The Heart of Teaberry

by R A Wallace

  “Yeah.” He brushed past her and kept walking.

  Julia paused for a moment, uncertain of what they needed to do.

  “Do you know where we’re going?” Julia asked from the entrance door.

  Cole continued walking down the hall.

  Julia made a face at him behind his back and began following him down the hall. She looked inside the other rooms that she passed. Cole’s longer strides increased the distance between them quickly. Julia stopped at an office when she saw an older woman sitting inside. She assumed she was a secretary or something.

  “Excuse me?”

  Jessilyn looked up from her monitor and smiled at the young girl.

  “Yes, can I help you?”

  “I’m looking for the mayor’s office. I’m supposed to meet her about an assignment at school,” Julia explained. She noticed that the other woman still looked good for someone her age. She assumed she was probably close to thirty.

  “Oh, yes. You must be one of the shadows. The mayor’s office is at the end of the hall. You can’t miss it.”

  Julia thanked her and continued walking. She didn’t see Cole again until she reached the mayor’s office. He was already sitting across a desk from the mayor.

  “There she is.” Barbara stood and walked around the desk. She held out her hand to Julia.

  Julia paused for a moment, then held out her hand and touched fingertips with the mayor.

  Barbara motioned toward the empty seat next to Cole then returned to her side of the desk. She gave them a brief explanation of the role of the mayor and outlined the duties of some of the other offices in the administration building.

  “Now, about your assignment while you’re here,” Barbara said.

  “Assignment?” Julia hadn’t thought about what they’d be doing as shadows. Mostly, she just figured they’d follow the mayor around town while she did whatever mayors did.

  “Yes. It deals with security. It’s an important topic in town. You two will be tasked with working together to create the materials for an upcoming meeting on the topic. I have some key points outlined and bulleted topics that will be discussed to help you with their development.” Barbara handed over some documentation to them.

  Julia stole a glance at Cole. He was studying the materials in front of him.

  “Where will we be doing this?” Julia asked.

  “There are computers at the library, as well as many other resources, that you might find useful,” Barbara said.

  Julia had a vague recollection of touring the library with the rest of her class when she’d been younger.

  “Oh, yes. You’ll also need to interview someone in the police department to touch base on the current issues with security,” Barbara added.

  “What kind of issues?” Julia asked. She was pretty sure she wasn’t going to enjoy this assignment.

  “I understand they’re currently working on a case involving thefts from homes with thieves gaining access through garages. It’s this kind of information that we need to disseminate to the public. Increasing awareness will help to curb incidents. If more people are aware of some simple procedures to prevent themselves from becoming victims, everyone will be safer.”

  “What kind of procedures?” Julia asked.

  Barbara smiled as she stood. “Those are the things you will be researching both at the library and through your interview with the police officers working the case.”

  Cole understood that the meeting was over. He stood as well and thanked the mayor before turning to leave.

  Julia hesitated for a moment, then smiled tentatively at the mayor before following Cole out. He never paused as his long legs ate up the hallway. Julia slowed her steps and stopped trying to keep up. He was across the street before she even cleared the door.

  Barbara stopped at Jessilyn’s office.

  “What did you think of your shadows?” Jessilyn asked.

  Barbara gave a wry smile. “It should prove to be an interesting learning experience for us all, I suspect.”

  “Did you know either one of them before they came here today?” Jessilyn was always amazed with the knowledge of Teaberry and its residents that the mayor held.

  “By name only. Julia’s father is a surgeon at the hospital. I cross paths with her mom because she often volunteers on various organizations that I’m associated with.”

  “And the other?” Jessilyn asked.

  “You don’t remember his father?” Barbara asked. When Jessilyn shook her head, Barbara continued. “He was killed in an accident. It would have been, oh… let’s see. I think the youngest boy is not quite a teenager now. His father died not long after he was born.”

  “Cole and Julia seem like opposites. I hope they don’t have trouble working together.”

  Barbara smiled but didn’t respond.

  Chapter Seven

  Harriet stood in front of her mirror and smoothed her tunic top over her hips. It was the third top she’d tried on in less than five minutes. She still wasn’t sure if she should wear it or choose something else. She admonished herself for feeling so insecure. After all, he’d asked to meet with her about her writing. She should be slaving over her manuscript right now, trying to ensure its worthiness. Instead, she was focusing on her looks.

  She had probably interpreted his invitation the wrong way. Calling the woman in the mirror a fool, Harriet turned away from the image and went to gather her folder and her purse. Whatever his reason was for asking to meet with her for a cup of coffee, Harriet wasn’t going to walk into the diner empty handed. She had several samples of her writing in the folder to bring with her. If Chad chose to ignore them and talk about something else, that was fine too.

  Harriet spent the short drive to the Jammin’T trying to quell the voice of doubt in her head. It didn’t work. By the time she reached the diner, her stomach was in knots. She smiled at the stocky blond when he stopped at her table and she asked him for a soda. The carbonation might help her stomach.

  “Here you go,” Tyler said as he placed the soda on the table. “Are you going to order anything else?”

  Harriet shook her head. “Not yet. I’m supposed to meet someone.”

