Fortunately, even Maisey seemed to have pulled back in her attempts to throw them together. He didn’t doubt that it was a temporary slowdown, but he was grateful for whatever time he could get to gather his thoughts and shore up those barriers he’d erected around his heart long ago.
He worked long, hot hours in the orchard, tiring himself out thoroughly so that he fell into bed each night exhausted. He didn’t want to think about Anna Louise Perkins for even an instant.
For the most part, the plan worked. The only thing he couldn’t seem to control were his dreams, and Anna Louise, darn her little hide, turned up in more and more of them.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Anna Louise hadn’t been able to look Maribeth Simmons in the eye since that night in her kitchen when the teenage girl had caught her being kissed by Richard. In fact, if she hadn’t had duties at the church to attend to, she might very well have taken to her bed, pulled the covers over her head and stayed there until Maribeth left for college at the start of the second semester.
As it was, Anna Louise was certainly getting a lot of paperwork done. In her determination to avoid another confusing encounter with Richard, she spent every spare minute locked away in her office. When Maisey called to ask what was keeping her away, she said she had a special project for the church council that had to be completed.
It wasn’t exactly a lie. She had been assigned to make a report at the next meeting of the pastors from all of the neighboring counties, but she had finished it weeks ago. If she typed it over a hundred times, it wouldn’t take up all the time she’d claimed to need for it.
“You’re working too hard, dear,” Maisey said worriedly. “You looked a mite peaked at services on Sunday.”
“I haven’t been getting much sleep,” she admitted with some caution. The last thing she wanted was to alarm Maisey or to put any notions into her head about why she might suddenly be unable to fall asleep the minute her head touched the pillow.
“Perhaps you should see Doc Benson for a tonic.”
“No. I’m just a little restless. I’m sure it will pass. It probably has something to do with the change of seasons. Have you noticed that just about all the leaves have turned? We’re truly into autumn now. It’ll be Thanksgiving before we know it, and then Christmas.”
Maisey made a sound that might have been agreement or a barely muffled chuckle. Anna Louise preferred to think it was the former. That was the only reason she dared to mention the man who’d put her in such a state. “I haven’t seen Richard around town the last few days,” she said casually.
Maisey, blast her, chuckled out loud this time. “I wondered if that might be what’s troubling you.”
“Troubling me,” she said indignantly. “Of course not. I was just wondering if he’d taken sick after helping to fight the flood. I feel responsible for involving him in all that.”
“It was his decision, Anna Louise. You should know him well enough by now to realize that he never does anything that doesn’t suit him. Anyway, you have nothing to worry about. It would take more than a few hours of hard labor to tire him out.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “He hasn’t left, has he? I know how much you wanted him to stay through the holidays at least.”
If Maisey felt like laughing at the blatant probing, she displayed admirable restraint. Her voice was perfectly even when she said, “He hasn’t left, not for good, anyway. He went to Washington for a couple of days to talk to his editor at the paper.”
The explanation wasn’t as reassuring as it might have been. Anna Louise’s heart seemed to skid to a halt. “Is he there to discuss his next assignment?”
“He didn’t really say. I suppose that could be it. To be honest, he hasn’t seemed all that anxious to leave lately. I wonder why that is?” she taunted.
Anna Louise didn’t care to offer her personal interpretation of Richard’s actions. It was probably just wishful thinking on her part, anyway. “I’m sure I don’t know,” she said stiffly. “You must be glad that he’s not about to run off again, though.”
“Oh, I expect I’m not the only one,” Maisey said dryly. “Quite a few people seem to have taken to him. He’s been getting several calls from Penelope King. They used to date in high school, you know. She’s been living over in Jasper Junction since her divorce. She found out from Orville that Richard was back and the phone hasn’t stopped ringing since.”
“Do you suppose that’s why he’s staying on?” Anna Louise asked, trying not to allow any hint of jealousy or dismay to creep into her voice. Given Maisey’s sharp ears, she doubted she was successful. Besides, Maisey had obviously made the comment in the first place just to taunt Anna Louise.
“He hasn’t seen her yet, so far as I know. Of course, if I had to make a guess, I’d say he’s beginning to feel at home here again. After what he’s been through, a visit to Kiley was just what he needed.”
“But he won’t be satisfied around here for long,” Anna Louise said, sounding defeated. “We must seem pretty dull compared to the life he usually leads.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. Seems to me there’s plenty to do around here. It’s just a matter of having somebody point it out.”
When Anna Louise got off the phone, she thought about what it would mean to Maisey to have Richard stay on in Kiley. She purposely did not examine what it might mean to her. If she’d stopped to consider the danger to her heart, she would have done anything in her power to get him to go, not stay.
“If it’s a matter of keeping the man busy, then I can certainly do that,” she said out loud with an air of grim determination. “Richard Walton won’t have a spare minute from now until next summer if I have anything to say about it.”
* * *
During his two days in Washington, Richard had had a lot of time to think about his decision to continue his leave of absence from the paper through the holidays. His boss was frankly astounded that he hadn’t already freaked out from total boredom.
“I can’t hold this position for you forever,” foreign news editor Jim Curran had told him.
