Chapter 2 #2
Diana laughed with her. Despite being a more or less lifelong resident of Girdwood Springs, until recently she’d never known Sylvie as anything more than the friendly face at the bakery that Diana tried not to go to too often, lest she spend every last dime on cake.
But last year she’d made friends with the new local vet, Chloe, and through her had met Sylvie and a number of other locals whom she now considered dear friends.
She’d already loved Girdwood Springs and the community here, but she’d always been a bit of a homebody outside of work time, devoting much of her time and attention to her son, Ash.
He, after all, was the reason she’d come back here – while Ash’s father, her ex, had dreamed of the big city and success in business, all Diana had wanted to do was make sure her son had the happy childhood she’d had in this small mountain town.
No, perhaps it wasn’t glamorous, and perhaps now that her ex, James, was apparently a big deal and making money hand over fist in the tech business she could have had a pretty sweet deal as a Silicon Valley trophy wife.
But it just hadn’t been her. And so, when Ash was two she’d returned to where she grew up, hoping to give him what she’d had as a child.
But she’d remained on good terms with James and he was still involved in Ash’s life – he wasn’t a bad guy, after all, it had just turned out that they wanted totally different things in life.
She’d known she’d made the right decision, even if being a single mom wasn’t exactly easy. But she had a job she loved, and Ash filled her days with love and laughter. Now that her social life had opened up more, it felt like the last piece of the puzzle had been fitted.
Well, more like the second-to-last piece. There was still the question of maybe resuscitating her completely dead romantic life at some point, but Diana still wasn’t quite sure how she felt about that.
Despite her and James having parted amicably enough, the whole process had been exhausting. She was happy with her little family of two for the time being.
And any little voices in her head that whispered that maybe she’d like to meet a new man were automatically squashed beneath her metaphorical heel.
She just didn’t have the time or the mental energy for dealing with the complications of a new relationship right now.
Ash was her main priority. He was ten now and seemed to be getting smarter every day – sometimes, she struggled to keep up with him and his new interests.
“Thanks for taking Ash in this afternoon, by the way – I really appreciate it,” Diana said, giving Sylvie a warm smile. “You’re sure he’s not giving you too much trouble?”
“None whatsoever,” Sylvie said with a grin. “I wouldn’t have even known he was there if you hadn’t told me.”
Ash had been manning the lemonade stand this morning, carefully serving up lemonade and counting out people’s change, stiffly saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, but Diana had cut him free once the day had started getting hot enough that her little battery-operated fan was struggling to keep them cool.
It didn’t seem fair to make him spend his summer vacation out in the heat raising money for the playground.
Luckily Girdwood Springs hadn’t really changed that much from when Diana had been a kid – she had tons of memories of running free in the woods all day, her parents barely knowing where she was or what she was up to.
While she wasn’t quite so carefree in her own parenting style, she knew that she could trust Ash to not get into trouble, and the people of the town to keep an eye out for him.
Not that there was any chance of him running off into the depths of the woods and swinging from the trees. He’d told her that he was going to take their faithful golden retriever, Bella, for a walk, then sit with Bella at Sylvie’s bakery and do some crosswords from his puzzle book.
My son the hoodlum, Diana thought with a smile.
“Anyway, I should be heading back,” Sylvie said. “Emily is covering for me at the moment, but you know how I love to be in the thick of things.”
Diana did know – besides being known for her generosity, Sylvie was also an infamous workaholic, though she had settled down somewhat since the birth of her daughter, Lily, nine months ago.
Still, she was back in the bakery three days a week now, and clearly thriving. Her three biggest loves in life were obviously her work, her daughter, and her husband – though not in that order – and it seemed like she had found a balance that was working for her.
“Gale has Lily for the day, does he?” Diana asked, as she surreptitiously topped up Sylvie’s drink.
“Don’t think I didn’t see that,” Sylvie said, even as she drank it down.
“But yeah, he does. They came in for a visit for five minutes earlier today, and in that time that little rapscallion managed to get into a sack of flour, knock over a chair, and tip a bag of choc chips onto the floor.” She looked baffled.
“She doesn’t even know how to stand up by herself yet! How can she be such a terror?!”
“That’s kids for you,” Diana said sympathetically.
“I dread to think what she’ll be like when she turns two,” Sylvie said, though her put-upon expression was somewhat undone by the laughter that was clearly fighting its way through.
She doted on little Lily, and it wasn’t hard to see why – she was definitely a sweet-natured kid, and her innocent, cherubic smile could melt the coldest of hearts.
Sylvie tipped back her cup, draining the last dregs. Finishing up, she smiled. “Anyway, gotta go. See you ’round!”
“See you later!” Diana said, waving as Sylvie headed back up the road.
She looked down… and frowned.
There, in her cash box, was a twenty-dollar bill that definitely hadn’t been there before.
How’d she manage that?!
“Hey!” she yelled at Sylvie’s retreating back, but Sylvie just waved without looking back and kept walking.
Diana sighed, even as a smile crept over her face. Girdwood Springs really did have the most generous people she’d ever met.
It was with renewed vigor that Diana got back to work, squeezing lemons, handing out muffins, and serving thirsty patrons.
The stream of customers continued to flow, and the bills in the cash box increased steadily as the day wore on.
