Love's Embers (Canon City Series)

by Marie, Lauren

  Charlie turned the truck off and jumped out. He ran to the other side and opened the door. Lark took his offered hand and stepped down out of the truck. They walked arm in arm next door and the minute Lark opened the door, they were attacked by Breaker. The wolf put his paws on Charlie’s chest and licked his face.

  Lark saw Gran come in from the living room and head straight for her. They hugged and when Gran pulled back, she looked directly at Lark.

  “If you ever do that again, I will ground you for life,” Gran whispered.

  Lark nodded. “Right. Got it. I promise to never do that again.” They smiled at each other. “What’s going on here? Why is Nancy here?”

  “About an hour ago, there was a knock on the door. Mike Strom is here with his son and they brought their attorney. I called Nancy and she got in touch with Ryan Barton. They turned up about half an hour ago and have already eaten one of my pies for the dance. They wanted to wait for you to get home,” she continued in a whisper.

  When Lark and Charlie entered the living room the men stood and Mike Strom walked up to her. He was tall and gray-haired and Lark always thought he was attractive for an older man. He was aging very well.

  “Hello, Miss Metcalfe. Your grandmother said you’d been in an accident last night. I hope you’re all right.” He shook her hand and covered it with his other hand.

  “I’m fine. My SUV slid into a ditch on I-25. It was a good thing I was going so slow,” she said and then they made introductions all around.

  Mike shook hands with Charlie and then his son Zack stepped up to him. “Didn’t we go to school together?” he asked Charlie.

  “Yes, we did, from kindergarten on to middle school. You were always picking on Lark and I believe we had a few fights over it.”

  Zack laughed. “That was you? Man, you got tall.”

  They all sat down and Mike took over the room. “Lark, I’m sorry I didn’t call you sooner. We were up at Jasper and had a terrible time with phones. I got your messages on Monday and looked into the loan immediately.” He glanced at his son with a frown. “I want to apologize for the actions of my son and the loan department at the savings and loan. If they’d read the contract completely, they would have seen the clause which says loans will not be moved, sold or otherwise without my permission. The loan for Mile High Bread will not be sold to those assholes up in Denver.”

  Lark and Nancy looked at one another and smiled. “Thank you very much, Mike,” Lark said.

  “Ladies, I hope all of this hasn’t caused you too much distress. My attorney, Mr. Singleton” - he motioned at the man who sat across from them - “drew up a new contract which he’s been discussing with Mr. Barton. It makes it clear that nothing like this will ever happen again. He’s given a copy to Mr. Barton, who will advise you on the details. Your business is very important to Canon City and you know how determined I am to see local businesses stay put. I would hate to lose your grandmothers Apple Crumb Cake mix to one of those mass dealers back east.” He looked at Gran. “Aurora, it’s the best cake I’ve ever eaten in Colorado.”

  They talked for a little longer and it was easy to see that Zack felt uncomfortable. He confessed that he’d met Thomas at a business meeting in Denver a few months ago, and the idea started there. He, too, apologized, but looked as though he wasn’t all that sorry. Lark thought Charlie was right when he said Zack was a dick.

  Everyone stood up and prepared to leave. Lark looked at Nancy and smiled. “That was an easier finish than I thought it would be.”

  “Yeah, Mike Strom will be my hero for a while.” Nancy leaned toward her. “I’ve always had a crush on him,” she whispered.

  “Can you say daddy figure?” Lark laughed with her partner. “I’m so sorry this happened Nance. I should have dumped Thomas a long time ago.”

  “It wasn’t your fault. There’s no need for you to be sorry. It was just a little hiccup.”

  “I love your attitude, partner.”

  She felt Charlie’s hands on her waist and looked up at him.

  “That seemed to go well,” he said.

  “Yes, it did. We haven’t been properly introduced. You must be Charlie.” Nancy smiled at him and they shook hands. “Will we see you at the dance on Friday?”

