by Merry Farmer
“Let’s check.”
Sure enough, when they peeked through the window into the garage, it was empty.
“I know he didn’t leave town,” Tabby said. “He’s got to be here somewhere.”
Arch shrugged. “We’ll just have to go find him. Downtown is a quick walk from here, isn’t it?”
“It is,” Tabby answered, stepping away from the garage.
Her heart bounced around in her chest as Arch held out his gloved hand for her. For some reason, it felt like more than just an invitation to take a walk and look for her dad. It was an invitation to do something together with him, maybe do a lot of things together with him.
She couldn’t think of a thing to say as they headed down the sidewalk, walking briskly toward the center of town. Her heart thumped rapidly, as though they were on the edge of something bigger than either of them could understand. Instead of talking about that and its implications, she scrambled for something else to say.
“You know, Dad and his partner bought that water tower last year,” she said, nodding toward an old, white-painted water tower about a quarter mile away. It had the Ross and Seaton Law Offices logo painted on the side. There were a few other shiny round patches ringing the tower’s tank as well. If Tabby hadn’t known any better, she would have thought they were portholes, like on a ship.
“They bought a water tower?” Arch marveled at it as they passed, although it was several blocks over.
Tabby shrugged and shook her head. “It sits next to the old train line. I remember him telling me it was built in the 1930s, fixed up in the 60s, but that they stopped using it in the 80s. Apparently, they were going to tear it down, but Dad and Adam bought it, then spent years trying to get it rezoned or something.”
Arch blinked at her. “Rezoned? A water tower?”
“I guess it was for the advertising.”
“Huh.”
They walked on through streets of buildings that were either a hundred years old or specifically designed to look a hundred years old. Everyone seemed to be decorating for New Year’s, and there seemed to be a theme as well. Around every corner they turned and down every street were decorations that looked like they would either be suitable for the original frontier town or for some futuristic, space age settlement. It was a mix that hurt Tabby’s eyes and left her giggling more often than not.
As they got closer to Main Street, Tabby stopped entirely to goggle at a florist’s shop. The sign that read “Clutterbuck’s Flowers and Gifts” was painted in a tasteful, Victorian motif. The display of plants and flowers in the windows had a Victorian feel to them as well, but along with red and white roses were silver rockets and jets, fiber optic light bursts that looked like suspended fireworks, and to top it all off, a jet-powered Conestoga wagon shooting up to the stars hanging from the top of the window.
“Like it?” a young woman said, stepping out of the shop. She had wild, curly blond hair that reached down past her shoulders and a pixyish face. Her bright green eyes made Tabby instantly feel like she wanted to be the woman’s friend.
“Yeah,” Tabby answered. She shifted and crossed her arms. “Well, I mean, it’s a little strange.”
The woman laughed. “I know. But the theme this year is ‘Past Meets Future,’ so that’s what I was going for.”
“I think you definitely got there,” Arch said, amusement in his voice and on his face.
“Oh good.” The woman held out her hand. “I’m Melody Clutterbuck.”
“Arch O’Donnell.” Arch took her hand. “And this is my wife, Tabby.”
“I’m not really—” Tabby stopped herself. It suddenly seemed petty and odd to deny she was Arch’s wife. Not when Melody would have no clue what the whole backstory was.
“We’re newlyweds,” she said instead. Although that sounded weird too.
“Congratulations.” Melody shook her hand, then pulled her into a spontaneous hug. When she pulled back, something caught her eye across the street. “Hey, Casey! These two are newlyweds.”
Tabby twisted to see another woman wrapped in what looked like a men’s vintage wool coat, with red earmuffs, and her long brown hair in a ponytail. She reached up to adjust the ear muffs and said, “What?”
Melody beckoned her to join them. “These two are newlyweds. Arch and Tabby.”
The other woman dashed across the street, though the frown she wore didn’t endear her to Tabby the way Melody’s smile did.
