Diamond Lake Series: Complete Series (Bks 1-7) Boxset

by T. K. Chapin

  “You should come by the diner tomorrow for a bite.” Miley’s eyes were on me, waiting for a response.

  Memories surfaced of crying in a booth across from my mother as I told her what had happened with Joe. She was the only one I could talk to since my best friend, Jessica, had moved away.

  “You’d like it,” Serenah added. “Did you eat at Dixie’s when you lived in town?”

  I nodded “I’ll have to stop in.”

  Serenah’s eyes caught on someone or something behind me and I turned to see. It was Emma Montgomery—the woman who taught me art in High School my freshman year.

  “Are you the official picture taker, Katie?” Emma asked as she approached.

  “You remember me?” My eyes were wide with astonishment. I knew why I remembered her. She had been the only teacher I had come across in all my schooling that cared about how my life turned out. After having a rough start my freshman year in high school, my grades had been slipping and Emma was the one who took the time to notice. She pulled me aside after class one day and spoke to me about the importance of trying. My parents were involved and cared, but I was rebellious and thought they were idiots at the time.

  “How could I forget such a girl? You painted the most beautiful picture of a sunset I had ever seen in all my years of teaching and you always took advice, even when you didn’t want it.”

  Charlie overheard and stepped into the conversation. “You only taught art for a year, Grams.”

  Emma playfully brushed a hand at Charlie. “I taught privately too.”

  Flushed, I said, “I’m honored to have stood out in your mind. Yes, I’m the picture taking gal.”

  Pointing out to the water, Emma said, “There’s going to be a full moon tonight. If you come down at night, you’ll see it’s reflection off the water. I bet a picture like that would be downright marvelous.”

  Turning, I glanced over at the lake and nodded. “Noted. I’ll be sure to come down.” Just then, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Serenah.

  “Could you come with me? Let’s get a group picture. Just me and the girls really quickly.”

  Smiling at Emma, I said, “Good seeing you again.”

  Weaving through the growing crowd, I saw Joe standing with Charlie over near the stairs that led up to the balcony. He must have felt my eyes on him, as he glanced over and flashed me a smile. Grinning, I kept the pace with Serenah. She took me over to some shrubs. As we stopped, Charlotte, Miley and two other girls I didn’t know came over. Scanning the shrubs, I saw that they weren’t going to make for a very good background. Looking around, I saw the shed nearby. Noticing the light from the Tiki torches playing off the shed, I knew it could be a beautiful shot if I made a few adjustments to my camera. “The shed would be a better backdrop for the picture. Mind moving over there?”

  They all agreed and quickly made their way across the grass as I snapped practice shots to see what kind of adjustments would make for the perfect shot. As they got into position in front of the shed, I walked over to them, grabbing my light diffuser out of my satchel and attaching it to the camera. As I got ready, Serenah piped up. “The rehearsal is in ten minutes.”

  Making eye contact with her, I nodded. “Got it. I’ll need a few practice shots to adjust the camera, but the whole thing should be wrapped up in no more than five.”

  After the rehearsal, Serenah took me over to meet Jody and Wayne, part of Charlie’s side of the family.

  “Are you coming to the barbecue tonight?” Jody asked, her eyebrows up with anticipation.

  “I don’t know,” I replied, shaking my head. “Big day tomorrow.”

  Serenah laughed. “You have a big day, huh? I’m going, so I think if the bride can go, you can too. Of course, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to, but . . .” Her eyes drifted over my shoulder.

  Turning, I looked and saw her looking at Joe. I blushed. “It’s not like that with him.”

  “It could be though.”

  A man and woman tapped Serenah’s shoulder and pulled her away from me. Glancing back where Joe was, I saw he was engaged in a conversation with someone so I decided to take a breather from the crowd.

