Callie reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “You never know how the past six years have shaped a person.”
I cleared my plate. Six long years. Callie was right: I had no idea what had transpired for him along the way. Nor did he realize the extent of my personal trials.
Gage and Callie insisted on cleaning up the kitchen, and considering the way they flirted nonstop in the process, was I doing them a favor by hanging around, ducking in and out of their way? Nothing, it seemed, could tear those two apart. When it was time to leave, Jer and I had to nearly shout our good-byes to get their attention.
I dropped off munchkin at preschool, reminding him that Uncle Gage would pick him up after work, and then made the arduous drive to work. In the past twenty-four hours, my enthusiasm for the future had dimmed, and that annoyed me. Why were my emotions swayed by the attitudes of others? Even this morning I found myself hoping Letty’s mood would improve once she saw the pristine condition of my end of the project.
About a mile out from the studio, I noticed a figure walking beside the highway. I slowed my car when I recognized the woman’s long, gauzy wrap. Pulling up next to her, I rolled down my window. “Letty?”
She jerked backward and whipped a look my way. She crouched next to my car. “Why not run me over? Would do the job quicker than you driving so close and giving me a heart attack!”
I offered her an apologetic smile. “Just trying to save you from wild zebras. Get in, would you?”
She yanked open the door and plopped onto the passenger seat, and as she did the inside of my car began to smell like a floral garden. I waited for her to tell me why she had been walking along the side of a busy coastal highway.
She turned her chin. “You know how to drive this thing?”
“What are you doing here, Letty?”
She exhaled a dramatic sigh. “My car wouldn’t start. No biggie. I will have it looked at tomorrow.”
“Why didn’t you just call me for a ride?”
Her expression hardened for a moment, then she gave me a guilty smile. “It is a beautiful walk, but you are a sweet girl. Thank you for the offer.”
“Beautiful, but dangerous. Promise me you’ll never do something so risky again.”
She glanced at the sky. “Fine. I promise.” Then she gestured toward the road with a flick of her chin. “Now are we going to go to work, or are you waiting for Prince Charming to gallop by on his white steed?”
I drove the car off the gravel path and back onto the highway. Several minutes later, after pulling into the small parking lot near the studio, we hurried inside. I wished I’d brought my coat instead of this drafty sweater missing a button. Timo sat crouched over his work desk. He didn’t look up, but his neck turned the color of beets as I passed.
Letty reached our workstation first. “Well, Fred.” She turned to our boss who stood beside her. “Either Suz decided to burn a candle until late into the night or you truly do have elves working for you.”
I held back a laugh at her Santa Claus reference. He did know that he looked like the jolly old man, right?
If he did, Fred didn’t acknowledge the fact. “It would seem that our Suz became inspired by her trip to the castle yesterday.” He crossed his arms in front of his belly, grinning to himself. “As I had hoped.”
I acknowledged him with a smile while forcing away unwanted memories from my visit to Casa Grande yesterday. Focus on the art, Suz. Focus on all that creativity bound up in one beautiful house.
Letty continued to inspect the door, her fingertips trailing over the smooth and bare sections of decorative carvings. She nodded, her face a mixture of quiet appreciation and questions. She looked up. “Beautifully done.”
“Thank you.”
She turned to Fred, her voice subdued. “Are the paint samples back from the lab yet?”
He scratched his chin. “Not yet. I suppose you could use today to apply an isolation layer to the untouched areas.”
Letty bobbed her head. “We could, but they are few.” She caught my attention with her eyes. “Fred’s referring to a thin coat of varnish we will put over what is left of the door’s original surfaces.”
“Perhaps Suzi-Q would like to try her hand at the isolation layer. We could move you to other projects today, Letty.”
Her eyes narrowed, an expression I was beginning to become accustomed to. Didn’t she trust me? Did I trust myself? I glanced at Fred. “If you don’t mind, I would love for Letty to watch over me, you know, to make sure I’m doing it right.” I watched for his reaction. “Okay by you?”
Fred nodded once. “Certainly. In the meantime, I will check with the lab to make sure those color mixes are on schedule for delivery by tomorrow.”
As he stepped away, I plucked my apron from a nearby hook and pulled it over my head. By the time I’d tied my bow and smoothed my hair, Letty had already moved to the end of the table where we’d be working. For the first time in days, she looked content.
Why did it feel like I had just dodged one fast-moving bullet?
Chapter Fourteen
No matter how I tried to will it away, Letty’s breath pulsated on my neck. I twisted a look up at her. “All that heavy breathing will get you nowhere.”
Letty’s black eyes flashed. “Please. You need Leticia to help you. Isn’t that obvious?”
I laughed and jostled my elbows into the air. “Give me some space, will ya, Leticia?”
She spiked the air with her fingers. “You are timid as a mouse when it comes to stripping and preparing surfaces, but with a paintbrush in your hand, such a diva you are!”
I straightened. “A diva. I like that.”
She grimaced. “You would. Keep working, girl. I am going to go and drink some caffeine. I would offer some to you, but you don’t need it.”
