The Nearness of You

by Dorothy Garlock

  Boone had admitted as much himself. He was only here to be punished.

  “I bet you can’t wait to leave,” she said with resignation.

  “Truth is, that’s exactly how I felt driving up here,” Boone confessed. “I figured I’d show up, snap a few pictures, let Clive jot a few things down in his notebook, then make tracks just as quick as I could. Heck, I didn’t even bother unpacking what little I brought.” He paused. “That was the plan but then something changed.”

  “What’s that?” Lily asked, wondering if she didn’t already know the answer.

  His eyes found hers. “I met you.”

  If she’d been a couple of years younger or more naive, Lily knew she would have been beyond flattered by Boone’s words. She would probably have blushed, looked away, and then asked him to tell her more. But she wasn’t that innocent. Here he was, a man from the city who’d been around the block more times than he could count, trying to charm her into thinking she was special. As good looking as Boone was, it was probably a con he’d used many times before to some success. Right then, Lily had a flashback to the man she’d bumped into outside the bank, remembering how creepily he had come on to her. Maybe he and Boone weren’t so different after all.

  Boone’s eyes narrowed. He leaned forward and crossed his arms on the diner table. “I bet I know what’s swimming around in your head right now,” he told her. “I reckon you think I’m a wolf on the prowl, that I saw myself a pretty girl and decided to make a play for her.”

  Lily shook her head in denial, even though he was absolutely correct. “I wasn’t thinking that,” she lied.

  “Sure you were. It’s written all over your face.”

  This time, Lily didn’t argue. Maybe it was plain to see.

  “Let me tell you something,” Boone continued. “I may have been all over the world, and yes, I’ve met dozens, heck, hundreds of good-looking gals, but I’ve never been as captivated by any of them as I am by you.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh, unable to fully believe him.

  “It’s true,” he insisted, his tone a bit forceful.

  “Why me?” she asked, staring hard into his eyes, needing him to answer truthfully. “What about me could be that interesting?”

  Boone again leaned back. “Honestly, I don’t know,” he answered. “Maybe it’s the sound of your voice or the curve of your smile. Or maybe it’s just the way things were meant to be. In the end, what does it matter? All I know is that I want to spend as much time with you as I can, to get to know you as well as you’ll let me. So what do you say? Am I worth taking a chance?”

  For all the reservations Lily had just felt, she found herself wanting to say yes. Boone Tatum was unlike any man she’d ever met; he was about as different as possible from those she knew in Hooper’s Crossing. Even though they had only spent a short time together, she’d had a good time. He made her smile, to say nothing of the fact that he was as handsome as could be. Besides, he’d only be around for a couple more days. What could it hurt to have some fun? And after everything with Garrett, Jane, her father, and even Ethel, maybe she deserved a distraction.

  “All right,” she said with a smile.

  But before Boone could respond, the waitress brought their food and the two of them began to eat. Small talk filled their conversation.

  Still, Lily couldn’t help but feel excited.

  She could only wonder what the next couple of days might bring.

  Garrett Doyle tipped his policeman’s cap at a group of older women as they walked by on the sidewalk, then leaned back against the hood of his squad car. Working the festival could be plenty tiring, with long days and longer nights, but he liked being out among the public in uniform. Serving as a policeman entrusted him with authority, a responsibility he took seriously. It was his job to uphold the law, and he’d done plenty of that just that morning. He’d already issued two speeding tickets, helped Arlene Watts round up her stray dog, settled a dispute between Tom Gregor and Joel Hargrove about where one festival booth ended and the other began, and arrested two middle-aged men from Maine who’d spent the whole night drinking, which might explain why a simple disagreement over the best way to cook eggs had ended in a bloody brawl. All before noon.

  But the whole time, Garrett had been distracted, his mind elsewhere.

  He couldn’t stop thinking about Lily.

  So what else is new?

