a horse whisperer is a guy who gets along with horses the way you probably get along with your favorite stuffed animal.”
Before he could ask Mia what that animal was, a tap on his forearm drew his attention from the little girl.
Sage took the small notepad Geneva held against his arm.
“Moselle had the idea you could write your ideas down while you men talk about shopping in a woman’s place like Frivolities. Anything that comes to mind, like what you’d be drawn to, what you’d come in looking for, how we can help. The opposite of what might keep a guy away forever. That kind of thing.”
Lanae spoke as she loaded a round serving tray with a mouthwatering assortment of cheesecakes, plates, and forks. “Tell us what you thought the first time you came through the door. What scares you about shopping for women?”
Sometimes the sight of Lanae wiped out every sense of what was going on around him.
“What scares us?” Eric asked, laughing.
Moselle crossed to the door with a tray holding a coffee carafe surrounded by Frivolities mugs. She waited for Eric to open the slider.
Sage had yet to give Lanae a decent greeting.
Eric smacked Moselle with a tender kiss, and she shooed him away with a hip bump. Sage wondered if Lezlie would ever find that kind of happiness. She’d dedicated many years to Jaxson. Followed by college, and now her nursing career.
Sage joined Rainn and Eric on the deck, where a cast iron chimenea that looked like a modern potbellied stove exuded welcoming heat. “Not quite like my fireplace, but I’ll take it.”
Silence wrapped around the men while they moaned over and devoured chocolate and cherry and some other kind of berry cheesecake slices. The women were clearly observed through the glass doors, deep in their own chatter. Lanae, in a bright emerald sweater and skinny jeans, glanced over her shoulder. He dropped his eyes to focus on the plate in his hand.
Sage eventually set his plate down and rubbed his stomach. He bypassed a comfortable oak rocker to rest against one of the porch columns. “So, Eric, Lanae said you built the deck?”
“Sure did. But Rainn helped.”
“I’m impressed.”
“I’m convinced digging those postholes was one of the ways I caught Geneva’s eye.” Rainn shot Sage a cheeky grin, followed by wiggling eyebrows. “Then again, maybe it’s my looks.”
They laughed, fell into another comfortable silence, and singled out their women through the glass patio doors.
“It’s enterprising of them, for sure. Small business is sometimes a tough go in Nebraska, no matter what the economy is doing.” Eric helped himself to an air-pot puff of steaming hot cider.
Lanae turned to catch them spying and shot him a smile that Sage felt in his stomach. He followed every step as she came to slide open the door. “So which one of you guys wants to pose for a plywood mannequin? We want to have a summer beanbag toss out back, and a little sandbox for kids.”
“Mia would love that.” Rainn lifted his mug in the air.
“It was her idea,” Geneva added, joining her sister.
“Well, we don’t want her tossing things at her dad’s head, so Rainn’s out,” Moselle put in.
“Count me out, too,” Eric added. “It isn’t a good idea for kids to throw things at fireman. We save people from burning buildings.”
They all looked at Sage.
“Gotta be a cowboy.” Lanae shot him a saucy wink.
“Suppose I could. I’ve never been a model before. But wouldn’t kisses be better than throwing things?” He made the last comment with his gaze locked on Lanae.
She blew him a kiss and closed the door.
If Lanae knew about Ted Tippin, she’d discover the news of Ted’s father. And Sage wanted to keep everything about his Grandfather Earl, good and buried.
Rainn set his coffee mug on the serving tray, peered through the door, and appeared mesmerized as he watched Geneva. “Sometimes I can’t get over the Lord bringing that woman into my life. And Mia into both our lives. I can hardly wait sometimes to get settled down together.”
“Seems Rainn, my buddy here, kept it all to himself that he had an eye on Geneva as someone other than Moselle’s mom.” Eric said.
Sage wondered what it would be like to have a friend as close as Eric and Rainn appeared to be. Maybe it was time he spent time with men instead of horses.
Rainn tore his gaze away from the scene inside the loft. “I guess we’re supposed to be talking shop here, but—”
“Do the ladies have a website? My grandson’s a tech whiz,” Sage offered.
“They do, thanks,” Eric answered.
Rainn cleared his throat. “I’m guessing Moselle will cover the list and its presentation with her usual pomp and creative style. Back to my subject. Sage, man, this Frivolities guy thing can wait. Since I’m all in love here, and Eric and I are of an age, I wanna know. Is there something about Lanae that gets to you? You know, makes her irresistible? I guess what I’m getting at, is it the same for a guy your age? Just wondering if I’ll always feel this way about my woman.”
Sage dropped the foot he’d propped against the square post. Standing tall, he leveled a dumbfounded stare at Rainn. They’d met a few minutes ago, and he sure wasn’t used to sharing such private thoughts. He’d incorrectly stereotyped artists as quiet and unassuming.
