by T. I. Lowe
She managed to make it through her shift and was back at it the following day to do it all over again. While going through the motions of the diner routine, curiosity over the huge project kept Josie distracted. Surely August was at the firehouse working on it without her, and that just didn’t seem right . . .
“Earth to Josie.” Opal waved her hand in front of Josie’s face.
Josie hadn’t realized she was propped against the broom handle instead of using it to sweep the floor. “Oh. Hey.” Snapping out of it, she put the broom into motion, each step sending out a faint creak from the wood floor. “They’re shutting down the kitchen, but I can get y’all something real quick.” She offered Opal and her giant husband a smile.
“I’m just going to swipe us a glass of tea.” Opal tucked a set of work gloves into the back pocket of her jean overalls. They were rolled up to just below her knees and were paired with a white tank top and high-top sneakers. After pouring herself and Lincoln each a glass, she scooted over to where Josie was sweeping.
“Y’all out delivering furniture?” Josie asked absently while working on placing a set of chairs upside down on top of a table.
“Yes.” Opal took a long swig from her glass.
Josie noticed Lincoln wandering around the smaller dining room, sipping his tea and studying the various wall hangings. She couldn’t help but smile. Opal had met her match with war hero First Lieutenant Lincoln Cole. She was still trying to get used to them being married. “I thought you had Tucker Bradford helping deliver furniture?”
“Carter has kept him busy helping to get that camp ready. I thought about asking Theo, but he’s too scrawny.” She sighed. “I need someone built more so like my Linc to handle the heavy lifting.”
Josie snorted while moving to the last table. “There’s certainly nothing little about him.”
“I heard that,” Lincoln said without looking their way.
Opal giggled. “Speaking of tall, well-structured men, how’s it going with August?”
Josie’s shoulders jerked up automatically. “Fine. We finished the paintings and now he has another project he needs help with. I’m hoping to work on it with him tomorrow.” She wished she could go after work today, but there were interviews lined up for summer help that she had to help her dad with.
“I don’t mean the work part.” Opal sat the empty glass down, picked up the dustpan, and helped Josie collect the mess from the floor.
“What other part is there?” Josie asked as the answer played through her head—the shared laughs, conversations, simple touches that felt anything but . . .
“Don’t feign ignorance with me. We’re both way too smart for that game.” Opal dumped the trash into the bin.
Josie swapped the broom for the mop. Taking a deep breath of the lemony scent of the cleaning product, Josie whispered, “He still rattles me, but it’s getting better . . . I’m more comfortable with being around him.”
“That’s good.”
“You scallywags done swabbing the deck?” Jasper called from the kitchen door.
“Aye, aye, captain,” Opal answered and followed it with an “Arr!”
“You brought yer own pirate, lass?” Jasper guffawed and waggled a finger at Lincoln as the big guy walked over to them. “He’s got all that hair and a limp. Just needs an eye patch.”
“Daddy,” Josie scolded but was relieved when she heard Lincoln let out a chuckle.
“Oh, and he’s right ornery at times. Definitely a good quality for a pirate.” Opal giggled and then asked Josie, “Can I help with the interviews? Pretty please!” Opal beamed, giving the impression she was the one asking for a favor, but it was obviously the other way around. Struggling to find solid help was a constant thorn in Josie’s side.
Josie propped the mop against the table and turned to wag a finger at Opal. “As long as you and Dad leave the pirate parody at the door.”
“Aye, aye, matey!” Opal and Jasper shouted in unison.
Josie rolled her eyes again but couldn’t help but smile.
“Well, this pirate is going to go hang out with August.” Lincoln’s eyes landed on Josie as soon as he said that name.
“Okay, honey. Have a good time.” Opal went up on her tiptoes and puckered her lips.
Of course, Lincoln had to go all romantic pirate hero and lift the tiny woman clear off her feet before laying one hot kiss on her. Still holding her, he angled away and asked, “You want me to get August to swing by and pick me up?” Again, he slid his knowing gaze over to Josie.
