She was marveling over the collection she’d just unearthed when a single knock turned her attention to the study doorway.
“Morning.” Her greeting was cheerful when she found Kale standing just inside the room. “Hope you’re in the mood for breakfast, because Estelle outdid herself today.”
On top of everything else on the spread were the homemade bagels. Davia didn’t think she’d ever met anyone who made bagels from scratch. The creations were light, flavorful and irresistible. Davia hadn’t even realized she’d forgotten to add cream cheese until she was halfway done.
“Estelle’s making me a fresh pot of coffee to go along with my breakfast, so...” Kale eased his hands into the pockets of the olive-green carpenters’ pants he wore. “She told me you were in here,” he said.
“You’ll never guess what I found.” Davia waved him over. “Take a look at all these blueprints I came across. They’ve got to be for the original theater.”
Kale approached as Davia had urged, but he clearly had no real interest just then in the blueprints. He fingered a couple of the midnight-blue sheets displaying the white print outlining the construction and then nudged them aside.
“I make you think about her, don’t I? About Tella?” His gaze was still fixed on the prints.
Davia’s excitement over her unexpected discovery waned.
“What I can’t figure,” Kale was saying as he eased a hip down on the worktable set at the far end of the room, “is whether you’re thinking of how you misunderstood my intentions or the consequences my actions brought about. I know one of them is why you’re afraid.”
Davia turned to him suddenly, looking as though she were about to dispute his words.
“You are, aren’t you?” he probed. “You’re afraid.” There was no criticism in his words, only knowing. “Afraid to give this a chance,” he finished.
Davia’s laughter was sharp, nervous. “Are you hearing yourself? We live on opposite sides of the country, remember?”
“And I don’t give a damn about that.” Kale almost growled the words. He closed his eyes, appearing as though he wished to summon calm. “If I have my way, Davia, it won’t be that way forever,” he said when he opened them.
His deep, coaxing stare drifted down her body as he spoke and caused Davia to swallow hard before she averted her face from his. There was a knock echoing in the room then, breaking the tense moment.
“Hey, guys, sorry for interrupting,” Estelle was saying.
“No problem, Estelle. What’s up?”
Kale made the save while Davia took a few moments to collect herself before she turned to her hostess. Estelle had arrived with a petite brunette who wore her short hair in a straight pageboy cut that framed her round, pretty face.
“This is Sheila Barns. She’s Mitchell Barns’s wife,” Estelle said by way of introduction.
“I apologize for barging in so early in the morning,” Sheila Barns was saying once Kale and Davia had greeted her with smiles and handshakes.
“Can we get you anything, Mrs. Barns?” Davia asked.
“Yeah, Sheila. I just put on a fresh pot of coffee,” Estelle added.
Sheila was already waving a hand. “No, no, thank you both.”
“Will you have a seat, Mrs. Barns?” Kale said.
“Oh, uh, no...no. But thank you.” Sheila declined Kale’s offer but graced him with a shy smile and a look tinged with a hint of awe.
The woman’s awestruck look was soon shifting to the far side of the study where Kale and Davia had set up shop. Two large-screen monitors presented the photos that Davia and Estelle had scanned so far. They played in a continuous slide show.
On slow steps, Sheila Barns moved closer to the display. “I was wondering whether there were any more pictures of the kids working on the theater?”
Quick, excited laughter chirped past Sheila’s lips as she pointed at another picture that flashed on the screen. Hands clasped, she turned, grinning as though she was thoroughly delighted.
“Mitch hasn’t been able to stop looking at that picture of his dad helping with the marquee since Barry gave it to him a few days ago,” Sheila explained. “He doesn’t talk much about his dad, but when he does...” A little of the excitement dimmed in her eyes.
“I always got the feeling that a lot of things went unsaid between them.” Sheila began to walk the quiet room. “There’ve been times I’ve been with both of them before my father-in-law passed and I... I got the feeling it wasn’t just things unsaid on Mitch’s part but on his dad’s, too. Two men set in their ways and too proud to change or even admit they were acting stupidly.” Sheila sighed as though realizing how she’d gone on. She sent a refreshed smile toward Estelle, Davia and Kale.
“Mitch already framed the picture and has a copy of it on his desk at the office.”
“Aw, Sheila, we’re glad he got a kick out of it,” Estelle said, her smile bright.
Sheila pointed back across her shoulder. “I just saw another one on the screen I know he’d be thrilled to have.”
“We’ll get it for you, and any others we find,” Davia promised.
“Thank you. Thank you both.” Sheila gave a vibrant nod. “Um, Estelle has all my contact info, so...”
“We’ll check through everything else we’ve got and send whatever we find right away,” Kale softly answered.
Sheila sent Kale another awed smile and then was backing toward the study door. “I’ll just let you get back to work.” She looked to Estelle and put a hand through the bend of the woman’s arm as they turned to leave.
“Kale, the coffee should be done. You can help yourself while I walk Sheila to the door,” Estelle instructed.
Alone, Kale and Davia stood silently enjoying the moment they’d just experienced.
