Season of Wonder

by RaeAnne Thayne

  Why? What was the big secret about the man?

  “That looks great,” Dani said, rejoining them. “I can’t see any trace of graffiti. Do you think you’ll need a second coat?”

  “We may have to see what happens when it dries, but so far it looks like we’ve got good coverage. How did you two do?”

  “We carried about a hundred logs over to the house.” Mia slumped to the ground, apparently completely exhausted.

  “Good work. Now Mrs. Miller won’t have to walk all the way over here to refill her wood box for a week or two.”

  Mia looked happy about that, anyway.

  “That should do it here. We’ll check back later in a couple of hours to see if this will need a second coat. Meanwhile, let’s head over to Mrs. Grimes’s place and get started on her garage door. I’m warning you, it might be a little harder.”

  “We can do hard things,” Mia said. “That’s what our mama always says.”

  “Exactly right. Good thing we have snickerdoodles to help us keep up our strength.”

  * * *

  Dani faced the garage door decorated with more of her daughter’s handiwork, her heart sinking at the magnitude of the task ahead of them.

  Gertrude Grimes hadn’t been as sweet as the Millers. She had been terse and tight-lipped when Silver apologized for her actions. Dani had a feeling her daughter’s English grade would not be very good this term.

  Again, she had to wonder what Silver had been thinking. She couldn’t understand her daughter. On what planet would she ever think destroying someone else’s property would make her more liked, more popular, more accepted in their new community?

  Dani sighed. How could she blame Silver, really? She had once been her, defiant and angry, trying to lash out at the world however she could.

  Wasn’t that the whole reason she had hooked up with Tommy DeLuca?

  Tommy had seemed wild and reckless and dangerous, yes, but that had been a big part of his appeal when she was a needy, lonely sixteen-year-old girl.

  He had been four years older, a twenty-year-old man who had no business hitting on a teenager, she could see that now. At the time, she hadn’t thought anything was wrong with it, she had only been enthralled by his attention.

  Like a thirsty, forgotten plant shriveling up in a corner, she had lapped up all of it desperately and had been pregnant with Silver when she graduated from high school.

  Ruben Morales, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of her late ex-husband. Okay, except for the dangerous part. Something told her that for all his good-natured amiability, he would be fierce and protective if anything threatened those he loved.

  What would it be like to have the love of a man like him?

  That was a question she didn’t have the courage to even consider.

  “Do we need to use the wire brushes again here?” she asked him.

  He stood beside her, studying Silver’s handiwork.

  “I’m afraid that would damage the garage door. I think our best bet here is to try the cleaning agent the county specialist suggested to see if we can get the paint to fade at all, then we’ll repaint.”

  She watched as he reached into one of the crates of supplies for rags.

  What was his story? The man was a complete mystery to her. She still didn’t understand why he would want to spend an entire Saturday helping them clean up graffiti. So far, they had only worked at other people’s houses, too. They hadn’t even made it as far as his house to clean up his boat.

  He was a fascinating enigma.

  “Mia, there are some rags in that box there. Can you hand me a few?”

  Her youngest rushed to help him, eager to please her new best friend. It worried her, this instant bond her youngest daughter seemed to have formed with the gorgeous deputy sheriff. Dani wasn’t quite sure why Mia had glommed on to him, when she had been so shy around virtually everyone else since coming to Haven Point.

  Funny, but Mia had the same reaction to Ruben’s father. Usually around men, she was nervous, preferring to talk to them through Dani or Silver, or—more likely—not speak to them at all. Apparently, something about Frank Morales and his son set her at ease.

  Dani wanted to think that was a good thing, but she wasn’t quite sure.

  After they wiped down the door with the cleaner, Ruben stood back to look. “I think some of it has faded, but it still might need two coats.”

  He grabbed a can of paint and the tray, and he and Silver went to work with the rollers.

  “Good work,” he said a few moments later. “You’re really getting the hang of that paint roller. Maybe this summer, your mom can put you to work rolling a fresh coat of paint on the outside of the vet clinic. The last time it was painted was probably when I did it at your age.”

  “Did they even have paint in those days?” Silver asked with a sideways grin.

  “Yes, but we had to make our own out of natural dyes from the plants we gathered around our covered wagons,” Ruben said drily, which earned him an even wider grin from Silver.

  “I’m not that old,” he said. “Probably not much older than your mom.”

  “She’ll be thirty-one in April,” Silver offered, entirely too free with Dani’s information.

  “Thirty and already a doctor of veterinary medicine? That’s impressive.”

  “Not that impressive. It took me five years to get my undergrad degree, since I was working full-time and had a child, and then another two years of working as a vet tech before I was able to get into veterinary school.”

  “I still think it’s impressive,” he said.

  She told herself not to be warmed by his admiration but she couldn’t seem to help it. Apparently some part of her was still that shriveled houseplant in the corner.

  “That should do it,” Ruben said a short time later.

  “Are we done?” Silver asked.

  “I think so. Depending on how this dries, we might not need a second coat here, either, but we’ll have to check it for sure in a few hours.”

