“Sure.” He reached for her hands, thrilled that she let him. “Anything will be fun if it’s with you.”
She met his gaze. “I feel the same.”
“Your cell number is on the proposal. May I text you when I know what time I’ll be able to get away?” No need to tell her he’d already entered her number into his phone, just in case he couldn’t find the papers on his desk. His entire garden center office was in more than slight disarray.
“Okay. Maybe I should get your number.” She disengaged from him and pulled her cell phone from her hip pocket.
Butterflies line-danced in his stomach as he recited his number and she tapped it in.
“Hey, mister?” came a voice from the curb. “How come nobody uses that greenhouse?”
Grady turned to see a girl of about ten or so straddling a faded pink bike, arms resting across the handlebars. Shoulder-length hair stuck out from beneath her sparkly purple helmet. Had he seen her before? “What do you mean?”
“It’s always empty.”
Joanna put her cell away. “That’s because the old man who used to live here is at Retro Village now. No one lives here.”
The girl undid the clasp to her helmet and took it off, tossing her dark blond hair. “But that’s a total waste.”
Grady stepped up beside Joanna. “Yeah, it kind of is. Got any ideas?” At the moment, he’d take them from anywhere.
“Are you kidding me?”
He shrugged. “Actually, no.”
She shook her head. “Grownups,” she said with disgust.
Great. Insulted by a pre-teen. Grady took Joanna’s arm. “Come on.”
“No, wait. I’m curious.” Joanna turned to the child. “Pretend for a minute this whole thing belonged to you.” She waved a hand to encompass the entire area behind them. “What would you do with it?”
“Grow food.”
That was the most duh voice Grady had ever heard.
“You would? That would be a lot of work. Who’d help you?”
“My friends. My mom, even. Have you never seen that old lady who sits on the park bench by downtown all day long? She’s hungry. I give her half my sandwich every day.”
Grady’s eyebrows rose. This little kid was some kind of saint? That’d be the day.
“No, I haven’t seen her, I don’t think.” Joanna looked thoughtful. “I haven’t lived here long. I bet she likes your sandwiches, but how would a greenhouse help? You think she’d want to eat a cabbage?”
The kid shrugged. “You can make stuff with cabbage. When we lived in Memphis, some kid grew a really big one and took it to the soup kitchen. They fed lots of people with it. Cabbage rolls. They were really good.”
Wait a minute. This kid wasn’t all talk. Grady frowned. Arcadia Valley had a food bank. Didn’t Corinna’s Cupboard serve some hot meals, too? But taking on a project growing food for a charity would require so many volunteer hours his brain boggled to think of it.
Still, the greenhouses were empty. The area of the lot farthest from the house was covered in scruffy unkempt grass. There was a lot of room for a big project.
“That’s really interesting.” Joanna sounded like she meant it. “Have you grown food for a food bank before?”
The girl scowled. “We live in an apartment. I grew some tomatoes and pole beans last summer on our balcony. I want Mom to get a house with a yard, but she says it’s too expensive.”
No father in the picture?
Grady’s mind churned with possibilities. He discarded most of them as quickly as they surfaced.
“What’s your name?” asked Joanna. “Maybe we could talk to you and your mom sometime and see if we can make something happen.”
The kid straightened. “Really? You’re not just saying that?”
Joanna shook her head. “I’m not if you’re not. I can’t make any promises just yet, but Mr. Akers here and I were just talking about how to use the property. We’d like to hear your ideas.”
“My name is Maisie. I’ll tell my mom.” She jammed the helmet back on her head and snapped the buckle closed.
“Wait. Let me give you a business card. She can call me to set up a meeting.” Joanna flicked open a shiny blue case, pulled out a card, and handed it to Maisie.
The girl shoved it in her pocket as she looked back and forth between them. “You’re really not pulling my leg?”
“Not one bit.”
“Cool!” Maisie held up a hand and Joanna slapped it before the girl pedaled off.
