Chapter 19
NINETEEN
SILAS
Clara spent the entire day sending me cryptic messages.
First, she told me to meet her at the elementary school gymnasium.
Then she asked me to pick up a gallon of black paint and brushes.
Then she asked me to pick up twinkle lights.
To say I was sufficiently confused when I climbed into my truck after a quick trip to the hardware store was an understatement.
Thankfully, after I fed Isabelle dinner, Mrs. Bloomburg was more than happy to come over to help her get ready for bed.
I told her I’d be back by nine at the latest, but she just shook her head and told me to take my time.
As I walked out the door, she told me that she was happy to see me “get out there, again.”
I wanted to turn around and tell her that I was being forced into leaving my house, that this wasn’t voluntary, but I stopped myself.
I knew she would just smile and say, “okay,” but not really believe me.
The best thing for me to do was to just leave it alone as I shut the door behind me and hurried to my truck.
It was seven thirty when I pulled into the elementary school parking lot.
I let the engine idle for a moment before I turned it off and pulled the key from the ignition.
I gathered the supplies Clara asked me to pick up and got out of my truck.
The door to the cafeteria was unlocked, so I pulled it open and headed inside.
As I neared the gym, I heard voices. I frowned as I peeked through the door to see Clara and…Todd standing there. Todd was talking and Clara was nodding while she swept her gaze over the large pieces of plywood spread out on the floor in front of them.
Of all the things I thought we were going to do, being the third wheel to whatever was going on never crossed my mind. I was so confused as I stared at Todd. He hadn’t mentioned coming here when I left the office a few hours ago…why hadn’t he said anything?
The longer I watched them, the deeper my frown got. Clara looked so happy standing there with her hands clasped and with the biggest smile on her face. Todd was matching her energy as he moved his hands around while talking.
Clara never looked that happy to see me. She’d never looked so animated during our conversations. A surge of jealousy rushed through me. I blinked, not expecting that reaction at all. I shook my head, forcing that feeling from my mind.
I’d officially gone crazy.
Todd was the first person to notice my entrance.
As soon as his gaze locked with mine, he grew quiet.
That seemed to draw Clara’s curiosity. When she saw me, her smile changed.
It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t the same as the one she’d given Todd.
I was unsure of what that meant, and I knew, for my sanity, the last thing I should do was stand here and try to figure it out.
So I cleared my throat and approached them.
“What’s going on here?” I asked as I swept my gaze over the plywood.
“You’re here!” Clara said as she clapped her hands. Her gaze dipped down to the bags I was carrying. “And you brought the stuff I asked you to bring.” She glanced up at me and her smile emerged, causing my heart to inexplicably pound, again.
“Paint and twinkle lights,” I said as I raised the bags slightly. Then I glanced over at Todd. “What are you doing here?” I winced. My tone had a bite to it that I hadn’t intended.
This was all Clara’s fault. She was confusing me and I hated that.
“Did you know that Todd is a master carpenter?” Clara asked, her wide smile had returned as her attention shifted back to Todd. “Look at what he created from just a few short text messages.”
I glanced at the items that Clara was motioning toward. I wanted to be impressed, but I had no clue what they were or what I had to do with what was going on here. If Todd was her knight in shining armor, why did she call me?
I kept looking for a hint as to why I was here, but nothing came. I was standing here, clueless.
But Clara looked hopeful that I would be just as impressed as she was.
Even though I wasn’t sure how I felt about giving Todd so much praise, I could tell she wanted me to have a similar reaction, so I just smiled and nodded.
“Looks great, Todd.” Then I glanced back over to Clara.
“I guess I’ll leave the two of you to it.
” I set the bags down on the ground and turned to leave.
I didn’t like feeling jealous. I didn’t like that I’d interrupted what seemed like a date between the two of them.
Why was I even here? Couldn’t she have just had Todd pick up the paint and twinkle lights?
It was strange that she would ask me to do it when they were perfectly capable of accomplishing the task.
“Where are you going?”
Clara’s voice stopped me in my tracks. I paused, hating that I loved that she hadn’t let me walk out of the gym, that for some reason, she wanted me to stay. Because, deep down, I wanted to stay with her. I didn’t want to walk out and go back home.
“I’m going home,” I said.
Clara’s eyes widened. “Oh, okay,” she said, doing nothing to mask the disappointment in her voice.
It got my heart racing. Did she want me to stay?
“Unless you need me for”—I circled my hand toward the plywood in front of me—“whatever this is.”
Clara glanced from the plywood over to me. “I was kind of hoping that you could help me.” Her expression turned shy as she glanced up at me.
