by Ferraro, W
Reaching the Yukon, Paige and Casey each grabbed the last two boxes in the back, leaving Colby, Mason, and Jamie to grab the canvases.
“Paige, do you want to carry these, and I’ll carry the box?” Mason asked as Colby passed one to Jamie’s waiting hands. Jamie and Casey looked at each other and tried not to laugh.
“No, that is okay. I think the boxes are lighter than those things. They don’t look heavy, but damn, they are.”
As Jamie’s hands gripped the canvas, he agreed with Paige’s sentiment, not expecting the weight.
“Well, good canvas means heavy canvas. A girl needs to have her priorities,” Colby stated, unaware of the inquisitive blue eyes on her.
“So Colby, you’re an artist I take it?” Casey inquired, gripping one of the heavy framed fabrics.
Colby pulled out the final one from the backseat and nonchalantly answered, “I dabble.”
Paige tipped her head back and laughed as Colby closed the rear door. She led the brigade into the building and pushed the button for the elevator.
“Dabble? This girl is brilliant with a paintbrush. I keep telling her to sell some pieces, but she doesn’t think they are good enough and winds up giving them away. You know they won’t be appreciated as they should.”
Colby remained silent. Yes, Paige had insisted for years that Colby should do a showcase, but the fear of failure was too disabling for Colby. Instead, she painted because she enjoyed it. Giving her friends and Paige pieces that spoke to them, she had also given the hospice care center that took care of her mother in the end a Colby Jackson painting for each of their rooms. The families and people who resided there in the last stretch might not appreciate Colby’s contribution, but it fulfilled Colby to know that she gave someone something pretty to look at in their last days of life.
They all stepped into the elevator, and as Mason and Paige squabbled about something, Casey bumped Colby’s shoulder, keeping his voice low. “I’m sure your paintings are great. I look forward to seeing some.”
Colby smiled brightly at her friendly neighbor as she once again led the crowd down the hall and into her apartment. When everyone put down the last of the loads, Colby turned to everyone and said, “Thank you all for your help. Let me buy you guys a beer or something?”
“Wait. Is she even old enough to buy beer?” Jamie teased to the room.
Colby tried to have a bite to her voice; she only sighed exasperatedly, cocked out a hip, and said, “I’ve been buying my own beer for the last four years, thank you very much.”
They all laughed at her attempt to sass, and Casey recommended that they all head down to Cervone’s Tavern for a drink. The men were all for the idea, but Paige shot them down.
“As great as it was for you guys to help, I have been waiting weeks for her to get here, and I am not sharing her first night with the likes of you all.”
Colby went to argue, but the look on Paige’s face told her that she wasn’t about to budge. She was about to ask which apartment was theirs when Mason answered for her. “Well, Colby, it was nice meeting you. Don’t hesitate to come see us for a cup of sugar or if you need a nail or anything banged.” He emphasized the ending with a wink, and once again, Colby found herself laughing at the good-looking dark-haired man.
Paige looked disgusted at the smiling man closest to her and snorted in an unladylike manner as she walked past him to where a box laid on the counter.
Jamie grabbed Mason by the arm, turned to Colby, and stated, “Nice meeting you, Colby. We are right next door if you need anything. We will be seeing you around.” He began dragging an arguing Mason with him, as Casey followed behind bidding her a good night as well.
When the guys were gone, Colby walked over to Paige, who was sorting through a box of kitchen stuff. Leaning next to the counter, she said, “So what is going on between you and Mister Tall, Dark, and Handsome?”
Paige turned to her cousin with raised eyebrows. “Mason? Absolutely nothing. Trust me, that man is bad news. Yes, he is easy on the eyes, but when you get past that, he doesn’t have much to offer.”
Colby knew Paige wouldn’t give info up very easily, but she needed to know why her usually even-tempered cousin seemed so easily irritated by her new neighbor. “So you’ve been down that road before?”
