Loving Their Dream Weaver

by Loving Their Dream Weaver (lit)

  “Lass, are ye okay?” Liam rubbed his hand up and down her back as she rested heavily against the railing, shocked and afraid to move.

  “Who could have done that? Why would anyone want to do that?”

  Suz straightened and allowed him to wrap her in a hug. She stood still in his arms, afraid to return his embrace. Someone wanted to hurt her. First the phone calls and now they’d trashed the studio.

  “I don’t ken, but I’m gonna find out.”

  He lifted her into his arms then carried her down the two steps to the walk and across the meadow to the barn. He’d have to talk to Penn about adding a stone path from the barn to the studio, since there was already one from the house to the barn and the house to the studio.

  Closing her eyes, Suz rested her head against his chest, feeling the familiar darkness settle over her. She recognized the depression and didn’t know how to fight it.

  After she’d left Luke, she’d tried diet, exercise, herbal supplements, even prescription antidepressants, but nothing had worked to fully eradicate the shadows that haunted her. They had eased the longer she’d been away from him and the more she focused on finding peace. Only in the past weeks had the grayness completely disappeared. Only since she’d claimed her McKenzie men and started on this new life path.

  She heard Liam murmuring in her ear. She couldn’t make out his words, but his tone was threaded with equal parts fear, anger, and concern.

  Before she realized where they were going, Liam carried her into an office and gently set her on a couch. A moment later, a soft blanket was tucked around her, and Liam brushed hair back from her face.

  “What’s goin’ on?” Penn turned from his computer with a frown.

  They ignored him.

  “Liam, the shawls. Make sure the shawls are okay,” she whispered as her eyes fluttered shut. “Something’s wrong with the loom.”

  “Shhh, lass. Ye stay here with Penn. I’ll see ta the studio.”

  * * * *

  After she nodded and her eyes closed, Liam kissed her cheek. He stood and motioned for his brother to follow him into the hall. Once there, he pulled the door closed behind them.

  “What the hell’s happened?”

  “Someone broke into the studio. Trashed the place and from the smell, I think they doused it with some of that liquid recycled animal fertilizer the boys are using on the fields. I need ye ta take care of our sweet angel while I deal with the police and see exactly how bad it is.”

  Penn nodded, his expression growing hard. “Call Roane and see about getting some kind of security system in place today.”

  Liam nodded. “Don’t leave her alone. I think she’s gone into shock or somethin.’”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of her. You deal with the studio.”

  Liam nodded then headed for the door. “I’ll call as soon as I ken anythin.’”

  * * * *

  Penn paused as he headed back into his office. Suz hadn’t moved, though he saw she was trembling. Instead of returning to his desk, he settled next to her on the couch. Lifting her onto his lap, he cuddled her close and wrapped his arms tight around her.

  “Penn?”

  “Yes, luv?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Frowning in confusion, he snuggled her even closer, resting his cheek on the top of her head. “Whatever for? This isna yer fault.”

  “You can’t know that.” She whispered, her voice breaking. The tremors continued and grew stronger. Then she began to cry.

  Penn didn’t hush her or try to assure her that everything would be all right. He just held her, rubbing her back and occasionally rubbing his cheek against her hair.

  After she calmed, he kissed her hair before shifting her to lay on the couch. She settled easily with one small murmur.

  Leaning over her, he kissed her temple. “I love ye, sweets. Sleep now. I’ll be right back.”

  Suz didn’t answer. She was already asleep.

  * * * *

  Liam’s first call was to the police, who agreed to send an officer out. Then he called Roane, a cousin who’d been with them in the military. He worked for a local security company and agreed to come by as soon as he could rearrange a few afternoon appointments.

  Instead of going back to the studio, Liam went in search of Hank Jeffries, his right hand and foreman of the home farm. The older man was overseeing several workers who were loading feed bags from the farm store delivery truck into the feed storage area of the barn.

  One glance at Liam’s expression, Hank frowned in concern and joined Liam just out of earshot of the others.