  Heading up the stairs to the main balcony, I slipped away undetected. Pulling my phone out as I came to the top, I felt a knot of anxiety form in my chest as I hadn’t received a single call back from any of the photographers. Everyone’s so busy during the summer. Ugh. Passing by lanterns on small tables, I found my way inside through the open doorways leading into the dining area. On a table sat three lit candles, a pitcher of ice cold lemonade, and glasses. Pouring myself a glass, I felt a warm summer breeze blow in, causing a few of my loose strands of hair to fall into my eyes. I pushed them behind my ear as I turned, and a hand-painted picture across the room caught the light of the candles, drawing my eye. Intrigued, I took my glass of lemonade over to inspect the painting closer. An oil-based painting of a great majestic tree on a solid white canvas. The intricate details of the bark, the careful strokes of the branches, and even the leaves were impressive. Looking for an artist’s signature, I found nothing.

  “You like it?” a man’s voice said from the doorway leading outside.

  Looking over my shoulder, I saw Joe. A much more cleaned up version of the guy I saw earlier that day. Laying eyes on him sent waves of warmth crashing over me as butterflies took flight, creating a tickle-like sensation all over my body. “I do like it.”

  “A guy by the name of Nathan painted this picture.” Joe’s voice was comforting and made me feel at ease. He turned to me, and our eyes connected in the flickering light of the candles from the table. His eyes pierced through me and into my soul. I almost looked away. It felt as if he were trying to read my mind. He maintained eye contact as he drew closer to me, but then he walked over to the pitcher of lemonade and poured himself a glass. As the lemonade fell into the glass and mingled with the ice that tumbled in after it, he continued. “It’s a Mustard tree. Could you tell that?” His eyes trained on me again.

  I shook my head. Breaking eye contact, I looked at the painting. My heart was beating to the rhythm of the flickering candles nearby, and each moment with Joe increased my desire for him. I didn’t know how to stop it.

  He continued as he drew closer to me and the painting. “Nathan painted this masterpiece after a struggle he had in his marriage. It is a representation of his faith and relationship with God. He said his faith was like that of a mustard seed before his wife and he took a trip out here to the inn. Then everything changed. Through the painful experience of reconciling his relationship, not only with his wife, but with God, his faith grew.”

  “That’s beautiful.” Taking a sip from my glass, the coolness of the lemonade as it slid over my tongue and down my throat brought the internal heat down, but then he took another step closer, right up beside me.

  He pointed to the painting as he gently brought me in with a hand on the small of my back. Electricity swept from the base of his touch and up my spine, sending tingles throughout my body. He kept talking. “The process of growth in all aspects of life is painful.” He pointed to the bark. “If you look closely, there are speckles of crimson woven into the bark to represent the pain that was required for the growth.”

  Intrigued, I came closer to him and the painting. A whiff of his cologne wrapped itself around my nose. That familiar musky scent of what I imagined a rugged cowboy would smell like gripped not only my nostrils, but my sense of nostalgia. Just pull me in and kiss me already, I thought to myself. Why are my feelings still here after so much time and a horrific heartbreak?

  He didn’t give in to my longing. Instead, he kept me a prisoner in my own thoughts, wondering if he felt the same.

  Joe went on to point to the leaves on the tree and then to the ones that had fallen. The dropped leaves were almost without color, only a dull gray, and they rested near the trunk surrounding the tree. They were not like the beautiful greens, yellows and reds that remained in the tree and were f
ull of life. His smooth voice spoke again. “The dead leaves were the parts of Nathan’s life that were once there, but no longer are. This could be anything for anyone. Relationships, bad habits, and so on. I don’t know the details to their situation, but there were parts he and Elizabeth had to let go of to make room for God to work.” He paused and glanced over at me.

  My eyes shifted over to his.

  I could see that same boy I fell in love with all those years ago. Do you still feel it too? I wondered. My eyes were practically begging him to bid me a relief from this torture and kiss me.

  To my surprise, he turned back to the painting and continued talking. “Nathan had several requests to buy the painting, but he refused to sell it at the gallery he had placed it in. He said it wasn’t about the money. He had no desire to sell it. He wanted the painting to go where he felt it belonged—the inn.”

  “Okay.” I looked at him. “Knock off all this deepness you have going on right now. You’re kind of freaking me out, Joe.”

  He let out a laugh. “I know. I know. It’s not like me.” He got serious again and said, “But you know, this painting just moves me.”

  Letting out a laugh, I leaned toward him. “What? It moves you?” Playfully, I slapped his shoulder and we both laughed as we collided with each other.

  Dylan and Charlotte came into the dining area and stopped. We leaped apart. Glancing at both of us, Dylan asked, “You two hitting it off?”

