Stroke of Love

by Melissa Foster

  “It always matters. If you ask my father, he’ll tell you that the only thing that matters is how hard you work.”

  His eyes shifted away from her then, and she followed his gaze as it trailed Clayton and Cassidy walking around the side of the cabins.

  “They seem like they’ve changed, huh?” Kate shook her head.

  “I don’t know what to make of that guy.”

  “See? Even you don’t trust celebrities,” she teased.

  “No. I don’t really trust him, but I don’t lump all celebs together.” He took her face in his hands and rooted her to the ground with his serious gaze. “I know one thing, though, Kate. I’m falling hard for you.”

  I can’t breathe.

  He searched her eyes, and she knew she needed to respond, but words evaded her. She swallowed to keep air moving to her lungs.

  He narrowed his eyes. “Did I say the wrong thing? Too fast?” He released her cheeks, and she grabbed his hands and brought them back to her face.

  She pressed his palms to her cheeks and breathed deeply. She opened her mouth, but no words came. She swallowed again and managed, “So am I.”

  He let out a loud breath and looked up at the sky clenching his jaw. “Jesus, woman. You just about gave me a heart attack.”

  “I’m falling hard too. Really hard. It’s just…Our relationship is so unexpected.”

  He lowered his forehead to hers. God, I love that.

  “I wanted to extend my trip and stay until you had to leave, but I have to get ready for a show the weekend after I’m home. I totally forgot about it until this morning.” She heard the disappointment in his voice and felt it reverberate in her clenched stomach.

  “We have another night. That’s better than not having it,” she said in an effort to keep herself from falling apart. How would she get along without him?

  “What’s your plan for today?”

  “I’m helping Caleb make the rounds at the clinic; then I’m going into the village for the meeting. I want to be there early.”

  “I’m going to finish the mural today with the kids and then I’ll get cleaned up and come over.”

  The mural. “I can’t wait to see it. At least that’s one thing that’ll be complete before I leave. And it made the kids so happy to work with you. I’m really glad you pushed for it.”

  “I’m really glad you were okay with us doing it.”

  They walked over to the mess hall and found Luce reading a romance novel. She waved the book when they came in. “Living vicariously. Grab some food and save me from falling for some hunky hero I’ll never meet.”

  Kate slid onto a chair with a plate of eggs and a cup of coffee. “I can’t believe you guys are leaving me. I’m gonna miss you so much.”

  “Me too.” Luce set down her book. “Come see me when you’re home and we’ll hang out for a week before they ship you off again.”

  Kate watched Sage crossing the room toward them, and the idea of shipping out again didn’t seem as exciting as it had before she’d met him. In fact, it felt downright awful.

  Luce looked from Kate to Sage and leaned across the table. “Your whole world changed in two weeks, you lucky dog.”

  “I feel lucky, but I’m also a little scared.”

  Sage slid his hand across Kate’s shoulder as he walked behind her. She eyed Luce, hoping she wouldn’t ask about what she’d just said in front of Sage. Luce caught her glance and drew her brows together.

  “Did I miss all the hunky hero talk?” He set a plate of eggs and Johnnycakes on the table and sat down beside Kate.

  “We had only just begun.” Luce smiled at Kate as she pulled out her phone. “Check out these great pics.” She slid the phone to Kate.

  Kate scrolled through the photos of Sage and the children in front of the mural. “They look so happy. And look at Sage, the proud teacher. I love these. Can you send me copies?”

  “Good idea. I want copies too,” Sage said. “We don’t have any pictures together.” He dug his phone from his pocket and handed it to Luce. “Do the honors?” He slid his chair closer to Kate and they smiled for several pictures.

  “Okay, smooch shot,” Luce said.

  Kate happily obliged, pressing her lips to Sage’s—not expecting him to deepen the kiss in front of Luce and in the middle of the mess hall. When he pulled back, her cheeks were hot and he had a smartass grin plastered on his face.

  “Sorry. Had to do it.”