  “What’s up?” He asked, cocking his left hip to take the weight off his right. He needed a knee replacement but refused, saying it was the wrong time of year for him to be laid up for a couple of months. It had been the wrong time for the last year and a half.

  “Has anyone been messing with that new fertilizer the boys are puttin’ out?”

  Hank’s frown deepened. “The new guy was asking a lot of questions about the process, but I ain’t seen him go near that building. He just seemed curious. Why?”

  Liam filled him in on the vandalism. When he finished, Hank’s black expression worried him. For a man whose favorite saying translated “no worries” and came from a Disney movie, he looked like he wanted to kill someone.

  “How’s Miz Suz taking it?”

  “She’s upset. Penn’s with her, but I think seeing the studio trashed like that triggered something else in her. Something from her past.”

  Before Hank could respond, a police car pulled into the parking lot. One uniformed officer climbed out and headed in toward them.

  “Mr. McKenzie?”

  Liam nodded. He paused in the doorway before turning back to Hank. “I want to talk to the new guy. Today. Before he leaves.”

  Hank nodded silently.

  Liam briefed the officer on the series of telephone calls Suz received as they crossed the meadow to the studio. Since he’d left the door open earlier, the stench reached them long before they arrived at the doorway.

  The officer stopped when the smell grew too strong. “It smells like we’re going to need gas masks and a HazMat team. I can’t go in there like this.”

  Liam nodded as they headed back. “Any idea how long it will take to get what ye need?”

  “We have gas masks back at the station. I’ll get a couple then come back. I’ll call the CSI unit out and we’ll go in together. We don’t have a HazMat team locally. Tell you the truth, I’m not sure who you’d call to clean up something like this.”

  “Bring a couple extra masks. Me brother and I will be going in with ye.” Liam clenched his jaw to keep from demanding the officer get on with it right now. The man was just doing his job. He didn’t care that Suz needed the studio cleaned up and ready to use tomorrow, if not sooner.

  Chapter 7

  A distant memory crashed through the protective barriers Suz had erected against them years ago. The horror of the similarities between that time and this rose up to choke her. She woke with a gasp.

  “Suz, luv, it’s all right. Yer safe, baby.” Penn’s deep voice warned she wasn’t alone just before a gentle hand brushed hair from her face. A moment later, the couch by her hip dipped as he sat down next to her.

  “Penn?” She lay still, afraid to open her eyes.

  “Yes, luv. I’m here. We’re in my office.”

  “How is she?” Liam’s voice came from somewhere down around her feet.

  Opening her eyes, she met Penn’s worried expression before turning her gaze to Liam. “I’m fine. How’s my loom? He didn’t break it, did he?”

  She quickly pushed herself up, folding her legs to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. She closed her eyes as dark spots swam across her vision. Taking several deep breaths, she forced herself to stabilize.

  Liam didn’t answer as he came around the couch to sit beside her. Penn settled on her other side. They snuggled her between them as their hands
rubbed over her shoulders, arms, and legs, soothing her. Watching them a moment, she saw the contact gave them peace, as well. Was it really that bad?

  “He killed it, didn’t he? He broke it so bad it can’t be fixed. What are we going to do? What about the shawls? Did he ruin them, too?”

  “Shhh, lass. I don’t know if he damaged the loom. The police wouldna let me go inside ta see. They need some special equipment so they can go in and see what all’s been done.” Liam kissed her hair as he stroked her arm. Picking up her hand, he kissed the palm before licking it, a move that normally made Suz giggle. This time it barely elicited a smile. “Dunna worry, we’ll take care of it all.”

  “Do ye ken who’s behind this, luv?” Pen asked, as he nuzzled her neck.

  Suz closed her eyes and nodded, a single tear trailing down her cheek. “I think I might, but I don’t understand why.”

  “Who? Who would do such a thing?”

  “Luke.”

  “Yer ex-husband?”

  Suz nodded and buried her face in her knees. When she finally spoke, her words were muffled.

