They sat on the steps side-by-side, watching night fall and streetlights come on.
He left the door open, so they could hear the dog if she whined to join them. She'd been sleeping on the floor in the downstairs bathroom when they came out. "I should buy a couple of chairs for the porch," Sam said, wrapping his hands around his bottle.
"I thought you weren't staying." Lily took a drink and stretched her legs out in front of her.
"I'm not." He'd been picturing a couple of wooden rockers, but those spoke of permanence. Rubbing a hand across his hair, he shrugged. "Those folding lawn chairs aren't expensive. I could leave them."
"They'd look out-of-place on the porch of this house. Don't you think, Mr. Purist?"
Sam, glad to see Lily was recovering her sense of humor, chuckled and took her free hand in his. "If I were staying, what would you recommend?"
"Rockers, painted white or green, with striped cushions. If it were me, I'd also hang a wooden porch swing on chains from the ceiling."
He'd have taken her for a webbed-vinyl chair person, and it surprised him they thought alike. She was a study in contrasts.
"We had one when I was growing up and Daddy always got after me for swinging too hard. He finally put a rope swing in the backyard for 'vigorous swinging.' I used to imagine if I swung high enough, I could touch my toes to the sun."
Picturing a young Lily, swinging higher and higher, Sam fell quiet. He'd never had a swing but he'd fallen out of one at a park, standing up and pumping too hard, showing off. He'd skinned his elbows and knees and lied to his dad, saying he'd been in a fight. That pleased Duke and spared Sam a tongue-lashing.
"I loved growing up in Browning," Lily said softly. "On summer evenings, my friends and I would capture lightning bugs to put in jars and use them for lanterns while playing hide-and-seek in the dark. In high school, we'd ride around in cars, windows down, singing our lungs out, then go to Wally's Big W Drive-in for burgers and fries. It was during our senior year everyone started going to Richdale for dinner or a movie. To me, it seemed like treason, spending their money elsewhere, and things haven't gotten any better since. Wally's went out of business, and there's no place for kids to go in Browning, except Schube's snack island, and the movie theater."
Sam, surprised to hear her so serious, wondered if the "Grow Browning" billboard was her idea. Maybe he should check the numbers and see if she'd added him, even temporarily. Leaning his head back, he gazed at the porch ceiling where the moon cast fingers of light. "Have you ever been married, Lily?"
"No." She took a long slow sip from her bottle. Dropping her head back, she gazed sideways to look at the moon. "I was in love once. The summer after we graduated, I started dating a guy from our class, Nick Noland.
"He was on the boys' track team and I admired his style, but neither of us seriously noticed each other until we attended the same Memorial Day party. We started dating and were crazy about each other, or so I thought. Our romance ended shortly after we left for separate colleges in the fall. He found someone and wrote me a 'Dear Lily' letter."
"Were you afraid to fall in love again after that?"
"No. I just haven't found the right man."
"How long have you been back in town?"
"Nine years. When I first came home, I didn't know what I wanted to do and worked at the Chrome Grill for a few months before opening Radiance. Jodie dropped out of school at the end of our junior year, but we'd remained friends."
"Why would a woman who went to college choose to waitress or open an aromatherapy shop?"
"I like people, and both jobs are happy ways to associate with them. Besides, Radiance is more than aromatherapy. I sell feng shui items, wind chimes and—"
"Feel-better items." Sam refused to ask what feng shui was. It sounded like hocus-pocus.
"That's right." She tapped his jaw with her fist. "Medicine isn't the only cure for what ails a person."
Candles and wind chimes wouldn't make him feel better if he was sick. And then there was the bowl of goldfish to help Mr. Tuttle's wife relax. Lily was too smart to entertain such far out ideas. Wasn't she?
"Tell me how your political offices fit into the picture. Why did you want to be mayor?"
"When I came back to Browning and saw the town was backsliding, I knew we needed change to survive. I started as a member of the town board, where I opposed the bandage approach the current mayor was using. You know the type; do a little something so it looks like you're remedying a situation, and while everyone's feeling better, forget it. Knowing Sparks would do the same thing, I decided to run against him. Most kids leave town when they finish high school and never come back. I wanted to see Browning offer something so they'd return to their roots and we could attract new residents."
