Standing on the sidewalk, she battled the urge to cross the street and find out what he was doing. She glanced again at the clouds. The rain wouldn’t hold off much longer. She needed to get Kasey home before they were caught in a downpour.
“Hello, Nicki.” The sound of a familiar voice snapped Nicki’s attention away from Clay. She realized she was blocking the door to the store and stepped aside to allow Mayor Gloria Dawson to go in.
Gloria, a woman in her sixties, was well known for her toughness and her gritty determination to see the people of High Plains recover from their disaster. Smiling, the mayor leaned down to speak to Kasey. “How are you, young lady? My goodness, you’ve grown in the past few months.”
Nicki smiled with maternal pride. “She’s not a picky eater. How are you?”
“I’m tired. I can’t believe the red tape we’re still coming up against after all these months.”
Nicki nodded toward the park. “I see the city council has decided to replace the gazebo after all. I think that’s wonderful.”
“Actually, we don’t have funds to cover that project, but Mr. Logan has applied for and was granted a permit to build it himself.”
“Clay is doing that?” Nicki looked across the street in astonishment.
“With his own money. It never ceases to amaze me how people who haven’t lived in High Plains in years have come back to help us recover. I’m proud to call this town home and proud to call the people who live here my friends. Such generosity really reveals the heart and soul of this community, don’t it?”
Not only the community, Nicki thought. Such a gesture spoke volumes about the heart and soul of the man working across the street.
She’d accused Clay of making his return all about him. Had he taken her words to heart? If so, why rebuild the gazebo? Was it because of their kiss?
Nicki was tempted to cross the street and ask. But what if he was simply trying to restore some of the town’s beauty and history and his gesture had nothing to do with that long ago tryst? If that was the case, she’d feel like a fool for bringing up the subject.
The first fat drops of rain began to fall making her decision for her. After saying goodbye to the mayor, Nicki hurried homeward, but found she couldn’t stop thinking about Clay.
Not long ago, Nicki had dismissed her feelings for him as a lingering high school crush. That was still true. However, this new attraction she felt toward him was anything but girlish.
Chapter Nine
After dropping Kasey off with Josie at the church annex on Saturday afternoon, Nicki walked across the lawn to the Old Town Hall with mixed feelings. The day was overcast and chilly with persistent sprinkles of rain to make it feel even colder. The wind blew in fits and starts that sent damp brown and yellow fallen leaves scooting down the path ahead of her.
The dreary day matched her mood. She was worried about running into Clay again.
She wasn’t sure how she’d face him or what she would say to him. Their last conversation hadn’t been exactly kind on her part. It was bound to be awkward when they met again.
The sounds of hammering and the buzz of the table saw filled her ears as she stepped inside the building. The chill from outside lingered in the unheated space. She’d be glad when the electrician got the wiring and heating ducts installed.
Across the way, she saw her mother with Allen and several local men. They were all engaged in an animated conversation. Judging from the scowl on her mother’s face, something wasn’t going according to plan.
Nicki quickly scanned the room and groups of workers looking for Clay. To her relief, she didn’t see him.
At least, she tried to tell herself she was relieved. Only, somehow, it felt more like disappointment.
“Hi, Nicki.”
She jumped at sound of his voice behind her. Spinning around, she braced herself for his next comment, but he didn’t say anything else. He just smiled as he walked by carrying a large tool box.
He didn’t appear to be upset with her.
Why wasn’t he? She’d all but accused him of being self-absorbed and shallow. Maybe he didn’t care what she thought of him.
Even if he didn’t, she still owed him an apology. She had no right to judge him.
Crossing the room, she saw Pastor Michael and his teenaged niece, Avery. Allen and Nicki’s mother left the group they’d been talking to and came to meet them.
Allen said, “You’ve got your choice of projects, folks. The plan today is to finish siding the east and south sides of the building, lay the tiles on the kitchen floor and begin work on the stage at the end of this assembly room.”
“Is that where we’ll be using the boards salvaged from the original structure?” Michael asked.
Allen nodded. “Yes. We’re going to use them to edge the front and sides of the stage so they’re in plain sight. One of the men has gone to pick the wood up from where it’s been stored at Garrison’s lumberyard. He should be back any minute.”
Michael dusted his hands together. “I’ll help with building the stage. The boards we were able to save were milled by the first Garrison to settle in High Plains. I think it only fitting his descendent help put them to use once again.”
Allen clapped Michael on the shoulder. “I agree wholeheartedly. Nicki, do you want to work on building the stage or helping to installing the floor in the kitchen area?”
Nicki glanced to where Clay was carrying boxes of tile squares and a tool chest into the adjacent room.
“Or you can help me over in the church basement get sandwiches ready to feed everyone,” Glenis suggested after following Nicki’s gaze.
“I’ll help you do that,” Avery interjected quickly.
Glenis smiled at the girl, but Nicki knew it wasn’t what her mother had been angling for.
“I guess I’ll work on the kitchen floor. I’m too much of a wimp to work outside today,” Nicki said brightly. In spite of her misgivings, she was dying to know what Clay had been doing since they parted ways at the ranch.