“This is my friend, Casey Flint,” Melody introduced them.
“Hi.” Casey raised a gloved hand, attempting to smile but not doing a good job of it.
“Don’t mind her,” Melody told Tabby conspiratorially. “Casey’s been in a terrible mood since a certain Mr. Scott Norman moved to town.”
“Melody, shut up,” Casey hissed. She immediately tried to make up for it by sending Tabby and Arch an apologetic smile and shaking their hands. “She’s just teasing me because we’re friends. She seems to think that the more I say I can’t stand that guy, the more I actually mean that I like him. I don’t,” she told Melody firmly.
Guilty prickles broke out down Tabby’s back. Where had she heard a story like that before?
“Hey, if you don’t like him, you don’t like him, and everyone should respect that,” she said.
Casey brightened considerably. “See?” she told Melody. “At least someone’s on my side.”
Arch made a noise, but when Tabby pivoted to glare at him for it, he pretended to be studying the architecture.
“Why don’t people believe me when I say that I’m not only not interested in Scott, I don’t like him,” Casey ranted on. “I mean, the guy is a jerk. He bought a chunk of my family’s ranch and says he’s going to build a house on it. That ranch has been in the family for generations. It was part of the original Paradise Ranch. Virginia Piedmont herself gave it to my great-great-great grandfather, Jarvis Flint, when she died. And now Pop thinks he can just parcel it up and sell it off to the first nerd who comes his way, just because ranching is such a challenge these days. Please. I’ve been ranching since I could walk. I can handle things. And who do these space guys think they are anyhow? They’re a menace, that’s what they are.”
“Uh, Casey.” Melody cleared her throat.
Casey’s face suddenly went bright pink. “Oh. Sorry.” She turned to Tabby. “You don’t need to borrow my problems. It’s just that it’s so frustrating when you try to tell people how you feel about someone and they completely ignore you, you know?”
Tabby could have launched into the whole story of her and Arch’s rivalry. She could have taken this woman out for coffee and commiserated with her for hours over how people had pushed her and Arch together. She could have spilled out the whole story of the trick wedding and its aftermath. But then she’d have to admit to the woman that she’d actually enjoyed being with Arch these last few days, and that maybe her friends and family had been just a little bit right. She’d have to admit that to herself too.
Instead, she just said, “Yeah, I do know what you’re talking about.” She then rushed into, “Hey, do either of you happen to know Darren Ross?”
Casey and Melody exchanged a look, then both said, “Yeah, yep.”
“Do you know where he is?” Tabby went on. “He’s my dad, and he’s not at home.”
“Oh! You’re that Tabby!” Melody smiled. “From Culpepper, right?”
“Yes.”
“It’s so great to meet you.”
Casey laughed. “I just saw him on Main Street, helping Sandy Templesmith and Destry Montrose decorate the courthouse.”
“That way?” Arch asked, pointing down the road.
“Yeah. You can take a shortcut by turning left at that intersection and going around by the baseball field,” Casey said.
“We need to find him.” Tabby took Arch’s hand and started walking. “But it was nice to meet you.”
“Okay,” Arch said as they walked on toward Main Street. “Haskell might be an od
d town with an architectural monstrosity in the middle, but its people sure are nice.”
Tabby chuckled. “I was actually thinking of moving here a few years ago.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Dad had just moved here, and he kept singing its praises.”
They rounded the corner that Casey had indicated and kept walking. Ahead of them was a surprising stretch of land without houses—the baseball field. An ornate, old sign above the gateway in a fence that bordered the field declared it to be the home of the Haskell Baseball League, in operation since 1873.
“So, what made you decide to stay in Culpepper?” Arch asked.
Tabby shrugged, hunkering into her coat as the breeze picked up. “Culpepper is home. It’s where I grew up, where I went to school. Mom and Dad’s divorce was completely amicable, after all, and they were both so concerned about keeping me and Sammy happy, so it wasn’t like there were any bad feelings.” She let her voice drop at the end of her sentence. Suddenly, her insides felt itchy and restless. Not only did it feel like they’d been going on a wild goose chase to find their marriage license, it felt like she was dodging and ducking the things she really needed to say. She had to take a chance. “I always knew you would come back to Culpepper.”