  She pushed him and caught a glimpse of Sylvia standing in the kitchen, puckering her lips in Kate’s direction. “Oh my God.” She laughed, but inside she cringed.

  “Stop worrying about your reputation,” Luce said. “I can see your little brain working. What will they think of me now?” She waved her hand in front of her face. “You know what they’ll say? About damn time.”

  Luce handed Sage his phone back and he scrolled through the pictures with Kate. “Thanks, Luce. I love these.”

  “Send them to me,” Kate said.

  “You know, I don’t even have your cell phone number. Or your email.” He leaned back in his chair and narrowed his eyes. “I’m beginning to think that maybe this really is a fling for you. No ties to bind us.”

  “Yeah, right, and that’s why I want to come see you in New York.”

  He handed her his phone. “Can you put your info in there for me? Just in case you don’t show up, so I can track you down and drag you back with me?”

  “You’re going to see him in New York? That’s awesome. We can all get together.” Luce finished her coffee.

  Sage ate quickly and rose to his feet. “I’ve gotta get to the school. We’re starting early so I can make it to the meeting this afternoon.” He kissed Kate. “Make sure Luce tells you what she wants to do with those pictures.”

  Kate looked at Luce. “The pictures?”

  “Thanks a lot, Sage.”

  “You PR people are sneaky. I’m not taking any chances that Kate’s left in the dark with your wicked scheme. Kate, good luck. I’ll see you there.”

  She watched Sage leave; then Kate locked eyes with Luce. “Spill it.”

  “Right after you do. What are you scared of?”

  Kate dropped her eyes. “Everything. I think I like him way too much.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Am I in one of those fake relationships because we’re here?”

  Luce rolled her eyes. “You really won’t just let yourself trust, will you? You’re so jaded by the celebs that you can’t see straight. Repeat after me.” Luce held Kate’s hand. “I, Kate Paletto.”

  “I, Kate Paletto.”

  “Will not listen to my head. I am not a celeb chaser, and Sage is not a typical celeb.”

  Kate pulled her hand from Luce’s. “Okay, I get it.” She bit the insides of her cheeks to keep from smiling. “Thanks for the reality check.”

  “My pleasure. Now look at these pics. Let’s focus on something important.” She shoved her phone over to Kate again. “See how excited the kids are? They wanted to know if their pictures were going to be in an American newspaper, so I thought…”

  “You thought, let’s hype the mural and see what happens.” Of course you did.

  “Why not, Kate? You are leaving money on the table. Hell, you’re leaving money in the pockets of people who don’t need it, and you’re doing it out of what? Pride?”

  Kate clenched her teeth. She hated when Luce was right, and the more she’d thought about the things Luce had said to her, the more she saw the logic behind it. “So you think that by writing articles about the mural, you’re going to get donations? How does that work exactly?”

  “I swear AIA should hire me.” Luce pushed her curls from her face. “We go from the perspective of the kids. The pride they take in what they’re doing for the community, and we do a full story on Punta Palacia. The village, the community, the town, and what AIA does for them. We paint the real picture, one they cannot ignore. Can you imagine children from the States fetching water before dawn or slee
ping in hammocks?”

  Kate shook her head. “If we do this, doesn’t it just reiterate what I hate?”

  “I’ve said it before…You know I love you, but how can you hate the very thing these people need? They need money. They need resources. Your fight is that you don’t get the right kind of volunteers, but that’s because AIA is marketing this area to celebrities. Punta Palacia is small, so a diva refusing to help has a little less of an impact than in a larger village where every extra hand is needed. So AIA is doing what works for their business plan. They’re appealing to volunteers other than celebs for larger villages, where the need for bodies is greater. It’s all how they spin the marketing.”

  “What the hell? You knew all of this and you didn’t think you should sit me down and pound it into my head?”

  “Have you ever argued with yourself? Especially about this subject? I don’t know how Sage hasn’t already walked away from that particular fight. The man is offering to pour money down Punta Palacia’s throat by doing nothing more than what he loves, and you keep shutting him down. That’s love for you. He is in deep.”