Paige pushed the box away and took a seat on the countertop, letting her long legs hang down before answering. “No, nothing like that. It’s just you don’t live in a small town like this without knowing who the notorious players are. Trust me, little cousin, stay away from that one for anything other than that offered cup of sugar.”
Colby nodded her understanding, silently thinking there was more that Paige wasn’t saying but knowing she wasn’t going to elaborate on that particular subject. “So what is the scoop on the other two?”
Paige hopped down, grabbed a hold of Colby’s hand, and dragged her toward the door. She watched as Colby shut the light switch off, slid the door closed, and locked it before entwining their arms and walking back toward the elevator. Once inside, Paige answered, “Casey and Jamie are great; sweet, intelligent, always good for a laugh. Single.” She nudged Colby’s shoulder which Colby responded by rolling her eyes and shaking her head before Paige continued. “Either one would do anything for you. I guess to be fair the same could be said for Mason, but I don’t like to give him too much credit. It just goes straight to his head.” Colby noticed that Paige became aggravated even saying his name. When they reached the first floor and stepped out of the cage, Colby followed Paige through the exterior door as she climbed into her Yukon. Once Colby was seated next to her, Paige resumed her explanation. “Not that there are many bad places here in Clearwater Falls, but it does make me more comfortable knowing Mason, Casey, and Jamie are right next door if you do ever need anything.” As Paige put the SUV into gear, she turned the wheel and said, “Personalities aside, at least you can say you’ve never had better-looking neighbors before in your previous places.”
Colby laughed. “Very true, Paige. That is very true.”
Back at Paige’s place, freshly showered and in her favorite sleep shirt, Colby took the offered bottled ale from Paige and sat on the sofa. Paige joined her with her own bottle, and they both took a long pull. Comfortable in the silence, Colby let her eyes close as she tried to make a mental list of all the things she needed to do tomorrow.
Placing a foot on the coffee table, Paige stretched and broke the silence. “Tomorrow, after we unpack your place, I’ll take you down to meet Molly so you can discuss a schedule. I have off until Sunday so that gives us two days to get everything that you need done. I’ll show you around town, and you will be good to go, okay?”
Colby looked at Paige with concern. “Sounds great but are you sure I’m not getting you in trouble with your boss for all these days off?”
Paige let out a little laugh. “Not at all. Gage has been on me about using some of my accrued time. Not many reasons to take any time off, so you giving me a reason is a nice break.” Reaching over and taking a hold of Colby’s hand, she gave it a squeeze before adding, “A really nice reason.”
Colby raised her bottle. Paige clanked it with hers, and they both drank until the bottles were empty. Agreeing on a chick flick, some pizza, and popcorn, the girls settled in for a veg out night before the real work began tomorrow.
Finding a home for everything in the apartment didn’t take much time at all when Paige and Colby got down to business. Loving the apartment more and more with each passing minute, Colby gauged where the best spot would be to set up her workstation, using the incoming light from the massive windows for optimal positioning. They easily moved the bed from Paige’s place to Colby’s by themselves and had it assembled and made up with a new quilt and sheet set, compliments of Paige, before they set off into town to get Colby better acquainted.
When they got outside, Colby zipped her coat up higher and tightened her scarf. Paige was halfway to where sh’d parked her SUV when Colby stopped her.
“Let’s walk.”
“Walk? Are you crazy? It is like seventeen degrees out here,” Paige barked.
Colby remained calm and pulled her hat that she drew from her pocket down over her ears and stuck her hands in her pocket and waited for Paige to put it all together.
Apparently coming to the obvious conclusion, Paige mumbled something incoherently as she stomped back toward Colby all the while zipping her own coat up to her chin and pulling her gloves out.
Paige led them toward the sidewalk that would take them into the town center six blocks away. They walked in mostly silence for the first block; Colby listened as Paige continued to mumble to herself. When they passed the third block, halfway to Molly’s, Paige turned to Colby with bright pink cheeks and said, “We really need to get you a car.”