  “We still have to clean up your boat,” Dani pointed out.

  He made a face. “Believe me, I won’t forget. The Wonder is only two months old. I’ve only had her in the water twice.”

  “I’m really sorry, Ruben,” Silver said.

  Apparently she was just as susceptible to the man’s charm as her younger sister. Okay, and her mother.

  “Good. You should be,” he said, not unkindly. “Now let’s go check the Millers’ house and see if it’s ready for another coat.”

  They packed all the supplies back into the crates and headed down the street. When they returned to the Millers’, they found the paint on the shed had dried with good coverage.

  “You lucked out,” Ruben said. “Looks like we don’t have to do another coat here. Since that’s the case, why don’t we break for lunch, then meet back at my place in an hour or so to work on The Wonder?”

  “Sounds good,” Dani said.

  “We’re having chicken noodle soup,” Mia informed him. “I helped put the carrots and the celery in the pot before we left.”

  “That sounds delicious.”

  “I bet you could have some,” Mia said.

  Dani didn’t miss the sidelong look Ruben sent her. “That’s very kind of you, but I don’t want to take all your soup.”

  “Mom always make tons,” Silver said. “You might as well eat with us.”

  Ruben didn’t bother to hide his shock at her seconding her sister’s invitation. His gaze met Dani’s, a question in them, as if gauging her opinion about her daughters inviting him over. She shrugged.

  “We do have plenty and you’re welcome. It’s the least we can do after all your help today, but don’t feel obligated. You could probably use a break from having your ear talked off by one or more of us.”

 
“I was going to grab a quick PB and J sandwich, but chicken noodle soup sounds way better. Listen, I’ve got a loaf of homemade bread at my place. Why don’t I run home and check on the dogs, grab the bread and meet you at your house in fifteen minutes or so?”

  In Boston, she might have found it unusual if a man had told her he had a loaf of homemade bread sitting around his house. Haven Point was another story. People did that here, just dropped off a loaf of warm, fragrant, scrumptious bread simply because they had baked extra and thought you might like it.

  “That sounds delicious. We’ll see you in a few moments. Come on, girls. We need to add the noodles to the soup.”

  She could have used a little distance from the man, a chance to rebuild all her defenses before spending the rest of the afternoon with him, but apparently she wouldn’t be getting that right now.

  While one coat of paint seemed to have covered over Silver’s graffiti, Dani wasn’t being nearly as effective when it came to resisting Ruben Morales.

  6

  Twenty minutes later, Ruben rang the bell at Dani’s house, the loaf of fresh bread under his arm.

  The very adorable Mia opened the door for him immediately, almost as if she had been watching for him out the window.

  “Hi.” She beamed, showing off the gap in her front teeth. “The buzzer just went off, which means the soup is ready.”

  “Don’t I have perfect timing, then?”

  “You certainly do,” Dani said from the doorway.

  Twenty minutes. That’s all the time they had been apart, but still, his heart seemed to kick in his chest at the sight of her, fresh and sweet and pretty.

  In those twenty minutes, she had redone her hair, pulling back the loose strands that had slipped out of her ponytail throughout the morning as they worked. She looked lovely either way but he wondered how she would react if she knew he was suddenly battling a strong urge to start pulling those strands back out. He kind of preferred the tousled, sexy look of earlier, though he knew full well she hadn’t been going for that on purpose.

  Her little dog, Winky, greeted him with a friendly yip and Ruben diverted himself from that inappropriate hairstyle temptation by reaching down to scratch the dog’s head.

  “How were Ollie and Yukon?” Dani asked as she led the way to the kitchen, where plates and bowls had been set around the table.

  “They’re always happy to see me. Isn’t that one of the best things about dogs? Ollie made it clear he didn’t want me to leave again. Apparently he doesn’t want me to do anything on the weekends but sit around and watch sports.”

  “I’m sorry we’ve messed up your routine.”

  “I’m not,” he said truthfully. He said the words with a little more intensity than warranted, which might have been the reason he thought her color rose a little.

  “Silver,” she called down the hall. “Deputy Morales is here and lunch is ready.”

  “You and your girls don’t have to call me Deputy Morales all the time, you know, like I told you the other day. I would prefer if you all call me Ruben, especially after we’ve already spent the entire day together.”

  “Right. Sorry. Habit.” She gestured to the loaf of bread in his hand. “Would you like me to slice that?”

  “That would be great. Thanks.”

  Silver came in and finished setting the table while Dani took his loaf of bread to a cutting board near the sink.

  “Can I help do anything?”

  “No. You’re a guest. I’m afraid we only have water to drink. I should have warned you. I don’t even have beer.”

  “Water’s fine with me.”

  “Sit down,” she ordered. “Anywhere is fine.”

  The moment he picked a seat, Mia joined him at the table, moving her chair closer to his. How could any guy not lose his heart to this one?

  “You guys getting ready for Christmas yet? I didn’t notice a Christmas tree.”

