A Family to Cherish

by Ruth Logan Herne

  “You ran scared, Mere.” Heather shrugged. “You hated your life here. Everyone knew that.”

  “I was young, but that doesn’t excuse rudeness.” Meredith stood and held Heather’s gaze. “Whatever way this goes, I want you to know I’m real happy to be back. To see you.”

  “What’s Cam’s time frame on the work?”

  Meredith smiled inside. Heather hadn’t reacted to her news about Cam, but obviously she wasn’t oblivious to the working arrangement. “July.”

  Heather angled her head. “That gives us three months.” She raised her eyes to the salon room behind Meredith. “Come work here for the next few months. See if we can stand each other.”

  The offer was half humor, half challenge, but it made perfect sense. Meredith grinned. “Three days a week. That’ll give me time to help with the changes at the spa. And if you’re game, we can offer a hint of spa services. Get people in the proper mindset.”

  “I like it.”

  “Me, too.”

  Heather gripped her hand. “I’ll see you tomorrow.

  8:00 a.m.”

  “Then you can help me paint in the evenings,” Meredith added. “Bring Rory along. Cam’s girls will be there when he’s not running around.”

  Heather nodded. “And Rory’s got Irish dancing lessons two nights a week, but it’s just down the road so that’s an easy drop-off and pickup.”

  Her words shifted bad memories to good ones. Step-toe practice. Rounds. Reels. Fun mop-of-curls wigs that she hadn’t needed. Heather did.

  “Feis weekends.”

  “Crazy fun.” Heather’s grin said she remembered them well. “But hard work, too. Although it kept me in shape.”

  Irish dancing provided amazing exercise. And strength training. Meredith moved toward the door, then turned back. “We could practice together. Now and again.”

  Heather made a face. “I’d look stupid. And old. Out of breath.”

  “We’d both look goofy, but only for the first few weeks.”

  Heather looked torn. “It’s not like there’s spare time,” she argued.

  “Making time to take care of our bodies is part of God’s plan.” Meredith tilted her head. “It would be fun and we’d feel good. And there’d be no stupid guys around like there are at the gyms.”

  “One of the very reasons I refuse to go there.” Heather bit her cheek, then shrugged. “I’ve got nothing to lose but some time and twenty pounds that’s on an upward trend.”

  “It’s a deal.” Mere grinned and opened the door. “I’ll see you first thing in the morning….”

  “And that will raise a few eyebrows.”

  Mere knew that. “And then you head over to the spa tomorrow night. We’ll paint and dance.”

  A soft brightness seemed to lighten Heather’s step. Ease her gaze. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Meredith walked back to her car, contemplating the interview. She’d taken a big step forward coming home. Assessing the locale. Finding a site, then buying it, but none of it compared with seeking out Heather and offering her a partnership, taking a firm step toward atonement.

  Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us…

  Heather had never done anything ill toward Meredith. Her humble home had been Meredith’s saving grace, a niche of normalcy when chaos reigned in the Brennan family.

  And when Meredith walked away, she’d never looked back, despite years of friendship. Faithfulness. Familiarity.

  She made no attempt to excuse the sin, but she could try to make up for it. Be a better person than the one who’d left fourteen years before.

  Jesus had told the labored, the weary, the uncomforted to come to Him, and He would give them rest. She wished she’d taken that gift to heart years ago, but she’d grown in understanding as wrongs piled up.

  She would begin again, anew, washed clean in the here and now. And it felt wonderful.

  * * *

  “Hello, Earth to Mr. C. Is this the right angle for cutting this corner molding?”

  Wake up, Cam. Put the Senator’s Mansion and the beautiful woman out of mind while working. Easier said than done, and he hadn’t even started the job at Meredith’s yet. Uh-oh.

  “Yes, Josh. That’s perfect.”