“No!” Face on fire, Josie quieted her voice and repeated, “No. I’ll take Opal home later.”
Lincoln arched a thick eyebrow, looking rather smug for teasing her. “If you’re sure?”
“Yep.”
Lincoln returned his attention to his wife, giving her one more heated kiss before lowering her to her feet and heading out.
Opal grabbed an extra mop to help knock out the floor cleanup as Josie went back at it without bothering to protest. Opal wasn’t allowed to pay for food and the Slaters weren’t allowed to fuss over her helping out when she had spare time.
As they finished cleaning up, Opal and Jasper broke their promise to Josie and continued spewing silly pirate phrases. It was one long afternoon with those two clowns teaming up against her.
By the time she made it home, Josie was bone-tired. Sleep should have come easily, but she was met with another restless night instead. When morning arrived, her fingers were itching to paint. She wasted little time getting ready before heading over to the firehouse.
As soon as Josie walked past the open bay doors, she noticed August, which wasn’t surprising because she always noticed him. But today was a little bit more peculiar than normal since he was stretched out on top of a white school bus.
“What are you doing up there?” Josie asked, her voice and footsteps echoing around the giant room.
“I’m floating on the clouds.” August sounded groggy, but he was dressed in his typical work uniform of paint-splattered cargo pants and tee. His bare feet were casually crossed at his ankles.
Surely he hadn’t slept up there . . . Hints of freshly brewed coffee from the kitchenette floated by, setting her a little more at ease that he hadn’t. But only a little, due to his answer making no sense. “What do you mean by floating on the clouds?”
August propped up onto an elbow and peered down at her. “Come up here and see.”
Josie took in the stark-white bus before looking up at him. “I don’t know about that.” She was more comfortable keeping her feet planted on the ground.
He quirked an eyebrow and, in a challenging tone, said, “Chicken?”
“That’s, umm . . . You’re really high up there. That has to be against firehouse safety code.” She hoped her mocking scold would deflect his challenge.
Instead, he started clucking at her.
Taking a few deep breaths, Josie moved over to the ladder propped against the side of the bus and gave it a few shakes to test its sturdiness. When it stayed relatively in place, she began ascending it. As soon as she climbed high enough to see over the top edge of the bus, those calming breaths whooshed out in surprise. The entire roof had been transformed into a sea of clouds and blue skies. And sure enough, August Bradford was floating among them, looking like an artistic deity.
“Whoa . . .”
August reached over and helped her onto the top of the bus. “So what do you think of our next project?” His clear eyes twinkled with an excited energy that must have been contagious because Josie was starting to feel the symptoms.
“We get to paint the entire thing?” She placed her hand on a cloud and took in the smooth texture.
“Yep.” August mirrored her and ran his hand over the surface too. “Automobile paint goes on exceptionally smooth. Have you ever worked with an airbrush?”
“Ooh. No!” Josie was pure giddy for the chance to try it.
“I’ve set up an old car hood you can practice on. It
took me a few turns with doing that to get the feel for the flow of paint.”
“What are we adding to go with the sky?”
“I thought we’d base it out mostly in blues and then add some palmetto trees waving in the breeze. And whatever else we feel inspired to add. Carter ordered a custom vinyl camp logo to go on each side. It’s white, so we’ll have to paint the background pretty vibrant to make sure it stands out.”
“Remember that field near the camp that’s always planted in sunflowers each season?” Josie asked.
“Yeah.”
“It’d be neat to add our own sunflower field to the hood.” She glanced over, hoping to see approval, and was relieved when she did.
“Sounds good to me.”
“So that’s the plan? Nature?”
“Yep. Once we finish, I have a body shop lined up to complete it with a clear coat. Even sprung to have the windows tinted.” August winked at her and began climbing down the side of the bus.
