Healing Hearts

by Reina Torres

  Kyle had to admit that when he’d first seen his grandfather’s friends helping with the building, he’d worried that they wouldn’t be able to do this kind of construction, but they’d done an amazing job that even his grumpy nature had to admire. As he watched a couple of the men lowered a panel into place and someone used a cordless drill to set the panel in place.

  “Did you come out to complain about the noise?”

  The caustic tone of voice was all he needed to hear to know who had walked up behind him. “Hello, Alan.” Kyle wasn’t going to give him a way to mess up his day. “Looks like you’re getting a lot done.”

  Alan shrugged. “Your grandfather,” he gave his words a pointed pause, “and his friends are certainly handy.”

  Kyle felt pride swell in his chest. “Of course they are.” He looked over at the car as another panel was set into place. “They’re a generation that knew how to swing a hammer and do repairs around the house, but this is really amazing to watch how it’s coming together.”

  “All that matters to me,” Alan pushed back, “is that they are willing to help Stella. Some people were just trying to make it harder for her.”

  Kyle felt the sting, but didn’t let it get to him. He understood what Alan was saying, and he did owe someone an apology, and it wasn’t to the obnoxious know-it-all that thought he was better than everyone else because he could swing a hammer. “Then I don’t understand why you’re here talking to me.” He turned to look at the other man, his back teeth grinding together for a moment. “I’m not here to cause trouble, but it seems like you’re just trying to stir things up.”

  By the subtle shift of Alan’s eyes, Kyle knew he’d made his point. But he didn’t want to press his luck before his ‘frenemies’ status with Stella turned right back to enemies.

  The spate of noise came to a halt and the two men holding the panel stood up to stretch their legs. One after another they stepped off of the platform and down the short flight of stairs to the dirt floor of the lot. The third member of the crew stood up from behind the panel and Kyle couldn’t help the smile that eased up the ache in his jaw.

  Stella pushed a few errant curls from her face before she pulled back her safety goggles, and set them on top of her hair like a headband. Stepping off to the side, she lowered the cordless drill in her hand into the leather holster attached to her tool belt. She was nearly covered from her neck down to her feet, the over-sized flannel shirt almost looked like a dress with a wavy hem around her mid-thigh, even though it was trapped under the heavy weight of the thick leather belt.

  She walked to the edge of the platform and waved Kyle closer.

  Kyle didn’t have to look to see what Alan was doing, Kyle knew he was staring daggers at his back.

  “Hey,” Stella crouched down so he didn’t have to strain his neck to look up at her, “what’s going on?”

  “I was just wondering if you were doing anything tonight after you finish here?”

  Her eyes widened for a moment and then focused back on his face. “Well, I had planned to go home and take a long bubble bath, but if you have a better offer-”

  “The idea of you in bubbles almost makes me want to follow you home instead, but I was hoping we could go somewhere private.”

  “Your place or mine?” She saw him roll his eyes. “Do you have someplace in mind?”

  He took her hand in his and brushed his thumb against her palm and watched as her eyes darkened to something closer to mahogany instead of her normal brown. “I just want to be alone with you.”

  She swallowed and her lips parted slowly on a soft groan as his thumb made another pass over her palm. “I know just the place.”

  When Mr. Colburn left the exercise room to change his clothes after his session, Kyle saw Mrs. Darby waiting for him in the hall, her smile reminded him of the Cheshire Cat. The cartoon movie had given him nightmares as a child.

  Kyle watched her carefully as he handed over the patient file. “Here you go”

  Mrs. Darby took the file and held it to her chest. Her eyes never left his face, watching him intently.

  “You’re starting to scare me.”

  With a wink she shifted the file under her arm. “Well, it’s about time you understood the power of my femininity.”

  He shook his head, waving off her words. “Still scaring me.”

  She rolled her eyes and the hallway lights glinted off the hairpins in her expertly coiffed hair. “Men are so easy to frighten. I was only coming to do you a favor.” She gestured down the hallway. “I want to know what you paid to get Lexi DeLuca to bring a special picnic basket for you.” She made sure to give the word extra emphasis, her eyes zeroed in on his face. “I can’t wait to see what you’re going to do with that, young man.”

  Young man. Whatever.

  “Well,” he answered back with more than a hint of attitude, “you won’t get to see anything of the kind.” Reaching into his back pocket, he fished out his phone and swiped to open his text app.

  Mrs. Darby was already on her way back to her desk, but she paused to throw a few words over her shoulder. “Enjoy your evening with Stella.”

  He looked back at her with a twisted smile on his lips. “I never said I was going to see Stella.”

  “You didn’t need to, silly boy.” She waved him off. “I’m sure half of the town knows by now. The rest of it can’t be far behind.”

  Yes. Still frightening.

  When he picked up Stella there was precious little sunlight left. She gave him clear directions from her seat beside him, directing him through a few of the older neighborhoods in St. Helena before turning down what she said was, “One last road.”

  Looking up at the landmarks visible above the trees he recognized the area from a number of nature hikes he’d taken in the recent years. Building his business had kept him from enjoying the area as much as he had as a younger man. Kyle gave Stella a curious look in the dark interior of his truck. “Interesting location.”