“Nah, I like to walk. I enjoy the solitude and physical workout. Nothing is easier than walking.”
“Well, you won’t like it if we get a snowstorm and you have to walk this in three feet of snow,” Paige griped as she shoved her glove-covered hands into her pockets.
“You seemed to forget that Lancaster gets just as much snow as here. How do you think I got to work or the grocery store or any other place before?” Colby stopped and stuck out one foot in front of her as an answer.
Paige was back to mumbling to herself when they rounded the corner and Molly’s came into view. Being early afternoon, the place wasn’t too busy, so Paige opened the door and relished at the glorious heat in the restaurant. Colby followed, shaking her head at Paige’s dramatics as she removed her hat and began to unzip her coat.
Noting that aside from themselves and an older couple in one of the booths, Colby realized the place was empty. Just as the thought crossed her mind, an attractive blonde came out through the swinging doors behind the counter and greeted them.
“Paige, how are you sweetie?” the woman asked, as she gave Paige a quick hug before turning to Colby. “And you must be Colby. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Molly Dennison.”
Colby shook the woman’s extended hand and couldn’t help but feel the hair on the back of her neck prickle at the mention of that last name. I never realized how popular of a name it was.
“So nice to meet you, Ms. Dennison. Thank you for the opportunity to work for you.”
“Oh please, any friend of Paige is a friend of mine and none of that Ms. Dennison. I’m just Molly, okay?”
Colby instantly liked her new boss. She had a motherly aura about her, and she seemed like a genuinely nice person.
“Not sick of the name already are you, Molly?” the older man from the corner booth said with a smile stretched along his face.
Colby watched as Molly laughed before answering. “Not at all, Grady! Just don’t want her calling me Mrs. Dennison. There are three of us now. Don’t want her getting confused now, would I?”
Molly grabbed a hold of both Colby and Paige and brought them to the booth for introductions. “Colby, this is Grady and Bianca Dennison, the nicest people in the whole town and also my in-laws.”
Bianca Dennison extended her hand just as her daughter-in-law had done and smiled warmly. “Nice to meet you, Colby. Did I hear you will be working here with Molly?”
Unable to fight the smile on her lips and feeling at ease in the company of such warm company, Colby took the woman’s hand in her own and responded. “Yes, she was nice enough to give me a job sight unseen.”
The older man named Grady joined in. “Well, if you got a raving review from Paige, then you are a winner by our standards.”
“Thank you, sir. That is kind of you to say. However, I think it is a requirement for cousins to speak nicely about each other,” she said with a giggle as she shook his hand as well.
“Oh, how wonderful,” Bianca piped in at the news of Paige and Colby’s relation, looking past Colby to where Paige stood behind her. “I’m so glad to hear you will have some family in town, Paige.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Dennison. I am very excited Colby is here,” Paige answered, taking a seat at the table next to the elderly couple as Molly went about showing Colby around the restaurant.
Twenty minutes later, Colby had met Greg, the cook, and felt she knew where everything was, so she agreed to start Monday morning at 8 am. As she thanked Molly again for the opportunity, she walked out to the dining area and began to zip her coat.
Paige said good-bye to the still seated couple and joined Colby and Molly by the door.
“All set?”
Both Colby and Molly had nodded before Molly responded. “I think so. Now, remember Colby, we aren’t too formal around here, so if you need anything, you just give a holler, okay? We will see you Monday morning.”
“Looking forward to it, Molly,” Colby said as she pulled her hat on.
“Thanks, Molly.” Paige winked as she too bundled up and headed toward the door.
Once outside, the two women headed back toward Colby’s apartment. Colby told Paige how excited she was to start there and how wonderful Molly seemed. The six blocks didn’t take too long to conquer, and they climbed into Paige’s Yukon ready to head to their other destinations in town.