  The last time they’d been together, when Garrett had driven Lily home from the library, she’d asked him a fateful question.

  “Are…are you asking me on a date…?”

  Garrett’s heart had raced faster than the pistons in his squad car’s engine. Right then and there, he hadn’t had a clue how to answer. Was she asking in an I’ve been waiting my whole life for you to notice me! sort of way? Or was it more of a You can’t be serious! type of thing? Having no way of knowing for certain, Garrett had chosen not to risk it. At a time when he had needed to open the door to his heart and tell the truth, he’d instead been a coward and closed it.

  But maybe all hope wasn’t lost, at least not yet.

  In two days’ time, the festival’s dance would be held. A parquet floor would be installed in the middle of the park. Strings of white lights would be hung above it with tables for refreshments off to the side. Couples young and old would dance to live music, enjoying a night under the stars before the weather turned too cold. And if he could just find the nerve to ask her, he and Lily would be there. Garrett could see it now plain as day, the two of them, their arms wrapped around each other, moving under the lights and stars. Maybe, if things went as he hoped, they’d even share their first kiss. Other people would look at them and smile approvingly. After all, they were the perfect couple, if only Lily would open her eyes and see it.

  She was the smartest, kindest woman he’d ever known. She was the prettiest, too. On top of all that, she was also—

  —coming out of the diner and headed right toward me!

  For a second, Garrett’s spirits soared. He stepped away from his squad car thinking that this was the perfect chance to talk to her, to make up for the awkwardness of their previous conversation, maybe even to bring up the dance. But just as soon as his heart leaped like a rocket, it then sank like a stone.

  Lily wasn’t alone. A man was with her, someone Garrett didn’t recognize.

  Unlike in the car when Garrett had opted for the safer choice, he now started walking straight toward Lily and her companion. Quickly.

  Garrett was only a couple of feet from the pair and Lily still hadn’t noticed him. Her head was turned toward the stranger, laughing at something he said; seeing it sent a jolt of jealousy coursing through him.

  “Hey, Lily,” he said, announcing himself.

  She quickly looked at him, her eyes widening with surprise. “Garrett!” she exclaimed. “I…I didn’t see you coming…” Noticing how his attention kept darting toward the man at her side, Lily introduced them.

  “Nice to meet you,” Boone said warmly enough, extending his hand.

  Garrett took it, squeezing a little harder than his usual greeting. “Sure,” was all he offered in return.

  “Boone’s a photographer for Life magazine,” Lily explained, sounding far more impressed by that fact than Garrett would have liked. “He’s here to take pictures for an article about the festival.”

  “Is that right?” Garrett said, not in the least bit impressed. “Then maybe he should go and talk to your dad. I’d imagine that the mayor would have lots to say, enough to fill an article in no time flat.” He offered this suggestion not to be helpful but rather in the hopes that the guy would get lost.

  “Way ahead of you,” the photographer replied with a smile Garrett found himself wanting to punch. “I spoke with him yesterday. Well, actually I didn’t do much talking. My partner, either, for that matter,” he added with a chuckle. “It’s hard to get a word in edgewise once Morris works up a head of steam.”

  “Garrett knows e
xactly what you’re talking about,” Lily said.

  “Yeah? The two of you go way back, I take it?”

  Listening to them talk, Garrett considered jumping into their conversation to explain his relationship with Lily to the photographer; he wanted the slick out-of-towner to know that he’d always been there for her, through the good times and the bad, and that no one would ever be closer, to either of them.

  But before he could open his mouth, Lily reached over and squeezed his arm, silencing the thought. “Garrett grew up across the street from me,” she said as pleasantly as could be. “He still lives there, as a matter of fact. He’s family.”

  That old uneasy feeling welled up again in Garrett’s gut. He knew that she’d meant well, but Lily’s words weren’t quite what he had wanted to hear. “That’s right,” he agreed anyway, unable to contradict her.