“Who are you kidding? The powers that be will probably be delighted to have me off the payroll for a few more months. They’ll be able to save a few bucks.”
“But if that slot stays empty long enough, they just might decide they can get along without you or anybody else filling it,” he said, pointing out one of the hard realities about the journalism business. Even the best papers and networks were tightening up, cutting staff. “You’re putting me in a tight spot. I can’t afford to be losing positions. It’ll jeopardize our ability to provide decent coverage from overseas. Besides, you’re the best man I have. I want you on the front lines, not wasting your talent in some hick town.”
The flattery had missed its mark. “I know how good I am,” Richard had told him without so much as a hint of humility. “And the best things in life are worth waiting for. I believe I read that somewhere.”
Jim Curran regarded him grumpily. “You aren’t sitting over there in the mountains turning philosophical on me, are you? I don’t want you back if you’re going to be turning in political essays, instead of hard news.”
“Not a chance,” he’d retorted, but in retrospect he wasn’t so sure about that.
Anna Louise had him thinking about a lot of things in a different way. Mostly she had him thinking about her, about the way her hair glistened like fire in the sunlight, about her strength of purpose, about the way her lips had molded themselves to his, about her old-fashioned scent that reminded him of a summer garden. Damn, the woman was beginning to get under his skin. And to be perfectly truthful, she even had him wondering whether he wanted to go back overseas again. He didn’t dare mention that to his boss. Not yet, anyway.
What amazed him the most, especially after some of the other opinionated, strong-willed women he’d known, was that Anna Louise knew when to be quiet. She had a way of letting the silence steal over them and work its magic. He’d discovered there was a certain c
omfort to be found in that.
He realized when he returned to Kiley that unfortunately Anna Louise also knew when to badger. He couldn’t imagine what had come over her in the little bit of time he’d been gone. Obviously she’d gotten the wrong idea when he’d turned up to help save the church. In the misguided belief that he cared about the town, it looked as if she was going to get on his case every time there was a task that needed doing. This time it had something to do with a recreation hall she wanted built. Heavenly days, he thought with some regret, when Anna Louise got a bee in her bonnet, she didn’t know when to quit.
“If everyone pitches in, we can have it built before the first snowfall,” she told him enthusiastically. “It’ll give the kids a place to go during the winter months. Just think, we’ll be able to hold dances there. Maybe sing songs and have lectures for the older folks. Why, I can’t think of a single thing that would mean more to the town of Kiley. A few days, Richard. That’s all it would take. Just like an old-fashioned barn raising.”
That soft cajoling note in her voice was almost his undoing. But he steeled himself against it. “No way,” he said, refusing to so much as look at her from his perch atop a ladder in his bedroom. Of all the rooms for Anna Louise to be in, this was the worst. He’d never be able to sleep again without envisioning her here.
Unfortunately, being at the top of a ladder, tangled in wallpaper with a nagging woman down below, put a man in the awkward position of saying yes to her demands or finding himself flat on the floor. Her hands seemed to be tightening their grip on the ladder in an ominous way. Still, he did try to wriggle off her hook.
“Go away, Anna Louise. Now’s not the time for this,” he called down stubbornly.
Her chin jutted up just as stubbornly. The ladder trembled just the teensiest bit. “The town needs this, Richard. All the other men have committed to helping.”
“Is that supposed to persuade me? I’m not like the other men in this town. Just because I helped to save the church from the flood, don’t go getting any ideas. I have no stake here, no kids, no personal commitment.” He meant every word of what he said, but for some reason the declaration lacked his usual fire.
“Maisey’s here,” she reminded him quietly. She allowed that to sink in, then added, “They’re thinking of naming this recreation hall after her.”
Richard sucked in a breath to recover from the direct hit. “They may name it after Maisey? Why?”
“She put up the bulk of the money for the lumber. Luke Hall is over in Charlottesville right now making arrangements for it to be delivered.”
Shock sent his senses reeling. He had to cling to the top of his dresser to keep from tumbling to the floor. “Where the hell...” he began, but his voice trailed off. He suddenly guessed where Maisey had gotten the extra money. He’d been sending it to her since the day he’d left town. He’d known the minute he’d returned and seen the general state of disrepair around the property that she hadn’t spent one dime of it on herself.
Below him, Anna Louise gave a nod of satisfaction. “Exactly,” she said as if she knew what conclusion he’d reached. “It was the money you gave her. She saved every penny.”
“Why would she give it to build a recreation hall?”
“That’s something you’ll have to ask her. Will you help?”
He heaved a massive sigh of resignation. “You knew when you came over here that I would.”
She nodded. “It’s all a matter of knowing which buttons to push, isn’t it?” she said smugly. “See you in the morning?”
“What time?”
“They’re planning to start at sunup, just like an old-fashioned barn raising. Won’t that be fun?”
Fun didn’t begin to cover it, he thought dismally. “I’ll be there.”
“With bells on,” she added cheerfully. “You know the expression, right?”
He glared down at her. “I know the blasted expression. I’ll be there. Let’s just let it go at that.”