Grady stepped up to Joanna on the sidewalk. “What just happened here?”
She turned toward him with a grin. “I think we might have the first glimmer of a real idea.”
“Seriously? She can’t be more than ten years old.”
“Kids have changed the world before. I want to hear what she has to say.”
Suddenly, so did Grady.
Chapter 5
Joanna hadn’t really wondered what Grady drove. Maybe she’d been expecting to ride in the garden center van, but that would have been weird for a date. She hadn’t expected a cherry red Eos. “This is an amazing car.” She stroked the cream-colored buttery-soft leather seats as they sped down the highway toward the canyon trail along the Snake River.
From the driver’s side, Grady flashed her a grin. “I’m glad you like it. It’s a bit cold in March, or I’d put the top down.”
It might be a sunny afternoon, but she didn’t relish the thought of wind blowing through her hair. Would she get another chance? Did she want another chance? Much as she was growing to like Grady — to her surprise — this car reminded her once again of big differences between them. He’d be heir to his family enterprise, most likely. Like Pierce. She’d gotten out of Salt Lake City in such haste that the little she’d built up in the past ten years had all but vanished.
Joanna squirmed in the deep bucket seat. And this was why she shouldn’t date men she was doing business with. Grady included, even though it was through a church trust, not directly. There was still money involved.
“Did I turn the heat down too much?” He shot her a quick glance.
She blinked. “No, I’m fine.” At least by that standard.
“Tell me about your family,” he suggested. “Do you and Cameron have any other siblings? Where did you grow up?”
“It’s just the two of us. We grew up a lot of places, I guess. Mom and Dad are currently teaching at a Bible school in England. They never could put down roots.”
“Have you been to visit?”
“Not recently. Mom wanted Cameron and the boys to come after Lisa left...”
“Cameron’s got a good job here, doesn’t he?”
Joanna nodded. “He works in the office at Stargil. He kind of hates the whole industrial food thing, but it’s a job, and it pays well. He didn’t want to uproot the twins.”
“It’s a good thing you did, coming to help your brother.”
She shifted uneasily in her seat. If she’d really been a good sister, she’d have come right away. Instead, she’d waited until Pierce played his final hand — not only dumping her to accept vice-presidency of the family company, but letting her know he’d been playing her against his dad all along. It was nearly coincidental that Cameron’s last sitter had quit the same day. “I like the twins. They didn’t deserve to be walked out on.”
Grady studied her for a few seconds, but Joanna didn’t turn to meet his gaze. What was he thinking? His family had been pillars in the church for over a hundred years and probably had never experienced an embarrassment like Lisa. Yeah, her parents were believers, but Dad especially was so focused on studying and teaching that he’d mostly left the raising of her and Cameron to their mother. No wonder Cameron was spinning. He hadn’t learned anything positive about being a father from theirs.
“What happened with Cameron and Lisa, if I may ask? I only met her a few times.”
What to say without airing the family’s dirty laundry? “They had different views of marri
age and raising a family, I guess.” Cameron expected his wife to wait on him hand and foot like Mom had. Lisa had other ideas.
“I’m sorry to hear. I’m no expert, but I believe there’s a lot of give and take required. We’re wired to think of ourselves first and someone else a distant second.”
Joanna didn’t want to discuss marriage with Grady Akers on their first date, even if it was someone else’s broken dreams. She bit her lip. How could she change the subject?
“The key is putting God first, I think,” Grady went on. “You know, that definition of joy we were taught way back in Sunday school. Joy stands for Jesus, others, you.”
The car zoomed across the Perrine Memorial Bridge into Twin Falls. She peered out the window, grateful for the diversion. “The Snake River Canyon is really awe-inspiring. I wasn’t expecting such a deep coulee in the middle of the flatlands when I drove down from Arcadia Valley the first time.”
“It is pretty amazing. Just another example of all is not what it seems, right? We get the idea we know what the terrain looks like, but there are hidden pitfalls.”