Rainn stepped close to Sage to give him an elbow nudge and cocked a single brow. “When I was getting to know Geneva, and she was playing hard to get, Eric asked me what I dwelled on when I thought about her. She was about to become his motherin-law, so I didn’t say that she revs my motor. I told him it’s her glasses. Every time she wears them I want to take them off.”
Sage didn’t laugh with them. He directed his gaze to Eric.
“OK. I’ll bite.” Eric ran his fingers down the grooves at the corners of his mouth. “Moselle’s upper lip. She has this little mole above her lip. It just begs to be kissed. Your turn.” Eric raised his mug in Sage’s direction.
“Aren’t we supposed to be helping the women with marketing ideas?”
Eric and Rainn didn’t answer. R
ather, they stared, and waited for Sage to respond.
“Looks like I’m outnumbered.” Sage dry-spitted all ten of his fingers and mimed spiking his short hair. “Lanae’s hair. I don’t know why, but it just plain gets to me. I saw a picture of an older model on a tabloid while checking out at the grocery store not too long ago. Thought the woman had moxie. Then when I met Lanae, well, she’s got the spunk to go along with the short, short hair…”
The three men sobered.
“OK, admit it. You think she’s worth investigating.” Rainn still searched Sage’s face.
“In other words, age doesn’t have a thing to do with man-woman connection,” Eric concluded.
Sage had no time to agree or disagree with Eric’s statement before Lanae swished through the door singing something about being out there then broke off. “Ideas, guys?”
She gave a curvy hip swing and changed her tune.
As though they had rehearsed it, each woman paraded after Lanae and went to her man—even Mia, who stood in front of Geneva while they both leaned back against Rainn.
Did Sage want to be Lanae’s man? He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
Rainn wrapped his arms around Geneva, settling a hand on Mia’s shoulder. Eric folded his hands at the base of Moselle’s ribcage.
Sage considered himself to be a nonconformist, but he couldn’t pass up the chance to have his own arms full of intriguing femininity. All soft and curvy, Lanae smelled like cinnamon and chocolate. He turned her around so she could lean against him, and rested his chin lightly on the top of her head. He jerked back when Geneva opened up the conversation, eyes locked on her husband-to-be. “How do you like the deck, Sage? Rainn dug the holes for the posts.”
Sage figured the heat from the stove was mild compared to the secret blast Geneva and Rainn sent one another with their eye contact.
“Hubba, hubba,” Lanae added.
Sage envied the loving pleasure in her voice and wondered if she’d ever use that tone for him.
Lanae cleared her throat and angled her head to look up at him. “Back to ideas.”
He glanced at the other couples. Moselle covered Eric’s hands, rubbing a finger over his wedding band. Rainn and Geneva shared another special look, raising the outdoor temperature another five degrees.
Sage cleared his throat when his gaze met Lanae’s. He settled his hands at her sides, feeling her woman shape.
“Before we hear suggestions for shopping, men, we have an idea. But I need your permission—”
More intrigued than ever, Sage held onto the connection with Lanae by a press of his hands.
“One of the letters I found isn’t addressed to Ted like the others. Could we put it on display downstairs?”
As he considered, his gaze intent on her hazel eyes, he figured it couldn’t hurt. It would give her something to do besides search for Ted Tippin. If he had to bend her over backward and kiss her until her brain melted, he’d do it to keep her from finding out the mysterious Ted was his uncle.
He’d be seeing Ms. Petersen on a regular basis. What could it hurt? And he’d enjoy every smack.
He nodded, giving assent to her question.
****
Life is about change. And being rearranged.
As much as Lanae wanted to incorporate a gentlemen’s approach to Frivolities, they hadn’t come up with much except a website link Moselle had started.
All evening, Lanae had the urge to shoo everyone away from the loft. She needed affirmation the women had selected the right letter to frame for display. Then again, they didn’t matter in the decision. Sage had granted permission to use the undated one.
It was time to read all the letters in one sitting.
Lanae curled up with her favorite teal and mauve afghan, hot chocolate next to her chair, and opened each letter in turn.
An hour and a half later, she wiped away silent tears. The perfect letter to frame was the first one she’d read tonight, the letter with no date.
She read the undated words out loud once more.
Oh, how she felt for Katherine. What in the world had happened in the lives of these lovers?
Tears turned into a torrent.
She wept loud animal noises, wrapped her arms around her knees, and rocked.
Lanae knew Katherine’s longing intrinsically. She had mourned Keith to the very core of her being. For some reason, the holes felt new.
Loneliness widened a gap in Lanae’s heart.
Oh, Lord, is Sage meant to fill these holes? You’ve given me a new lease on life. Forgive my discontent, my longing for something more. A life in the country is the desire of my heart. Which You know, because You know my heart.
10
Expect the unexpected – and enjoy it.