  “I’m very pleased to meet you, Nancy. Yep, I’m not much of a dancer, but I plan to be there.”

  Lark saw Ryan head for the back door. “I’ll be right back.” She moved out of Charlie’s hold and caught up with the attorney in the kitchen.

  She spoke quietly and gave him a brief rundown of what happened to her six months before. She didn’t go into all of the details, but still felt embarrassed by her stupidity. It only took a few minutes. Ryan took his coat off the hook and turned around to her.

  ****

  Charlie saw Lark steer the attorney into the kitchen and talk to him privately. He knew exactly what she was telling him and felt amazed she could confront the issue so well. He stood with Gran and then Zack walked over to start a conversation. Charlie didn’t pay much attention to him.

  He watched Lark as she did most of the talking. She’d grasped her hands in front of her and he could tell by the way she held herself that she wasn’t comfortable. The attorney took a pad of paper out of his pocket and made some notes and nodded every now and then.

  Finally, the attorney took his coat off the hook and headed out the back door with Lark following. Charlie left Gran and Zack and walked to the door to look out the window. He saw Lark still talking and periodically stop to let the other guy put in a word.

  The man put his hand on hers, said something and then got into his car. Lark turned to the house and hugged her chest.

  Charlie opened the door for her and she walked directly into his arms.

  “Brrr, it’s cold out there. I should have put on a coat.” She moved in closer.

  He wrapped his arms around her tight. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah.” She looked up at him. “Ryan’s going to call the district attorney in Denver and an attorney here in Canon City who has more experience with this kind of case.”

  “Your guy can’t handle it?”

  “He specializes in business law. He admitted this was out of his realm of practice, which is pretty humble for an attorney. They can have pretty big egos sometimes.”

  “That’s good that he could admit it.” Charlie saw Gran purse her lips at them. “Sweetheart, Gran just gave me the evil eye. I think we need to go be more sociable.”

  “Damn, I wanted you to screw my lights out right here and now, just like we did last night at the truck stop, but, okay. I’ll behave.”

  They laughed and walked back into the living room.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Friday, the day of the big dance, finally arrived. The weather remained calm since the storm on Wednesday and it warmed up to thirty degrees. The news programs from Denver were all excited since the area of Pueblo and Canon City got way above their yearly average of snow.

  Lark heard several times at the warehouse that people hadn’t seen such a storm since 1982, but Gran said the worst storm she remembered was in March of 1961. That was the year Lark’s father was born and Gran remembered it as a nerve-wracking night, but wouldn’t go into details. Lark threw her hands up and figured they could all discuss the weather at the dance.

  On Friday morning, Ryan called Lark and gave her the name of the female attorney in Denver to talk to about the attack. She left a message for the woman who called her back mid-morning. Lark tried to stay calm, but it felt really difficult to discuss what happened with a total stranger. The attorney said she was pleased Lark decided to come forward about that night. She’d received calls from several other new clients who told similar stories from other nights at the mansion. There were a mountain of complaints about the activities and the district atto
rney was compiling information to build a case. She asked if Lark would come up to Denver after the New Year and give a deposition. Lark agreed immediately and spoke with the woman’s secretary to schedule the appointment.

  The plan for Mile High Bread was to close at three o’clock so the employees could head home and get ready for the evening’s festivities. Although most of the employees were not members of the Methodist Church, it was a community gathering and the doors were open to everyone. Year after year, the dance seemed to get bigger and bigger.

  Lark headed home in a rental car after three o’clock and pulled into the driveway. She needed to get changed and take Gran and her pies over to the church to set up. She noticed Charlie’s truck was not parked in his driveway and wondered where he’d gone off to in the big rig. She decided to wait until after Christmas to tell Gran about the attack six months ago. She didn’t want to spoil her holidays.

  She walked into the house and took her coat and boots off. She saw the pies all boxed up on the kitchen table and could hear Gran’s footsteps on the floor above. She went up the stairs and knocked on Gran’s door. She opened it and peeked in.