Josie scanned the fluffy clouds one last time before following. After August slid on a pair of shoes, he gave her a tutorial on the airbrush. She set out to practicing on the hood propped against the side wall. Once she felt confident enough, she moved to the bus. August was setting up several small worktables around its perimeter.
“We’re going to use these big guys to base out the bus.” He pointed to large paint guns and then pointed to the smaller ones. “And these will be used for the fine details.” He went over the plan, then pulled his phone out of one of his cargo pockets. Within seconds, lively music began filtering around them.
“We’re going from jazz music to hip-hop?” She gave him a skeptical look.
“Jazz was the mellow mood needed for the paintings.” He motioned toward the bus as his head began bobbing to the beat. “But this calls for high energy.”
Josie bit the inside of her cheek, trying to tamp down her amusement at the charming artist while watching him dance his way over to start adding blue above the taped-up windows. She didn’t understand how he wasn’t making a mess with the paint or getting tangled up in the hose while dancing around like that, but he managed it just fine. After taking a moment to enjoy the morning’s unexpected entertainment, she picked up an airbrush and joined in on the fun.
The morning danced into the afternoon and then moved on to the early evening with the two bringing the white bus to life. Trees boogied in the breeze and sunflowers swayed in rays of vibrant sunshine. Every so often, the mood would hit August and he would break out dancing. He had natural rhythm mixed with just the right amount of laid-back whimsy to have Josie comfortable enough to bob along to the beat.
“I would have never taken you for a dancer!” Josie shouted over the music.
August looked over his shoulder while keeping rhythm. “Feels good to dance,” he said simply.
“Yeah, but I thought you’d be too cool for that.” She shook her head and watched his hips move to the hip-hop song.
“Nah. Some folks don’t know the meaning of cool.” He bobbed his head and pivoted around. “Enjoying something like dancing, now that makes me cool.”
The more the man talked, the more Josie was becoming enamored with him.
After adding a few more highlights to a palm frond, he set the airbrush down and danced over to Josie. Without asking, he took the airbrush away from her, placed it beside his, and began dancing her around the firehouse.
A giggle burst through her parted lips as a tingle raced all the way to her bones. A feeling of euphoric freedom overtook her and the musical moment carried her away. They danced through at least a half-dozen songs.
“I can’t remember the last time I’ve had this much fun.” She giggled again, wiping the sweat from her brow while dancing around in a silly fashion. She kept on until noticing her dance partner had grown still. She looked up and found him watching her. “What?”
August shook his head slowly. “I’m a thief.”
Josie froze. “Come again.”
“A thief of moments.” He took a step forward and skimmed his fingertips along the heated peak of her cheek. “I want as many as I can steal in the time God gives me. Jo . . . will you be a thief with me?”
“I . . . I’ve never stolen anything.” She knew that made no sense, but it was the first thought to pop into her head.
“No worries. I’m a career thief of moments. I can teach you.” The serious expression morphed into a mischievous smile as he offered her his hand, clearly giving her the choice.
As one song drew to a close and another began, Josie decided she was tired of allowing fear to hold her captive. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt too badly to steal a few moments with him while they worked on these projects. She would have them to reflect on after life returned to the humdrum of routine.
Josie placed her hand into his. A second of gentleness passed along her palm until his grip tightened, pulled her close, and then sent her into a sudden spin.
“Let me explain how this moment stealing works.” August twirled her again until they were near the bus’s rear, where a palmetto tree looked to be grooving to the beat of the song. Her back to his chest, he leaned close to her ear. “Each time you catch sight of this bus rolling through town and see this tree dancing with the others and the flowers bobbing their yellow heads up front, you’ll remember this moment. You’ll remember we floated on the clouds this morning and danced among trees by sundown.”
Josie knew in her heart he was correct. She’d never be able to look at that bus without remembering the beautiful memory of dancing and creating a mobile masterpiece with him.