  The teen nodded, braced his stance and made the cut, then examined the edge with a piece of fine sandpaper. The whine of power tools mixed with the smell of fresh-sawn wood, eight teens manning various work stations around the nearly complete home. Fine sawdust sprinkled the air. He and his class had rounded third and were heading toward home plate in the final year of a three-year project house off of Route 417. The World War I–style colonial had fallen on hard times when the family departed for a promised job in a Southern state. Left vacant, the home had suffered from lack of care until Cam’s current state grant allowed the school to buy the property. Each day, groups of students were bused over. In a cooperative arrangement, Cam taught them the 1-2-3’s of home repair, starting with basic demolition, then plumbing and electricity, before moving to wallboard. Hole repair. Finishing touches like installing windows and doors. Cabinetry. Life skills the kids would carry with them.

  A movement caught his eye, and then his heart.

  Meredith. Here. Now.

  His eyes frowned from behind safety goggles.

  His heart leaped.

  He was glad Meredith could only see the first reaction. He moved across the living room of the house, pulled off his goggles and scowled. “What are you doing here?”

  She didn’t react to the scowl, which made him deepen it. “Looking for you.”

  “I’m working.”

  “I see that.”

  “You can’t be here.”

  “Wrong-o.” She held up a card from the administrative offices of the school. “As a taxpayer and a school sponsor and someone who is hiring you to work for me, I convinced the principal to give me a pass.”

  The principal, huh?

  Cam would be sure to give Laura Henning a piece of his mind for sending Meredith over here. Of all the lamebrained…

  He sighed, ran a hand through his hair, painfully aware of eight pairs of eyes watching while pretending to work. “Why are you here?”

  “Partially to see your home-makeover project.” Meredith waved a hand around. “I saw the photo spread in the online edition of the newspaper a few weeks back and I wanted to see it in person. This is magnificent, Cam.” Her admiration for the classes’ combined efforts sparked appreciation in the on-site kids’ eyes.

  Cam liked that. Some of the kids in his carpentry and construction classes didn’t get a whole lot of positive reinforcement in their lives. Meredith’s sincere approval uplifted them. He followed her into the kitchen work space, now complete. And beautiful.

  “Wow. This is outstanding. Just…gorgeous,” she finished, as if no other word would quite do.

  She’d nailed the proper reaction to a job well done in a timely and cost-effective manner, two skills he believed in and taught well.

  “Are the kids okay out there alone?”

  He shook his head. “No. Which is why Laura shouldn’t have sent you over. I’ve got to monitor them or nothing gets done.”

  “Sorry.” She frowned, penitent, then moved his way. “I actually needed to ask you a couple of things and visiting your school project was a good excuse for that.”

  Cam withdrew his phone from a hip pocket and held it aloft. “See this? Great invention. Less intrusive.”

  “Do you answer it during the day?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Then my way’s better. I was filling out the paperwork for the zoning board’s approval.”

  “Which means a vote,” Cam interrupted. He frowned again. “I thought you had approvals all
set?”

  She shook her head. “Preliminaries, not final. But I need a few figures from you before I can submit the full application. I figured if I dropped this off, you might be able to get it done by tonight.”

  “Impossible.”

  She shrugged, accepting. “When you’re able, then. They’re meeting next Tuesday and my zoning petition requesting a change to a multiuse facility needs to be posted in the Post-Herald. They said if I got the paperwork in by tomorrow afternoon, they’d put the notice in this week’s edition and be able to discuss my application at next week’s meeting. Maybe even vote the approval.”

  “On your first attempt?” Cam shifted a brow up. He was too familiar with small-town code. “Don’t count on it. Are you pretty sure they’re going to approve overall?”

  She nodded. “According to them, it’s a simple step up. While the building was used as a residence, it’s zoned commercial so we’ve got the proper zoning. Now we just have to show a parking-to-patron ratio, the upgraded entrances and exits in case of emergency, upgraded electric, etc.”

  He didn’t cover his reaction quickly enough because she stepped back, hands up, apologetic. “Listen, I know you’re working here. I should have waited until tonight and dropped this off at your place, but I know the girls have practice.”