Sam was taken aback by the fervor of her words, which was further evidenced by the color that rose to her cheeks. Smiling, he rubbed a finger along her jawbone and found it warm. "So, the billboard was your idea."
"You noticed."
"How could I not?"
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear." Her chuckle disappeared into a yawn. Looking at her wrist, she sighed. "I left my watch at Jenny's house."
"I found it in the living room beside your purse and sandals. You'll find them all upstairs. Why a Cinderella watch?"
"Jodie gave it to me for my thirtieth birthday, saying, 'Someday your prince will come.' I'm beginning to doubt it, but I love the fantasy. She hasn't given up on her prince, or cowboy, but she always picks the wrong kind of guys. She's had her heart stepped on so many times, it's a wonder it's still able to beat."
Sam played with Lily's fingertips. "Some people have to learn the hard way."
"You?"
"Not me. I try to avoid pain."
"I hope Jenny isn't too distraught when I tell her about the house fire. She trusted me, and I let her down. I need to tell her first thing in the morning before she hears it from someone else."
"She'll understand it was an accident." Sam rose and helped Lily to her feet. "Everything will be fine, but you need some rest."
"Thanks for getting my CD's out of the house. Listening to waterfalls will help me sleep."
He held onto her hand, wanting to take her into his arms. Knowing she lay curled up in his bed, flaming hair fanned out on his pillow, he'd need more than the splash of waterfalls to lull him to sleep.
"Who would have thought I'd be spending the night?" she said, a drowsy smile curving her lips.
Lips he wanted to claim with his but…once again, she practically ran away.
Why? Sam sat on the steps long after Lily went inside. Was she afraid of him, or of herself? Ordinarily, he'd consider a woman who listened to waterfalls and handed out worry stones a flake, but there was nothing ordinary about Lily Madison. Colorful and engaging, her heart and head were full of dreams she planned to make reality. Just being around her brightened his life.
* * *
Lily declined Sam's offer to make her breakfast next morning, saying she was too nervous to eat. "At least, drink this." He poured her a glass of juice. "Who is Jenny Oates and why does she let you live in her house?"
Lily leaned against the kitchen counter, glass in hand. "An elderly lady who's like a grandmother to me. We met when her daughter was critically ill and became friends in the weeks before she died. Jenny didn't have any relatives left, and after hearing me talk about Browning, she came here and bought a house, and that's what prompted me to come home. If I could sell a stranger on the town, I'd be a hypocrite to move somewhere else, and I'd given up my job so I was ripe for a move.
"I don't have any family left here and visited her often so we became close. I found her when she broke her hip a year ago." Lily's eyes glazed over with unshed tears. "When she left the hospital, she went to Country Care, and it was her idea I give up my apartment and take care of the house. It gives her peace of mind, and it saves me paying rent. I just take care of utilities and upkeep. She pays taxes and insurance."
/> "I'd be glad to go with you if it would make you feel better."
"This is something I need to do alone, but thank you." Lily rubbed the back of her hand over his unshaven chin, and he wished he were as uninhibited. She had purple smudges under her beautiful green eyes that he longed to rub away.
After she left, he took a look at the house next door, hoping to find a way to make Lily feel better. A professional cleanup crew could take care of the smoke and water damage, but the kitchen would need major repairs. He cringed at the sight of her once-white cabinets, scorched, and in places, burned black. Her rag rug looked like a burnt waffle that had been water soaked. Turning away from the sight of her blue table reduced to embers, he climbed the stairs to the bedroom above the kitchen.
This, he could tell, was where Lily slept. The bedroom suite was old-fashioned and dark wood, so it probably came with the house, but the spread was blue and white, sprigged with yellow flowers. It was a lovely room before smoke tinged the curtains, scorched the wooden floor and fluffy rugs, and before a fireman broke out a chunk of the wall, exposing studs. Her computer stood on a table near the door to the hall, unscathed.
