Childhood Dream

by Theresa Paolo

  A wall of heat pressed against Tony’s face, but he refused to let the flames get near that building. That building was Krissy’s pride and joy. It represented everything she was and there was no way some brush fire would take that away from her.

  Sweat dripped down his face, smoke burned his lungs, but he kept on course, praying the extinguisher didn’t run out before the flames died out.

  He continued spraying down the area, hoping for a freak rainstorm to power down on them, but the sky was blue, not a single cloud in sight.

  Krissy ran toward the flames, a hose held out in front of her. Tony’s heart stopped as she got too close for comfort.

  “Krissy, get back!” he yelled.

  Water streamed out of the nozzle and she whipped the hose back and forth, soaking the area and him.

  The flames sizzled, and soon only Tiny wisps of smoke rose into the air.

  He put the extinguisher down and walked over to Krissy, taking the hose out of her shaking hand. Her eyes were wide, and soot covered her cheeks.

  “I don’t understand,” Krissy said. “How does that even happen?”

  He wiped a finger across her cheek, rubbing at the black line dirtying her skin. “It could’ve been anything. Call Reid and report it.”

  “Why? It was just a little fire.” When was she going to stop downplaying everything and realize this was more serious than she’d admit?

  “Your place was vandalized not even a few days ago, and now this. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”

  “You think someone intentionally set this?”

  Pain and fear etched into her eyes and he wanted to take her in his arms and comfort her, but the truth was staring them in the face, and he needed her to take this seriously and stop hiding behind excuses. “Yes, I do.”

  Her eyebrows pulled together above her glasses. “But why?”

  “I have no idea, but a phone call to Reid wouldn’t hurt. Let him write a report just in case.”

  “Wouldn’t we have seen someone?”

  “Not if they came up through the cattails.”

  Her lip quivered, and he reached out to her, pulling her into his arms. Her head landed in her hands, and she inhaled a shaky breath.

  “It’s okay.”

  “It’s not, though.” Her words echoed through the silence of the day. “First the paint and now this. I don’t understand what is happening. Why would someone want to damage this place? A place that does nothing but bring smiles to little kids and adult’s faces?”

  The pain in her voice and face nearly gutted him. He kissed the top of her head, providing her comfort in the only way he knew how. “I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out.”

  Chapter 7

  The day was supposed to be relaxing as she created new flavors, but instead it was exhausting. Krissy was tempted to cancel her portrait session with Tony, but he had not only helped to contain the fire, but stayed with her through another round of Reid’s questioning, and another appearance from Allison Winters, who had a million questions of her own. Luckily, Reid was once again able to run her off without Krissy having to get on camera.

  Reid was in agreement with Tony. The fire seemed suspicious and most likely related to the person who vandalized the building. She didn’t believe in coincidences, no matter how much she wanted these events to be unrelated.

  Frustration sat beneath the surface, but it was the sadness that pushed forward, wrapping around her and making her question what it was that she did to deserve such blatant attacks on her business. Had she been out of the person’s favorite ice cream? Discontinued it? She’d discontinued a few over the years, but only because they weren’t big sellers. She even brought a few back after customers had asked.

  Without her customers, Scoops wouldn’t be the icon it was. She did her best to cater to them, so she couldn’t even imagine it being a customer. But to think it was anyone that she knew… She wasn’t going to think about it right now. She had other problems ahead of her. Like sneaking into Tony’s studio without anyone seeing her.

  He had made sense when he told her it was just a portrait session that they exchanged in a barter, but her feelings for him were complicated and muddying up her common sense. She wasn’t ready to answer any questions people might have, especially when she couldn’t even answer Tony’s honestly.

  If she could, he’d know that the age difference was the least of her worries, and even Ella wasn’t too much of a concern. It went deeper than that, to a place she wasn’t ready to explore. So sneaking into his studio was her only option.