“It was a very good idea,” Davia complimented him, watching as Kale survey their workspace.
“I guess all that still remains to be seen.” He gave a good-natured sigh and shrugged beneath the lightweight sweatshirt he wore. “Guess I’ll go grab that coffee.”
“You were right,” Davia called when he was at the door. “You do make me think of Tella, but not for either of the reasons you mentioned—not because of the consequences of your actions or even because of my misunderstanding about your intentions.” She began to pace the study as Sheila Barns had done moments earlier.
“I meant it when I said I believed you. I’m glad you were there for my friend that day. When I think of Tella... Kale, I think of my intentions and how weak they were. Had my own intentions been stronger, had I been more insistent with her, told her how it was going to be and that was that—”
“Davia, don’t.” Kale had turned away from the door.
But Davia kept talking. “Maybe she would’ve gotten the help she needed.”
“Davia.” His rich voice was firmer when he called out to her that time.
Undaunted, she continued. “If I’d done that, maybe she wouldn’t have killed herself.”
Kale caught Davia’s shoulders and gave her a slight shake that he hoped would get her to snap to. “Please tell me you haven’t been blaming yourself all this time for what happened to Martella,” he said when her eyes met his.
“No, Kale.” She fixed him with a miserable smile. “All this time, I’ve been blaming you, hating you for the advantage I thought you’d taken of her.” She shook her head, pulling a hand back through her cropped hair. “I think I always knew that was just an excuse—a smoke screen to hide the truth from myself.
“Once I had the truth from you about what happened between you guys, that smoke screen evaporated and forced me to see the reality of it.”
“Which was?” Kale’s query went unanswered for a moment. “What, Davia? That what happened to Martella was somehow your fault?”
“That I should have, could have, done more. I approached her troubles with a business solution, Kale.”
“So did I, babe.”
“But you weren’t her best friend. She wasn’t a sister to you.”
He nodded in acknowledgment, his tone softer when he spoke again. “Ask yourself this, then. Would Martella want her best friend—her sister—blaming herself for a decision she made? A terrible decision, true, but one she made? Think about that.” He put a hard kiss to her forehead and then he was gone.
Chapter 14
Kale and Davia put their total focus on the project then. There were lingering legal issues involving the property that proved to be hectic but also provided a welcome distraction from talk of the past.
Preoccupied by so much, they had left little time for such conversations anyway. When they weren’t meeting about the land, Davia divided her time between visits to Estelle Waverly’s boutique and the Ayerses’ pub, where she reviewed the decades-old blueprints of the unrealized theater. Additionally, she weighed the fruits of her own research and sketched out her ideal image of the envisioned project.
Kale had done his own research, as well, and spent his time reviewing those findings. He also took meetings with would-be members of a possible construction crew in anticipation of hope becoming reality.
It was after one such meeting when, deep in thought, he was startled by a greeting.
“Good morning.”
Kale looked up from the table he occupied near the hearth of the town café. “Uh...good morning.” He gave a slow shake of his head and appeared confused. “Sorry, I almost forgot what your voice sounded like. How long’s it been since we talked? I was sure we’d be sitting down to our first movie in the new theater before we spoke to each other again. Or...before you spoke to me again.”
Davia accepted the dig without argument. Folding her arms over her chest, she rested her thigh against Kale’s table and smiled coolly. “Is that why you left this at my door?” Onto the table she dropped a sheaf of photos wrapped in a clear protective sleeve.
“What do you mean?” Kale barely spared the photos a glance. His expression remained innocent.
“A little something to spark conversation, maybe?” Davia prodded.
Kale leaned over the table to peer down at what Davia had dropped there. “And what sort of conversation could this spark?” he asked.
Davia’s huff was as throaty as her voice. “Please tell me you meant this as a joke.”
Kale considered the pictures again and then looked to Davia. “Why would you think that? Do they make you want to laugh?”
“Laughing would be better than cringing, which was my initial reaction.”
“Well, I can’t see why they’d make anyone cringe.”
“You wouldn’t.” Ire still colored Davia’s voice. “You can’t be thinking this is the kind of place these people would want here?”
Photos covered the paperwork Kale had been studying when Davia arrived. All featured glossy depictions of dazzling multiplex theaters. Some had been fashioned for malls, others occupied space inside skyscrapers. All were past projects that Kale had had a hand in.
“Kale, you can’t possibly be thinking this is the kind of thing that would be right for Mullins.” Davia’s tone had sobered somewhat, but the patient chord was still strained.
Kale selected one of the glossies to study a bit more closely. “I got nothing but rave reviews on this spot,” he mused blandly before fixing on another. “Humph. This one, too. They’re all very profitable. This one in particular...” he said as he gestured to the photo he held. “It added to the allure of the mall, leading to increased visits from town residents as well as those who lived outside it.”
“Kale, Mullins has no malls.” Davia shook her head even as she smiled. “The town residents you’re talking about actually live in cities that can accommodate three or more multiplexes this size.”
