by Kay Correll
“Anyway, Jason helps her run the lodge, and I help out in the busy season in the summer when school is out. The boys get to run around the property and I enjoy the work. We have some families that come back year after year. It’s like they’ve become friends now.”
He wasn’t about to mention that it seemed like her life was pretty full even without adding running for mayor. He’d already made that mistake once.
“Anyway, I’ve kept you long enough.” She stood and gathered her dishes. “Though, I do have ice cream I can offer you for dessert. I always have ice cream. A woman never knows when she might need an emergency bowl of it.” She smiled that friendly smile of hers again.
He wanted to just sit and let her smile at him, but that would make him look like some darn fool. He climbed to his feet. “As tempting as that sounds, I should probably head back.”
She nodded and took his dishes from his hands.
“You have something to wrap those pieces of the mug in? I’ll take it back and see what I can do with it.”
She carefully wrapped them in a towel and handed it to him. “Thanks for all your help. I’d never have gotten through all of this without your help.”
“You’re welcome. It was my pleasure.” And it had been. He’d actually enjoyed himself, just spending time with her while they tidied up and the simple, quiet dinner.
She walked him to the front door and he slipped out into the cooling night air. “Well, I’ll see you,” Beth said.
She stood there staring at him, and he wanted to just turn around and walk back inside. Sit with her. Talk to her. But instead, he just stood there like a fool. He finally said, “Yes, see you. Make sure you lock the door behind me.”
“I will.”
He turned and walked to his truck, wondering when he’d see her again. At least he had the pieces of the mug. That meant he’d at least see her one more time when he returned it to her.
Chapter 10
On Saturday Jason offered to take the boys hiking in the mountains. It was one of those perfect fall days in Colorado. Sunny, warm, and the leaves were just beginning to change to brilliant colors of yellow, orange, and red. The boys were ridiculously excited to be off on their adventure.
Beth stood in the doorway and waved to them as Jason pulled away in his four-wheel-drive. She glanced at the new lock on the door as she headed back inside. Her mother had convinced her to change her locks. She now had strong deadbolts on both the front and back doors with new keys to open them. The very fact she had them seemed wrong to her, but she wasn’t going to take any chances with the boys’ safety.
In a moment of independence, she left the front door open with just the screen door between her and the outside world. She was tired of having her life tossed upside down by the intruders.
The police had no leads on who might have been involved. Everywhere she went in town, people stopped her and asked her about it. She was ready for the town to move on to some new gossip.
She walked into the kitchen which she’d scrubbed until it was sparkling clean, erasing any trace of whoever had broken in. Her house had never looked so clean. She stood in the kitchen, momentarily lost in the luxury of a day to herself.
She turned and strode over to the pantry and took out the makings for homemade bread. That was one thing she knew how to make and did it well if she did say so herself. On a spur-of-the-moment decision, she decided to make three loaves. One for her and the boys, one for her mother and Jason, and one to bring as a thank-you gift to Mac.
It had nothing to do with the fact that she’d been trying to come up with an excuse to go see him again. Nothing. She hadn’t wanted to just show up and ask about her father’s mug. That seemed rude after all he’d done for her.
But a gift?
Yes, that was a great idea.
She started the dough and let it rise. While it sat on the counter rising, she sat at the kitchen table and worked on a presentation she was scheduled to give at the next school board meeting.
After she finished her notes on the presentation, she graded some papers while she baked the bread to a perfect, golden brown. She wrapped a loaf in a clean towel and drove to Mountain Grove to see Mac.
She pulled into the parking lot and headed inside Mac’s Tavern. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust from the brightness outside to the low lights inside. As the room came into focus, she saw that almost every patron in the place was staring at her. Again.
Fine.
She walked over to the bar, and the bartender came up to her. “What can I get you?”
“I’m looking for Mac.”
He stared at her for a moment. “He’s upstairs. Through that door and up the stairway in the back.”
On the first floor, she found a storage room with kegs of beer, boxes of liquor, and cases of soda all stacked neatly in columns. Almost as spotless as his truck. The stairs creaked beneath her as she headed up the first flight. More storage on this floor. How many floors of storage did a tavern need?
She headed up the next flight of stairs. At the top of the stairs, there was a small landing and a door. Taking a deep breath, she rapped sharply on the door.
“Come in.” Mac’s voice drifted out into the hallway.
She turned the knob and pushed the door open. Her surprise was only outdone by Mac’s. She stood in the entrance of a huge loft with exposed brick walls and a high, pine ceiling. Her eyes glanced over to the couch, TV, and stereo situated in one area. His bed was tucked into the far corner. He stood in the kitchen area tossing a salad. With no shirt on and looking… looking just fine.
The bartender could have told her Mac lived here for Pete’s sake.
“Beth, what are you doing here?” He walked over to a chair and snatched a shirt off the back of it and shrugged it on, covering his strong shoulders and hardened abs, not that she’d noticed.
“I—I brought you a thank-you present for all you did.” She held out the loaf, suddenly feeling like she was intruding. “Homemade bread.”
