Chapter Fifteen
Delaney hopped out of the side-by-side
and trudged toward the house with Callie following behind her.
She’d spent her morning dealing with a leaking valve that
controlled water flow to the east orchard. The job had been muddy,
messy, and frustrating, but finally she’d gotten it straightened
out.
She stepped onto the deck at the back
of the house, then stopped short. A gorgeous pot of blooming
flowers stood next to the door. It hadn’t been there when she’d
left the house before seven that morning, and now at lunchtime
there it sat teeming with cheerful geraniums with full blooms of
deep pink. They were planted in a clay pot decorated with a rainbow
of ceramic tiles in swirling colors. She paused to brush the soft
leaf of a geranium with her finger before pushing through the
screen door. Geraniums looked so cheerful and were among her
special favorites.
She opened the screen and stepped into
the kitchen. Clara stood at the island with several dozen travel
flyers fanned across it. “Look here, Delaney. The cruise company
sent all these brochures of places we’ll stop on our voyage.” She
picked up one showing a quaint New England-looking port with an
image of a lobster in the corner. “One of our stops on the Atlantic
coast is in Maine. I’ve always wanted to go to Maine.” She picked
up another flyer. “This one is for a port on the Yucatan Peninsula.
DeeDee and I decided we’re going to spend our money in locally
owned shops and restaurants as much as possible so what we spend
stays in the communities we visit.”
“I like that. You’re going
to have a grand adventure.”
“It feels like we will.
Did you know my grandfather was an engineer, and as a young man
worked on the construction of the Panama Canal? And now his
granddaughter will be going through the canal and sailing across
the Caribbean.”
It’d been a long time since Delaney
had heard her grandmother enthusiastic about anything. She tipped
her head onto Clara’s shoulder. “I’m glad you’re doing this, Gran.
It sounds so exciting. You’ll have a wonderful time.”
Clara laid her head briefly against
Delaney’s before straightening. The moment might’ve been brief, but
it packed more punch because such gestures were so rare. “I need to
get away. I love the farm, but my heart breaks all over again every
time I think of something and start to look for James to share with
him. A change of scenery will do me good.”
“I know, Gran. I miss him
every day. I hope he knew how much we loved him.”
“He did,” Clara murmured.
“I wouldn’t leave you like this if I didn’t think you couldn’t
handle the season without me. But you can. You have Franny and
Oscar, and now you have Walker.” She patted Delaney’s hand. “That
he’s here eases my mind immeasurably.”
She hadn’t told her grandmother about
the calf or the attack on Walker. He’d agreed with her decision and
had pulled strings with a friend at a body shop who’d repaired his
truck. The last thing either of them wanted was for Clara to cancel
her trip because of worry over the farm or the people on
it.
“You’ll check the mail for
a response from your sister? I included my email address in case
Cameron wants to contact me that way. I can check email on the
ship, but she may go the old-fashioned way and send a letter. I
hope the private investigator will find something on your other
sister soon.”
“I’ll look and let you
know if anything comes in.” Delaney still had mixed feelings about
Clara’s quest to find her “lost” grandchildren. That they’d heard
nothing in response to her grandmother’s queries told Delaney the
women weren’t interested in establishing family connections.
Hopefully, Clara would be satisfied with her efforts even if they
came to nothing.
“Where are you off to?”
Clara was dressed in her “going out” clothes. Today she wore a
tailored shirt and slim cotton slacks with matching navy
pumps.
“Doctor’s visit. I need to
get an extended prescription for my blood pressure medicine. The
cruise line also requires certain vaccinations, so I’ll be taking
care of that.”
“Okay. By the way, I love
the flowers you put by the back door. They’re
beautiful.”
“What flowers? I didn’t
put flowers by the back door.”
“Someone did. There’s a
beautiful geranium with magenta flowers in a gorgeous
pot.”
Clara crossed the floor to push open
the screen. “Oh, those are beautiful. I wonder who left them
there.” She cast a speculative eye at Delaney.
“What? If you didn’t, it
must’ve been Oscar.”
