Love's Embers (Canon City Series)

by Marie, Lauren

  She looked at her computer screen, tried to focus and continued to play with the mouse. More orders were coming in and she wanted to be able to keep up with them.

  ****

  Charlie felt slightly uncomfortable for a minute when Lark went upstairs, but when Gran came over and gave him a hug, he started to relax.

  “Do you want some coffee?” she asked.

  “Yes, please.”

  “You go ahead and sit. When Lark comes back down, I’ll fix you both some breakfast.” She poured a cup for him and put it at a place at the table. “Charlie, I only want to say one thing.”

  He felt a knot form quickly in his stomach and became nervous. “Okay.”

  Gran smiled. “Welcome back to the family. I’m so glad you came home. It’s good to see Lark smile again.”

  He let out a breath and smiled. He felt his throat tighten and almost started to cry. “Gran, would you hate it very much if I became your grandson-in-law?”

  She turned around from the stove and took a step forward. “Did you...?”

  “No, no. Not yet, but I’m thinking about it. I’ve got to get over to Pueblo and sell that truck. I don’t want to break into my college savings, but I want Lark to have the most beautiful engagement ring I can find. I’ve got to do it this week.”

  “Why this week?”

  “I can’t keep asking you and Lark to drive me around everywhere and I want to ask her before Christmas. It just seems important.”

  ****

  When Lark came back downstairs, she found Gran hugging Charlie and she was sniffling.

  “Oh God, what happened?” she asked from the doorway. Gran looked up and patted Charlie on the back. He smiled at Lark and she could see tears in his eyes. “What?”

  “Oh nothing, sweetheart. I’ll get breakfast started,” Gran said, and moved back to the stove. She poured eggs into the pan and started to scramble them.

  Lark saw Gran turn to look at Charlie and gave him a wink. She shook her head and went to the cupboard to get a cup. After pouring some coffee, she went to the table and sat next to him.

  She saw Gran continue to look over her shoulder at them and Lark became a little uncomfortable.

  “What is going on?” she finally asked.

  “I’m really glad you two found your way back to each other. You know, I think it was meant to be. I read a book once about this couple and they were destined to be together. I think that’s you two completely.” Gran sniffed again and continued to scramble the eggs.

  Lark felt her own throat tighten and stood. She walked over to her grandmother and they gave each other a hug.

  Charlie put his chin in his hand. “My two favorite ladies hugging. How hot is that?”

  “Charlie Stone, are you saying you’d be interested in a threesome?” Gran asked and laughed. He sat up straight in his chair.

  “Grandmother!” Lark stepped back, truly shocked. She looked at Charlie, whose eyes were huge and his mouth hung open.

  “I’m not as square as you think, Larkspur. I’ve read some really racy stuff in my time and remember, I was in my twenties during the 1960s. I know all about free love, peace, granola and all that.” She patted Lark’s hand and went back to her cooking.

  “But you’re my grandmother,” Lark said.

  “How on earth do you think your dad got here and you for that matter?”

  “Gran, we don’t want to go there. Not ever. That would be too much information and I don’t know if I have a nervous system that would understand.” Lark went back to the table and sat down.

  “Larkspur, my darling girl, you’ve got a lot to learn and over time you’ll learn it. Now stop being such a prude,” Gran said and spooned the eggs onto their plates. She carried them to the table and got toast out of the oven.

  “Gran, I am not a prude. It’s just too early in the morning for this type of conversation.”

  After breakfast, Charlie walked her to the Bronco and gave her the sweetest kiss she’d ever experienced. She asked where he’d learned how to kiss so great. He smiled at her and said it was on a late summer day thirteen years ago, on a picnic, with the most beautiful girl he’d ever met. She gave him a kiss back, called him an old romantic again, and left for the warehouse.

  Her serene moment at her desk was interrupted by a knock on the door. When she looked up Alicia stood in the doorway.