Friends and strangers alike dropped in looking to quench their thirst or lend a hand, and the hours flew by.
Eventually the sun began its inexorable mid-afternoon descent across the sky, and the customers started to dissipate as people started thinking less about cold drinks, and more about upcoming dinners.
And not a moment too soon – Diana was down to her last jug of lemonade, her once-bountiful lemon stocks now reduced to an enormous pile of sad-looking peels.
“Phew.”
She sank down gratefully onto her folding chair, allowing herself a taste of the lemonade – which was pretty darn good, if she did say so herself – and counting out the bills from her cash box.
Not bad. Not bad at all.
There was still a long, long way to go, but she couldn’t let herself dwell on that – she had to concentrate on how far she’d come. The other pre-school staff were all holding their own fundraising activities as well, so maybe once they’d all pooled their profits, they could…
Well, there’d still be nowhere near enough.
But it was a good start. Maybe they’d be able to at least scrape together the money for the materials soon, and then it would just be a matter of fundraising enough extra money for the labor required to make it happen.
Perhaps there was a local company that would be willing to do the work cheaply in exchange for the publicity?
She was so caught up in her musings that she didn’t even notice the customer approaching her until a shadow fell over her. Even then, she took a moment to enjoy the coolness of the sudden shade before her brain clicked into gear.
Startled, she looked up…
And up…
That guy is… really tall, she thought, swallowing hard.
Maybe it was just because she was sitting down?
No, he was definitely tall. And built.
And wearing shorts and a tank top, and carrying an oversized backpack, and maybe just a bit sweaty, which normally Diana wouldn’t have cared for at all, but for some reason in this instance it just made her jaw drop ever so slightly.
Yowza.
He was the complete opposite of the guys she usually noticed, whose appearances tended to be what she would describe as cerebral if she was feeling generous, and nerdy if she was feeling less so. And there was nothing wrong with that!
But something about this guy was awakening a part of her that she hadn’t even known existed. And she wasn’t sure how she felt about it.
Even when she’d seen the other tall, gorgeous hunks that seemed to have been congregating in Girdwood Springs over the past few years for some inexplicable reason, she hadn’t been attracted to them. She’d been able to recognize that they would generally be considered hot, but they weren’t her type.
Until now.
“Uh…” The handsome man scratched at his lightly stubbled jaw, and Diana tried not to melt right off her chair. “I was going to get some lemonade, but I didn’t realize you were closed for the day.”
“No we’re not!” Diana shot to her feet before her brain could catch up with the rest of her, slamming into the table and sending the jug rocking precariously.
She grabbed at it with one steadying hand while picking up a cup with the other, and managed to pour out a serve without spilling it too much.
The man watched on, bemused, as she thrust the cup at him. “We’re definitely still open! Here you are! On the house!”
Wait, what? Since when do I give up my principles for a gorgeous face and a hot body?!
But it was too late – she couldn’t exactly go back on her offer of a free drink now. She resolved to add an extra two dollars from her own purse afterwards.
Obviously confused, the man blinked his eyes – his gorgeous, dark, infuriatingly long-lashed eyes – and looked down at the pamphlets.
“This isn’t a fundraiser for the Girdwood Springs Pre-School?”
He started digging around in his pocket, leaving Diana standing there holding the drink out and feeling increasingly foolish.
The man pulled out a couple of one-dollar bills and placed them on the table, tucking them under the edge of the cash box. “Here. I’m not about to turn up late and stiff you on the price.”
Diana stared at him, mouth open, ready to protest… but really, he was offering her a lifeline. She did want to raise money for the school, and really, it was just a relief to know that he was someone who cared about raising money for kids, rather than taking advantage of the situation.
Not that she should really care about his personal moral code, given that he was a stranger passing through town who she would never see again. Obviously.
“If you insist?” she managed to get out, the statement coming out sounding more like a question.
“I do,” he said firmly, and Diana’s heart did a weird little flutter.
“No problem. Here you go, sir,” she said, holding the cup out a little farther and willing her hand not to tremble.
What is going on with me today? Are these the early stages of heatstroke?
“Thanks,” the man said in his deep, oddly soothing voice, and he reached out his hand to take the cup.
The two of them brushed fingers ever so slightly as she started to pass it over, and –
Whoa!!
Diana didn’t know which was more surprising – the sudden shock of electricity that ran through her fingers and up her arm, or the fact that the table was now covered in lemonade.
“Oh. Oh, crap!”
Diana froze, staring at the spreading yellow stain on the tablecloth and mentally despairing about having to deal with the mess… before she realized the much, much bigger issue at hand – i.e. that she’d just deprived the handsome, civic-minded man of his hard-earned lemonade.
“I’m so sorry!” She could hear herself babbling, but somehow, she couldn’t stop. “I cannot believe I just did that! I’ll definitely get you another, no charge, of course – you didn’t get any on you, did you –”
And if you did, can I pat you down gently with a moist paper towel?
Well, at least she managed to stop herself from blurting that out. But the more she talked, the more she couldn’t help but notice the man was simply standing there, a silent, hulking figure.
Is he mad I spilled the lemonade?
Forcing herself to stop talking, Diana looked up – and up – to find the man staring at her, a look of complete shock – and hopefully not horror? – on his face.