  She sat forward on her seat, her hands braced on the dashboard.

  “I think it’s pretty perfect.” He heard the breathless quality of her voice and enjoyed the sound.

  “I’m sure it is.” He followed her animated gesture as she pointed out a dirt driveway. In his head, he’d imagined it on the far outskirts of the town, but now that he was actually on the property he knew how well situated her Bed and Breakfast was.

  Bringing the truck to a complete stop in the circular drive, Kyle paused to look out of the windshield at the rapidly approaching night sky. With a quick flick of the seatbelt he got out and moved around to the other side of the truck.

  Stella beat him to the door, so all that was left to do was catch her as she hopped down from the cab, and give her a long slow kiss before he set her feet down on the ground.

  But even when she had both feet squarely underneath her, she took hold of his hand and didn’t let go, bringing him along with her as she walked up through the central grassy area and paused before the edge of the drive. Stella drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  “So this is the Happy Rails Bed & Breakfast,” Stella beamed as she rocked back onto her heels, her eyes drinking in the sight before her like a child at a toy store window. “This has been my dream forever. When I was little my parents took me to a train museum. They had all different kinds of cars. Everything from engines and cargo cars, sleepers and dining. It was like stepping back in time. Mama had been on trains all across Italy when she was younger, and she and Papa had taken their honeymoon trip on a train.”

  “I bet you ran them ragged.”

  “Papa gave up after the first few cars, but my Mama, she walked with me through every car and around some of them as well. When we came back here to St. Helena, I told Teodoro and Lorenzo all about the museum and they told me I didn’t even need to leave town to see train cars. They took me to the abandoned wheelhouse just south of the old depot and at first, all I saw were weeds and bugs.”

  “I
thought you were a tomboy back then.” He couldn’t help the laughing tone in his voice.

  She only gave him a little bit of a glare. “I was a ‘clean’ tomboy. Bugs were never my thing.”

  Kyle nodded.

  “But when we finally broke though the weeds, I was in heaven. Train cars as far as the eye could see.”

  “Well, you were a little girl, you couldn’t see much. Hey!” He rubbed at his arm where she’d slugged him with her fist.

  “When my mom was in the hospital, I didn’t have time to go and play, but after she passed on, no one could keep me away from those cars. I’m sure my papa thought I’d cut myself and get gangrene, lose an arm or a leg, but he stopped fighting me after a bit.” She sighed, a long weary breath passing between her lips. “In those cars,” she continued with the barest of smiles, “I was back in that museum, listening to my mama tell me her stories of traveling with-”

  “Your dad, right?”

  She nodded, unable to say the words herself.

  Standing there beside her, feeling the love she felt for these renovated hunks of metal, he felt a gnawing guilt for the trouble he’d caused.

  “Hey,” he felt her hand sliding up and down his arm from his elbow to his shoulder, “stop thinking so loud. I can hear you just fine from here.”

  “I shouldn't have fought you so much, I didn't even think about what this meant to you.”

  “You didn't know,” she gave him a hesitant smile and he wondered if she was blushing as well, he couldn’t quite tell in the surrounding light.

  “I could have been less of an ass.”

  “You won't get an argument from me there.” She leaned back to get a look behind him. “But I am pretty fond of your ass.”

  The soft smack of sound reached his ears a split second after he felt her hand land a good blow.

  With lightning fast reflexes, his hand shot out and wrapped around her wrist, bringing her closer to his side.

  “Careful, before I turn you over my knee.”

  He felt her shudder and sought her eyes in the lengthening shadows of twilight.

  When she turned to look at him he felt her eyes on him like a caress and his body reacted, tightening his skin all over and making a jacket the least of his worries. He was plenty warm with the pulse of blood through his veins.

  “Then I should probably give you the Nickel Tour.”

  Turning her wrist in his grasp she loosened his fingers enough that she could intertwine their fingers.

  All the air pushed out of his lungs the moment she squeezed his hand. It wasn't the heat of his attraction for her that had him twisting inside. Instead it was the sudden surge of intimacy that he felt standing beside her at the edge of her property. Sex was one thing, and it was amazing with Stella, and while she'd worn down some of his walls, making a place for herself in his life, he'd never felt this before.

  And it knocked him off center enough that when she tugged on his hand he realized he'd likely follow her anywhere.

  “So this,” she tugged him along down the first path, around an island of some kind of flowers that brushed at the legs of his jeans, “is the Vineyard Express.” He looked up at the train car with dark wine-colored curtains showing in the window. “The electrician will be here to hook everything up by the end of the week, but I think there’s enough light to see inside if we hurry up.” She leaned against him, their arms pressed against each other. “Come on!” She pulled him up the stairs, fishing her ring of keys from her jacket pocket. Finding the master, she opened the lock and led him inside, leaving the door open so they could have more light inside. Without electricity, he couldn’t see the exact colors muted by the fading sunlight, but it was the pictures on the wall that he was drawn to.