They pranced around until August moonwalked to the airbrushes and handed one over to Josie. Hours skipped by with Josie giggling and allowing August to lead her in the enchanting moment of creativity.
By the time the moon and stars were fading into a new day, August had properly taught Josie just how fun moment thieving could be. But there was a problem with that. She wanted to steal lots more but knew it was a terrible idea all the same.
12
August had always heard that two sets of eyes were better than one, but at the moment he wasn’t sure that was true. One very opinionated blue set seemed to only be in the mood for glaring.
August glared, too, and pointed at the finished bus. “That’s progress.”
Carter kept staring at him from underneath the brim of his ratty hat, rocking slowly in the rocking chair. They had each pulled a chair up beside the bus to admire it. “A painted-up bus is not getting Josie on board with becoming a permanent part of Palmetto Fine Arts Camp. Stop playing games with the grown woman and be up-front with her.”
August scrubbed his hands down his tired face, cringing when he found a pretty thick scruff on his cheeks. “I’m not playing any games, so lay off.” He sighed. “That woman’s entire life has been her doing what others expect of her. I don’t want this opportunity for her to partner with me in the art department to be another expectation. I want her to decide she wants to instead of having to.”
Carter halted the chair and rested his elbows on his knees, studying the evidence that Josie could handle what they would be offering. “I get that, man, but I need to finalize the staff commitments soon. Time’s running out and you’re lollygagging instead of getting things ready at the camp.”
“Have I ever let you down?” August watched his uncle shrug a shoulder, knowing good and well he hadn’t.
“I reckon not, but you’ve tested my patience plenty enough times.” Carter narrowed his eyes before reading an incoming message on his phone. “You check out the bunkhouses yet?”
August blinked, surprised at the conversation change. He was almost too tired to keep up. “Yeah. They’re epic. Lincoln and Opal killed it. Those two sure do make a good team.”
“Yeah. You and Josie would make a fine team too if you’d quit goofing around about it.”
Carter stood and slapped August on the shoulder with enough force to send him swaying sideways. “Get some rest and the
n talk to Josie about our job offer.”
“Yes, sir,” August muttered sarcastically as he watched Carter toss a hand in the air while walking out to his truck.
Fatigue warred with August, but needing to check on Josie won out before he dozed off in the chair. Around ten, he pushed through the screen door at Driftwood Diner and caught a glimpse of her looking a little haggard with her hair in a messy ponytail. She rubbed one of her puffy eyes and yawned as she wrote down an older gentleman’s order.
“Okay, Mr. Albro. Give us about ten minutes and we’ll have those pancakes right out.” She offered him a tired smile and handed a passing waitress the order slip as she moved behind the counter.
August gazed at her affectionately, impressed by the kindhearted woman she’d grown to become. Even though she could stumble around words sometimes like an uncoordinated woman in six-inch stilettos, he noticed an understated elegance about Josie . . .
“Boy!” Jasper hollered out, catching August staring at his daughter. Josie’s blue eyes shot up to find him still standing by the door.
August tipped his head to her before sliding his attention to Jasper. “Sir!” he called back with his voice coming out quite hoarse.
“I ort to hog-tie you and beat ya with a tobacco stick for keeping my little girl out so late.” The man sounded like he was teasing, but his serious expression didn’t seem to match it in August’s opinion.
“Sorry, sir. Time got away from us, but I won’t let it happen again.”
“You best see that it don’t.” Jasper pointed at him before disappearing into the kitchen.
The owner didn’t run him off, so August took that as a sign that he was welcome to stay and walked on inside. He eased onto his usual stool and propped his elbows on the edge of the counter.
“I figured you’d still be sleeping.” Josie placed a steaming cup of coffee on the counter in front of him.
“Thanks.” August picked up the cup and took a tentative sip, letting the hot liquid soothe his rusty throat. “And I figured if you weren’t allowed to sleep, then neither should I.”
They both pulled out a long yawn and followed it with a hushed snicker.