“You didn’t have to do that. But thank you.” He reached for it and walked back to the kitchen area. “Uh… come in, I guess.”
Even though he didn’t sound very certain of his invitation, she entered his home. She walked farther into the loft, taking in the photos covering one wall. A view of the mountains taken in each of the four seasons. A closeup of a columbine. A crisp black and white photo of a mountain river threading its way through a grove of pine trees.
“I was just getting ready to eat. I made some homemade soup. I was going to have a salad with it. Would you like to stay and eat with me?”
She paused and looked at her watch. She had time. “That sounds wonderful.”
He nodded over to the couch. “Make yourself comfortable while I finish up.”
She slipped out of her coat and hung it on a hook beside Mac’s jacket by the door. She crossed the room and browsed through the bookshelves, wondering what type of books interested him. He had a whole wall of bookshelves.
She felt him watching her as she read through the titles. Everything from the history of Australia to zoo animals. A lot of them were books on tape. Boxed tapes in their original boxes or put into plastic snap containers, neatly labeled with title and author. Discs in their sleeves. Quite a few of them had the paper version of the book slipped in beside them.
The books appeared to be arranged precisely. Nonfiction by subject. Fiction by author.
“Find anything interesting?” His voice floated across the room.
“Actually, yes. You’ve got quite a collection of books here.”
“Aren’t you going to ask why so many of them are audio books?”
“I figured you’d rather listen to them than read them.” She crossed over to the kitchen area and watched him take an extended swallow of a long-necked beer.
“I’ll have one of those if you have another one.” She motioned to the beer.
He walked to the refrigerator and pulled out another one. He popp
ed the top off, set it on the counter, and motioned to a barstool. “Here, sit down.”
Mac watched her take a long swallow of beer then brush her lips with the back of her hand. Her fingers were long and slender. He’d never seen such delicate hands. Oh, he probably had, but her hands fascinated him. Carefully polished nails in a subdued color. Watching her paint her nails might be as interesting as watching her put on her makeup in his truck the night he’d rescued her. That had fascinated him, too.
He pushed those thoughts aside and scooped up big bowls of soup and plates of salad and set them on the counter. He sliced the bread and grabbed some butter from the fridge.
He crossed around the counter, and his knee brushed her thigh as he slid onto the stool beside her. She jerked her leg away and concentrated on her salad.
They ate in silence, but he could feel the tension charged between them. His thoughts drifted to memories of their school days together. Memories he had deliberately pushed to the back of his mind, that were fighting desperately to come to the forefront now.
She finally broke the quiet. “The books on tape—the audiobooks. I’ve never seen anyone own so many. You like listening to books rather than reading them?”
“I can read if that’s what you’re asking.” He knew his voice sounded defensive, but this was such a touchy subject for him.
“I wasn’t questioning your reading ability. I’ve just never seen someone own so many.”
“I didn’t mean to jump at you. I guess old habits die hard. I was so used to being teased about my reading. You’ve brought back a lot of memories from my school days.”
Her warm brown eyes looked directly at him. “They did give you a hard time at school, didn’t they?”
“I wasn’t looking for your sympathy.” He knew his voice sounded tight again. He let out a long, drawn-out breath. “I’m sorry.” He reached up and raked his fingers through his hair. “I try not to think about my days at school. Anyway, things turned out fine for me. I have this bar. I enjoy running it.” He wasn’t sure why he wanted to impress her and assure her he was doing fine now.
“School can be a rough time for some kids. Especially for troublemakers.”
He looked up quickly and saw her grinning at him. “I guess I got into my share of trouble.”
“I guess you did.”
“Mostly I just wanted to be left alone.” He paused and looked over at her sitting perched on a barstool sipping beer from the long-necked bottle. In his apartment. Who would have ever thought?
He felt an easiness drift in between them now. Like bringing the past up had somehow broken the tension between them.
Not sure why he felt compelled to explain it to her, he nevertheless continued. “I found out after I left high school that I had a learning disability. It was never diagnosed in school, so everyone thought I was dumb. Including me.” He twisted sideways on the stool to face her.
“The guy who owned this bar, JT, took me under his wing after I dropped out of high school. He read everything he could get his hands on. He came across some books on learning disabilities and figured out that was my problem. He even paid for me to go to a special tutor who taught me how to read. I just hadn’t been able to learn reading in the normal ways they teach kids. I finally got my GED and even took some classes at the college here in town.”
“Learning disabilities. Of course. That explains so much. You seemed so bright, yet you never seemed to do anything with it.” Beth shook her head. “I should have guessed.”
“Well, it wasn’t something people really looked for back then. And once I started getting into trouble, they used that as an excuse.”
“They still don’t do much for the learning disabled at the school. I’m actually giving a presentation to the school board, asking for funds for a new program to help them.”
“Good luck with that. The people on the school board don’t impress me as very progressive. When I was there, they seemed to like the average kids.”
“We do have some special education provided by the state. But there is so much more we could do with the kids’ different learning styles. It would benefit all the children. Some kids learn better by listening. Other kids need to see things to learn. Some kids need to touch, to feel, to grasp things in a concrete way.”