  She hated physical activity. Why walk when she had a perfectly good car? But to park her car outside the Moretti house…she might as well have a spotlight on it. She took her time walking down the street, hoping if anyone noticed her, they wouldn’t think much about it.

  It was ridiculous. She knew that. But small-town life could be a real bitch when trying to be discreet. She didn’t want the world to know she slept with Tony. If word got out, it would be an open invitation for people to interject their comments and opinions, making her have no choice but to dive into that dark place she was avoiding.

  For now, she needed to believe that sleeping together was a one-time thing, and they were just two friends doing favors for each other. Except her body refused to get on board. Her skin heated, and her thighs quivered every time she thought about him. She ignored the thought and huffed it around back of the Moretti’s house.

  The light in Tony’s studio was on, and she tiptoed toward the door, lightly tapping her knuckle against the wood. The door opened, Tony taking up entirely too much of the space. He wasn’t a large man, though he was an inch shy of six foot, and substantially taller than her five-foot two frame. His muscle tone was natural from swimming in the summers and God knows what in the winter. Still, his presence dominated the space, a confident and masculine air that had her body on high alert.

  He was in a faded pair of paint-stained jeans, a black t-shirt that fit too good, and his unruly black curls were pushed back with a red bandana. A smile tilted his lips, and he stepped back to let her in.

  With a glance over her shoulder, she hurried inside.

  From the outside it looked like an oversized shed, but on the inside, it was the perfect studio for Tony, and one he built with his brothers. Krissy still remembered the summer the men spent constructing the building. Getting the proper permits had taken longer than the actual build.

  “I didn’t hear a car pull up,” he said, moving across the single room that held a couch on the left wall, a single chair and easel in the middle of the space, and a cart filled with paint and supplies on the right side. Shelves lined the left wall around the sofa and were filled with more supplies. Paint splattered the untreated wood floors, and large canvases sat stacked in the far-right corner.

  “I walked.”

  His eyebrow raised toward the black hair poking out of the bandana. “You hate walking.”

  She shrugged. “I don’t hate it.”

  He laughed. “Then why during your sleepover days did you stay in Ella’s room reading while she and Cami went for walks?”

  “First of all, that was like ten years ago. And second, I knew we’d be talking all night and I wouldn’t have time to get any reading in. I had to grab the moments.”

  “Afraid Harry wouldn’t be there waiting for you?” It wasn’t a secret that growing up she was a Potterhead and had a bit of a crush on the boy wizard.

  “Maybe.” Her eyes fluttered, and she wanted to physically slap herself for the flirtatious gesture. It was just being around him—after sharing the most intimate act two people could share—her body refused to cooperate to reason and behave itself.

  He took her chin in his hand, and her body instinctively moved toward him. She savored the gentleness in his touch, the way her skin heated beneath his fingers.

  “How are you doing?” he asked, his eyes filling with concern.

  Her body stiffened the longer he looked at her. His
worry made her feel weak, and she wasn’t weak. They had put the fire out, handled the situation and reported it to Reid to investigate further. There was nothing for him to question. “Fine. Why?”

  “You had a huge scare today. Not to mention you turned into a firefighter.”

  She laughed, brushing off his concern. “You think the Willow Cove Fire Department would take me on?”

  “I don’t know, but what I do know is you would look adorable in the gear.”

  A witty response came to mind, but she bit it back. She was here for him to paint her, and it was best they stuck to the plan. “How do you want me?” she blurted.

  His lip quirked as his gaze trailed her body, heating her skin as it went.

  “I mean where, so you can paint me.” She shifted her weight and crossed an arm across her waist.

  He grabbed a foldout chair from behind the couch and placed it in front of her. “Unless this is too uncomfortable. We can make the couch work.”

  “This is fine.” She slid her bag off her arm and he captured the strap, their fingers brushing ever so slightly against each other. The gasp was quiet, but not discreet as their eyes locked.

  “Why are you acting like you’re scared of me?”