  “And a police officer, to boot,” Boone added, as if he was impressed.

  Yeah, one who threw a couple no-good out-of-towners like you into a jail cell a few hours back. Hell, I bet there’s room in there for one more.

  “For a couple of years now,” Lily said for him, “and about the best in—”

  She was interrupted by someone shouting Garrett’s name. They all turned to see Cliff Turner, covered with a bloody butcher’s smock, hurrying toward them as fast as he could.

  “What’s wrong, Mr. Turner?” Garrett asked.

  “There’s…there’s been an accident…” the butcher managed, pausing to wipe a copious amount of sweat from his brow with a handkerchief. “A truck…backed into a couple of cars on…on Lincoln Avenue…” he explained. “I don’t think anyone’s hurt…but tempers are gonna…are gonna flare if someone…”

  “I’ll take care of it,” Garrett said, patting the man’s shoulder, not needing to hear the rest. Turning to Lily, he added, “I’ve got to go.”

  “It’s time for me to get back to the library anyway,” she replied. “No need in making Ethel any angrier at me than she already is.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Boone said.

  “I’ll talk to you later,” Lily added, then the two of them walked away.

  Garrett watched them go for a moment, even though he knew he should be hurrying to the accident.

  He didn’t like what he was seeing. Not one bit.

  Lily and Boone left Garrett and began walking back to the library. They took the long way since Lily was in no hurry to get back, skirting the park and looking at the festival. They talked and laughed, enjoying the sunshine as well as each other’s company. Lily was surprised by how comfortable she felt around Boone; it was as if she’d known the handsome photographer for years, instead of just a couple of days.

  “Garrett seems like a good guy,” Boone said when they’d reached the far end of the park.

  “He is,” Lily agreed, though she thought that her friend had seemed overprotective, what with the way he kept sizing up Boone.

  “How long did you say you’ve known him?”

  “For as long as I can remember, really. He moved in across the street when I was little and we’ve been close ever since.”

  “He’s probably been planning your wedding for ten of those years,” Boone said, then chuckled at his own joke.

  But Lily frowned. She knew he had only been trying to be funny, but with the recent strangeness between her and Garrett, there was nothing to laugh about. Boone noticed.

  “Hey, I’m sorry,” he said, stopping beneath the dappled shade of a nearly leafless maple tree. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “It’s all right,” she replied, trying to blow the whole thing off.

  “No, it isn’t,” Boone insisted. “You know, one of the bad things about traveling all over the world is that you pick up lots of bad habits. While something might be funny in one place, it isn’t somewhere else,” he explained. “Occasionally, the things that fall out of my mouth would have been better off staying inside. This is one of those times.”

  Lily smiled. “Apology accepted,” she said, and meant it.

  Boone tenderly took her hand. “Let me make it up to you,” he said, then pointed across the street to the Grand Theater; the movie marquee advertised High Noon starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly. “How about I take you to see a picture tonight? Come on, what do you say?”

  She searched his face, unsure of how to respond. “I…I don’t know…”

  The smile that he flashed was completely disarming, wiping away any reluctance Lily felt and causing her heart to beat a little faster. “Don’t think about it too much,” he said. “We’re supposed to be having some fun, remember?”

  “All right, then,” she answered with a smile of her own. “Although that means you’ll have to come to my house to pick me up.”

  “No problem,” he said confidently.

  “You say that now, but that means you’ll have to talk to my father.”

  Boone shrugged. “So? I’ve already met him.”

  “But that was when you were taking his picture for Life magazine,” Lily explained. “That’s a far cry from taking his daughter out on a date.”

  The photographer’s smile faltered, if only a bit. “Hmmm,” he mused. “Well, then I guess it’s like my grandfather used to say, forewarned is forearmed. As long as he doesn’t meet me at the door with a shotgun.”

  “No guarantees,” she teased.

  “To spend more time with you,” he said, stepping closer and looking down into her eyes, “it would be worth it.”