A collection of candles and jars stood on the dresser, and a prism in the window caught the morning sunlight. Fingering it, he smiled, remembering his long string of childhood homes and the prism that traveled with them. He'd nearly forgotten, until now.
After carrying the computer over to his place and setting it up, Sam returned for Lily's personal things. Opening a dresser drawer, he found a heap of jewel-colored undies that were lacy and brief. A transparent nightie gave off a sweet aroma. Feeling jittery, Sam dumped the contents of her dresser drawers into a plastic clothesbasket and carried them over to his place. Disorganized and unfolded, the dumping didn't hurt them any.
Next, he gathered an assortment of baskets containing cosmetics and jewelry from a set of bookshelves and set them atop a pile of carefully folded shorts and slacks. Her closet revealed an array of clothes. Beneath the shorter garments were shoes. Every imaginable color, style, and heel height—in a pile. Sam wiped sweat from his brow. How in hell did she ever find two alike in that mess?
On the way through the living room with his second load of shoes, he paused to look at some books on an end table. Finding a romance and a book of humor with torn pieces of paper towel serving as bookmarks, he added them to the basket. A third book, "How to Happily Organize Everything," appeared untouched. As he laid it back on the end table, a gift card fell out. "Happy Birthday, Lily. Love, Mother. November 2002." Chuckling, Sam stuck it back in the book.
He made one more trip to see if he'd missed anything, and looking in the kitchen, made a surprising discovery. Her prized collection was unharmed. He hated refrigerator magnets but Lily loved them, and he wanted to see her happy.
The first one he took off the fridge was the picture of Tiger Lily. The second was "Grow Browning." Out of control, he collected all the photos but regained his good sense when faced with the souvenirs. He did not need to see a leaping fish from Lake Erie, a bear from the Great Smoky Mountains, or a sequin-encrusted Elvis jacket from Graceland, morning and night.
Still eager to make Lily feel better, Sam decided to surprise her by showing up at the mayor's office, to take her to lunch.
"You're going to spoil me," she said, locking the door behind her.
"Is that good or bad?"
"I'm not sure." Her cheeks took on a telltale tinge of pink. He wasn't sure what her blushes, in various shades, meant. He just knew they gave away her emotions, and he felt sure she was pleased.
On the way to the Chrome Grill, he told her he'd moved her stuff. "I hope I got everything you want. If you're missing something, I'll get it later." He looped an arm across her shoulders "How did Jenny take the news about her house?"
"Very well. She was mostly concerned about me."
At the door of the Chrome Grill, Lily halted. "Sam, I should warn you. It's not often Browning gets a new resident and it's unheard-of for me to lunch with a man, so people may stare."
"We could enter separately, and I could slink quietly to a back booth." He was half-serious, but Lily nixed the idea.
"Oh, no. You're not getting off that easy. I was preparing you, not giving you license to lie." She pushed through the door and waited for him to follow.
Sam could almost hear the heads turning. Conversations lulled. Forks clanked and silence fell. Stare was an understatement. At least, he wasn't the only one embarrassed. Tossing her fiery hair, cheeks flaming, Lily ducked her head to say hello to Al Tuttle.
Before she could introduce Sam, Al told her they'd met and said it was nice to see him again. She cast an inquiring glance from one to the other but moved on, speaking to everyone they passed. He felt his ears burning but stayed close to her side.
"Politicking?" he asked, as they slid into a booth, finally putting an end to the silence and riveting stares.
"No need. I'm already mayor."
"Just joking. You're obviously well-liked here."
"So was I. Everyone's friendly; don't you think?"
He nodded. "Just a little too attentive."
"That's it, in a nutshell." She pushed the menu aside and he quirked a brow.
"That's why I can't stay with you until I move back home. I thought you might think I was going to, since you moved a bunch of my stuff over, but the town grapevine is surer than the Internet. It would be better if I took a room at the hotel."
"Hotel?" Jodie sidled into the booth to sit next to her, nodding hello to Sam. "Don't tell anyone I told you," she said, directing her remark to Lily out of the side of her mouth, "but a salesman who ate breakfast here this morning said the hotel has roaches."