  “Not a problem. I can come back. I’ll leave these menus with you. The specials are on the board over there.” Tyler pointed to the wall near the window where his sister, Holly, was working in the kitchen.

  Harriet smiled her thanks and looked around the diner. She had chosen the Jammin’T hoping that it would be busy. She hadn’t felt comfortable with the idea of meeting Chad somewhere alone. As she looked around, she saw several faces that she recognized. She wasn’t certain now if her choice had been a good one. What impression was she giving by meeting with a man in public? Harriet frowned.

  “Penny for your thoughts,” Jennifer said.

  Harriet looked up in surprise. She hadn’t even realized Jennifer had entered the diner and was standing next to her table.

  “Hey, good to see you.” Harriet made a face at her friend. “I’m not sure my thoughts are worth a penny today.”

  Jennifer motioned to another chair at the table. Harriet nodded.

  “Things can’t be that bad, can they?” Jennifer studied Harriet as she took the seat. Her friend looked pensive.

  Harriet’s eyes fell on Jennifer’s ring. “Oh, my! That is pretty.”

  Jennifer laughed. “I say the same thing every time I look at it.”

  “Does that mean there’s a wedding in your future?” Harriet asked. She saw the glow on Jennifer’s face. She was happy for her friend.

  Jennifer reached her hand across the table and grasped Harriet’s briefly.

  “Are you okay?”

  Harriet made a face. “Is it that obvious?” She shook her head and looked away for a moment. “I’m just being a fool, is all. I thought I found someone who might want a future with me.”

  Jennifer could tell by Harriet’s face that it hadn’t worked out.

  “I’m sorry.”

&nb
sp; Harriet smiled. “Me too. Turns out, he must not have been interested. He’s never even asked me out.”

  “There’s still hope. We’re the same age and I just got engaged,” Jennifer pointed out.

  “I know. And that’s why I’m here.” Harriet lowered her voice and leaned forward. “I’m meeting someone else.”

  “Well, good for you. Anyone I know?”

  Harriet returned Jennifer’s smile. “He teaches the writing class I’m taking at the college branch.”

  Jennifer nodded knowingly. “First date?

  “Yes, that’s why I picked the diner. Actually, I’m not even sure it’s a date. He said he wants to talk about my writing.”

  “Well, it’s as good an excuse as any,” Jennifer said. “Still, good idea to pick the diner. That way you’re covered either way.”

  Harriet felt better. “I thought so too.”

  Jennifer watched as Harriet’s eyes went toward the door. She knew it was time for her to go. She rose from the chair and turned to see a man around five ten with dark hair making a beeline for Harriet.

  “It was good talking with you,” Jennifer said. She wasn’t sure Harriet even heard her and she didn’t hang around to find out.

  “There you are. Sorry I’m a little late. I got held up with some questions.” Chad took the seat to the left of Harriet.

  “Not a problem. I was just chatting with an old friend.” Harriet glanced around and wondered where Jennifer had gone.

  “You’re from Teaberry, right?”

  “Yes. In fact, I went to school with the friend I was just talking to.”

  Chad nodded his head when Tyler appeared to indicate he’d have some coffee.

  “Do you two need a minute?” Tyler asked.

  Chad looked over at Harriet and waited for her answer.

  “I wasn’t sure if you would want anything,” Harriet said to Chad.

  Chad waved vaguely at the table. “Just the coffee for now, thanks.”

  He turned back to Harriet after Tyler left.

  “I see you brought a folder with you. We may need the room on the table to spread things out, but we can always get something after if you’d like.”

  Harriet thought that sounded promising. Maybe it was a date.

  “Do you have that last assignment by any chance?” Chad asked.

  Harriet reached for her folder and pulled it out. She waited anxiously while Chad read what she had written.

  He nodded slowly as he neared the end.

  “What you have is really good.” He frowned a little.

  Harriet’s heart sank. “Do I hear a ‘but’ in there?”

  Chad smiled and held his hands up, palms out.

  “No, nothing like that. It’s good, it is. I was just thinking that maybe a little more detail would be helpful.”

  Harriet wasn’t sure what else she might expand on.

  Chad appeared to consider it for a moment. “Perhaps if you went into more detail about the people you work with.”

  Harriet frowned as she thought about it.

  Chad waved a hand again. “It’s just a suggestion. Something to think about.”

  Harriet nodded. “Sure. Something to think about. Have you been teaching at the branch long?”

  “A couple of semesters now. Before that, I was teaching at another place closer to the middle of the state. I’m the opposite of you. Instead of living in one place, like you have, I’ve moved around a lot. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to live in one place though.”

  Harriet gave a wry grin. “There are some good things about it and some not so good things about it.”

  “I imagine it helps with your business though,” Chad said.

  “It does now that I’m older. When I was younger and just starting, everyone was a little more concerned about trusting the little girl they remembered in braces and braids.”

  “It sounds like there are some interesting stories you could write about that,” Chad said. “I’d be interested to read them. I’m sure you have some great ones to tell about when you got your first big client and that sort of thing.”