Joanna forced a chuckle. “And sometimes things are exactly what they look like. Hey, I hear there’s a zipline in the canyon. Have you ever done it?”
He shook his head as he turned onto Fillmore Street. “Never have. It’s not exactly my thing.”
Ah, the man had a weakness. “Afraid of heights?” Because with a sports car like this, it couldn’t be speed he was afraid of.
Grady grinned. “I’m no Evel Knievel, that’s for sure. I like me some good solid ground.”
Joanna wouldn’t be the one to tell the twins about the famous daredevil who’d tried — and failed — to jump across the Snake River on a motorcycle long before she’d been born. All Evan needed was a hero of that magnitude to whet his imagination.
Grady parked the car at the Visitor Center. “The monument is near here. Want to have a look?”
If only to know where not to bring the boys if they ever accompanied her to Twin Falls. “Sure.”
Joanna stayed on her side of the sidewalk as they ambled along the riverfront. Yeah, she liked Grady, but he was too good to be true. Once he got to know her — or when the project was complete, one or the other — he’d be out of her life and refocused on his garden center. He’d meet some woman who knew how to do the whole dating and marriage thing. Who was right for his family.
“There it is.” Grady pointed out the granite monument close to the bridge. “Explorer, motorcyclist, and daredevil.”
Joanna read the fine print. “I wonder what possessed him to do such a thing. He’s lucky he lived through it.”
“It’s said he was always looking for a bigger challenge. This was one in a long line of performances, and one of the few failed jumps that didn’t end in multiple broken bones.”
“I don’t get it.”
Grady chuckled. “Me, neither. Like I said, it’s terra firma for me, all the way.” He leaned closer. “I’ll tell you a secret. I don’t even like to fly.”
She shifted away. “It’s take-offs and landings I don’t like. Looking down on patchwork fields and majestic mountains, seeing the tops of clouds... those make up for it.”
“I’ll take your word for it. I can’t think of anything else but being inside a tin can with a long way to fall. Want to walk the path along the canyon? You can see the Evel Knievel ramp from the other side of the bridge.”
* * *
Grady slid into the hot water at Miracle Hot Springs and waited for Joanna to make her appearance. There had been some weird moments that afternoon. He hadn’t been on a lot of first dates in the past few years. He’d tried hard to forget how awkward they could be. With the memories of the way the committee meetings at the church had gone, he should have expected nothing less, even with Joanna, but he’d thought something changed that day in the greenhouse.
Why even try when she was so prickly, so guarded? There were plenty of women in town he hadn’t dated. Truth be told, he hadn’t gone out at all since Vanessa. He wasn’t getting any younger. Having kids around like Joanna’s nephews was a big reminder.
So if Joanna wasn’t into him, he should cut his losses and move on. Get back in the game he’d been ignoring. It was easy enough to tell himself until Joanna exited the changing rooms and crossed the deck toward him wearing a one-piece in multiple tones of blue, her hair tied back and pinned up.
She’s gorgeous. Grady’s mouth went dry, and he couldn’t help staring like a love-struck teen.
She lowered herself to the edge and dangled her feet in the water. “Wow, this is hot. What temperature is it, anyway?”
“One-oh-four, I think. You’ll get used to it quickly. Come on in.”
“I need to adjust a bit at a time.”
He chuckled. “Says the woman who thinks leaping off a cliff harnessed to a zipline would be fun.”
“I have my quirks.” She arched her brows at him. “As do you, I think.”
“Just because I don’t like olives on my pizza.”
“Just because you like speed but not heights.” She nudged his shoulder with the side of her knee.
Grady’s skin tingled at her touch, and he shifted away, faking horror at her words. “Speed but not heights? What are you talking about?” He felt like both overpowered him in this moment. He was falling for this woman very quickly for someone he’d first met a couple of weeks ago... and he was falling deep and hard.
He stood and tugged her into the water, right into the circle of his arms. “Looks like you fell in. Oops.”