  “He did something similar to this before. The last day I was with him, he got mad because he’d found out I had opened a savings account and hadn’t told him about it. It was my escape fund. I knew if I told him I had saved five hundred dollars so that I could leave him, he would take it and blow it on something like a new television, or stereo system, or a fishing pole. After I left for work, he trashed the apartment, tore apart books, and smashed dishes. He piled my clothes in the middle of the living room then pissed and shit all over them. He turned the heat way up and left. I had it almost cleaned up when he came home, drunk and mean. That was the night he beat me so bad I miscarried the baby. As soon as I left the hospital, I moved and found a lawyer that helped me divorce him. I never saw him again. But thinking about the phone calls and now this, it just seems like something Luke would do.”

  “What do ye think he’s coming for?”

  “Money, probably. We always lived paycheck to paycheck, with nothing in savings. He always said that when Ruth died and I got the business, we’d be set for life. I guess he heard about Ruth dying.”

  She didn’t see the twin dark expressions glowering above her. Nor did she see the understanding as they put together all the puzzle pieces and finally understood why she had not come home to Dreamer’s Dell and claimed the loom before now.

  “Luv, ye’ve nothin’ to fear. We’ll find him. He willna hurt ye.” Penn murmured before brushing kisses over her hair. “For now, I think we need to head up to the house.”

  Suz nodded, but didn’t move.

  “Come here, lass.” Liam stood before her, picking her up from the couch. He kissed her temple then settled her against his broad chest. “We’ll head to the house and see if Jubilee has any more cookies.”

  “Save me some, Suz.” Penn begged as they left his office.

  * * * *

  An hour later, Liam followed the detective and CSI technician into the studio. Penn follow just behind. As soon as the four men entered the studio, the room seemed to shrink.

  “I can’t work like this,” the CSI tech said. He turned to the McKenzie brothers. “You need to leave so we can work.”

  Liam shook his head. “I need to look at the loom first. I’ll just be a minute.”

  “Don’t touch anything, if you can help it. And try not to step in anything liquid.”

  Liam nodded as he carefully crossed the room. He stopped at the bench and stared at the take-up bar where Suz’s hard work was carefully wound up and stored.

  This was where the smell originated from. Whoever had trashed the place had soaked the weaving in fertilizer and apparently smeared something solid along the warp threads, as well. They would not be able to salvage the shawls. Looking over the rest of the antique loom, he determined that nothing else had been touched. Just the weaving had been ruined.

  Clenching his fists, Liam turned and picked his way back across the room. He remained careful of where he placed his size 12 cowboy boots. Penn stood just outside on the stoop, watching closely as the two officers took pictures, made copious notes and sketches, and looked over the wreckage.

  “Ruined?”

  Liam nodded without a word.

  * * * *

  Penn wondered how the hell he would break the news that all the hard work Suz had put in these last couple of weeks, the sore muscles and stiff back, had all been for nothing. Looking at the house, he was surprised that she wasn’t pacing the back porch, waiting for news. His eyes swept the back of the house. She stood at the kitchen window, her arms crossed over stomach, her expression strangely blank. Thank God for Jubilee, who had dragged her into the house.

  * * * *

  Liam remained in the open doorway until the police finished their investigation. Once they’d documented every inch of the room then sketched, measured, and dusted likely surfaces for fingerprints, he walked them back to the parking lot near the barn.

  “Is it all right to start cleaning up now?”

  “As I said, I think you’ll need to call the EPA for their opinion, but we’ve got all we need.” The detective stripped off his mask and gloves, handing them to the technician. “Do you know of anyone who might be capable of doing something like this? Y’all have any enemies?”

  Liam shook his head, not sure whether or not to point the finger at Suz’s ex. “If we think of anyone, we’ll let you know.”

  The detective nodded. “Unfortunately, unless we find fingerprints or someone confesses, we’ll probably never know who did this.”