  Kate smiled. “You think so?” She knew so. She heard it in every word he spoke and felt it in his touch. Even the way he looked at her, like she was the most beautiful and the most important, person in the world, reeked of his love for her. And she was sure her love for him was just as evident.

  Luce pretended to bang her forehead on the table. “For an intelligent woman, you sure are an idiot. Focus, Kate. I’m leaving soon, so if you really want to turn things around, you have a lot of lobbying to do, and be sure you want to, because once these wheels starts turning, they don’t stop easily.”

  “I can’t make those types of decisions. That’s up to Raymond and his bosses. There’s a lot of red tape with things like this. Procedures, guidelines. Luce, this seems like such an easy premise. Market it here or market it there, and how the villages benefit depends on what type of volunteers AIA brings in. How could I have been so blind?”

  “You’re not blind. You’re trusting. AIA must need a place for problem celebrities. God knows celebrities are more than happy to throw money at their problems to make them go away, and this is a good cause. So they donate half a million dollars, flash a few pictures, and voilà. They’re instantly the apple of the public’s eye again. It’s a win-win situation. Except for you, and for the programs that need more attention.”

  “I know you’re teasing, but it makes me wonder. I mean I’ve begged for real volunteers for two years. And Raymond always blows me off.” Kate rose to her feet. “I gotta get over to the clinic.”

  “I’m coming with you. Clayton and Cassidy are sleeping in.” She made air quote signs with her fingers when she said sleeping in.

  They cleared their places, and Kate waved to Sylvia as they left.

  Sylvia blew her a kiss, making Kate’s cheeks flush again.

  “I’ve given five years to AIA. You’d think that my suggestions would at least be respected by now.” She was getting angrier by the minute. “You know, I’m not just pissed about what this might mean in the grand scheme of things, but look at me. Oh my God. What kind of person am I? I thought I was helping the community by wanting labor, physical beings here to help, and the whole time I could have changed my thinking and come up with programs that would bring in more funding for their needs.”

  Kate stopped at the Internet café on the way to the clinic and sent an email to Raymond spelling out the things she and Luce talked about.

  SAGE FOUND OSCAR in the school’s small stockroom organizing his supplies. Wooden shelves lined the wall to the right, neatly organized with tools, buckets, and other supplies.

  “Good morning.” A friendly smile softened Oscar’s eyes.

  “Hi, Oscar. Would you like some help before I start painting for the day?”

  “No, thank you. The painting is making the children very happy.” He nodded, then glanced behind Sage.

  Sage turned at a tug on his shorts. “Javier. Hey, buddy. What’s up?”

  “Can I paint today?”

  “Of course you can.” Sage laughed and crouched down to look him in the eye.

  Javier looked down, his smile fading. “I’m having trouble with my lessons.”

  Sage drew his brows together. “Did you work with your teacher?”

  He nodded, his hair flopping over his eyes.

  “Did you try your hardest? I mean really try? Not rush through so you could paint?”

  Javier drew his brows together and nodded.

  “And did you ask your teacher for help?” Sage glanced at Oscar, who shrugged.

  He nodded emphatically, his mouth pressed into a serious line.

  “Hard work is important, Javier. If you tried your best, that’s all we can ask for.” He rumpled his hair. “I’ll make you a deal. You can paint, but you have to continue to work your hardest to learn what your teacher has to teach you. Okay?”

  Javier wrapped his arms around Sage’s legs. “Thank you, Mr. Sage. Thank you!” Javier ran back to the classroom.

  Sage watched him scamper away and turned his attention back to Oscar. “Oscar, do you mind if I keep a canvas in here after I start working on it? I’m going to ship them back to New York when I leave, but I don’t want to take a chance of anything happening to them.”

  “No problem. I’ll make room this afternoon. The kids will miss you when you’re gone.”