  “Ah, are you here, Lark?” Alicia continued to look at her. “I buzzed you. Thomas is on line three and he’s insisted he’ll hold until you’re ready to talk to him,” she said and backed out of the office.

  Lark stared at the blinking phone line. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to him. It was a good mood wrecker. Just get it over with Lark, she thought. She hit the button and lifted the receiver.

  “Yes, Thomas.”

  “Why the hell haven’t you returned my calls?” his voice snarled at her.

  “Well, number one, I’ve been busy with work. You know, ‘tis the season and all. Number two, I have nothing to say to you except that our wedding isn’t going to happen and you can fuck off.”

  “Yeah, I’ve been very embarrassed getting calls from my friends, who want to know what happened. I felt like an idiot.”

  “Too bad for you. What do you want?” She tried to sound as uninterested as possible.

  “I want to discuss your rash decision.”

  “There is nothing to talk about, Thomas. You hit me, again, and I’ve learned to respect myself enough not to put up with your crap anymore. I tried to be honest with you about events earlier in the day and that was that.” She wound the telephone cord around her finger and wanted to pull it out of the wall.

  “Oh Lord, you are over-reacting, as usual. I didn’t hit you that hard.” He sounded incredulous.

  “I have bruises on my wrist, face and chest that prove it wasn’t a love tap. Speaking of...” There was a knock on the door and Nancy looked in.

  “Ryan’s here,” Nancy said, quietly.

  “Look, there’s nothing to discuss, Thomas...”

  He cut her off. “I’m still coming on Saturday and we will talk. We’ll have to miss the dance, but I think you owe it to me to tell me to my face what your problem is,” he ordered.

  “Whatever,” she said and hung up. She looked up at Nancy and shook her head.

  Lark followed her partner to another office. She felt very angry at Thomas and didn’t want to see him again ever. They stopped outside the door.

  “Are you okay?” Nancy asked.

  “I’m not one hundred percent, but I will be.”

  They walked into the office where their lawyer Ryan Barton sat with a cup of coffee in one hand. He stood up and shook hands and they all sat down at a conference table.

  “So, to get down to brass tacks, it would seem that Canon City Savings and Loan, for some unknown reason, has decided to sell off a bunch of business loans. They’ve spoken to National up in Denver. My connection here said it looks like someone is trying to buy out the loan.”

  “Someone other than National?” Lark asked.

  Ryan nodded. “Yeah, and I haven’t found out who the buyer is, yet.”

  Nancy sat back in her chair. “Why would someone want to buy the loan? That doesn’t make sense.”

  “Can either of you think of a competitor who would be interested in buying you out or closing the doors?” Ryan looked at them.

  Lark and Nancy exchanged looks. “There was that group back in New York that made an offer two years ago, but nothing serious,” Nancy said.

  “They were pushy, but gave up when we wouldn’t budge on our counteroffer. Three billion wasn’t in their ballpark.” Lark laughed.

  “I have a meeting this afternoon with Zack Strom over at the savings and loan. There’s a clause in the c
ontract that says they need to give warning sixty days in advance before they start selling off loans. It’s to give business owners the opportunity to pay off the loan. Since they haven’t done that, we could take them to court to stop the process completely,” Ryan said.

  “I’ve left several messages on Mike Strom’s personal phone. He’s on vacation until after the first. I know he’s retiring, but I don’t think he’d want this. He said to me once he wants to keep local businesses alive and functioning. I think maybe he’s not aware of what his son is trying to pull.”

  “How’d you get his personal phone number?” Ryan asked.

  “He’s listed in the Methodist Church directory. I have big connections,” Lark said.

  They all laughed, talked over some other matters and then Ryan left. He said he’d call them after he spoke to Zack Strom.

  Nancy frowned. “How come I feel like there’s something else going on here?”

  Lark looked at her friend. “Paranoid?”

  “I don’t know, maybe. Ever since we were in Denver last week something’s been nagging at me, but I can’t quite figure it out.”