Lily screwed up her face and ceased chewing her daily special, liver with fried onions. Sam was feasting on a breaded tenderloin sandwich the size of a hubcap. He'd never found tenderloin, breaded and deep-fried, anywhere before. A note on the menu said this was the only restaurant in the area that served them, and added, "Bet you can't eat a whole one." So, of course he was trying. Chewing, he watched Lily with interest. Was the liver tough or did the mention of roaches turn her stomach?
"I suppose I could go to Teeny Williams' B&B," she said.
Jodie snorted. "You could if you don't mind tea and crumpets for breakfast, and the nosy old biddy feather-dusting everything in your room from computer to underwear."
"Quiet, she'll hear you." Lily cast a sidewise glance at a woman wearing pink lace, sitting at a table across the room. Sam followed her gaze, although in his mind's eye, he saw the lace-trimmed underwear he'd found in Lily's bureau. Red, violet, yellow.
"What are you grinning about?" she asked, elbowing him.
"She and the other woman have matching hair."
"The 'blue ladies,' we call them," Jodie said, chortling.
"The other one is Miss Rosalind China," Lily told him. "Don't you just love that name?"
"I just remembered something." He laid the remaining half sandwich on his plate. "My grandmother used to have hair that color, and she wore it in tight little curls."
"Your Browning grandma?" Lily leaned forward, eyes glittering.
"Maybe." He shrugged, sorry to disappoint her. "I don't know."
The place had cleared out somewhat, but those who remained, waved or smiled as he and Lily were leaving. Sam responded in kind, and looking over his shoulder at the door, saw Jodie give him thumbs-up. Interesting. She was on his side, helping persuade Lily to stay at his house, and he didn't know why, but he was glad. "You realize you couldn't keep Brandy at the hotel or a bed and breakfast."
"I never thought of that, but I'm surprised Jodie didn't. She thought of everything else." Lily threw up her hands. "I can't afford to put the dog in a kennel and pay for a room too. Whatever should I do?"
"Brandy could stay with me, but she might feel you deserted her. She loves you, but might think I'm all she has left."
"And when I moved home, she wouldn't want to leave you
r place. Darn. I'm in a bind." She looked at him with soulful eyes, but he detected an emerald sparkle. She was enjoying their little melodrama. "If I stay at your place, do you promise not to spoil her?" she asked.
"Scout's honor." He raised two fingers, the others held down by his thumb, hoping that was how it was done.
"No sweets. They aren't good for her and she loves them. No sleeping on couches or beds. I worked hard to teach her to stay off them. No--"
"Poor dog." He stopped Lily with a finger to her lips. "Are you going to make that many rules for your kids?"
She cocked her head and grinned. "We had rules in our house, didn't you?"
"Dozens. My dad ran the house like the Navy. Duties. Demerits. Everything had to be shipshape."
"I won't make too many rules, and no demerits."
"And I'll bet they won't have to keep things shipshape."
She eyed him suspiciously, and he laughed before telling her about the book he'd found untouched. She told him she hated how-to books. He confessed he collected them and she said she wasn't surprised.
Standing outside Lily's shop, he felt as if he'd walked her back from lunch a thousand times, lingering to talk. Leaning a shoulder against the doorframe, watching a soft summer breeze stir her shining mass of hair, he felt comfortable. Her lime linen jumper looked cool and crisp. She looked warm and soft and he longed to touch her. "You look good in citrus colors," he said, and she looked up at him.
"Thank you." He was just enough taller that she had to raise her chin. Her eyes caressed him, and he felt a lump form in his throat. He shouldn't have persuaded her to stay. It would be hard to keep his hands off her. But he couldn't let her go when he had all those extra rooms, and something told him she wanted persuading. "I should go inside," she said, but didn't move.
"You don't have any customers."
"I have orders to fill. A balloon bouquet for a teen that had surgery. A cheer basket for a woman who's just started chemotherapy. I also have new greeting cards to price."
Love in a Small Town Page 6