  All the old vineyards that made St. Helena one of the leading wine producers in California were immortalized on the walls. These weren’t just pictures showing their current buildings, but vintage photos of their original owners standing in front of their wineries with their faces full of quiet pride.

  He felt her hand on his shoulder. “Like it?”

  He turned and found himself pressed between her and the foot of the bed, her eyes alight with excitement. “Yeah. It’s amazing.”

  She winked. “You haven’t seen anything yet, come on!”

  They traveled through the Choo Chew Dining Car with an area for the Transcontinental Breakfast that would be an included part of their stay, to the Boxcar Bunkhouse that sat on the edge of the property. It was meant for the travelers that sought out nature and loved the outdoors. Like a camping cabin at a National Park, the guests would have bunks to sleep in with lockers available to store their belongings. The front door of the bunkhouse was less than twenty feet away from the trailhead of one of the most scenic hikes in the area, and they could return home to the campfire ring and share stories and toast marshmallows over an open flame.

  The rest of the ‘rooms’ went by in a blur until they’d reached the other side of the property and the last rail car. As they stepped outside into the near dark of the cool spring evening, Kyle paused at the top of the steps. It was wide enough for both of them to stand there, but when she turned, she nearly bumped into him. “I know it’s a lot to take in, but I wanted you to see all of it.”

  He leaned back against the wrought iron rail and smiled back at her. “I can see you in all of it, even the names.” Kyle lifted his gaze to the wooden plaque above the door. “Full Steam A-bed?”

  She grinned at him, her fingers playing across the soft cambric fabric of his shirt. “I like the play on words.”

  And Kyle realized he liked the way she played with him, and how her fingers slipped between the buttons down the front of his shirt and brushed the tips through the hair on his chest. He could tell how much she liked the feel of it under the tips of her fingers by the way she nearly purred as she touched him.

  “I wish,” she stopped for a moment, her thumb playing over the surface of the wooden button, “we were closer to home.”

  He looked down into her eyes and felt a flare of heat spark between them. “That eager to get away from me?”

  Stella shook her head. “Not exactly.”

  “I have a surprise for you,” he reached his hands out and settled them on her shoulders, sliding his palms slowly down her arms. “Do you trust me?”

  She seemed stunned at the question and didn’t immediately answer. Her tongue slipped out to wet her lower lip and Kyle groaned, the sound echoing in his chest. And he leaned closer, his hands tracing the graceful curves of her arms until he took hold of her hands.

  “Just give it a try,” he swallowed hard, “and let me take you someplace special.”

  “Okay.” She gave him a tentative smile and threaded her fingers through his. “Let’s go.”

  She walked beside him until he came to a stop at the back of the truck. When Kyle tugged on the handle and lowered the tailgate she gave him a curious look. “Am I going to ride in back?”

  Kyle set his hands on her hips and lifted her up off of the ground. She closed her eyes and kept her teeth slightly apart as she waited for the impact on the truck bed, but instead feeling the hard metal under her behind, something soft cushioned her. Pressing her hand down on the surface she laughed. “An air mattress?”

  “You thought I'd throw you in there with my gym bag?”

  A soft brush of sound turned her head as he pulled on the handles of a wicker hamper, drawing it toward her. “Is that a picnic basket?”

  Kyle smiled at her and she felt herself blush before she shook it off. Blushing was for romance, for dates, that wasn't what she had with him.

  “I had Lexi put together something for us.”

  “Lexi DeLuca? You really are a god amongst men, aren’t you?” She turned on the mattress, tucking her legs under until she could scoot up toward the cab of the truck. She could see the pile of pillows beneath the window of the cab. “You know you didn't need to.”

  She managed to sit down and open th
e top of the basket while he rounded the truck and climbed in after her. Sitting on top of the other containers in the basket were a half a dozen crème puffs in three different flavors. The one closest to her hand had a raspberry crowning the puff, anchored by a cloud of pastry crème.

  Stella couldn't help taking a bite, there was no way to ignore the gooey goodness of Lexi’s baked goods. Just as she sank her teeth into the pastry, she felt Kyle’s arm wrap around her waist and his ever present stubble at her cheek.

  “I hope you’ll save me a bite.”

  Her hand twitched when she felt his teeth and then his tongue against the pulse just under her ear.

  She turned her head to the side to give him a little more room. “Looks like you got a little bite all on your own.”

  “That's just a taste,” he moved back and drew her along with him, “it’s been a long day and I’m starving.”

  She turned in his arms and found his eyes dark and glittering, his body shaking with laughter. “What?”

  He moved in, his lips parting as he was close enough she could feel his breath on her skin. Her eyes slid closed as she tilted her chin up for his kiss and stopped when she felt Kyle’s lips close over the tip of her nose.

  Her eyes flew open as she moved back, his grin broad and open. “You had cream on your nose.”

  She groaned and held up the other half of the crème puff and watched as he plucked the confection from her fingers, his teeth gently raking along the tips of her fingers. “Hey now.”

  He licked a bit of cream from his bottom lip. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong,” she told him, “I just want to make sure we actually get to eat, because I am hungry.”