  “We took our old crappy tree to Goodwill when we moved,” Silver said, pulling headphones off to drape around her neck.

  “We took all our stuff to Goodwill,” Mia added.

  “Not everything,” Dani protested. “Just the stuff we didn’t want to move across country.”

  Silver rolled her eyes. “Everything that wouldn’t fit in a little rented trailer the size of a bathtub. The Christmas tree didn’t make the cut. Mom said we would pick up another one here but we haven’t yet.”

  “I’ve been a little busy the last few weeks,” Dani said tartly. “It doesn’t help that I had to spend my one free day this week cleaning up graffiti, did it?”

  “I didn’t ask you to help. You offered. I could have done it by myself.”

  Dani’s mouth tightened but she was busy dishing bowls of chicken noodle soup into chunky blue stoneware bowls and carrying them over to the table.

  “Mama says we can get a real tree this year, as soon as we find one. I can’t wait.”

  “There’s a nice lot on the outskirts of Shelter Springs where they sell real trees. A friend of mine runs it, Carlos Urribe. He’s a good guy.”

  “If we mention your name, will we get a discount?” Silver asked.

  “Better not. He’s still miffed at me over a bet he lost a few months back during the World Series.”

  “What about you?” Dani asked. “Do you decorate much for the holidays? I don’t think I’ve noticed a tree at your place, either, when I’ve passed by.”

  “I love Christmas, don’t get me wrong, but I live alone and it doesn’t really seem like it’s worth all the trouble just for me. I have a little tree in the front room. It’s one of those prelit ones and I hang a dozen or so ornaments on it. If I didn’t do something, I think my sister would probably come and decorate my whole house when I’m not looking.”

  “Would she really?” Dani looked as if she couldn’t comprehend that sort of relationship.

  “I’ve learned not to put anything past my family.”

  She sat down at the table finally, across from him. “Your family seems very close.”

  “Sometimes too close,” he admitted.

  She took a piece of bread and buttered it for Mia. “But you settled in Haven Point anyway.”

  “I lived in Boise when I was in college and when I went through the police academy, but when the job opened at the Lake Haven Sheriff’s Department, I was glad to move back. I like it here.”

  “I do, too,” Mia said.

  He smiled at her, grateful he had at least one ally among the Capelli women.

  “What about you?” he asked. “Do you come from a big family?”

  “No,” she said, her voice wooden. “Mia, don’t slurp your noodles.”

  So family was a touchy subject. He filed that away for future reference, even as he was astonished at his urge to hold her close and kiss away the pain in her eyes.

  “Small families are good, too,” he said.

  “They are. This is my family,” she said, gesturing to her daughters.

  “Except Nana,” Silver said.

  “Your mother?”

  “My ex’s mother. Late ex,” she added quietly.

  “I’m sorry.”

  She opened her mouth as if to say something, then apparently changed her mind. “Thanks,” she mumbled.

  So she was divorced and then the girls’ father died. How sad for all of them. He wanted to ask about the man and what happened to him but decided this wasn’t the appropriate time.

  Dani changed the subject, asking him more about going through the police academy and why he wanted to go into law enforcement in the first place. He, in turn, talked to the girls about school and their favorite subjects. It turned into one of his most enjoyable meals in recent memory and gave him a much better picture of the family dynamics.

  “Girls, hurry and finish your soup,” Dani finally said.
“We still have to help Ruben clean up his boat.”

  He thought about telling her he really didn’t need her help. After speaking with the graffiti specialist for the county, he had found exactly the right solvent that would easily clean the paint off The Wonder. He had tested it the day before to be sure and it had worked like magic.

  He could clean it himself. At the same time, he believed strongly that Silver needed to be involved in all aspects of the cleanup effort, including something he easily could handle on his own.

  “It won’t take us long,” he assured her. “I can help you clear the table first. The soup was delicious, by the way. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. And it’s Silver’s turn to load the dishwasher. You can help her.”

  Silver groaned but didn’t push her luck.

  Smart girl, he thought as he rose and picked up his soup bowl. He was beginning to like her, despite her attitude.

  He liked all of them. Entirely too much. It was becoming too easy to forget his resolve about not dating women with children.

  Not that he and Dani were dating, or anything close to it. She was still brisk with him and somewhat distant, which made his undeniable fascination with her even more puzzling.

  * * *

  Dani refused to let herself be charmed by the man as she watched him tease Silver while the two of them cleaned up the few dishes in the kitchen.

  What was his game? Why was he being so nice to them all?

  He was an officer of the law and she had an inherent mistrust of him because of it. Growing up in the city, she saw too much corruption, too much inequality and bias and misuse of authority.

  He appeared nothing like that. He seemed to be one of the good guys, a caring, dedicated sheriff’s deputy who gave up an entire Saturday to help her daughter.

  Still, Dani couldn’t completely trust his motives.

  She and the girls had secrets she would rather he not discover, secrets that might threaten her future here. The more time she spent around him, the likelier the chance that she might let some of those secrets slip to a trained investigator like Ruben.