  “We’ll be okay. See, I’m staying positive.” Lark smiled.

  Nancy looked at her closely. “You’re too cheerful. Did you have good sex last night?”

  Lark stood up and smiled. “No comment.” She walked to the door, but before she opened it, she looked at Nancy over her shoulder and grinned. “It wasn’t just good; it was great, cha, cha, cha.”

  Nancy laughed. “It’s good to know someone is getting great sex. You know I’ll want details eventually.” She walked up to Lark and hooked her arm. “You never acted this way with Thomas. I’m glad you’re not going to marry him.”

  “Me, too.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Ryan called later in the day and said Zack Strom cancelled the meeting at the last minute. They rescheduled for the next week and Ryan was pissed. He asked if they heard anything from Mike Strom to let him know.

  Lark and Nancy both worked the floor in the afternoon and were almost caught up when the woman who handled most of the orders showed up with another one hundred and two. Lark’s secretary was right behind her and handed Lark a stack of envelopes.

  It was going on four o’clock and she was tired. Charlie wore her out the night before and this morning. She did look forward to the speech she was about to give, though. Christmas was her favorite time of the year.

  She and Nancy called a meeting with all their employees down on the main floor. It was a pep rally of sorts. When everyone quieted, Lark stepped forward.

  “You guys have kicked ass the last couple of weeks and I know the hours you’ve worked have satisfied a lot of customers, but probably worn you guys out. Nancy and I appreciate your hard work. We’ve made the cutoff date the nineteenth, which is only two days away. So, we decided to close up shop early tonight. Everyone gets to go on home, or, like me, do last minute Christmas shopping. We’ll start up tomorrow and in the next two days get as many orders filled and out as possible. Before you all leave, stop here.” She held up the envelopes. “Its bonus time,” she said in a sing-song voice.

  The employees clapped and cheered and lined up for their checks. Lark handed them out with a grin and wished them all a Merry Christmas. Once they’d cleared out, Lark went up to her office, put on her coat and shut off the light. She met Nancy in the hallway and they walked out to the parking lot together.

  “I really like bonus time of the year.” Nancy switched off the lights for the main floor and moved to the exit. “I think they like us for a few days after we hand out those checks.”

  “Yeah, I do still have to shop, but I’m too pooped. I’m going home.”

  “Are you seeing your new man tonight?” Nancy grinned and arched her brow.

  “Probably,” Lark said and stepped outside the door. She pulled her coat tighter around her. It was chilly and a breeze made it even colder. “Lord, I hope this storm blows over fast. We don’t have time for delayed deliveries.”

  “How long have you and Charlie known each other, anyway?”

  “We’ve been friends for about twenty years. I moved in with my Gran when I was eight, after my parents died. Charlie and I experienced our first hot kiss together the summer we were fifteen years old.” Lark pulled her keys out of her purse and stopped to put on her gloves. “Nance, he’s a really good guy.”

  “Yeah, I vaguely remember all that business with his mom and dad. I don’t really know him though.”

  “It’s hard to explain. I think Charlie really wanted to deck Thomas when he hit me the other night, but he didn’t. Charlie did threaten Thomas. The thing though that makes it mean so much to me is that he defended me. He did that a lot when we were kids. There were some bullies that used to pick on me because I was an orphan, even though I wasn’t, because I’ve always had Gran. Charlie would come to my rescue and made me feel better. This week, with Thomas, he did it again. Here’s hoping I don’t scare him off.”

  “Sweetie, you won’t scare him. Is he coming to the dance on Saturday?”

  “We haven’t talked about it too much. I think so, but I’ll mention it to him again.”

  They walked to their two cars and said goodnight.

  Lark walked into the house and her mouth instantly watered. The kitchen smelled wonderful. “Gran, I’m home,” she said and hung up her coat.

  “Hi, honey. I’m in here,” Gran called from the pantry.