  Charlotte smacked him in the shoulder playfully. “Don’t get in their business!”

  I smiled at Charlotte. Stepping regretfully away from Joe, I shook my head. “We were just talking about this painting.”

  Dylan’s eyebrows went up and he nodded.

  “We need to get out there before it gets too late,” Charlotte said as she tugged on Dylan’s sleeve. “You’re going, aren’t you?” Her eyes focused on me.

  “No. I don’t think I can.” My eyes fell on Serenah as the words left my lips. She was walking inside.

  Serenah smiled. “C’mon. We’re all going. Come have some fun as a guest, not the hired help.”

  With all eyes on me, I agreed. It couldn’t hurt to hang out. Or could it?

  Chapter 5

  Following behind Dylan and Charlotte in my car, I tried another photographer to see if they could help with the wedding tomorrow—Jax. He was the last person left in my repertoire of photographers. When he picked up, unlike the other half-dozen I had called previously, my heart danced a jig and my face lit up.

  “Hey, Jax!”

  “Katie . . .” he said in a suspicious, but smooth tone. “What can I do for you? It’s kind of late to be calling, unless you need a date.” He laughed. That was Jax, biggest flirt I knew.

  “Ha. Not a date. Business. And it’s ten to ten. It’s not that late. Ten o’clock is the cutoff.”

  He laughed. “Nine is the cutoff for work. At least for me.”

  “Oh.”

  A moment passed before he said, “What is it you need? I assume you didn’t call to chat about proper times to call people.”

  “I need your help with shooting a wedding tomorrow.” No words, just a sigh came from his end of the phone. “I know it’s super last-minute, but Chelsea bailed on me. Please . . .” My tone was desperate, but Jax was always there for me and I knew he would come through.

  “You gotta let that girl go. I already helped you with the Lavonne event last month.”

  “I know. Chelsea’s gone now. I’ll be eternally indebted to you, Jax.” I laughed nervously. “Please?”

  “Let me see if my girl can cover my shoot tomorrow in Seattle, and I’ll call you back.”

  “Thank you!” Hanging up with Jax, I arrived moments later to the barbecue. Cars lined the parking lot and folding tables were set up with tons of food over in the grass near the water’s edge. A small campfire was already going. Dylan parked alongside Joe’s car and I parked beside them.

  Getting out of my car, I walked with Dylan and Charlotte over to the tables. As we approached, Jody came over. “Would you be a dear and lend me a hand?”

  “Of course. What do you need?”

  Jody turned and pointed out Wayne, who was just beyond the shelter at a barbecue. “Take the metal pan from the table over there and load up burgers and dogs into it for Wayne. Be sure to hold the wooden sides of the pan so you don’t burn yourself!”

  “Got it.”

  As I headed over to grab the pan, I heard Jody asking Dylan and Charlotte to grab buns from the back of her car. She reminded me of my aunt Mindy, who was a brilliant organizer when it came to events.

  “Just in time,” Wayne said with a wide smile as I came to the grill. Opening up the lid, he began loading the dogs and burgers into the pan. “Don’t you love this place?” he asked as his eyes gravitated to the water only twenty or so feet from where we were standing.

  I nodded. “It’s been a while since I’ve been here.”

  His eyes shifted over his shoulder toward the tables, where Jody was finishing the final touches. “It’s been a while for us too. This part of the country is enjoyable. Especially Diamond Lake. Nothing like it where I grew up in Ohio. The mountains, the lake, rivers. Just a different world out here.”

  “Oh, wow. I bet it’s way different. I haven’t gone farther than Wyoming, personally.”

  Wayne nodded and grabbed tin foil from beside the barbecue. He began placing it over the pan as I held from the sides.

  A woman I didn’t recognize came over to us. “Wayne.”

  “Hey, Lori,” he said with another wide smile. “Did you bring the kiddos?” He asked, looking past her.

  Nodding, she glanced over her shoulder toward the picnic tables beyond the table with food. “I did. All on their phones.”

  “We have a strict ‘no-phone zone’ tonight. So they’d better get them put away. We have everything we need for s’mores, board games and other non-screen activities.”