  “Yeah. I’m gonna miss them, too.” He would miss everything about Belize, from the horridly hot weather to the children’s beaming smiles and Oscar’s steadfast dedication. “I’ll miss you, too, Oscar.”

  Oscar nodded, his cheeks flushing. “Kate too. She will miss you the most.”

  Sage patted him on the back. “Leaving Kate will be the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I’m counting on you to keep an eye on her.”

  Oscar pulled his shoulders back and gave a firm nod. “You can count on me.”

  Sage set to work on the mural. He’d left the bigger elements for the children—the sand, the forest, the animals—and had added finite details as the mural progressed. This morning he fleshed out the tree trunk, adding depth and slim cracks in the bark and rounding out a full umbrella of green leaves that stretched across the length of the building. The first group of children came out the door, and one of the teenage boys whooped.

  “Look! Look!” he called to the others.

  A collective gasp pulled Sage from the ladder where he was working. The sight of the children’s joyful faces, their eyes dancing with happiness as they pointed to the wall, filled a hole that he’d been carrying within him for a long time. This is what my life has been missing. He climbed from the ladder and set down his paintbrush.

  “Don’t just stand there. Pick up your brushes and let’s bring this mural to life,” he said with a sweep of his hands. The children gathered around the paint, crouching on their haunches as they dipped their brushes and ran to the wall, where they set to work with intent eyes and careful hands.

  A little girl, probably around nine or ten, pulled his arm and led him over to where a large green drip from the leaf she’d been painting was making a slow crawl south toward the ground. It dripped right through the petal of a red flower. She pressed her lips into a frown.

  “I’m sorry,” she said softly with just a touch of a Creole accent.

  Sage patted her on the shoulder. “This is perfect.”

  The little girl looked from him to the wall and back again, her eyebrows knitted together. The boy next to her stopped painting to peek at what was going on.

  “Let me show you something. May I?” Sage nodded at her paintbrush. She shoved it toward him. He carefully outlined a green leaf that bent from the stem of the plant she’d been painting and covered the drip. “See? It needed another leaf and that was the perfect spot. There are no mistakes in art. When something drips, it’s okay. We just create something new from it.”

  The little girl beamed up at him.

 
Sage handed her back the paintbrush. “Go ahead. It’s your leaf. You get to paint it.”

  For the next few hours, the children took turns painting, and Sage helped them learn about smooth strokes and shading, but mostly, he focused on the children having fun. He realized how much he’d been missing out on by working endless hours and focusing so intently on his art when there was so much more he could be doing for others. Sage was beginning to wonder how he would go back to the life he led now that he had experienced being a part of something so much bigger and more important, and he knew he never could. He was going to make the nonprofit work one way or another.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  KATE, LUCE, AND Caleb made plans for a little surprise celebration for Sage in honor of finishing the mural. Caleb would take care of most of the details and let the parents and children know, and they hoped a handful would be able to show up on such short notice. With Sage and Luce leaving on Sunday, they planned to hold the party on Saturday morning. By the time they finished making plans and handling the rounds at the clinic, the afternoon sun was blazing hot, and when Kate and Luce reached the outskirts of the village, Kate’s shirt was drenched. She had been thinking about their earlier conversation all afternoon, and she saw more clearly how she’d been standing in the way of funding, but she also began to wonder if she was working with the wrong organization. Would her requests have been taken seriously elsewhere?

  “Luce, I feel like a total idiot. I’m a bright woman. How can I not have seen the benefit that went along with the annoying…obnoxious…self-righteous celebs?”

  Luce fanned her face. “Sometimes we’re blinded by our desire to do the right thing. You grew up believing that money was the root of all evil or some shit like that.”

  “Not the root of all evil, just overrated. Sort of unnecessary.”

  “Right, well, I’m sure your parents are lovely people, but that’s really fucked up. Look around you. How did they get the Internet? How did the old logging cabins get renovated? How did they get water and electricity at the cabins? It all costs money.”