A guffaw slipped out of me as she wandered away. Laughter of any kind felt good for the soul these days. As I bent over to inspect the new layer of applied finish, I made the decision to stop at the video store to pick up a romantic comedy. Scratch that. A plain, old comedy would do.
A sudden pungent odor surrounded me and I sneezed into the crook of my arm, careful not to let loose all over the door project. Had Letty just doused herself with perfume? A sharp tickle shinnied up my nose, causing me to draw back into an all-out fight against the approach of another sneeze. I was not up to the fight. I sucked in air in snatches—once, twice, three times—and sneezed so hard that the impact of my inner arm to the chin probably caused some bruising.
“God bless you.” Letty stood at my side with the most monstrous floral display I had ever seen outside of a funeral. “These are for you.”
“No way.”
“So now I am a liar?” She handed me a napkin from the pocket of her apron.
“Thanks.” I turned away and blew into it. Who would send me flowers?
“Somebody is in love with you. Either that or just terribly indecisive. Look at this thing. Rosemary, sage, lavender, eucalyptus, not to mention all the color: roses, plumeria, and stargazers too.”
I sniffed and searched for the card, plucking it from a plastic fork stuck somewhere in the middle. “Thank you for being a great mom to our son. I will be in Otter Bay next week to see you both. Affectionately, Len.” I glanced at Letty with itchy eyes. “My ex-husband.”
“Well, then . . . surprise?”
I groaned. “Just put them down anywhere, but make sure it’s far . . . far . . . achoo!” I blew my nose again into the wadded napkin in my hand. “Far from me.”
“Yes, madam.”
I sunk into my stool, fatigue with a tinge of worry rolling through me like gray clouds. “I’m not sure how to feel about this,” I said to Letty when she returned.
She set her cup of coffee down next to me. “Looks to me like the man is trying to pave a path over his sins.”
I pursed my lips, pressure building behind my eyes. “I should stop him from coming here right now, shouldn’t I? I’m not ready for thi
s . . . to see him again. Not after all the lies and the pain . . .”
“Maybe this is how he shows you that what he tells you is true. He says he is reformed, and so he sends you flowers as an offering to prove it to you.”
“You sound like you’re on his side.”
“Are we taking sides here?”
I shook my head. “Sorry. No.” I paused, thinking. “I don’t want to give Len the wrong impression, though. About me.”
“Tell me this. Is a jailbird so enticing that he would think you would fall in love with him again so easily?”
Her words tore at something inside me. Len, a jailbird. The idea still shocked me like a flash of a photographer’s camera on a starless night. At first, I had become obsessed with picturing his day-to-day living in a bare cell with concrete floors and an indiscreet toilet. Could he sleep at night? What did his meals smell like? Had he been brutalized in any way?
In the days of revelation after Len’s arrest, I still clung to the lie that despite his drug conviction, he had never strayed in our marriage. His desire and passion for me had always been so convincing, even till the end. I wanted to believe this one last thing about him—even though neighbor after neighbor told me otherwise.
I glanced at Letty. “I hope he knows that will never happen.” Something curdled in my stomach and I doubled forward.
Letty touched my back. “What’s wrong?”
I pressed my forearm to my belly, but the nausea continued to come. “I–I think I’m going to be—” I lurched forward toward the waste can, as did my breakfast. A groan escaped me.
Letty rubbed my back as I began to wretch, the onslaught of sickness too sudden for me to become embarrassed. “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name . . .” Through the fog engulfing my mind, I felt Letty’s touch and heard her prayer over me.
Again the rumbling took over, my body unable to wrest itself from its control.
“. . . give us this day, our daily bread . . .”
The skin of my forehead felt hot against my hand, and I wretched and coughed until fatigue replaced illness. I rolled from my knees onto my haunches, confused. Letty’s heels had clicked away then returned.
“Does your ex-husband always make a splash like that?”
My head hung forward, a headache gripping my temples. “What?”
“The flowers. I think they made you sick. My hunch tells me it was the eucalyptus mixed with sage and those sweet-smelling roses. Odd concoction.”
“Oh.” My eyes refused to open.
“If you trust me to drive your car, I can take you home.”
Anyone willing to pray over me as I vomited deserved my trust. I nodded with care, wanting to ask how she would get around after today but too tired to force out the words.
Shortly thereafter Letty craned her neck around the steering wheel to look through the windshield. “Is this your home?”
I peeked through two fingers at Gage’s cozy beach cottage. “It is.”
“You are a blessed girl.” She pulled my car into the drive. “Your home is beautiful.”
“Thanks, but it’s my brother’s place.” I unlocked my door, then stopped. “Wait. How will you get home? Why don’t you just take my car and pick me up in the morning?”
She brushed me off. “Oh, I couldn’t do that.”
“Why not?”
She thought a moment. “Because I have plans to walk to church. Today is a warm afternoon and I would enjoy taking advantage of that. You’re not planning to tell Fred that I played hooky, correct?”
“Correct.”
She assessed me with a glance. “Are you feeling better now? You do not look so hot.”
I opened up my car door, my laugh weak. “Thanks. I can always count on you for honesty.”
“I cannot deny it. You bring out my nurturing side.”