  “You’ll have to help me pry them out of their hands.”

  Wayne laughed as he covered the final corner of the pan with tin foil. Turning, I headed over to the food table and placed them near the front of the line.

  “Hey,” Joe said, approaching and placing his hand on the back of my arm. “Do you remember that walking path we went on up here? I went and checked and it’s still in pretty good shape. A few broken bottles at the old fire site, but other than that, still intact.”

  “I do. That’s awesome it’s still usable.” Surveying the table, I saw Jody at the other end placing a tub of macaroni salad down. Joe accompanied me down the table toward her.

  Speeding his steps up so he was in front of me, he walked backward. “Want to ditch out for a few and go for a walk?”

  My heart warmed at the offer. “Yeah. That sounds great.”

  Before we could duck out and leave, Jody called out to me. “Hey, Katie, could you come here?”

  My heart twisted at her words. Reluctantly, I smiled down to the end of the table at her and nodded.

  Joe shrugged and said, “Maybe another time?”

  “Yeah . . .”

  Joe’s eyes caught Charlie and Serenah arriving in the parking lot, and he went over to meet them as I walked over to Jody to continue helping.

  The wedding rehearsal dinner barbecue at Kelly Cove was underway within the hour. Charlie got up on a picnic table and whistled to grab the attention of everyone in attendance.

  “Tomorrow, I marry the love of my life, Serenah. Tonight is about kicking things off.” Everyone let out a cheer, and then he continued. “The rehearsal went well outside of that one blunder.” Charlie pointed at one of his groomsmen. “I’m looking at you, Scott. Don’t sneak booze in tomorrow and trip again.”

  “Well if you didn’t ban booze at the rehearsal, I wouldn’t have had to show up tanked.” Scott shook his hand. “I’m just kidding. It won’t happen again. I’ll go light on the champagne tomorrow.”

  Charlie continued talking. “God gave me you, Serenah.” His
eyes trained on her. “I know it’s been a long road for you, but I’m glad it led to us finding one another.” He looked over the crowd. “Let’s bow our heads to bless the food and get to eating.”

  After the prayer, the lines formed quickly around the food table. Grabbing a plate, I saw a guy about my age I didn’t know. Miley was behind me, so I leaned back and turned my head so he couldn’t hear me.

  “Who’s that?” I asked into her ear gently.

  “Kyle, Gordon’s kid.” Gordon was a building contractor in Spokane and surrounding areas. “He’s kind of cute, huh? I don’t know much about him.”

  Smiling, I nodded and directed my attention to the food. Grabbing a bun for a hot dog, I glanced up. Our eyes connected. He is cute. Who knows where Joe and I stand? I’m still single. As I worked my way down the table, I grabbed little bits of everything to make sure not to offend any of the cooks. Arriving at the desert end of the table, it looked to have been ransacked by the children. Reaching for the brownie, Kyle’s and my hands touched.

  We both laughed and pulled our hands away.

  “Go ahead,” he offered.

  Shaking my head, I said, “No. Go ahead.”

  “I’m not taking it. So, you’d better get it before someone else does.” He smiled and looked at me.

  Turning, I walked away from the table and made my way over to a picnic table. Sitting down, I placed my fork and napkin under the edge of the plate and headed over to the second smaller table that had water and lemonade. I grabbed a bottle of water.

  When I arrived back over to the picnic table, I noticed the brownie was now on my plate. Smiling, I glanced around. He startled me. “Enjoy. It’s now on your plate.”

  He walked away and continued over to a different picnic table.

  Laughing, I shook my head and sat down. Miley came over and sat. “What was that about?”

  I explained what had happened, and Miley smiled.

  “That’s so cute. He’s totally into you.” Miley grinned, looking past me.

  Joe and Charlie came over and sat down at the table. Joe sat straight across from me. Soon, Serenah and Charlotte joined our table too. After we ate, and as everybody continued to chat, I suddenly felt something brush up against the side of my foot. Glancing over, I saw Joe smiling at me. As his sock slid against my skin, we both let out a laugh as I recalled the dinner we had with both our parents at his house. He played footsies with me that night and I told him afterward how creepy it was. Maybe he is interested, I thought to myself as I pretended to still be engaged in the conversation at the table.