Clay reappeared empty handed and headed for the outside door. As he crossed the room, Michael motioned for him to join their group. Clay altered his path and stopped beside Nicki.
Michael said, “I’d like for us to pause before we begin our labors and ask the Lord’s blessing on our work here today. Would everyone please join hands.”
Already acutely aware of Clay’s nearness, Nicki couldn’t suppress the flash of delight that flooded her senses when his hand closed over hers with gentle strength. She chanced a peek at him, but his eyes were closed, his head bowed. She did the same.
“Heavenly Father,” Michael began, “Your power and wisdom has carried us through our many trials, both as individuals and as a community. We humbly ask Your blessings as we continue the task of restoring this building. May it stand, not only as a reminder of our past, but as a symbol of our future, and of our abiding faith in Your goodness and mercy. Amen.”
A chorus of “Amen,” echoed around the circle. Clay’s fingers slowly released hers. She didn’t dare meet his gaze for fear her blush would give away her growing feelings for him.
Reckless, foolish feelings of attraction that had no connection to the real world. Clay was here today, but he could easily be gone tomorrow. If only she could trust him to stay.
As the group all went to start their assigned tasks, and Clay went back outside, Nicki’s mother pursed her lips in annoyance. “Are you sure you don’t want to help make lunches?”
Nicki forced a smile. “It doesn’t take three people. You and Avery can manage.”
Glenis sighed as a resigned look settled over her features. Reaching out, she cupped Nicki’s cheek. “Yes, Avery and I can manage lunches. I’m more worried about how you are coping.”
Nicki covered her mother’s hand with her own. She knew her mother was referring to her feelings for Clay. “I don’t have any illusions, Mom. My eyes are open.”
“And so is your heart. I wish I could guard it for you.�
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“I’ll be fine.”
“All right, dear.” Turning away, Glenis started to leave. At the door, she stepped aside as Clay came in carrying several boxes. He nodded in her direction, but Glenis didn’t acknowledge him.
Nicki answered several queries from other women in the group about Kasey and then strode across the room. A sheet of plastic had been hung over the doorway between the main room and the kitchen area to keep the kitchen free of sawdust. As Nicki ducked under it, Clay looked up from where he crouched at the end of the room with a measuring tape.
“Would you mind writing this down? There’s a notepad and pencil on the counter,” he said with a jerk of his head in that direction.
“Sure.”
He tilted his head to read the numbers on the tape. “Width seven feet, nine and one-quarter inches.”
She added the numbers to the rough diagram of the room he’d drawn on the notebook.
He pressed the button and the metal ribbon hissed as it swooshed back into the case.
Pulling out a length again, he handed her one end and began backing across the room.
“I’m sorry, Clay,” she said, quickly before she lost her nerve.
He stopped and looked at her intently. “Nicki, you never have to apologize for telling me how you feel.”
“I could have been kinder in my choice of words.”
“You meant well. At least, I think you did.” A little smile played at the corner of his mouth coaxing a grin from her in return.
“Of course I meant well,” she retorted.
His eyes narrowed to slits. “Promise you’ll be nicer in the future?”
Her grin widened. “I rescued you from the triplets, didn’t I? How much nicer do I need to be?”
He walked toward her allowing the measuring tape to retract. “That doesn’t count. You only did that because you were afraid I’d drop one of them or mix them up.”
“True. Okay, I promise to be nicer to you.”
He pulled out a section of the measuring tape again. “Good. Hold your end against the far wall while I see how long this room is.” He began backing up again.
Nicki did as he asked. When he pulled the tape taut, he took his reading. “Fifteen feet, four inches.”
After writing it down, she said, “I heard you’ve started rebuilding the gazebo.”
“Yup.”
“By yourself?”
“Tommy is helping me.”
The urge to ask Clay why he’d chosen the gazebo was almost overpowering, but she wrestled it down. Looking at the boxes on the counter, she said, “Maybe you should have brought Tommy with you tonight. I’ve never done this before. Where do we start?”
“I’ve never done it, either. I say we start in one corner and work our way down the room.”
Nicki opened the first box of royal-blue-and-white vinyl tiles that closely matched the pattern from the original hall. She pulled out a sheet of paper. “Here are some directions.”
Clay walked over and yanked the paper away before she could read it. “It’s peel and stick. How hard can it be? One of your preschoolers could do it without reading the directions.”
Snatching the sheet back from him, Nicki uncrumpled it and turned away so he couldn’t grab it again. “We don’t have a preschooler with us—unless I count you—so I’m reading the directions. I want to do this right.”
“I thought you were going to be nice to me.”
“And I thought you said I could speak my mind.”
He huffed. “All right, but I bet it says peel off backing—stick to floor.”
“It says sweep the area thoroughly and mark the room into four equal quadrants.” She met his stare and said tartly, “It says to begin laying our tiles from the center of the room outward.”
He stepped closer to peer over her shoulder. “It does?”
She pressed the paper flat against her chest enjoying their little verbal sparing. It felt like old times. “Do you have one of those line thingamajigs?”
Crossing his arms, he said, “There’s not a single thingamajig in my toolbox.”
