by Robin Bayne
“Oh.” Tia shaded her eyes and glanced back toward the trailer. “Did she tell you to bring us a boat, too?”
“No, that was my idea. It’s been sitting in dry dock a while, thought maybe someone should get some use out of it. Your guests will expect it this summer, and...”
“And what?”
Jake squatted and ripped a large ugly weed from the ground. “Did you know Colt pushed for me to get his job when he came here full time?”
“No, I didn’t. But he did mention you’d earned it.”
“Well, he did. My father was all set to give the job to someone else, anyone but his son, the slacker.”
Tia looked down and then knelt beside him. “Really? But you’d been training for that job forever.”
“Don’t I know it. But my father didn’t seem to realize that, didn’t seem to notice I’d finally grown up, but Colt saw it. Colt made me grow up. And thanks to him, I’m in charge now. So it’s the least I can do, I figure, to return the favor.”
“How so?”
Jake stood then, grabbed Tia’s hand and pulled her upright. They stood face to face, and Tia couldn’t help but notice even his facial features had matured over the past few months.
“There’s only one thing keeping Colt from really enjoying this place.”
“Besides me, you mean?”
Chuckling, Jake shaded his eyes with one hand. “He loves you. I knew that even when he didn’t. But I’m talking about the lake. The water.” He looked around the area and abruptly dropped Tia’s hands. “Speak of the devil. Colt’s back and watching us.”
Shading her eyes again, Tia swung around and saw Colt leaning against Jake’s truck, arms crossed. He wasn’t smiling.
“What do you think has him more bugged, you and me holding hands, or the fact that Tim’s getting ready to launch a boat in his lake?”
She flashed him a smile. “Let’s go find out.”
~*~
Colt watched them approach, but didn’t see any guilty or sheepish expressions on their faces. They looked amused. So, more than likely, they had been talking about him.
Jake was probably worried Colt would bust his chops for the boat and pier, so he’d have to surprise them by thanking him. Keep his old friend off balance.
Tires crunched gravel as the truck backed up, pushing the little trailer down a ramp into the lake. Jake’s brother, Tim, jumped out and released the boat, and two men Colt didn’t recognize pushed the craft backward, into the water. The boat was relatively small, about the same size as the one Colt had spent a year replicating in miniature. It swished as it made entry, and then Tim paddled it to the pier--the new and improved pier.
Another guy drove the truck back up the ramp, onto the lane that led to the field.
Colt wondered absently why the lane had been kept open all these years. Not that it mattered. He’d never get back those years.
“Hi,” Tia said, approaching with her flip-flops dangling from one hand.
Jake stopped to talk to one of his helpers.
“Hey.” She still had the cutest bare feet. “You’re not, um, furious or anything?”
“Because of Jake’s boat?”
She nodded.
Colt rubbed his chin. “Nah. We had to fix this place up sooner or later. If guests come down to the stable, they walk by the lake. It needed to be done. Just don’t expect me to go out on that rusty bucket of nails.”
“Deal.”
~*~
Tia opened the door to room six and peeked in, not sure why she was being quiet since the room was vacant right now. The bed sat as it had since she was nine years old, centered on a Chinese rug, but the spread was an updated royal yellow. The walls were still painted a sunny lemon, and she’d recently replaced the drapes with fresh, striped ones. The window remained as it always had, its generously padded seat a place of comfort she had used for reading, for looking out the bowed panes toward the woods. With the windows cranked slightly open, she’d smell the forest and hear the occasional crush of gravel in the drive.
Crossing to the maple dresser, Tia brushed her hands across the cool surface. This was where she’d been standing when she’d first confessed her feelings for Colt. A lovely girl named Kim or Kelly, something like that, had stood beside her applying makeup for a party in town. Kim had told Tia she was in love, and Tia had talked about Colt, and recounted how she’d first painted her nails at this very dresser, proving it by pointing out the marred spot where she’d first spilled polish remover.