“Yeah, that was totally accidental.” Joanna stared at him from mere inches away. “I’ll get even with you for that.”
Her voice was so soft he couldn’t fathom any threat to the words.
“I don’t think there’s a lifeguard watching,” she whispered. “Do you see one?”
Before he could check, she’d grabbed him around the neck and poked his knees out from beneath him with her own. He came up a few seconds later, sputtering for air and flicking wet hair off his face. “Is that how it’s going to be? You are so on.” He grabbed her around the waist and she tumbled backward against him. “If I have to contain you to keep that from happening again, I’ll suffer through it,” he murmured against her neck.
For an instant, she was rigid in his arms then she relaxed, letting the back of her head settle against his shoulder as she floated. Tendrils of her hair drifted against his skin, increasing his awareness of her. Grady loosened his grip but kept his arms around her, savoring her nearness. The temptation to nuzzle closer, maybe even to kiss her, tugged at him, but it wasn’t time. Not yet.
Lord? He sent a silent prayer heavenward. Am I crazy to think You might have brought Joanna into my life? I pray You’ll be our guide. I want Your will.
“Grady?”
“Hmm?” He rested his cheek against hers.
“Do you really think this is a good idea?”
He grinned. “You mean trusting you not to dunk me again?”
“Silly.”
“Or you trusting me not to return the favor?”
“I don’t trust you.”
“It feels like you do.” He slowly tightened his hands around her waist, pulling her body closer through the warm water.
“I mean... are we a good idea? Dating?”
That seemed a strange question. “Why wouldn’t we be? Unless you’re currently married.”
“No marriages, past or present.”
Good to know. “Maybe you’ve killed someone and are hiding from the FBI?”
“No murders.”
“Whew. You had me worried there for a minute. Those are the only two things I can think of that would be an automatic red flag.” Kiss her, or not? The urge to take the next step was undeniable. But she wasn’t ready. He knew she wasn’t.
“There’s more to suitability than whether marriage or murder has been committed.” She pulled out of his grasp and turned to face him in the water.
She was still near enough that he could set his hands on her hips, so he did. “We both love the Lord.” He gazed deeply into her eyes. “We want to please Him.”
Joanna nodded. “Yes. That’s a big one.”
“We both like kids.”
She raised her brows at that one.
“Really. I can see how much you enjoy Evan and Oliver. I don’t have any nephews or nieces, but I do like little people.”
“You’re at the helm of a big company by Arcadia Valley standards.”
Was this where he found out she was a gold-digger, after all? Grady forced himself to stay relaxed. “Technically, my dad is for a few more years.”
“Is that what you’ve always wanted to do with your life?”
The question deserved a thoughtful answer. “For a time, I didn’t feel like I had much choice. But working there during summers and after school — I guess it got into my blood, after all. I took a double major in business and horticulture, and I can’t think what else I’d use it for.”
“A double major, eh?”
Grady nodded. “How about you? Did you see yourself running your own business?”
She sucked in her lower lip and looked away. “Not really, though Cameron says I’ve always been good at telling people what to do.”
“That can be a good trait.”
“Can it?” She met his gaze. “Sometimes it feels like I make more trouble for myself than what I solve.”
He swept his fingers across her damp cheek and caressed her jaw. “Any trait can be good or bad. What do you think the difference is between stubborn and persistent?”
Joanna angled her head, pressing against his hand. “It’s a matter of perspective,” she said slowly. “And maybe of degree.”
Grady allowed his thumb to circle her cheekbone. “Our personalities and gifts are given from God for His use. We just need to let Him hone them. Hone us.”
“That sounds right.” She studied him, her lips slightly apart.
He kept his focus on her eyes, where it belonged. A little patience had never hurt anyone… or had it? He ached to kiss her, but one kiss would only make him want more.
Romance Grows in Arcadia Valley (Arcadia Valley Romance Book 0) Page 33