“Maybe Allen has one. While you go ask, I’ll thoroughly sweep this floor since most men don’t know how to accomplish that.”
“Remind me again how you were going to be nice to me.”
“Are you feeling picked on?”
He wagged a finger at her. “I’m not above telling your mother how mean you’re being.”
Hugging herself, she mock shivered. “Ooh, I’m so scared.”
“You should be,” he shot back, but his grin belied any threat.
As he left to find Allen, Nicki chuckled. Clay had always been able to make her laugh.
Thank You, Lord, for letting us renew our friendship.
A nagging thought suggested her feelings for Clay were becoming stronger than mere friendship, but she chose to ignore it.
Locating a broom, she swept the floor quickly and finished just as Clay came back into the room with a chalk line reel. Working together, they soon had the floor marked into quadrants.
“So how do you want to do this?” Clay asked.
She studied the layout. “I think if each one of us works in our own area it will go faster.”
He looked skeptical. “Maybe, but I think it will work better if you peel and I stick.”
“Okay.” She wasn’t convinced, but she dropped to her knees and pulled a carton of tiles to her side. Clay knelt beside her. Lifting the backing from the first tile, she handed it to him. He placed it along the chalk line and pressed it into place.
He held out his hand. “Next.”
Nicki rolled her eyes, but obediently handed him the next tile. After they had the first row in place, Clay’s speed began to slow. It took him longer to get each tile positioned exactly how he wanted it.
Chafing at his turtle’s pace, Nicki sat back on her heels, peeled a dozen pieces and lined them up around her being careful to keep the sticky edges from touching. Concentrating on his task, Clay unexpectedly leaned to one side and his palm landed in the middle of a waiting tile.
The look on his face was priceless. Her laugh sputtered out in spite of her attempt to suppress it.
Lifting his hand with the white square stuck to it, he held it toward Nicki. “Very funny. What do you think you’re doing?”
She pressed her fingers together beneath her chin and shrugged her shoulders in apology. “You’re going so slow. I just thought I’d get a few ready in advance to speed things up.”
“I’m going slowly in order to do it right.”
As Nicki pulled the tile loose, it left a coating of sticky residue on his hand. “Sorry.”
He wrinkled his face in disgust. Nicki couldn’t help it—she burst out laughing again.
Extending his hand with a growl like a horror movie monster, he reached for her. Squealing, she jerked back. The tile in her hands slipped loose and landed facedown on two others.
She pursed her lips. “Oops. That’s not good.”
“Nice going, butterfingers.”
Her jaw dropped open. “It was your fault.”
“Right. Blame it on me. Everybody blames Clay.” He was trying to sound annoyed, but she heard the humor lurking in his voice.
Rising, he said, “Try and get those apart while I find something to clean this goop off my hand.”
Working to pry the pieces apart, Nicki pulled and tugged without success. In the meantime, Clay had located a rag in his tool box by the doorway. Wiping at his palm, he turned and walked toward her. “Put some muscle into it.”
“I’m trying.” Nicki gritted her teeth and pulled harder. The sheets came apart so abruptly that one flew from her hand and skidded across the floor just as Clay took a step. His boot landed in the middle of it.
He looked down. Nicki could see the muscle working in his jaw, but he didn’t say a word.
Biting her lip to keep from falling into a fit of giggles, Nicki focused her full attention on setting the remaini
ng tile in her hands into the correct spot on the floor. After she pressed it into place, she chanced a look at Clay.
He met her gaze, one eyebrow raised in distain. “You did that on purpose.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t.”
“I think you did.” He advanced toward her with purposeful strides, the tile still adhered to his boot.
She knew that glint in his eyes. Nicki rose to her feet and took a step backward. “Honest, Clay, it was an accident.”
Leaning down, he picked up a blue tile, then positioned it in his hand, glue side up, and advanced on her with it held like a whipped cream pie ready for launching.
With the wall at her back, Nicki was trapped away from the door and safety. She sidled away from him grinning from ear to ear. “You wouldn’t dare.”
A wide, ornery smile creased his face. “Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. I’m thinking this stuff will be like bubble gum in your hair. Don’t you have to use peanut butter to get that out?”
The Clay she remembered just might do it. She scooted in the other direction, then made a quick break for the doorway. She wasn’t fast enough. He slapped the tile into the middle of her back as she ran past.
She skidded to a halt. “Ah! I don’t believe you just did that. This is my favorite work shirt.”
She tried reaching over her shoulder to pull it loose, twisting one way and then the other to no avail.
Laughing, Clay reached for her. “Here, let me help.”
“No, thank you.” She spun away from him.
“Seriously, Nicki, let me give you a hand.”
Grasping her shoulders, he turned her around abruptly. Nicki’s foot landed on the corner of the tile still stuck to his boot. She jerked back, but her shoe came off instead of loose. She hopped backward on one foot, lost her balance and sat with a thud—right on the tiles she had unpeeled.
She looked around her in disbelief. Clay roared with laughter and couldn’t seem to stop as he doubled over with mirth.
Nicki tried to scold him, but found herself chuckling instead. Soon, they were both laughing like fools.
A Family for Thanksgiving (Love Inspired) Page 11