She’d never tapped her nails back then. Tia smiled now, remembering the day she’d painted her nails alternating shades of red, white, and blue for the July Fourth picnic. Her toes, too. Colt had teased her without mercy, but Tia had gotten even with him, sneaking into his room, now room three, and painting his toenails fire-engine red while he slept, oblivious. Did he even remember that now?
“Hey, anybody here?” A man’s voice called from the foyer, snapping Tia from her pleasant memories. “I got a delivery.”
~*~
Wednesday afternoon, Tia’s nails rested quietly on the counter as she waited for Jody to finish with her client. The air in the small beauty shop reeked of polish and the remnants of Mrs. McMurphy’s annual perm. Though it made a valiant effort, the small electric fan propped in the corner couldn’t ventilate the place.
“I’ll be right with you, Tia,” Jody called, still buffing a young brunette’s newly attached acrylic nails. The manicurist’s silver earrings, large as half dollars, bobbed and swayed with her movements. Aside from the earrings, Jody was dressed conservatively in a navy suit. She nodded toward Tia’s hands and did a visual exam when Tia obediently lifted them. “Hey, you’re finally outgrowing that nasty habit. They look a little better. Pick out a color while you wait.”
Scanning the shelves dotted with bright, intense bottles of color, Tia thought about the shade she’d like for this weekend. A pale pink would be professional, not gaudy, but Colt liked deep reds.
Colt. Why was she concerned with what he’d want? And why did she imagine she heard his voice, even now, in the lady’s beauty shop?
Creaking saloon-style doors flapped in Tia’s side vision, and the large size of the woman exiting the hair salon made her turn. But it was no woman. It was Colt.
Colt with short hair! His dark locks cut drastically, returning him almost to the appearance he’d had as a younger man, a man she’d loved, the hair she’d run her fingers through...before.
“Tia,” he said, nodding, his cheeks stained the shade of the bottle Tia now held. Blush pink. Was he embarrassed to be caught in the beauty parlor, or embarrassed by his newly cut hair?
Hiding her smile, she returned his greeting, and put the pink color back on the shelf. Instead she plucked a bottle of burgundy polish called “Wild Cherry Fantasia” and rolled it between her fingers. “Barber shop still closed?”
“Yeah. Old Ed’s in Michigan while his daughter’s getting used to a newborn.”
Jody appeared behind Tia. “All set?” Looking at Colt, Jody reached up and ran her fingers through his shorn locks, then brushed a few loose pieces from his shoulders. “Well, Colton Reece, if you don’t look a whole lot handsomer with this length the way it used to be. Welcome back.”
The air grew thicker and Tia bristled at the easy way Jody touched
Colt paid his bill, and the other women watch him as well. They were ogling.
“Tia,” he said, whispering in her ear as he headed for the glass door, “I figured I’d look more clean-cut for your catering job this weekend, so I decided to get it trimmed.” He tilted his head toward her hands. He didn’t mention that Tia had always preferred it short.
“Don’t feel like you have to get a dark color for my sake. Go pink. Or clear. The people paying for the wedding will respect that. And you never know, maybe I’ll get to see you in”—he paused, took the bottle from her and read the label. A grin spread over his face—“in Wild Cherry Fantasia another time.”
~*~
Shorter hair was cooler, Colt had to admit. He’d neglected that particular memory of how much better it felt without that hair sticking to the back of his neck. Any memory, whether he used its lesson or not, was important, and made Colt feel whole again. Normal.
In the garage, he put a small knife to the block of wood he’d found, gently nicking away at its surface. A few more layers and he’d find what was underneath; with skill, this one would become a bird.
A cardinal to be exact, one to fit the inn’s sign—just having the crane figure out there looked neglected, pathetic, dumb; there were two partners running the inn, and by presenting Tia with the missing cardinal, he hoped to solidify another type of relationship. While it seemed like a personal project to him, repairing the sign was actually for the inn’s benefit. She couldn’t argue about that.
“Colt?”