  “The Clarks are picking them up, then dropping them off at the mansion when practice is over. That way my time there isn’t interrupted.”

  “Cam, thank you.” She reached out a hand impulsively, her smile matching the quick move. “I didn’t realize that, I figured you’d be running them around and that I wouldn’t see you. I’ll get out of your way now. Let you get back to work. But this…” she let her gaze roam the beautifully restored old-style kitchen jam-packed with modern amenities “…is just wonderful.”

  “Thank you.” He followed her toward the front, then stopped her retreat with a hand to her arm. “Would you like the kids to show you what they’ve done?”

  Meredith turned, surprised. Eight teens smiled as she redirected her attention their way. “I’d love it. You guys have time?”

  “If the boss says so.”

  Cam hooked a thumb up. “Take her upstairs. Work your way down. I’ll set up for tomorrow.”

  Meredith didn’t hesitate, despite the high heels. High heels that showed off sweet ankles. Perfect calves. A skirt that hugged her body as if made for it, and considering Meredith’s penchant for style, it probably had been.

  He should have sighed in disapproval, but he was a normal man and there was nothing wrong with appreciating Meredith Brennan in well-fitted clothes.

  She smelled like springtime, a mix of fresh air, sweet lilac and washed cotton hung on a line. How he’d managed to smell that over eight sweaty kids, power drills and saws, wood shavings and paint, well…

  Obviously whatever she dabbed behind her ears did the job. And then some. He set out trim board for tomorrow’s finishing touches, then moved to the stairs as they trouped back down, the whole group chattering like they’d found a new BFF.

  “Amazing.” She pivoted and stuck her hand out, shaking every kid’s hand, making eye contact with each as she acknowledged them. “I wouldn’t have believed this possible, how classes of students could work magic like this. I’d move into this house in a heartbeat.”

  “Really?”

  “Oh, yes.” She grinned at the girl who’d asked the question. “The bathroom remodel is gorgeous—I’d have plenty of room for all my hair stuff.”

  The girl laughed.

  Cam and the boys groaned as one.

  Meredith tipped Cam a smile that laughed at herself, and he felt his heart flutter once more, a sweet sensation of anticipation. Hope. It was a feeling he’d missed, but why was he feeling it now? With her? Because no way, no how, was he tempting fate by revisiting old mistakes.

  Once burned, twice careful.

  He cringed inside, his mother’s negativity rising up. But he wasn’t a starstruck teen anymore, a kid with open-ended options. He was a father, a teacher, a son, a home owner. He had responsibilities in their small community and he had no intention of forgetting that.

  Although that smile tempted him to do just that. And that smell…

  The kids dispersed back to their work stations. Meredith turned, stuck out her hand to him and clasped his firmly. “I’m sorry to have intruded, but—” she tipped her gaze beyond him to the smiling work crew “—I’m glad I did. You should be very proud of what you’re doing here.”

  “I am,” he admitted. What he didn’t admit was how the clasp of her long, soft and sweet fingers in his had made him feel like he should keep them wrapped in his forever.

  Whoa.

  Cam dropped her hand like a hot potato, stepped back and shoved his hands into his back pockets. Tucked away they wouldn’t be nearly so tempted to touch her. Hold her.

  That ship had sailed a long time ago.

  If Meredith suspected his feelings, she gave no sign and he breathed a sigh of relief as she headed out the door.

  One of the boys chuckled and sent him a knowing look.

  Cam scowled, but that just made all the kids add quiet asides, grinning.

  Kids saw too much. But he’d have had to mark them down a grade if they hadn’t noticed the electricity sparking between him and Meredith.

  Worse? Cam enjoyed every minute of it. He contemplated the desk-size calendar mounted on the entry wall, with daily goals marking each square until the end of the term, mid-June.

  Twelve weeks of working with Meredith, day by day.

  He didn’t stand a chance.

  Chapter Six

  “Meredith. How nice. Are you working here now?”

  Meredith drew a breath before she turned.