  Lily imagined what would come next: Boone’s hand would touch her waist, pulling her closer until their bodies touched; he would lean down, tilting his head slightly; she would watch him come nearer and nearer, closing her eyes at the last second, right before their lips touched, a first kiss begun.

  But none of those things happened.

  Instead, Boone gave her hand a soft squeeze, let go, and stepped back. “I’ll pick you up at six,” he said with a smile, then walked off. Lily watched him go, both unwilling and unable to move. She knew that Boone had behaved like a gentleman, that he thought kissing her now would’ve been too bold, but a part of her was disappointed. She wouldn’t have turned down his advances. She would’ve enjoyed a kiss. Apparently, all of that would have to wait.

  For now, at least.

  Chapter Thirteen

  YOU’RE GOING WHERE with whom?”

  Lily looked across the table at her father and found him wearing an odd expression of both surprise and suspicion. Morris had arrived late for dinner, his mayoral duties keeping him at the festival longer than expected, and had just sat down to eat when she’d told him her plans for the evening. Instead of answering the question right away, Lily put down her fork, daubed her napkin against her mouth, and steadied herself, hoping to avoid an argument.

  “I’m going to the movies tonight with Boone Tatum,” she repeated.

  “Tatum, Tatum…” Morris said as he wadded up his own napkin, his appetite apparently ruined. “Why does that name sound familiar?”

  “He works for Life magazine,” Lily explained. “You met with him yesterday in your office.”

  “The quiet one who spent the whole time scribbling in his notebook?”

  “No, Boone was the photographer.”

  And he’s really, really handsome, she left unsaid.

  Lily wouldn’t have thought it possible, but when her father realized who she was talking about, his expression grew cloudier than the early-evening sky outside their window. “When in heaven’s name did you meet him?”

  “Yesterday on the street. I accidentally bumped into him and then we started—”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Morris said dismissively. “You’re not going anywhere with that man,” he declared as if the matter had been settled, then retrieved his fork and turned his attention back to his plate.

  “And why not?” Lily asked, her ire rising; she may not have wanted to argue with her father, but she wasn’t going to allow herself to be walked on, either.
<
br />   “Because you don’t know the first thing about him,” Morris replied between bites. “I didn’t like the look of him. He seemed like a rotten apple.”

  “Well, he’s not,” Lily countered, “and I know plenty about Boone. For one thing, he lives in New York City but his job takes him all over the world. I know that he has a dog and that the reason he’s here in town is because—”

  “But you don’t have a clue what sort of man he is,” her father interrupted.

  “He was the perfect gentlemen this afternoon during lunch.”

  Lily’s revelation stopped her father’s fork short of his mouth. “Wait…what now…?” he sputtered. “You had lunch with him?”

  “So what if I did?” she replied, her voice rising.

  “All I’m saying is that you shouldn’t—”

  “I understand exactly what you’re saying,” she said, cutting him off, both unable and unwilling to hold back her frustration. “You don’t think I can make my own decisions, but you’re wrong. I can spend time with who I want, when I want. I’m not a child anymore and its long past time you realized that.”

  Usually, such harsh words would have precipitated a huge argument between them. Morris would insist that he was only looking out for his daughter’s best interests, while Lily would complain that he was being overprotective. Most times, Lily’s anger would eventually wither under her father’s relentless pressure and she would reluctantly agree to a compromise she wasn’t particularly happy with. Things would be better for a week or so before the cycle started over again.

  But not this time.

  Morris stared at her for a long while, then sighed deeply. “I am painfully aware of that, sweetheart,” he finally said. “It’s just that, well, ever since your mother died, I’ve…I just…” Morris managed before falling silent. For Lily, it was an uncommon sight. Her father always talked a mile a minute, rarely letting others get a word in. The only thing capable of rendering him speechless was to think about the loss of his beloved wife. “I just want you to be happy.”