After showing Colby the grocery store and laundromat, Paige decided to show her the station house where she worked. They pulled in, and Colby followed Paige out of the car, up the steps, and through the heavy doors into a warm brightly lit large room. The station’s main space had a hip height wall area in the entryway with a swinging door that led into the main work area. Straight ahead was the counter, which, from quick inspection, housed stacks of different colored flyers of all sorts and a large spiral-bound book.
Paige walked right through the swinging door, holding it open so Colby could follow. She saw four oversized metal desks in this space, each with a computer with flat screen monitor and some personal touches here or there. Two of the desks were currently occupied; one with a man who had a medium build man and looked to be in his forties who was presently on the phone not paying any mind to the newcomers. The other seated man was reading an open folder, and from what Colby could note, he looked to be in his thirties with sandy blond hair.
When the women entered, he immediately raised his head and greeted Paige. “Couldn’t stay away, Kinsella, huh?”
“What can I say? I just couldn’t get your dreamy green eyes out of my mind, and I needed to see you, Poirier,” Paige replied, draping herself dramatically across the desk with her hand raised so the back of it rested against her forehead in a very Scarlet O’Hara sort of way.
Colby noted the attractive man responded by nodding his head and going back to reading, ignoring the feigned actress a mere foot away. Paige gave his thigh a light kick with her foot, and they both laughed.
“I brought my cousin, Colby, here to see the place and to meet Gage,” Paige explained as she stood up once more, removed her coat, and threw it on the counter.
Dustin looked past Paige’s shoulder and focused on the woman behind her. He rose from his seat, took the few steps that separated them, and extended a hand to Colby.
“Hi Colby, I’m Dustin. Nice to finally be able to put a face to the name.” He spoke with a smooth, deep timbre.
Colby had to admit, as far as good-looking men went, Dustin certainly was right there near the top. He stood to be just shy of six feet, which in contrast to her was more than a head taller. His wide shoulders and lean hips were noticeable under his tan on tan work uniform. The bulky gun belt didn’t look awkward on him, but rather added a certain appeal to his tall form. He had a dazzling smile with perfect white teeth framed by perfectly formed lips. Yet all this paled in comparison to his eyes. Outlined in pale lashes which matched his hair color were the greenest eyes she had ever seen, somewhere between jade and the color of lush grass. The artist in Colby had her brain swirling with formulas of which blue and yellow to mix to get that same shade.
“Hi, nice to meet you.” Colby smiled as his much larger hand gently closed around hers.
Dustin remained unmoved,
still holding her hand. He continued to stare at Colby until Paige snapped her fingers in front of his face.
“Yes, Poirier, she is a pretty girl, but you can stop staring.” Said in a humorous way, Paige’s comment made both Dustin and Colby blush as they averted their eyes.
Breaking the buzzing tension, Paige asked, “Who’s the boss in with?” as she inclining her head toward Gage’s closed door.
Dustin turned his head to look at the closed door and answered as he took his seat again. “Casey came in about ten minutes ago.”
Paige looked at Colby and with a half-smile said, “Well, bummer. I can show you the bunk room and kitchen if you’d like?”
Colby laughed at the evident disappointment on Paige’s face. Colby knew from their many conversations that Paige had immense respect for her boss, the sheriff. If Colby didn’t know any better, she would think Paige had a small crush on him. However, when she had told Colby a little over a year ago that her boss was getting hitched, Paige was absolutely over the moon about it; effectively nixing the notion of devastation-due-to-not-being-chosen.
Agreeing to the unimportant tour, Colby followed Paige to see the different spaces in the station. When they made it back out to the main area, Dustin was at the counter writing in the spiral book, and Colby noted the other deputy was still on the phone. Looking more frustrated than he did when they’d entered.
Standing off to the side, as Paige and Dustin talked shop, Colby heard a door open then close behind her. Turning, she noticed Casey, her new neighbor, walking toward her. He smiled at her as recognition hit, and greeted her warmly with his smile.