Arch’s brow went up, but he didn’t say anything. A grin tugged at the corners of his lips. At last, he glanced sideways at Tabby, his smile growing. “Really? You stayed in Culpepper because you knew I’d come home someday?”
A huge part of Tabby wanted to just admit the truth and get it over with. The rest of her kept holding onto the irrational idea that admitting her feelings for Arch would represent some sort of a defeat. She’d never been so tied up and hesitant in her life.
In the end, she was saved as they approached Haskell’s old courthouse. Her Dad and Adam were right out front hanging up tinsel under a sign welcoming the new year.
“Dad!” Tabby called out, picking up her pace until she reached him.
Her dad perked up and glanced down from his ladder. “Hey, punkin’!”
“Hi, Tabby,” Adam, who was holding the ladder, greeted her.
“Hi.” Tabby waved to Adam, then dove right into things. “Okay, Dad, the gig is up. Arch and I are here for the marriage license.”
Her dad took his sweet time answering. He finished tying the decorations into place with a plastic tie, then leaned back to study it with a hum. Only then did he climb slowly down from the ladder. Once he was on the ground, he gave Tabby a big hug, shook Arch’s hand, then just stood there, grinning.
“What a beautiful sight,” he said, glancing from Tabby to Arch and back again.
Tabby frowned. “Don’t play with me, Dad. We’re here for the license.”
Adam chuckled and picked up where her dad had left off with the decorations. It didn’t bode well.
“Welcome to the family, son,” her dad said to Arch, ignoring Tabby’s demand.
“I’m not so sure that I am part of the family or your son,” Arch said. His expression was strained, as though he was caught between the need to be polite to Tabby’s father and his mounting frustration over the situation they were in. At the last minute, he added, “Am I?”
Tabby’s dad laughed. “Well, that’s really up to you, isn’t it?”
Tabby huffed out a breath. “We don’t have time for this. Sammy and Arch’s brothers and sister tricked us into getting married.”
“The way I heard it,” Adam spoke up from the other side of the ladder, “you said your vows and signed that license legally and without coercion.”
“Not physical coercion,” Arch argued.
Adam merely shrugged and went back to work, chuckling.
“Is it legal, Dad?” Tabby asked, biting her lip. What if it was? What if she and Arch really had bound themselves together for life? Worse still, what if it wasn’t?
“Okay, okay. You’re right. This game should be over. I don’t even know how I got involved in it,” her dad said. He spread his arms in a gesture as if he were giving up. “I have the marriage license. It is a legal document, and it’s in good order.”
“But—”
Her dad held up a hand to stop her. “But it hasn’t been filed yet.”
“Good,” Tabby said, unconvincing.
“We just need to get it and destroy it,” Arch added with equal disappointment.
“Or file it,” her father said.
Tabby remained silent. She didn’t know what she wanted. She glanced up at Arch, but he looked just as perplexed as she did.
“I don’t have the license on me,” her dad went on.
It was something to focus on. “Well, where is it?” Tabby asked.
Her dad grinned. “It’s in the water tower.”
“The…what?” Arch shook his head.
“Oh, hey, you’re an architect, aren’t you?” her dad asked.
“Yes,” Arch answered warily.
“Then you’re really going to want to see it.”
“The water tower?”
“Yep.” Adam dropped what he was doing to join the conversation.
“I had it converted into an office,” Tabby’s father said.
“What?” Arch and Tabby answered at the same time.
“It wasn’t easy,” her dad went on. “Getting the permits alone was a nightmare.”
“I thought those permits were for advertising,” Tabby said.