Anna Louise apparently chose to ignore his irritability. She shot him a smile that could have melted an iceberg. “Thanks,” she said as if he’d granted her a generous favor instead of grudgingly caving in to her sweetly spoken blackmail.
Before long she’d have him becoming a part of the community. And after that? The blasted woman was likely to have him starting to feel again. What was happening to him? Everybody in the journalism profession knew that Richard Walton had a cold and solid stone in the place where his heart should have been.
He drew in a deep breath and stiffened his resolve. No sweet little preacher was going to ruin him. He’d just have to find some way to prove to Anna Louise once and for all that he was a rotten bet.
“Is he going to help?” Maisey asked when Anna Louise stopped in the kitchen for a cup of tea.
“He sounded a little bit cranky, but in the end he said he would.”
Maisey smiled and pulled her colorful afghan over her knees. “That’s good, dear. Very good.”
Anna Louise toyed with her spoon. “Maisey, why did Richard leave Kiley?”
“Haven’t you asked him that?”
“Not really.”
“He’s the one who should tell you.”
“But you know, don’t you?”
“Of course, I know. There’s very little about my grandson I don’t understand. Leaving Kiley was something he had to do.”
“Did he have a bad case of wanderlust?”
“I wouldn’t say it was that so much. He just felt there was nothing for him here.”
“You were here.”
“And I loved him enough to let him go.” Maisey got a faraway look in her eyes. “Now I wonder if maybe that wasn’t a mistake. He left without ever settling things.”
“Settling what things?”
“Anna Louise, you know I think of you as if you were part of my own family, but I can’t tell you this. You’ll have to ask Richard.” She enfolded Anna Louise’s hand in her own. “If you want him to stay, then you’re going about it in exactly the right way. He needs to get to know the people of Kiley all over again, as an adult. Maybe now he’ll see that they’re only human and that human beings sometimes make dreadful mistakes that cause harm they never intended.”
Anna Louise was shocked by the tears she saw gathering in Maisey’s eyes. “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“You didn’t upset me. Not even the remembering did that. It’s just the thought of all these wasted years.” She pulled a hankie from her pocket and dabbed at her eyes. “Now, enough of that. It doesn’t do a bit of good to shed tears over something that can’t be changed. Tell me about the work you’ll be doing tomorrow. How big will you make the recreation hall?”
Anna Louise gave in to the request reluctantly. She wanted badly to prod Maisey into telling her the whole story, but it wasn’t in her nature to force anyone into revealing things before they were ready. Some in the church would say her patience was a weakness, but she didn’t view it that way. Stirring folks into confessing sins before they’d come to terms with them didn’t accomplish much. A little guilt and contemplation tended to make the eventual confession much more satisfying to the soul.
“If the weather’s fine in the morning, you’ll have to come and watch,” she encouraged Maisey. “After all, this is going to be your recreation hall. You should approve of the way it’s being built.”
“That fancy architect from Charlottesville you sent by showed me the plans. I’m still not sure how you convinced him to volunteer his time to do the drawings.”
Anna Louise grinned. “Maisey, don’t you know by now that any preacher worth her salt has a silver tongue?”
Maisey’s eyebrows lifted. “I thought you were only supposed to use that skill for divine purposes.”
“Sometimes I like to test my limits and maybe broaden the definition of the phrase. Besides, Ted Bennett didn’t require much convincing. I just reminded him about the night he tried to pick me up in a nightclub. He’
s been troubled ever since about his chances for getting into Heaven.”
“Excuse me, but what were you doing in a nightclub in the first place?” Maisey teased.
“My best friend from college was getting married and we were holding her bachelorette party there. It was quite a celebration.”
“No wonder this Mr. Bennett thought you were fair game. Any of your other friends planning to get married?”
“Afraid not. I’m the only one left who hasn’t walked down the aisle.”
“Your turn will come,” Maisey told her firmly. Her expression turned mischievous. “And when it does, I think maybe I’ll throw the party myself.”
* * *
Richard was already at the site for the new recreation hall when Anna Louise arrived just after dawn with bags of fresh doughnuts and huge thermos bottles filled with hot coffee. With his hands shoved in his back pockets, he was standing next to Ted Bennett looking over the plans. His expression was skeptical.
Anna Louise handed the two men their coffee and offered them a doughnut. Neither of them took one. In fact, they barely even acknowledged her presence.
“Okay, what’s the problem?” she finally asked. “You two are looking downright gloomy.”
“This looks too damned complicated for a bunch of amateurs,” Richard said.
“I thought you told me you were going to have experienced people on site,” Ted added.
“You’re experienced,” she said to the dark-haired young man whose hands were clamped tightly around his coffee cup as if he needed its warmth.
“I’m an architect, not a contractor.”
“Well, some of the people who’ll be coming have building experience. Luke Hall, for instance.”
“Aside from the shed where he stores his extra canned goods, what has Luke ever built?” Richard inquired.
“He built his own house,” she snapped right back, losing patience with their negative attitudes.
Richard seemed startled by her statement and her tone. “I thought his house had been around for generations.”
“The old one was. It burned down six years ago. I’m surprised Maisey didn’t mention it to you.”
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