  After seeing the men off, Liam walked into the barn and kicked a hole into one of the empty pens they used to hold pregnant females. Then he dropped to his knees, bowed his head, and shook. He couldn’t return to the house just yet. He couldn’t let Suz see him this out of control.

  Bending forward, he pounded his fists on the concrete floor until the rage receded. Remembering a wedding photo Ruth had once shown him of Suz and the bastard, he visualized that the floor was the bastard who had destroyed all of Suz’s hard work.

  Once he was calm again, he pushed to his feet. Turning, he found Hank standing behind him, watching him with a wary expression. “You done?” the older man asked.

  Liam nodded with a deep calming breath.

  Hank returned the nod. “Let’s get those hands cleaned up before you head to the house. Miz Suz doesn’t need to deal with that, too.”

  Liam followed Hank into the animal treatment room at the back of the barn. His emotions were still shaky, but he felt better able to deal with whatever the next hours held.

  “The new guy, Aaron, left early. Said he had a doctor’s appointment. I’ll send him to you as soon as he arrives in the morning.”

  Hank pulled out the first-aid kit Liam kept stocked for humans while Liam washed his hands, gritting his teeth as the water ran over the cuts. It took only a few minutes to cleanse the wounds. Hank bandaged both hands after liberally spreading antibiotic cream over the cuts.

  “Until we have a security system installed, I want someone watchin’ the studio. Joe, Mark, or Bill.” Liam named the three men who had been with them the longest and who he knew could be trusted.

  “Already done.”

  * * * *

  Suz felt her heart shred as Penn shared the news that all of the weaving was ruined. She knew being creative couldn’t be as easy as just sitting at the loom and letting herself do it. Of course something, someone, would come between her and the life she’d realized was the right one.

  Closing her eyes, she again saw the vision of the vandalized studio. Then the scene morphed to the living room Luke had damaged a decade before. Instead of scaring her, the destruction of her work filled her with determination. Somehow, some way, she would weave a shawl for Mother Nature and deliver it on time and completed.

  As Jubilee and Penn reassured her that everything would work out, she opened her eyes and set her jaw. “How soon can we get the loom clea
ned up and moved?”

  Penn stared at her. “Moved? You want to move the loom?”

  “We can move it into the sunroom now that you’re not sleeping there.”

  “It’s been out in that studio for more than fifty years. I’m not even sure you can move it.” Jubilee broke in, wringing her hands. “What if moving it screws up the magic?”

  Suz ignored her and began to pace the kitchen from sink to refrigerator and back again. “I’ll need new yarns. Every color you can get, as soon as you can get them. The loom will need to be cleaned with bleach or something to cut the smell. Jubilee, we’ll need any weaver friends of Ruth’s who know anything about taking a loom apart and putting it back together again. The bench will need to be cleaned, as well. Oh, and I’ll need new shuttles and bobbins, too. And shelves in the sunroom for the new yarns. We need to get the loom stripped—tonight, if possible. The doors and windows need to be opened and the heat turned off. Someone will have to keep watch in the back yard so this bastard doesn’t come back and burn the building down. The design notebooks will need to be copied and rebound. Thankfully, Ruth’s instruction book wasn’t out there.”

  Penn grabbed a pad and pen and began making notes. He watched as she paced, amazed. He wished Liam had been here to witness it. In the last few minutes, right before his eyes, Suz had become the Dream Weaver.

  Chapter 8

  It took Penn, Liam, and several weavers, who had been trained by Ruth, a week to disassemble, thoroughly clean, then reassemble the loom. As they took the loom apart, each piece was numbered with a permanent marker where the number wouldn’t show, and the pieces were then added to the diagram and blueprints two artists were drawing.

  Once the loom was back in working order in the sunroom, Suz went to Raleigh with Jubilee and the women, who were now weaving teachers or professional weavers themselves, to buy the supplies she needed to get back to work. She also spent a day with the Dreamer’s Dell sales rep and ordered replacement yarns, including two hundred and fifty cones of cream thread to be used as warp threads.