“Well, good luck. I can’t see that this town is up for many changes. Some of those teachers have been there since Adam and Eve. Teaching the same lesson plan, in the same way, each year.”
Beth sighed. “I know it will be a battle. Change is always a battle in Sweet River Falls.”
“You sure have a lot of battles ahead of you. This one. Running for mayor.”
“Sophie says I’m always on a crusade. Maybe I am.” She shrugged. “I just like… well, I like to help people and get involved in things that help the town.”
Beth Cassidy was a remarkable woman. And she was sitting here. With him.
He couldn’t quite get his head wrapped around that fact.
“So, this JT helped you, then you took over his bar and named it Mac’s place?”
“Actually, no. His name is JT MacDonald. Everyone called him Mac, so he named it Mac’s Place. Worked for me, too.” He grinned.
“I guess it did.” She gave him a small smile in return.
He so enjoyed that smile of hers…
“Anyway, JT retired and moved to Florida. I bought the tavern from him. Miss having him around, though. He was a good friend to me.” JT had actually been the first friend Mac had ever had, even with their differences in age. He did miss that. A lot. But JT had wanted to move to a warmer climate when he retired, so off to Florida he’d gone.
Beth stood and neatly placed her napkin beside her plate. “Well, I should go. Jason has the boys, and they’ll probably be back soon. Thank you for the meal. It was great. The soup was wonderful.”
“You’re welcome.” She was welcome any time she wanted to come. Anytime. “Here, I’ll show you out.”
She walked to the door, and he reached for her jacket and helped her slip it on. He settled it gently on her shoulders, and she gave him that small smile of hers again.
“Thanks again.”
And just like that she turned and slipped out the door, leaving emptiness cascading through the loft.
Chapter 11
The next day Mac realized he hadn’t given Beth back the mug he’d fixed when she’d come by his loft. He’d done a pretty good job with the repair. He’d painstakingly pieced it together and filled in one small missing spot. It probably wouldn’t hold hot liquid again, but maybe she could fill it with pens, or a plant, or something that would make her happy. He was ridiculously pleased with the thought of making Beth happy.
Which was silly, because, really? How long had she been back in his life? A week, maybe less?
Even though it was a crazy idea, he decided to head to Sweet River Falls and return the mug. It was the friendly thing to do, right? Besides, he hadn’t been able to get the thought of her out of his mind since she’d left yesterday.
Before long he’d pulled into Beth’s drive. Her mother’s car sat in the driveway, a complication he hadn’t counted on. He deliberated on just pulling the truck back out of the drive and heading home. He didn’t want to intrude, and Beth sure didn’t seem eager to be seen with him or introduce him to her family. Before he could make up his mind, Beth’s mother came out on the front porch. She waved to him and motioned for him to come.
No turning back now.
He climbed out of his truck, cautiously holding the small box where he’d carefully placed the restored mug.
“It’s Mac McKenna, right?” Beth’s mother held out a hand.
He took her hand, careful to keep his grip on the box with his other hand. Her firm handshake surprised him. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Nora. I’m Nora. Come on in. Beth is out back with the boys. I saw you pull up.”
He followed the woman through the house and out the back door.
“Beth,
you have a visitor.”
Beth looked up from a game of catch with the boys. A smile crossed her face, rewarding him with the rightness of his choice to come visit. The two boys stopped playing and stared at him. He crossed over to where they were standing out in the yard.
“Trevor, Connor, this is Mr. McKenna.”
“Hi.” The two boys said it in unison.
“Hi, boys. Connor.” He pointed to the oldest boy. “And Trevor, right?” He added, pointing to the younger boy.
“Yep, you got it right.” Connor nodded.
“Wanna see our tree house?” Trevor walked up to him, his bright blue eyes shining.
“Sure do, just a sec.” He turned to Beth. “I brought you this.”
She reached for the small box and slowly opened it, unwrapping it from the layers of tissue paper he’d carefully placed around it. “Oh, it looks almost like new. Thank you.”
Nora walked up beside him. “Is that your father’s mug?”
“Yes, it got broken when—” Beth looked at the boys. “A little bit ago.”
“Well, it looks like it’s all back together now.”
“Thank you, Mac. That was so nice of you.” Beth smiled at him, and a feeling of success washed over him. He did so like making her smile.
“That was really nice of you, Mr. McKenna.” Nora smiled at him too, and he was startled at how alike Beth and her mother looked.
“Mac. Please. Call me Mac.”
“Mac it is.” Nora nodded.
“Ya coming, Mr. McKenna?” Trevor called out from near the tree house.
“I’m coming.” He headed over to the boys.
“This is our tree house. It’s great, huh? Only this board keeps falling off. And that one is broken.” Trevor pointed to a board on the side, hanging by one loose nail, and another split board.
“I bet we could fix that.”
“Really?”
“You think your mom has a hammer and some nails?”
“I bet so.” Connor took off at a run. “Hey, Mom. Mr. McKenna is going to help us fix those loose boards on the tree house.”