  Harriet wasn’t sure that would be very interesting for most people to read about, but she thought it was nice that Chad tried to offer encouragement.

  Tyler appeared back at the table.

  “What did you two decide?”

  Chad looked over at Harriet again.

  “I could eat. How about you?”

  Harriet felt the butterflies in her stomach again. She smiled and nodded agreement.

  Chapter Eight

  Cole slid the exam prep book back onto the shelf where he’d gotten it from. He glanced over at the clock to check the time then walked back to the table where he’d been sitting.

  “Maybe she’s going to stand you up,” Emilio said as he stood from his chair and grabbed his coat.

  Cole made a noise of disagreement. “I should be so lucky. Then I could just do the work myself and be done with it.”

  Brent stuffed his notes into his backpack and hissed.

  Cole shot a look over at the door and saw her.

  “Looks like you’re stuck with her after all,” Brent said with a grin.

  “I’m outta here,” Emilio said before taking off. He dropped his eyes as he passed Julia.

  Brent stole a look at Julia as he followed Emilio to the front entrance. She was looking around the library, no doubt trying to find Cole. Her eyes came up and locked with Brent causing him to stumble just as he made it to the door. Emilio laughed at him when they got outside.

  Julia walked over to the table where Cole sat.

  “Weren’t those your friends?” Julia asked. She already knew the answer, but it gave her something to say when she reached the table.

  Cole looked in the direction of the door, wishing he was walking through it with them.

  “Yeah.” He flipped some pages in his notebook until he came to a blank page.

  “What were they doing here?” Julia sat down across from him.

  Cole shrugged. “Just studying for the big test.”

  It took Julia a moment to remember which one he was referring to.

  “I can’t see any reason to study for it. You either know it or you don’t, right?”

  Cole made a face. “It doesn’t hurt to take some sample tests and get the feel for them, so you know what to expect.”

  “Yeah, I guess.” Julia hadn’t considered that, not that it would matter either way.

  “Don’t your parents get on you about grades?” Cole asked curiously. He had no idea what other parents were like. His mom always tried to be supportive, but she did expect her kids to take their school work seriously.

  Julia shrugged. “They’re more concerned about what I wear and whether or not I look good.”

  Cole couldn’t imagine that.

  Julia looked around the room. “So, what should we do?”

  Cole rubbed at his face. He’d known this wasn’t going to be easy.

  “I don’t know. Look, we need to find out about the security stuff that the mayor talked about right?” Cole looked at Julia to see if she was even paying attention.

  Julia nodded. “She said we had to interview the police officers too.”

  “We need to define the problem first, and then come up with possible solutions to put into the materials the mayor wants to distribute,” Cole summarized.

  “How do we do that?” Julia wrinkled her forehead. “Define the problem?”

  Cole looked around the library as he thought about it.

  “Well, she mentioned thieves entering through garages, right? We could maybe try to figure out how they’re doing that.”

  Julia thought that made sense. She looked over at the computer room.

  “Maybe there is some information online,” Julia suggested.

  “Yeah. That’s a good idea.” Cole pushed his notebook into his bag and stood up. “C’mon. Let’s go check it out.” He grabbed his bag.

  Julia foll
owed him to the computer room. There were several people already in the room using the computers. There was one left near the wall in the last row. Cole nodded to the empty seat and looked at Julia. She went over to the computer and sat down. Cole went back to the other room and grabbed another chair and brought it back with him. Then he sat behind Julia.

  “Do you go online a lot?” Cole asked, keeping his voice as low as possible.

  Julia responded by pulling up a search engine and keying in some words about garage door openers and security.

  Cole reached over her shoulder and pointed at something on the screen.

  “There. Try clicking on that one.” He read the document over her shoulder.

  Julia turned her head a little to talk to Cole. “My dad does that all the time.”

  “What, leave his car door unlocked when it’s parked in the driveway?” Cole said in a low voice.

  Julia nodded. “I wonder how many other people do that?”

  “I have no idea,” Cole admitted.

  “Maybe it could be one of the interview questions?” Julia suggested hesitantly. She felt a huff of breath in her hair.

  “That’s two good suggestions you’ve come up with so far,” Cole said jokingly. “You’re going to ruin your pretty girl rep.”

  Julia smiled to herself. Cole was right. It really had been a good idea.

  “I’ll start a list for the interview questions,” Cole said as he pulled the notebook from his bag.

  Julia found another web site. “This one talks about older technology.”

  “What do you mean?” Cole looked up from his notebook but something else caught his eye. He saw something on the monitor two rows in front of them that confused him.

  He leaned in closer to Julia and lowered his voice. “What is he looking at?”

  Julia looked over her shoulder at Cole. She’d never noticed how blue his eyes were before or how unbelievably long his eyelashes were. Cole pointed with his chin. Julia looked in front of them, following his gaze.

  “It looks like he’s using a map software,” Julia whispered.

  “Yeah, but why does it look so funny?” Cole asked.

  Julia looked again. “He has it at street level. You know, like when cars go down the road taking photos of a neighborhood then they weave the pictures all together into the map and you can actually see the house and everything on each street?”