He tossed the sketch he’d made under a bag as Tia came through the side door. He hadn’t seen her since he left her at the beauty shop that afternoon, holding that nail polish.
Smiling as she approached, Tia put her hands on her hips. “Colton Reece, what is that evil grin for?”
“Let me see your hands.”
Tia displayed them like a hand model. “Shell pink. What do you think?”
She didn’t want to know what he really thought, so he set aside his tools. “I think there’s a time and place for everything, every situation. For a wedding, pink sounds right.”
“Is that from your extensive repertoire of experience in the fashion industry?” Tia moved to one of the shelves holding his sloops.
“It is.” He chuckled.
“Well, we might have to find you a hobby.” Reaching up, she turned the little boats this way and that. “Or get you enrolled in that wiring class.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He wondered what she really wanted. “Did you need me to bring out the telescope again? Supposed to be a full moon.”
She whirled on him then, looking down to meet his gaze. “Colt?”
She stepped closer and he propped one foot on an old milk crate, suddenly feeling unsteady.
Tia licked her lips.
Oh, man. If she kept that up, he wouldn’t be able to keep their partnership very platonic. “Yeah?” He stared into her eyes, neither of them blinking. His heart pounded; it really looked like she wanted to kiss him.
She stepped even closer and took his hand.
The only sounds he heard were from the crickets outside, and the telltale beating of his pulse. He figured she could hear it, too. He’d fail a stress test right now.
She was killing him. Closing his eyes, Colt drew a deep breath and acknowledged he must be crazy. Certifiable. She was going to kiss him, her eyes had fluttered, and he smelled a flowery scent of shampoo or something girly. Beneath shut lids he imagined what she looked like, imagined her as nervous as he.
Her hand lit on his chest and he smelled her closer, not just the shampoo but something stronger, like insect repellant. That made sense, and he dwelled on that thought to keep himself cool headed. His free hand reached for hers, and she took it. He squeezed lightly to reassure her. With warm pressure, he moved their joined hands down to his shoulder, stroking her palm, gently cupping its softness.
Long moments passed, at least long cricket chirps passed, before he opened his eyes.
She stood watching him, her eyes wide.
“Tia?” He touched a finger to her chin.
She cleared her throat, shook her head a little, and slowly came back to life. Was she scared of him?
“Um, Colt? I was wondering...I actually was wondering if you could set up the telescope again, by the pool? I’ll see you out there a little later.” She scurried away like a mouse he’d spotted earlier.
What happened? Colt brushed a hand over his face and rubbed around the jaw line, then reached back to cup his neck. He had really thought she was coming around. That she’d wanted to kiss him.
Man, did he read that one wrong.
~*~
Mentally, Tia’s heels left huge prints on her own butt. Chicken! Worse, Colt thought she was insane. And maybe she was. He must. She would if their situations were reversed. Not only had she failed at Liz’s dare, but she also managed to look like an indecisive idiot in the process.
Mentally, she mimicked herself. Colt, we have to keep our personal lives to ourselves. Colt, we can only be business partners. Sheesh.
Tia moved to the cabinet for her mixing bowls. She’d make an angel food cake. It would feel good to hand beat those egg whites with a lot of force.
She pictured Colt standing there, eyes closed, head back, lips nearly puckered. His chest had pushed out, unconsciously, all muscles and firmness. He’d taken her hand. And what had she done? Asked about the telescope.
Liz would get such a kick out of that one; then she’d kick Tia’s butt.
~*~
Friday morning, Tia sat at the dining room table and sipped her coffee, listing the things she needed to do to get the room ready. In case of a summer storm, she might have to move the wedding party in here, at least temporarily. A good dusting, along with a polishing of the silver pieces on that one shelf, and cleaning of the large, round Federal style mirror should do the trick.
Already she felt the temperature climbing in the house. Despite her swim earlier, the coffee heated Tia up. Or maybe it was the image in her mind of how silly she must have looked to Colt last night. Maybe that warmed her cheeks now.
It was all Liz’s fault.