  “Lord, it smells good in here. What’s for dinner?” She walked to the oven and looked in the window.

  “I’m making a roast. Tomorrow and Thursday I’ll be making the pies for the dance. We’ll need to have leftovers if we want to eat anything. I won’t have time to cook.” She came out of the pantry and held a bag of beans.

  “Are you going to make red bean pie, Gran?” Lark smiled.

  “Very funny. I want to soak these overnight and make Charlie red beans and rice to get him through lunches for the next few days.” She looked at Lark. “Sweetheart, put your coat back on and go over to Charlie’s. That ding-dong wouldn’t accept my dinner invitation and was being silly. He said he’d mooched too much food off us since he got back. You can tell him that he hurt my feelings.” Gran pouted, but smiled.

  Lark felt excitement fill her heart, which started to beat fast. She hugged Gran, then turned to the door and grabbed her coat on the way out.

  It was cold on the short walk and the wind had picked up. She looked up at the sky and only saw clouds. There wasn’t a star or moon to be seen. She walked up to his front door and could hear Breaker on the other side, woofing. She blew on her hands to try to warm them up and knocked.

  Charlie opened the door. He wore a navy blue cable knit sweater and jeans. Lark looked at him and sighed.

  “You don’t have to knock,” he said and opened the door all the way.

  She smiled. “You are without a doubt the sexiest man on the planet,” she said, as she walked into the hallway.

  He took her hand and pulled her farther into the warm house. “Lord, your hands are frozen.” He lifted his sweater and put her hands underneath onto his chest. “That wakes me up.” He laughed. His hands moved around her waist and pulled her into a hug. “Hello, sweetheart, did you have a good day?” He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss.

  Lark started to laugh. “My, my, but you are very domestic this evening.”

  He ran his hands over her hair and laced his fingers behind her neck. “I’m just doing normal for the minute. I wanted to see how it sounded and felt. It was either that or strip you bare in the doorway.” He leaned over and brushed her lips with his.

  She looked up at him and kissed him back. “Stripping bare is definitely on the agenda for tonight. Gran says to put your shoes on and come for dinner. You know better than to argue wi
th her.”

  Charlie leaned close to her and almost put his lips on hers. Lark could feel his warm breath and wanted to melt.

  “I know better than to upset the Metcalfe women. I learned that lesson a long time ago and will never, ever do it again. Can I have one of those erection-causing kisses you give, before I put on my shoes?” Charlie whispered near her cheek. “I’ve gotten used to sitting at the table with a stiffy.”

  She felt his tongue graze her bottom lip and laughed. “Ducky, you’re killing me. You can have whatever you want.” She moved her hands under his sweater and stood on her toes. She placed her thumbs over his nipples and circled them. She saw him close his eyes and heard a low moan come from his throat. She placed her lips on his and they gently touched tongues. She let her teeth scrape over his tongue and moved her head back. “We better stop or we won’t leave.”

  His hand found her butt and squeezed it. She flinched and her eyebrows creased.

  “What was that?” he asked and looked into her eyes. “You just jumped when I pinched your butt cheek. You did it the other night when we walked Breaker and I put my hand in your pocket.”

  Lark realized she felt nervous and knew there was no reason to feel that way with Charlie. He would never hurt her. “It’s nothing. I’m just a little weird about my rear end. Just ignore it.”

  “No, sweetheart. Is it something we need to talk about?” He put his hand up on her the side of her face and looked quite serious.

  “It’s nothing, Ducky. We better get going. Gran will be upset if her roast gets dried out.” She smiled and kissed him.

  “You’re right. I’ll get my shoes on.” He let her go, grabbed his boots and sat at the kitchen table to put them on.

  Lark watched him unlace the shoes and slide them on. While he tightened the laces and tied them up, Breaker came up along side of her and nudged her knee. She bent over to rub his ears and laughed. “You know what Ducky?”