  “I’m not.” Once again, she wasn’t being honest with him. She was more than scared, she was downright terrified. Every time she was near him, her resolve wavered. She wanted him more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life, and the thought filled her with unrelenting fear.

  “I hope not,” he said.

  She slipped out of her coat, and Tony took it from her, hanging it on a coat hook to the left of the door.

  She sat down, and unsure of what to do with her hands, she placed them on her lap. His large hand landed on her shoulder and he gently angled her. His finger brushed her cheek as he fixed her hair. She reached up to take her glasses off and his hand on her wrist stopped her. She glanced up, confusion running through her.

  “Don’t,” he said. “Keep them on.”

  “But I’m sure the picture would look much better without them.”

  “Then the picture won’t be you, and I want to paint you.” His voice slipped into a deep whisper. The tone a sexy grovel she’d noticed when they’d had sex.

  Electric sparks filled the air between them and unable to process words to move from her brain to her mouth, she swallowed and tried for a nod. Her head moved slightly, and Tony drew back, bringing the heated air with him.

  “I promised you TV.” He turned to his laptop. “I don’t have cable in here, but I can stream any show you like.”

  She didn’t have anything particular in mind, but it would be nice to have some sort of sound to drown out the loud tension in the room. “Anything food or house related.”

  “No sitcoms or dramas?”

  “I might get invested, and I don’t really have time to keep up with the episodes. That’s why I like shows that are unrelated and I can watch one or ten without missing anything.”

  “This coming from the girl who used to binge watch Gilmore Girls.”

  It was a good show! Besides, she lived vicariously through Rory whose mom had her very young but didn’t abandon her when she was seven like her mom had.

  “It was before I owned an ice cream shop and had a side hustle.” As she got older, she preferred to listen to audiobooks while she made soap. She could listen and not miss anything unlike TV where she’d take her eye away for a second and she missed a major twist in the storyline from a random camera angle or a quick look from one of the actors.

  “How about Nailed It?” She’d watched a few episodes and laughed so hard she started to wheeze. “If you need me to stay still that’s probably a bad idea.”

  “What about a movie?”

  “Do you have one in mind?”

  “All-time classic and favorite, Casablanca.”

  “I’ve never seen it.”

  His eyes widened as he turned to her. “How have you not seen Casablanca?”

  She pressed her lips together. “I just haven’t.”

  “That’s it. You now have an hour and forty-two minutes of no interruptions or responsibilities other than sitting there for me, so Casablanca it is.”

  Tony turned the movie on and propped the laptop on a shelf, angling it toward the back wall. He moved a few things, hit a couple of buttons, and the movie appeared clearly on the wall.

  “You have a projector?” she asked.

  “The only way to watch movies.”

  “So that’s what you do when you’re holed up in here.”

  He laughed, and the lightness of it washed over her. “Not exactly. Now watch the movie.”

  “Better watch that bossy tone, or I’ll make sure to be just as bossy when you’re at my place and I’m in charge.”

  She did not mean for it to be a sexual innuendo, but the way his dark eyes simmered with heat, there was no denying what was going through his head.

  “I wouldn’t mind. A powerful woman is sexy.”

  “Stop flirting and start painting.”

  “I can do both.”

  “Then I won’t be able to hear the movie.”

  “Good point.”

  Tony settled into his chair, stretching his arms above him and interlocking his fingers and arching his back. He inhaled deeply, letting it out slowly as he released the stretch and grabbed a paintbrush. He had several colors of paint on a pallet, and he added a few more.

  The movie played behind him, but she couldn’t keep her eyes off of him. He moved with ease as he prepared to get started. Krissy knew nothing about painting, but Tony made it look easy. He used a tool to mix a couple colors of paint together, creating a shade that matched the exact green of her shirt.

  His mouth started moving with the sound of the movie, and she realized he was quoting it. “How many times exactly have you seen this movie?”