Todd cleared his throat. “I think I’ll head out. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.” Clara thanked him, and then Todd turned his attention to me. “See you tomorrow, boss,” he said.
I nodded.
Soon, Clara and I were alone in the gym. I wasn’t sure what to say or where to look, so I settled on just staring at the floor. Thankfully, Clara took over and led the conversation.
“Are you okay with staying?” She held up her hands. “If you can’t, I totally understand.”
“Do you want me to stay?” Call me crazy, but I needed her to say yes. I needed to know that I wasn’t the only one who felt our relationship changing. I’d gone from having to spend time with her…to wanting to spend time with her.
And I wanted her to admit that she wanted to spend time with me too.
Clara held my gaze as silence fell between us. Then she started to nod. “I want you to stay.”
Slowly, ever so slowly, a smile began to spread across my lips. I shoved my hands into the front pockets of my jeans before I shrugged. “Then I’ll stay.”
“Okay.” Clara’s voice was soft and her gaze was shy.
I loved that when she was nervous her cheeks flushed and her eyes twinkled. Clara may be obsessed with Christmas lights, but I was obsessed with the glow that naturally flowed from her gaze. It was unlike anything man-made.
Needing to break the connection between us before I did something stupid, I pulled my gaze from hers and turned toward the wood that was lying on the ground. Our relationship had gone from antagonistic to tolerable. Making a stupid move now would ruin everything.
“What’s the plan with all of this?” I asked as I glanced over at her.
Clara clapped her hands together, steepled her pointer fingers, and turned to face me. “We’re putting on a play,” she said, her voice reverent.
“A play?”
She nodded. “A blank Carol.”
I frowned. “A blank Carol?”
She held my gaze. “You know, A c-h-r-i…A blank Carol.” She moved her hand in a forward circle as if that was going to help me get there faster.
“The story of Scrooge?” I asked.
She nodded. “There you go! Now you’re getting it.”
“But when is the performance?”
“Thursday.”
I balked. “Thursday? That’s, like, three days away.”
She blew out her breath. “I know. That’s why we’ve got to start now.” She walked over to the bags I’d brought and started rifling around.
“How are you going to make this Christmas play…not Christmas?”
Clara glanced up at me. “At its heart, it’s a story about a grumpy man who has his heart changed by his past, present, and future.
” She emerged from the bag triumphantly with a brush in hand.
“It’s a tale as old as time,” she said as she waved the brush in my direction.
“Christmastime and the end of the year gives everyone the perfect opportunity to take stock of one’s life and plan for the next year.
Leave out the holiday aspect and you still have a great story. ”
She grabbed the paint-can opener that I’d snagged from the counter at the hardware store and began to pop the lid open. I studied her for a moment before I finally pushed aside my concerns and looked for a brush to join her.
She had a point. Just because A Christmas Carol took place in December, that didn’t mean it had to take place during Christmastime.
A grumpy man coming face-to-face with how he’d treated everyone in his life and how that put him on the path toward a bleak future was a story we all could understand, with or without the holiday.
Hating the silence that had fallen between us, I moved to speak. “Did you do a lot of plays when you were a kid?”
Clara had started painting a cityscape, so I moved to join her, dipping my brush into the black paint. She glanced over at me and then returned her focus to the backdrop.
“I was Ralph in A Christmas Story, Cindy Lou Who—two years in a row—and I was Rudolph in Santa Stole Christmas, an original play written by my grandmother.” She paused, her expression turning nostalgic as she stared at the ground.
Watching her memories flood to the surface only reminded me of my own memories from yesterday. I understood the reverence you feel when you recall things you’d forgot.
For so long, I’d buried my memories because they hurt. They were a reminder of friendships now broken or people now passed. But watching Clara, I longed to remember. She looked sad but at peace. She was someone who cherished her memories, not someone who ran from them.
And suddenly, I wanted to share my own memories with her. Ones from when I was a kid. I wanted her to know more about me in a way I hadn’t wanted anyone to since Nicole died.
Clara had been so open with me, it was time for me to repay the favor.
“I want to take you somewhere,” I blurted out before I had actually thought out what I was going to say next.
Clara glanced up at me, her eyes wide. “You want to take me somewhere?” she repeated.
I nodded. I’d already opened Pandora’s box. There was no going back now. “Yes. Tomorrow night?”
Clara held my gaze as her expression stilled. She slowly nodded. “Okay.” Then her smile emerged, and it made my heart sing. “I can’t wait.”
“Good.” I smiled back at her. “I can’t wait, either.”