“I hate to admit it, but Frivolities seems to be the only place in town to buy decent gifts for other women,” Kate Rawlins announced her grudging presence before the bell quit vibrating against the oak of the heavy front door. “I’m looking for a gift for my great-niece who’s coming to visit Christmas Eve.”
Why did the one customer in Frivolities have to be the town gossip? It bordered on rudeness, but Lanae wanted no distractions while she dissected and admired the latest creative efforts she shared with Geneva and Moselle.
The three owners greeted Kate in turn, knowing that she preferred snooping without assistance. They stood in a group, surveying their handiwork in the window display with three pairs of critical eyes.
Lanae patted herself on each shoulder, then gave Geneva and Moselle a loving touch, jubilant over the outcome of the snazzy vanity. Now the focus of a framed collage, the letter held Christmas court in the window, displayed on an easel leaning against a vanity leg.
Geneva’s quilt sampler in a Victorian fan pattern, a crocheted doily of Lanae’s atop a table runner, along with one of Moselle’s Frivolities Memory Boxes sat on the vanity top, completing the attractive window presentation.
“I wonder if it was a mistake to use the only letter without a date,” Moselle said.
“I believe Katherine wrote the letter before the last dated one, when she tells Ted that she is moving to Omaha,” Lanae said.
At the sudden sound of shattered glass, the trio released a collective gasp.
Crystal fragments, once in the shape of a rose, lay in smithereens on the floor at Kate’s feet.
Geneva and Lanae scurried to Kate’s side.
“Don’t worry about it,” Geneva said.
At the sight of all the color leaching from Kate’s face, Lanae asked, “Are you all right, Kate?”
Tremors shook Kate’s frail body.
Moselle, being the youngest and fastest, grabbed Kate’s arm to keep her from falling.
Kate yanked her arm free and rushed out the door, only to sag against the outside framework between door and window.
“I’ll go.” Lanae grabbed a magenta shawl, went outside and slung it over Kate’s shoulders, fearful the woman could have a heart attack or burst something, judging by her lack of facial color.
Eyes glued on Kate’s face, Lanae stayed close, where she stood as though frozen in place.
Kate stared through the window, her lower lip trembling. Her gaze traveled the cursive lines, and her lips moved as she silently read the words of the framed letter. Her breathing was heavy and shallow, even erratic. Her lower lip quivered and she choked. Tears flowed.
Kate took a step closer to the glass and clutched her purse to her waist with both hands. Then her purse swished to the sidewalk in a soft rustling contrast to the earlier splintering glass. The quivering woman covered her mouth with her fists. Then they, too, sank as though dropped.
“I sent so many letters to my Teddy, so many years ago. He was my one true love.”
“Katherine?” Lanae screamed the name in her mind, but it came out a whisper. Lanae would absorb the shock later.
Kate Rawlins appeared to be going into her own shock.
Lanae spoke her name three times, but Kate
ignored her.
Familiarity with the contents of the letters made Lanae place a gentle hand on Kate’s shoulders, to hold her close. The small, older woman shook in Lanae’s arms.
“Let’s go back inside, Kate. Where it’s warm.” She guided the woman toward the door.
Lanae wondered if they were in a dream, while she kept her own disbelief at bay.
“He disappeared, you know. My Teddy. Vanished into thin air.” Kate sagged like a rag doll.
Lanae teetered under Kate’s weight.
And fell through the open door to Frivolities.
****
“Whoa, there.” Sage jerked in reaction when he opened the front door of Frivolities from the inside, surprised to find two unsteady women falling into him. He grabbed Lanae’s upper arms, giving her balance in order to steady both women.
Sage set Lanae aside and bent to curl his arm around the skinny woman’s knees, supported her against his chest with his other, and carried her through the shop.
“When I accepted that Teddy Tippin was never coming back to me…”
Sage felt his own knees go weak when he heard his uncle’s name spoken out loud. He staggered, and pretended to swerve out of Moselle’s way as she squeezed by them to open the office door at the back of the shop. The movement helped Sage hold the woman’s mumbled words close to his chest.
He glanced up.
Moselle had disappeared through the office door.
Lanae’s steps were interrupted when the phone rang.
Geneva was flying up the loft stairs.
Once assured none of the others had heard Ted’s last name, he barreled on to the office.
“Katherine disappeared,” the frail woman said.
Sage deposited her light weight in the corner of the sofa, placing a purple velvet pillow beneath her head. “I don’t know who Katherine is, but these gals will take care of you.”
“Thanks, Sage.” Moselle nodded at him.
Then she knelt beside the sofa and gently patted the dangling arm before placing it on the woman’s stomach. “Mom went to get a blanket.”
Sage breathed easier as color returned to the woman’s sunken cheeks. Her body quit its tremors.
The sprig of a woman kept mumbling in a soft, shaky voice. “I became Kate and worked as an insurance secretary in Omaha until my parents came down with a terrible influenza, so ill they needed me back home to run the bakery.”