“Tia!” Jake’s voice called from the back door. “Got your tables and chairs!”
She went to meet him. “Great. Coffee?”
“Yeah, thanks, black.” Jake dropped a piece of paper on the counter. “So you bought all this stuff instead of renting, huh?”
Tia nodded, filling a stoneware mug. “It makes sense, since I’ll need them over and over. And I can store them in the old carriage house for now. Would Tim mind helping me stow them there after the reception?”
He sipped noisily and winked. “He said something about a hot date Saturday night. How about Sunday morning?”
“OK. I’d appreciate it.” She finished her own coffee and put the mug in the sink.
“Where’s your old man?” Jake looked around. “And your friend?”
She smiled at his attempt to be subtle. “Liz will be here this afternoon. And Colt’s outside working on something. I don’t know what.”
“That’s because it’s a surprise.” Colt came through the sliding glass door.
Tia couldn’t help but notice the way his arms moved under his T-shirt, reminding her she could have touched him last night.
“And it’s not even my birthday,” Jake quipped.
Tia and Colt said nothing.
From the corner of her eye, Tia saw Jake take one last swill and take his cup to the sink. When neither she nor Colt spoke, he mumbled something and went outside.
“About last night,” she said, breaking the tension.
10
“Don’t worry about it. Let’s take a walk.” Colt moved to the counter, grabbed a cup hanging on a wood peg and poured the remaining coffee. He flicked the pot’s switch off, and then drank quickly. Not waiting for Tia to agree, he set his cup aside and headed for the door. “C’mon,” he said, beckoning, trying to wiggle his eyebrows to relax her.
It seemed to him that Tia took baby steps to cross the room. She slid through the patio doors sideways, and he felt a spark when her hips brushed his hand. Colt stiffened, pulling back his shoulders, and followed her outside. Was the day so hot already or had Tia caused the sensation?
They took in the grounds, so manicured now, the fences repaired, the pier repaired, the stable secure and alive with animals, wide fields for them to roam. This was his dream. At least, part of it.
Tia lagged behind, pulled off her sandals, letting her bare feet swish through the grass. “Anywhere special you want to walk?”
“Everywhere. Everywhere I−we−ow
n. I want to look at all we’ve done here and think about what else we can do. I keep thinking how I almost gave this all up, almost let someone else buy it out from under me.” He shook his head, his chest burning a little at that thought.
Tia touched his arm. “That would have been me.” Her voice was soft. “And if you’d changed your mind later, after the sale...”
Colt stopped walking, but stared dead ahead. “What would you have done, if I hadn’t shown up?” He gazed skyward, sending up a prayer of thanks that that had not been the case. Shoving both hands in his jeans pockets, he closed his eyes, breathing in the sweet smell of summer flowers tinged slightly with horse manure. “Or if I had regained my memory too late? What if I had come knocking at your door after the ink was dry, and The Crane and Cardinal was yours?” The answer shouldn’t be important, but it was. He held his breath.
She started walking again, and he followed. “Well, at first I might have told you ‘tough,’ all things considered, but I think eventually would have reconsidered.”
“Like you’re reconsidering other things now?” Like a relationship with him? The sun beat down on them as they neared the carriage house, and Colt shaded his eyes to look up at it. Solar heat was the only thing warming his soul as he waited for her reply.
Tia touched the wood door lovingly, as if she enjoyed the feel of solid wood. “I’m so glad we can fix this place up.” She looked everywhere but at him.
“Tia,” he said, quietly, standing firm, arms crossed now in front of his chest.
“You know,” she said, “we can probably even rent the loft after it’s fixed up. A little extra income sound good, partner?”
She was trying to change the subject. And he was absolutely sure she didn’t expect George to be the potential tenant. She assessed the building.
‘You’ve been working on this place.”
“You noticed.”
“Colt−”
“Tia−”
“You didn’t answer my question.” He stopped her pacing and slipped an arm around her shoulders.
She looked up at him, eyes wide, and then smiled.