“That too.” Her dad shrugged. “But most of them were in order to install equipment that would convert it into a livable space. You might say that it’s one of the most unique tiny houses in the country now.”
“You turned a water tower into a tiny house?” Arch asked. There was a light of deep admiration in his eyes. He twisted to glance over the tops of Haskell’s buildings in the direction of the water tower. Its top was just visible above a sea of roofs.
“That’s why I think you’d be very interested in taking a look at it,” Tabby’s dad went on. “Here.” He reached into his pocket and took out his cell phone. A few taps, and he nodded. “There. I’ve unlocked the elevator.”
“It has an elevator?” Arch looked as though he might melt with excitement at the prospect.
“And the marriage license is inside?” Tabby asked.
“Yes and yes,” her dad answered. “The whole thing is state-of-the art. I have the locks, the temperature control, the alarm system, even some of the electronics inside connected to my phone. I can control it all remotely.”
“More and more houses and businesses are doing that these days,” Arch said. “What program did you use to integrate it all?”
Tabby had sudden images of Arch and her dad sitting around for hours, geeking out while they talked about remote climate control and futuristic building methods. She didn’t have time for that.
“We need to worry about that license first,” she said, grabbing Arch’s hand. “So, the place is unlocked now? And the license is there?” she asked her dad.
“It sure is, punkin’. You two hop on over there and get what you need to get. Then why don’t you join us for supper tonight? Adam is making Cajun sea bass.”
“I’d love to have you guys join us,” Adam added.
“Yeah, okay, we’ll think about it.” Tabby started off down the street in the direction they’d come from. “We have to get this marriage taken care of first,” she declared.
At least, they had to find the license first. Once they did, she was no longer certain what they’d do with it.
Chapter 9
Now that he knew what he was looking at when he glanced up at the water tower, Arch could hardly believe his eyes. He’d never seen anything so awesome in all his years of architecture.
“All right, I’ll just say it,” he said as he and Tabby approached the small structure to one side of the tower. “Your dad is the coolest person ever.”
Tabby laughed. “My dad is a total nerd. I’ll never understand why he became a lawyer instead of some gadget guru.”
“Looks like being a gadget guru is his hobby,” Arch answered.
They reached the structure to the side of the tower to find that it was a small elevator. A tiny light beside a call button flashed green. Arch pressed it, and the elevator door slid open.
“Whoa.” He grinned at Tabby, then stepped inside. She followed. It was a tight fit. The elevator wasn’t the sort that was found in hotels or high-rise office buildings. It was just big enough for two people, or maybe one and some groceries. “Seriously, though,” he went on as he pushed the up button on the inside of the tiny elevator car. “The fact that your dad would even think of building this makes him completely awesome in my book. Way cooler than my parents.”
He shouldn’t have added the last bit. Tabby’s broad grin dropped to something a little too sympathetic. Something like the expression she’d worn in his truck when they glossed over the subject of his life during their senior year.
“Were they really that bad?” she asked quietly.
He was spared having to answer when the door slid open again, revealing the inside of the water tower’s tank. Only, it wasn’t a tank anymore.
Tabby’s jaw dropped and her uncomfortable question was forgotten as she stared at the tiny house interior. “I…I don’t even…I can’t imagine…”
They stepped into the room. The only hint that it had been a tank was the fact that it was circular. It had a hardwood floor decorated with a few throw rugs to delineate areas. Arch guessed there were a couple feet of space under the floor that probably contained plumbing, wires, and temperature control. And yes, there was plumbing. One side of the room held a miniscule kitchen complete with a sink, and next to that was what looked like a closet protruding out from the wall. Tabby stepped over to investigate.
“Oh my gosh, there’s a toilet and sink in here, and a showerhead just sticking out of the wall.”
“A wet room.” Arch laughed and ran a hand through his hair. “It’s called a wet room. The whole bathroom is a shower.”
“That’s just weird,” Tabby giggled. “And a little bit brilliant.” She turned a circle, taking in the rest of the room.