  “Hey Gran, I’m home.”

  “Hi sweetheart,” Gran said from the foot of her bed where she sat putting on a pair of pantyhose.

  “Did Charlie say where he was going today?”

  “No. He did say he would meet us at the community center. Lord, I don’t know why I decided to wear a dress.” She continued with the pantyhose struggle. “Slacks would be so much simpler.”

  “Gran, you say that every year and then turn out to be the prettiest woman there.” Lark looked at her watch. “I better get changed.”

  As she walked to her room her cell phone rang. She looked at the incoming call and all it showed was Private number. “Hello?” she answered tentatively.

  “Hey babe. Guess what? I have a cell phone now. I’ve joined the twenty-first century,” Charlie said.

  “That’s great. I’ll have to get the number programmed in. Where are you?”

  “I got a tow company to come and get your car out of the ditch this morning. They took it to the Ford dealership in Pueblo, who will be giving you a call about the damages. I don’t know, Lou, it looked pretty bad on the driver’s side. You may want to think about another car.”

  “Charlie, thank you so much for doing that. If I have to get a new one, so be it. I did like that Bronco though. So, where are you now?”

  “I thought I better find something better than jeans and a flannel shirt to wear to tonight’s shindig. I’ve been all over the place looking for a suit, but can’t settle on anything. I should be at the church by six o’clock, though.”

  “You could just wear your jeans and a flannel shirt, Ducky. There will be others dressed down.”

  “I don’t have a good pair of jeans though; they’re all faded or have holes in places.”

  “Yes, but they do accentuate your assets nicely.”

  Charlie laughed. “You’re teasing me, miss, and you know what happens when I start thinking about your assets and stuff.”

  “Sorry, I’ll behave. See you later.”

  “Bye. Love you.”

  “Love you, too.” She snapped her phone closed and smiled. She held the phone to her lips and thought how much she liked telling Charlie she loved him. It sounded so right.

  She looked into her open closet and sighed. It beckoned her and she walked up to the clothes. The red turtleneck dress she’d bought for this night looked at her and she took it out. She held it under her chin, turned to her full-length mirror and realized she didn’t like it all that much. It came down below her knees and she didn’t want to wear her black suede boots. She threw the dress onto her bed and went through the closet hanger by hanger.

  In a dry cleaner’s bag, at the end she found a dress she hadn’t worn in a couple of years. It was a simple black dress with a scoop neck and lace on the back. It came just above her knee. It was form-fitting and she hoped she could still fit into it. It was sleeveless and she didn’t want to freeze. She found a dark red bolero jacket, also at the end of the closet. It would cover the lace in back and her arms, so she’d be a little warm. If it got too hot she could take it off. She hoped it still fit, too. She pulled a pair of three inch black pumps out and got to work.

  She touched up her make-up and put her hair up in a twist. She decided not to wear a bra, not wanting straps showing through the lace, and put on elastic topped stockings and lace panties. She probably would freeze her butt off, but she rarely felt sexy and wanted Charlie to find her very desirable tonight. She laughed when she thought she would have to tease him about the lace panties.

  She took her long wool coat out of the closet, grabbed her shoes and purse and headed down the stairs to put on her boots.

  “My Lord, if you don’t look snazzy. I thought you bought a new dress for tonight? Are you sure you won’t be too cold?” Gran asked from the kitchen.

  “No, it gets warm in the community center when people start to dance. I’ll probably take the jacket off. And the new dress looks too matronly. I want to turn heads tonight.” She slipped her boots and coat on.

  “I can think of one gentleman who will find you very alluring tonight,” Gran said and laughed.

  “That’s the whole point, Gran. I’ll get the pies in and then we should be ready to go.”

  They loaded the boxes into the trunk of the car and headed out for the church.

  “I miss the Bronco, sweetheart. There was more room,” Gran said.