  “At least a dozen or more. It was my grandma’s favorite movie, and I had watched it with her the first time. After that, whenever it was on, I’d watch it with her, and since she passed…watching it reminds me of her, but not in a sad way. In a good way.”

  “That’s really sweet. Do you ever watch it with your grandpa?”

  He laughed. “My grandma had a crush on Humphrey Bogart, so my grandfather feels the need to hate him for no other reason than that. My grandma would always make fun of him for being jealous of a dead man.”

  “I miss your grandma.”

  His eyes darted down, and he swiped a brush through the paint. “We all do.” The heartache in his tone was undeniable. When their grandmother died, it was rough on not just the entire family but the town too. She’d been a kind and caring woman who made friends with everyone. It had been one of the times Tony reverted into himself and hid away.

  She’d never asked him about it, and now felt like the perfect opportunity, but the question seemed too personal, so she didn’t. Instead, she focused on the picture projected on the wall behind him and let her mind get lost in the movie.

  The movie was over before she knew it, and a tear streamed down her cheek. She swiped it away and shook the emotion from her head. “I did not expect this to be a tearjerker.”

  “Isn’t every great love story a tearjerker?” Tony asked.

  She thought of Lily and James Potter, of Luke and Lorelei, Romeo and Juliet, and Jack and Rose from Titanic. “I suppose you’re right.”

  He handed her a tissue, and she gratefully accepted, dabbing her eyes.

  “I do prefer when love stories have happy endings though.” Even though Lily and James died, they had loved each other dearly, and their son went on to defeat Voldemort. Luke and Lorelei, despite all the drama, found their way back to each other.

  “What would you consider happy?” he asked. “Considering every love story has to end at some point.”

  “I never took you for a pessimist.”

  “I’m not.” His eyes met hers across the canvas. “It’s just my world of whimsy has been met with
reality too many times to be able to ignore the truth.”

  This was not the boy who had a crush on her for years, or the man who had been so persistent since they had sex. This was a completely different side to him. This was the man the boy had grown into, the man she barely knew, but could relate to so much more.

  “Most people say focus on the happy times,” he said. “Apparently it’s a good way to forget about the bad parts of love.”

  “How can you ignore all the heartache though?” She swallowed, feeling very vulnerable at the question, but curiosity had her bravely locking on his gaze.

  “I don’t know. Maybe when the love is strong enough, it doesn’t matter. Nothing else does. I look at my grandfather and despite the pain of my grandmother no longer being here with him, I can still see the love in his eyes when he speaks about her, when he catches a glimpse of her picture on the mantel. I can only hope that one day I’ll know all the parts of what make a love story so great, including the tearjerkers.”

  “You’re wrong, you know.”

  “About what?”

  “While reality has given you many blows and forced you to face truth, a part of you still lives in whimsy, and I hope for your sake that never changes.”

  It was why she could never be with him. He wanted all parts of her, and she was incapable of opening up completely. By holding back, she’d deny him what he truly wanted. It was simple. She didn’t want to destroy his whimsy.

  Chapter 8

  Tony left the gym after a morning swim that helped him work out the kinks in his neck from being hunched over a canvas all night. Portraits were supposed to be a fast task for him, but there was so much detail in Krissy’s eyes alone. The hazel held the prettiest shade of green that was accentuated by her sweater. He spent most of the time working on her eyes alone, trying to capture the sadness that filtered through while she watched the movie.

  He ran a hand through his still wet hair and hopped into his car, the visual of Krissy still fresh on his mind. He didn’t want her to leave last night, and insisted he drive her home, but she stubbornly refused his offer. After she promised she’d text him when she got him, he let her go. Not that he didn’t think she was safe in Willow Cove, but with the mysterious happenings at Scoops, he was a little concerned. If anyone understood how a small town could become grounds for criminals, it was him. After all, his father was the biggest criminal in Willow Cove’s history and currently serving his sentence for dealing drugs from the family home.