“Except today is Oscar and
Franny’s day off and they’ve driven to Stockton to visit their
daughter and the new baby.” Clara raised an arched brow.
“Why are you giving me
that look?”
“There aren’t all that
many people on the farm. If it wasn’t Oscar or Franny, it must’ve
been Walker.”
“Then giving you flowers
was nice of him.”
Clara let out a delighted laugh.
Delaney smiled, thrilled her grandmother could seize moments to be
happy.
“I’m fairly certain I’m
not the Bryant he intended them for. He’s always loved you, and I
don’t think that’s changed.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.
Walker’s not a flower-giving kind of guy.” At least she hadn’t
thought so until she’d seen the clutch of sunflowers that’d pleased
Antonia Reynoso.
Huh. Delaney had enthused over Mrs.
Watkins’s blooming flowers, some of them geraniums with blossoms in
shades of pink. Maybe he did bring them over.
“He might’ve loved me
once, but that was a long time ago. There’s nothing between us
now.”
“Perhaps he’s showing you
there is something between you. You could always ask him if he brought
the flowers.”
Delaney stooped to pet Callie, who was
leaning against her leg. She shook her head at her grandmother’s
suggestion. “Maybe later.” Or maybe never.
She dug out a dog biscuit from the jar
on the counter. “Here you go, baby.” Callie took the biscuit and
carried it to the rug, as she invariably did, and lay down to eat
her treat.
Delaney opened the refrigerator and
pulled out an avocado and a pack of sliced turkey, then grabbed a
loaf of bread from the basket on the counter.
Clara stacked the brochures and slid
them into a large envelope. “I won’t be back until later this
evening. After my appointment, I’m going over to DeeDee’s with
these flyers. We’re going to plan out what we want to see on our
trip. She’s making a quiche and invited me to stay for
dinner.”
“Other than the jabs, it
sounds like a fun day.”
“It does. It takes more
effort to go out these days, but I’m always glad when I
do.”
***
After Gran left, Delaney wolfed down
her sandwich while listening to a podcast. The topic was innovative
methods farmers were using to mitigate the effects of farming on
climate change. One of her goals over the next year was to install
solar panels on the big house and the buildings in the retail area.
She figured they would generate enough electricity to power the
farm’s operation, and even sell some back to the local power
provider. The side-by-side was electric, and she wanted to switch
the rest of the farm vehicles to electric as soon as
feasible.
After convincing Callie to stay at the
house, Delaney returned to the side-by-side and zipped down the
road. She had two interviews scheduled for possible summer workers,
and then an appointment with a repair guy to look at the donut
maker.
If the gods were kind, whatever was
preventing the oil in the machine from reaching the temperature
needed to fry mini donuts would be a simple and inexpensive fix.
Simple and inexpensive were two of her favorite things.
Despite the red flags, after
consulting with Clara, Delaney’d hired Cam. She and Gran decided
they couldn’t turn away a woman on her own who obviously needed a
break.
The day they’d met, Cam had indeed
walked from town. She’d left her car at the motel—a Honda Civic
that looked almost as old as she did—because it was out of gas and
Cam had been out of cash.
Delaney had given her a ride back to
the motel for her things, and over the other woman’s objections,
fronted her enough cash to put gas in her car.
She’d thought Cam would burst into
tears when Delaney offered to let her live in one of the tiny
cottages on the farm they sometimes rented to workers.
Whatever else was going on in her
life, as an employee Cam was exemplary.
According to Franny, Cam was there,
waiting on the steps when Franny arrived in the morning, and worked
nonstop her entire shift. Cam had asked if she could work in the
bakery and so far, the experiment had paid off.
The day before Delaney had sampled
apple tarts Cam had made. They’d been mouthwateringly delicious,
with just the right combination of sugar and spice mixed with the
apples, and an amazing crust that was light, sweet, and
crispy.
Delaney walked through the retail area
and into the bakery, and since she’d spotted a sheriff’s department
cruiser parked in front, she wasn’t surprised to find Sawyer in
uniform standing with Walker at the coffee bar.