We walked together up the steps and Letty followed me inside. “I’m starting to feel much better, Letty. I have no idea what happened back there—”
“You want me to fill you in?”
“No, ha ha. That’s okay. Why don’t I just make us some tea?” I headed for the kitchen to wash up and set the kettle to boil.
“And toast for you,” Letty called out. “I promise you there is nothing left in your stomach.”
I leaned my head through the doorway. “You think I’m not aware?”
She crossed her arms in front of her multicolored vest. “The bigger question is, what are you going to do about a man who sent an arrangement that made you so ill? Wouldn’t your ex-husband know the type of flowers you could not tolerate?”
While waiting for the teakettle’s whistle, I leaned on the doorjamb and pondered Letty’s question. “I hadn’t thought of that, but then I usually bought the same kinds of flowers over and over again. My favorite flower color has always been yellow.”
“Really? Hmm.”
I cocked my head. “What?”
“Did not see a daisy in the bunch.”
I shrugged and turned back toward the stove. “Maybe he forgot. It doesn’t matter anyway.” My laughter sounded harsh. “It’s not like there could ever be anything romantic between us again.”
“And you are sure about this?”
The question hung in the room until I carried in cream, honey, and two mugs of tea on a tray and set it on the coffee table. “Positive.”
Letty reached for a mug and added cream. “Well, then. Good to know.” She settled into the couch and took a long sip. Her warm-toned skin glowed in the afternoon sun, highlighting her striking features. Letty had pushed her way into my life, linking arms with me at the art studio even before I learned where the staff kept the bathroom key. She had assessed me, but I still knew little about her.
I wrapped both hands around my mug. “You must be tired of hearing about me. Why don’t you tell me more about you?”
“We have been friends for nearly a month. What else do you need to know?”
“Well, okay. For starters, when and how did you get into the art-restoration business?”
Something akin to disappointment flickered in her eyes, and she gazed out the window in silence for several seconds. Did she think I was prying? She turned away from the window and held me with a steady gaze. “I have my degree, but truly, my husband taught me everything I know.”
“I didn’t know you were married.”
“I am a widow.”
Her words sucked away the little bit of energy the tea had brought back to my body. “Letty, I’m sorry. You’re so young . . . I had no idea.”
“Of course you didn’t because I never told you. I keep him with me every day, right here.” She touched a hand to her heart. “Then I don’t need to talk.”
“So he was an artist, then?”
“Yes. A painter. I could watch him work for hours—he had the most creative mind. He taught me patience and he taught me the right way to hold a brush and mix colors.” Her eyes seemed to bore into me. “He often displayed a free spirit who painted whatever came to mind, and yet, he came to understand that restoration was his forté.”
“He sounds like someone I would have liked to have known.”
She nodded, her face cracking with a glimmer of emotion. “Yes, I’m sure you would have been great friends.”
Quiet fell across the room as we sipped our tea in contemplation. I released a long, relaxed sigh. “I appreciate you bringing me home, Letty. Phew, I’ve no idea what made me so sick. Thank you so much.”
“Stress. Stress made you sick.” She seemed to have recovered from a trip to melancholy lane. “That and a mix of scents that God never intended.” She drained her cup. “You’re very welcome, of course, but it is time for me to go.”
“I’m feeling better. Let me drive you.”
“Stop trying to save the world, Suz. I am perfectly fine to walk to my church from here. It is only a short distance up the hill behind the town.” She checked the time on her phone. “If I leave now, I will arrive in time to say t
he rosary with the others. And if you will allow me to leave without pouting, I will include you in my prayers too.”
Her promise to pray brought unexpected comfort. Somehow I knew I was going to need them.
Chapter Fifteen
They say that nights are for lovers, but by the number of beachcombers gliding hand in hand this morning as the mist burned off the rocks, I’d say the poet got it wrong.
I wasn’t proud that my envy reared itself. Or was that even what I felt? If I had taken the witness stand and sworn an oath, I couldn’t say that what I wanted out of life right now was a man. I’d had two, and look how that turned out?
What I did long for, however, was the contentment that these lovebirds along my path displayed with abandon. The serenity in their expressions, the relaxed way they meandered along the boardwalk, all spoke to the way they had rolled out of bed with great expectations for the day.
Could I say the same thing?
The air had turned cold overnight, chilly enough that as I puffed my way north along the coast, I could see each breath leading the way. At the northernmost tip of the pathway, before the bike lane turned to highway, I coasted into a small park, hoping for a spot to think. The lookout at the far end provided an arc of unobstructed views of the bay and waters beyond. It was one of my favorite places to listen to the cry of gulls and to watch for otters floating on their backs among the rocks.
Too late. Two teenagers intertwined themselves at the center of the lookout rail, as if hoping to star in the show that visitors would come to see. I skidded to a stop, startling them both, then made a U-turn.
In the end, I had their public display of affection to thank because if their presence had not deterred me from reaching my contemplation point, I might not have yanked my bike down the stairs and onto the sandy beach. And I might not have encountered the most heaven-sent display of open sea anemones living just inches beneath clear sea water.
I swallowed the emotion that rose within me. Did you put those people in my path this morning, Lord, so I could find all this evidence of you?
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