Kale shook his head. “I don’t think you’re giving this town the benefit of the doubt.”
“Are you serious?” Davia’s throaty laugh harbored on sounding boisterous. “The parking lot alone would eat up most of our acreage.”
“Well, I’m sure folks wouldn’t mind parking outside of town.” Kale peppered his statement with a lackadaisical shrug. “We could even provide carriage rides to the theater.”
“Kale!” In that moment Davia couldn’t be sure if he was serious or not. Eyes narrowing, she glared down and decided to wait him out.
Moments later they were both dissolving into waves of laughter.
“I’ll bet that felt good,” Kale said when the mood mellowed around them.
Davia thumbed a laugh tear from her eye. “Is that why you said it?”
He gave her a rakish smile. “I thought you could use a laugh.”
Davia finally took a seat at the table. Propping her palm to her cheek, she sighed. “I’m sorry, Kale, I didn’t mean to shut you out that way.”
“Don’t apologize to me.” He nudged the photos. “I did that for your sake, not mine. Blaming yourself for Martella is the last thing you should be doing.”
“I know and I...I wasn’t. I didn’t think I was... Guess it hadn’t occurred to me that I was doing exactly that until I met you and the idea of her was right there at the very tip top of my mind instead of tucked away in that private place I have reserved for her—for all the things I haven’t dealt with.”
“How much have you got in that private place?” he asked her.
Davia shook her head warily. “I think—I hope—Tella’s the last of it.”
“Don’t you think it’s time you closed that place for good?”
“I definitely think it’s time.” Davia settled back on the chair in an exaggerated fashion even as she favored him with an easy smile. “Thank you.”
Kale half shrugged. “That’s what friends are for. It’s a shame I want more than your friendship.”
Davia fought not to bristle over the second half of his statement. He was talking again before she could speak to it.
“I guess I had some unfinished issues when it came to Martella, too.” He returned her easy smile. “Thanks for being the catalyst I needed to face them.”
Davia thought of reciprocating his “that’s what friends are for” line, but she wasn’t sure how well it would be received.
* * *
That evening Davia decided to brave the bitter outdoor temps when she ventured to the inn’s rooftop. She’d been curious about the view from that spot since Barry’s mention of it when she and Kale had first arrived at the bed-and-breakfast.
It was approaching 4:00 p.m. The sun had not yet set, but with the ever-present snow clouds lingering above, a heavier darkness loomed. The remaining light accentuated the brilliant white snow that blanketed every inch of the environment.
Barrett Waverly was right to be so long-winded with his boasts, Davia thought. The scene from the rooftop was unreal, otherworldly. She could have stayed there forever if it weren’t so damned cold. Or if she had something besides her coat to keep her warm.
Like Kale Asante.
As if her thought had conjured him, Davia turned from the snow-dusted brick railing and Kale was standing just a few feet away from the roof’s access door.
“Sorry for bothering you.” His voice seemed to echo against the still air.
Davia gave a quick shake of her head. “You aren’t. I, um...” She waved a hand behind her. “I only came up to see if the view was as good as Barrett said.”
“And?”
“He didn’t lie.”
Kale came to stand near the railing and take in the view, as well. “No, he didn’t,” he agreed and then said nothing further. But for the faint cry of the wind, silence settled between them.
“Barrett’s sur
e there won’t be another meeting for a few days,” Kale was saying, his voice once again carrying over the quiet cold. “I thought maybe we could take some time to continue our conversation from the café. Maybe even tack on a field trip.”
The idea had Davia turning away from the view to regard him curiously.
Kale didn’t need a verbal prompt. “You up for seeing some spots in person instead of online?” he asked.
Davia tilted her head curiously. “What have you got in mind?”
“Do you know anything about the Xyler Chronicles?”
Davia gasped before a smile spread across her face. “Are you a fan, too?”
It was Kale’s turn to gape. “You know it?”
Davia threw back her head. “Are you kidding? I’ve been in love with the franchise for years. I’ve got all the movies on DVD. The fifth one is due out this summer.”
Kale shook his head and chuckled. “I would’ve never pegged you for an action-movie junkie.”
“What?” Playful bewilderment crept into Davia’s light eyes. “Didn’t my preference for beer give me away?”
Laughter edged in to warm the air for a moment, but when Davia shivered, Kale wasted no time pulling her back against him.
Oh, yes, she thought. Now she had everything she needed to enjoy the view forever.
“So do you think the new Xyler will be a good one?” Kale asked once Davia was snug against him.
“I hope so.” She closed her eyes against the stunning view and took her pleasure in absorbing the feel of Kale surrounding her. “They’ve got lots of work to do if they plan on it being better or as good as the last one. Guess I’ll find out when it releases.”
“How’d you like to go to the premiere?”
“Kale Asante, is that an invitation?” Something sly and playful hugged her voice.
“Could be.” He drew her tighter against him. “The premiere’s scheduled to be at one of my theaters next weekend.”
Floored, Davia made a brisk turn in his arms. “Are you serious?”
Silver Screen Romance Page 11