Walker was pouring coffee into a metal
travel mug. He caught sight of her and the look in his eyes made
her think he’d gobble her up in one bite if given half a
chance.
Sawyer, on the other hand, had his
gaze on Cam, who stood behind the counter chewing her bottom lip
and fiddling with the front tie of her apron. A nervous Cam was not
unusual, but looking like she was ready to faint dead away if
someone so much as said “boo” was.
Perhaps being up close to a couple of
the hottest guys in the county made her jumpy. Or, as Delaney
expected was more likely, any cop would bring about that
reaction.
It hadn’t escaped her notice that
since she’d arrived at the farm, Cam had left exactly once,
returning within the hour with full bags of groceries to stock the
mini-fridge in her cottage. Other than that, she spent her time
working or in her little home.
When she spotted Delaney, Cam flashed
her a relieved look and immediately disappeared into the food prep
area in the back of the café.
“New employee’s skittish.”
Sawyer eyed Delaney as he blew over the top of the steaming
coffee.
“Apparently.”
“Why do you think that
is?”
She rolled her eyes and pointed to the
door. “Outside.”
Both men followed her as she led the
way onto the deck. She wasn’t having this conversation where Cam
could overhear. Turning to face Sawyer, she planted her hands on
her hips. “While you’re an awesome guy, and a good cop, not
everyone has had positive experiences with law enforcement. You
know that.”
“She say anything to
you?”
“Nope.”
“She must’ve filled out an
employee application,” Walker put in. “What’d you learn about her
from that?”
Delaney shook her head. “I’m not
passing on information from an employee application. That’s a
breach of Cam’s privacy.”
“We want you safe,
Laney.”
She glared at Walker. “I
don’t need two big strong men to keep me safe. I’ve been taking
care of myself, and the farm, just fine without your help.
Besides, I’m not
the one who’s been shot at, so I don’t think it’s me who’s in
danger.” She wagged a finger at them. “Leave Cam alone. Both of
you.”
Sawyer sipped coffee. “There’s
something off about her, but I’ve got other things to deal with at
the moment.” He turned to Walker. “You’ll keep an eye
out?”
At Walker’s brief nod, Delaney let out
an exasperated sigh. Sawyer lifted his cup in salute. “I put a
couple dollars in the tip jar. Thanks for the coffee.” He jogged
down the stairs, and a minute later the cruiser was gone in a cloud
of dust.
Delaney turned to Walker. She wished
his dark and broody expression, on top of being hot and protective,
didn’t make her want to lick him all over. He was looking right
back at her and heat kindled low in her belly. He stepped toward
her, and she took a step back. She had a feeling he knew what he
did to her because she did the same to him.
He closed the gap and she bumped up
against a post, causing a shower of deep pink petals to fall from
the bougainvillea overhead. His hand went to her hair, fingers
sliding through as he pulled pink petals from her
tangles.
“Did you leave geraniums
on the porch for Clara?” she blurted out.
He paused, his gaze caught on hers,
then shifted to watching his fingers as they stroked down her neck.
She hoped he couldn’t feel her pulse hammering like a rabid
woodpecker.
“I was at Sisters Hardware
and they were there. I thought you’d like them.”
“They’re for
me?”
“Yeah, they’re for
you.”
“You’re confusing
me.”
“Okay, let’s straighten
this out then.”
“This?”
“Yeah, this thing that’s
between us, because what we had is still there. It never went
away.”
“You went
away.”
He dropped his hand. “Yeah, I did. But
I never stopped thinking about you.”
“Walker, I—”
The sound of an approaching vehicle
made them look up. A pickup that might’ve been new in the last
century parked, and two teenagers stepped out. Delaney glanced at
her watch and huffed a frustrated sigh. “That’s the Maldonado
twins. I’m interviewing them this afternoon and hoping to hire them
for the summer season.”
He sighed with pure male
frustration.
“Right. Do what you have
to do. I’ll catch up with you later.”