Chapter Nine #2
Jake would have to see her for who she was.
Smart, organized, spontaneous, not sexy pretty.
She hated the dichotomy of the whole idea anyway.
The fluttery butterflies in her stomach when he was around were not more important than her brain.
But getting defensive to protect herself wasn’t how she wanted to treat Jake.
They may like each other, but they were friends, too.
“At least I hope we are when this is finished.” She’d been so lost in thought she missed Jake and Daniel arriving. The knock startled her out of her reverie. She shoved open the door, battling tingles and a rush of giddy feelings.
“Get inside before anyone wonders why you’re here.”
Daniel scooted in first. “No one will question it, Mia. High school friends.”
Jake followed behind, a solemn expression on his face. “We might have been seen.”
Mia sharply inhaled and touched Jake’s sleeve. “Where?”
“Hospital.”
“Police?”
“No, somebody from inside the hospital, and they saw Daniel’s car, not us specifically.”
Daniel unzipped his coat. “I’m telling you, they won’t put it together.”
She didn’t like it. “But they might. We’re done. Time for Santa to go to the park and me to post the festivities. Tomorrow is Saturday. Perfect for a party in the park.”
“Trying to haul all his dead weight into the gazebo on the weekend without being caught is not going to be easy,” Jake objected. “We barely succeeded the first time. Morning joggers came close to catching us.”
Daniel grimaced and propped his hands on his hips.
“Better than getting caught with him. We can watch until we’re in the clear.
Park hasn’t been that busy lately because of the cold.
We’ve gotten good at moving him pretty fast. We set him up mid-morning and haul ass out of there. The rest is on Mia.”
Mia dropped her hand from Jake’s sleeve. What was she doing touching him? “Then take your car, vacuum it, take it home, and leave it.”
“Why?”
“If it was seen, you don’t want to be running around in it for the police to find, and don’t you watch crime shows? Fibers. I bet Santa’s stuffing and beard pieces are all over your car.”
Jake moved closer to her, and she stifled a sigh. They were like two intertwined yoyos. “If we’re gonna do this, the time is now. Everybody will be busy with Christmas stuff. Might be our best chance.”
Mia lost the rest of her energy and backed to sit on the stairs.
Jake moved with her, gripping her arm to help her ease down. “Are you all right? You paled.”
“I’m still pretty tired.” How could she be swamped in exhaustion and still feel prickling heat in her nipples? “Get him there, get a picture, and your part is done. If anybody gets caught, it should be me, since it was my idea.”
“I’m not going to let you take the fall alone. They won’t believe you anyway.” Jake’s words comforted and alarmed.
“Hey, wait a minute. I’m not going to confess to anything.” Dan’s mulish face was new.
Jake slapped his shoulder. “You don’t have to. I won’t tell them. Neither will Mia.”
Mia felt awful, and not from the virus. “Sergeant Applegate and Officer Cara will be really mad.”
Jake leaned into her face. “You let me handle my brother, you hear me? Don’t protect me. I can do that myself. Let’s go get this finished. Everybody know their job?”
Mia nodded, but remorse for letting down Sergeant Applegate wouldn’t be dismissed. “Just don’t lie to protect me.”
Jake slid a hand over hers and squeezed. She couldn’t help staring into his blue eyes and hoping for something more.
Dan zipped his jacket again. “One problem with that Mia.”
“What?”
“Neither Jake nor I are computer geeks. You are. Lying won’t be the problem. They’ll know. Say what you want about small town police, these people aren’t stupid. They’ll connect the dots if they find any of us. Be careful.”
She knew what her original intent had been.
Disgusted by the piled on decorations and all the arguments she’d witnessed, she’d committed to do something about it.
Echo Falls was better than this. She hadn’t planned on getting sick.
She hadn’t planned on a passel load of guilt slamming her at compromising Jake and Daniel.
Granted, they went along – but “like” on Jake’s end and loyalty to a friend on Dan’s didn’t make the consequences any easier.
Mia rubbed her face. “Be smart out there. I’ll be waiting for the picture, and I’ll get the rest of this launched.”
Dan went out the door. Jake paused and looked her over. He leaned in and kissed her – soft, warm pressure. Quick and done and on the lips. “Go back to bed,” he whispered.
Mia’s eyes widened, and her hand flew to her mouth.
Jake grinned and went out the door, shutting it quietly behind him.
&&&&&&&&&&
Early Saturday morning began with muted sun and more wind tumbling the clouds.
Tom left for work, and Summer sat in the chaos of her painting space with every light in the room on and made the first choice – to have Penny Gutherie visit and talk about the upgrades.
One phone call later, she and Tom had a mid-afternoon appointment to go over the plans.
She texted Tom and gazed around. With memories aside, she viewed the room objectively. How had she worked in here up to now?
With a warm bagel topped with cream cheese and a large mug of hot coffee within reach, she started on the Christmas idea for the Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church.
Mrs. Heigl had pictures of the holiday scene from years past, and she and Chrissy had met and talked through the composition.
She’d already sketched the structure onto the canvas.
Except putting her supplies in place to begin mixing colors for her paint palette wasn’t working.
For once, she wasn’t thinking make do. She paid attention to her every move, the how and where everything was stored with the pattern of her workflow.