  Jacqui Crosby.

  Jacqui’s family lived opposite Claire Dennehy’s home in Jamison. Both women had used the Brennan family as whipping posts back in the day. As if kids were void of hearing and emotion. Or was it petty jealousy because Meredith’s family ran a successful business? Because they had money? Meredith knew firsthand that money offered little comfort to heartbreak. She’d tried to prepare herself for every possible circumstance that might rise up in Heather’s salon. And compared to some of her regular customers along the Chesapeake Bay, Jacqui’s brand of snark was ignorable. Almost.

  Meredith flashed her a broad smile and a quick nod. “Heather took pity on me. Wasn’t that nice of her?”

  Heather rolled her eyes from behind Jacqui and added, “Coffee’s fresh, Jacqui. And I’ve got bottled water, too.”

  “Coffee,” declared the older woman whose roots should have been touched up weeks past. Why did so many bleached blondes find inches of dark-root growth acceptable?

  Money, most likely. Spa procedures and salon upgrades got expensive, so keeping her costs under control was a must. Meredith made a mental note that Allegany County had been roughed up economically until recently. Her prices needed to reflect that.

  “Jacqui’s doing a new growth touch-up and a trim today,” Heather went on as she crossed the room. “Jacqui, how about if Meredith does yours and I’ll take Lisa Grimm’s cut and style when she comes in?”

  “Lisa’s on the schedule?” Meredith widened her smile. “I haven’t seen her since I’ve been back. How’s she doing?”

  “Why don’t you ask her yourself,” Jacqui cut in smoothly, “while you do her hair? She’s a simpler cut and Heather is accustomed to my style. I like my layers just so.”

  Ouch. Well. She’d just been put in her place by the town’s younger version of Claire Dennehy. Great. But since it wasn’t totally unexpected, Meredith let it slide.

  “Sounds good to me.” She turned and lifted a bunch of freshly folded towels. “Heather, do you want this whole pile next to the hair-washing sinks or shall I put s
ome in the cupboard?”

  Heather smiled, winked and nodded toward the small table. “There’s fine. They’re never in the cupboard long enough to stay so.”

  “Which means business is good.” Meredith sent her an approving look and poured a cup of coffee. “And the coffee is delicious, as always. Although this won’t help my caffeine addiction.”

  “And one should always be on the lookout for addictive behaviors.” Jacqui flashed an innocent smile toward Meredith, as if she wasn’t referring to Meredith’s father.

  “Unless it involves coffee or chocolate, I concur.” Meredith met Jacqui’s smile and matched it, determined to maintain an even demeanor. Even if it killed her, because killing Jacqui wasn’t an option.

  “Meredith!”

  Lisa’s welcoming voice broke the standoff. Meredith turned into a really nice hug, a hug she hadn’t known she needed until it happened. She returned the hug, laughing, then stepped back to look at Lisa’s rounded belly. “How exciting! Congratulations!”

  “It’s marvelous.”

  Meredith reached out a hand to touch Lisa’s expectant belly, then drew back. “Oops, sorry. May I?”

  Lisa laughed out loud. “Yes. Everybody wants to touch my belly, it’s the strangest thing.”

  “Baby connection,” Heather added as she mixed the toner and developer for Jacqui’s touch-up. “Babies draw people in. I think it reminds them of old times. Good memories. New life. Will this smell bother you, Lisa?”

  Lisa started to shake her head, but Jacqui jumped in with her typical lack of finesse.

  “I was sick nonstop with Brad.” Jacqui’s know-it-all tone shifted down. “And worse with his brother. So don’t expect your next pregnancy to be problem-free.”

  Meredith was tempted to draw Jacqui’s black plastic coloring cape up over her head, kind of like quieting a bird, but Lisa just leaned in and laughed. “Oh, Jacqui, I would not care. It took three years and some amazing science to get me to this point. I am blessed and I know it, and when those first bouts of morning sickness grabbed me, I welcomed them. My mama says a well-set baby makes its presence known.”