  “Yeah, I feel like I’m driving with my butt on the road, this one rides so low. Charlie got the Bronco to the dealership in Pueblo. They’re supposed to let me know if it’s fixable.”

  “It may be time to get a new one. Sometimes they never get the damage fixed quite right and they don’t run well again.”

  “That’s what Charlie said.” Lark smiled at her grandmother.

  They got to the community center by five o’clock and started setting up. Lark changed from her boots to her heels and immediately wished she’d left her boots on. Trying to shift tables in three inch pumps was difficult.

  Lark volunteered every year to help with the beer and wine table. After she got Gran situated with her pies, plates and plastic forks spread out, she walked over and greeted the owners of the brewery. They’d upped the prices by a quarter for sales this year, which was fine. All the proceeds made by the tables were donated to the Children’s Auxiliary at the community center. Lark felt good about donating her time.

  As people started to arrive, Lark took every opportunity to look for Charlie. At six-thirty, when she hadn’t seen him, she thought about calling him, but a line of customers formed and there was no time. She kept feeling like she was being watched and would glance around the room, but didn’t think anyone was looking at her.

  Mr. Bicken’s walked up to her side of the beer table and smiled. “I’d like a glass of the wheat brew that you served me last year.”

  “Hey, Mr. B. One glass of hefeweizen coming right up,” she said and started to pour the beer.

  “Is Charlie coming out tonight, Lark? I wanted to let him know that Fox is doing just fine.” He took the beer from her and passed a twenty dollar bill across. “Keep the change, sweetie.”

  “Thank you, Mr. B. Yeah, he’s supposed to be here by now, but I haven’t seen him yet. I’ll have him find you as soon as he arrives. He’ll be glad to hear about Fox. That’s great.” She took another order and Mr. Bicken’s moved over to the table by Gran and his wife.

  The music started at eight o’clock and as people began to dance, the lines slowed down and she was able to check on Gran. Most of the pies were devoured and she only had one whole pie and two in pieces left. Lark looked over at Mrs. Bickens cookie table and saw she was getting low on edibles, too. Mrs. Hager’s c
akes and salads were cleaned out.

  Lark started to feel the room warm up, so she slipped her jacket off and held it while she walked over to Gran’s table. She was a little bugged that Charlie hadn’t shown up yet. She wanted to get a dance or two in with him.

  “It looks like you and Mrs. Bickens are going to run out and I think Jay’s mom is done with her cakes and salads. Which one of the pies got eaten up first?” she asked Gran.

  “Oh, the pumpkin went like hotcakes. It’s too bad I only made four. I could have made a killing for the auxiliary.”

  “Gran, have you seen Charlie?” She continued to look around the room and put her jacket on the back of her grandmother’s chair.

  “Yeah, sweetheart. He’s right over there.” Gran pointed and then served a piece of mincemeat pie to a buyer.

  When Gran finished with her customer, Lark took her arm. “I don’t see him, Gran.”

  “He’s right over there, leaning against the wall and talking to Jay Hager. Didn’t you all go to school together?”

  Lark didn’t answer Gran. She scanned along the wall and found Jay. He was talking to some tall man and she continued to look down the wall. Her head snapped back and she looked at the tall man. He stared at her and when Lark realized it was Charlie, air caught in her throat and she almost lost her balance.

  He’d gotten his hair cut to a nice, neat length and combed in a feathery style. She could see his ears. He’d shaved off the five o’clock shadow he always wore. He wore a dark gray jacket with a black turtleneck and dark gray wool slacks. He looked so incredibly handsome; Lark thought she might cry. He smiled at her and she could feel her heart pound in her chest.

  She felt Gran’s hand on her arm and looked at her in total shock.

  “Sweetheart, he’s been standing over there for close to an hour and a half. He hasn’t taken his eyes off you once.” Gran arched her eyebrow.

  “What?” Lark looked back and he wasn’t there anymore. “Where...he...I...where’d he go?” she stuttered and looked around the room for him again.