She dropped onto her work stool and assessed how many items were in the room that didn’t need to be.
“Dang it, he was right about the remodeling. I need it.”
Shifting things to the side, she separated items into get rid of and keep piles. The remove area quickly got out of control, but at least she could move her paint setup and get busy on mixing colors.
Engrossed, she experimented with the paint blends for the scene with no regard for time. The greens of the trees, the brown lines of the old church, the rugged creche, and the pristine white of the snow.
Her husband appeared at her shoulder without warning. He didn’t say anything, but the warmth of him at her back sent a thrill through her. Happiness sparked.
She dabbled with the twinkling trees. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” His deep voice stirred sweet memories, and she wanted to turn and throw herself at him, but she was covered in paint from hands to clothes – she could never be one of those neat painters.
“What are you doing home?”
“Meeting time, sweetheart.”
Summer lifted her wrist, realized she’d forgotten her watch, and tipped her head to gaze at him. “Is it really?”
“Yes, it’s 1:45 p.m.”
She studied the grouch lines in his face. “No Santa?”
“Getting closer. Still searching for the car.”
“You’ll find him, babe. You always do.”
“I’m glad somebody has faith, because I’m losing mine. Outsmarted by a bunch of teenagers.”
“Hey, smart may be true, but it doesn’t come with a well-grounded understanding of consequences. You’ll find them and introduce that lesson.” Summer used a rag to remove the paint on her fingers. An insurmountable task.
The doorbell rang.
“You better go wash and put on a new shirt. I’ll see to Penny.”
“Bring her upstairs. Might as well get real with her from the get-go.”
Tom studied the room. “You’ve been busy.” His dry tone made her smirk, but his eyes brightened when she smiled.
“You’re fault.” She sauntered out to the bathroom and scrubbed her hands, arms, and elbows, then shed her splattered shirt and put on a clean, long sleeve green one.
Voices in the art studio – and it would be called that going forward because it wasn’t her grandmother’s sewing room anymore – announced the arrival of change.
Summer took a minute to check her jeans, brush her hair and put lotion on her face. All clear. She hurried across the hall and stopped in the doorway. Tom and Penny gazed at the church painting transfixed. And it wasn’t even done yet.
Tom turned to her. “Here she is. Summer, this is Penny Gutherie.”
Summer in any other situation would have put on her diva artist personality, but this woman was going to create her art space, and it didn’t get more personal.
She walked straight to the woman and held out her hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you, and those plans were amazing. Welcome to our home.”
“I’m thrilled to finally meet you and to be able to help you reshape this area. Seems you already started.” She pointed at the pile in the corner.
“I did spend a bit of time this morning considering my workflow and which of my grandmother’s things I would keep. Plus, I’ve been thinking about our future. I hate to lose this as a bedroom, but it’s the best space for painting. It’s the windows.”
“Yes, I noted these. They let in the perfect amount of light.”
“But there’s a large storage space on the other side. Could we cheat a bit on the space in here and add a bit of footage to the storage room to make another bedroom?”
Penny turned to study the wall. “We can certainly try. Let me look at the storage area.”
Tom kept silent, but the questions in his eyes simmered.
She lightly touched his sleeve. “We’ll still have two bedrooms along with the studio.”
Tom went to answer, but his phone rang. He muttered a curse.
Summer patted his arm, then pointed Penny out into the hall. “Let’s go around the corner, and I’ll show you.”
Tom went down the stairs and out the front door to take his call.
After a thorough look at the room, Summer left Penny to measure and leaned against the wall in the hall. Here was another spot that hadn’t been cleaned out from her grandparents.
The small room would be perfect for a baby nursery.
After all, she had painted this house with a child in the front yard, and where there was one, there should be two.
She liked the camaraderie Tom had with his sister and brothers, and she wanted theirs to have the same. Being an only child was a lonely thing.
“Well, it’ll be on the smallish side, but it’s doable.” Penny followed Summer back to her art room. “It’ll make this room have a bit less storage, though.”
“I may need to work out storage issues another way. I’ll have to talk to my business manager for ideas, but regardless this still needs to function as a home.”
Penny scribbled notes in her book. “Let me rework some of these measurements, then we can meet again about particulars.”
Summer rubbed her hands together. “Sounds good. I’m excited.”
“You’ll have to be out of here while we work on it. Six weeks to eight weeks minimum.”
“I’ll figure that out, too.” She grinned. “I should have done this ages ago. Tom gets a gold star for pushing me.”
“He knew what he wanted when he gave me the specs.”
“Sometimes he knows me better than I do.”
Tom appeared in the door. “Come on.”
Surprised, Summer studied the return of his grumpy cop face. “What?”
“Santa’s at the park. Apparently, there is a party in progress. Grab your jacket.”
“A party?” Penny squeaked, grabbing her measurements and notes. “With a stuffed Santa?”
“Pictures, cookies and the works.” Tom’s gruff voice didn’t hide his irritation. “Merry Christmas.”
The two women grabbed coats and followed him. Summer got in Tom’s work vehicle, and Penny came behind in her car.
Tom hadn’t misspoken. The park was hopping with dozens of people, and tables arranged with drinks, food, and cookies. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus blasted from the sound system, and lights twinkled around the gazebo.
Santa, in stuffed living color, was the star of the photo booth.