LANCE DUG IN the ground, trying not to think about what Jamie had said at lunch. College wasn’t something he’d ever considered.
His shovel hit a rock, but as he felt around the edges to lever it out, he realized it was practically a boulder. He began digging around it, the effort making everything else go away in his head for a while.
Finally he used a lever to lift it out of the hole and then rolled it over to the pile of rocks he’d already dug out. He took off the sunglasses Jamie had given him and carefully put them in a pocket before wiping his face with a bandanna. He wasn’t too sure about the bandannas—they seemed kind of folksy—but she was always putting them around his neck to keep him from getting sunburned, so he didn’t object.
“How are you doing?” called Liam as he came up the hill.
“I haven’t gotten much done because of this rock,” Lance said, nudging the boulder with his shoe.
“Digging that out was plenty. It’s bigger than a beach ball.”
Lance nodded. He hadn’t seen many beach balls—on a beach at least—but it was a big rock.
“Here’s something to cool you off,” Liam said, handing him a huge bottle of a sports drink. “I don’t want you getting heatstroke.”
“Thanks.” Lance took off the lid and chugged down a bunch. In the beginning he’d been wary when Liam brought him food or something to drink, thinking it would come out of his paycheck, but Jamie had told him the Connors were nice to everyone.
He liked Liam.
Sometimes the guy was absentminded and didn’t seem to hear stuff, but everybody said it was because he missed his wife.
Lance got it.
If he ever lost Jamie, it would be the worst thing in the world.
“We don’t see much hot spring weather like this,” Liam murmured. “It’s unusual even for summer. I’ve been thinking we should find something else for you to do in the afternoons until the weather breaks.”
“I don’t mind the heat,” Lance said quickly.
“Are you sure? We’ll have to reassign you once the second orchard is planted, anyhow.”
“Will I still be able to take care of the trees?” It felt silly, but Lance was protective of the small apple orchard he’d planted.
“Certainly, but I also want you to learn how to maintain our antique vehicles. At first I thought you could work with my brother-in-law in the greenhouses, but Gabe McKinley mentioned that you seem to be mechanical. That would be better for you because it pays a bit more.”
Pride and relief swelled in Lance, both because Mr. McKinley had spoken up for him and because his job at Poppy Gold seemed safe. As for a pay raise? Except for the gifts he got for Jamie, he lived cheaply and was saving as much money as possible, but anything more would help.
“That’s awesome,” he said, his throat tight. He’d gone to work as a restaurant busboy after high school because nobody else would give him a chance. Now he might get a promotion.
“Excellent. Are you sure you’re all right out here?”
“I’m fine.” It would take a long time to finish clearing the brush and digging out the new orchard, but Lance wanted the Connors to know he’d finish the job.
“All right.” Liam pulled two more bottles of sports drink from his pack. “Bring these back empty,” he ordered.
Lance grinned. “Yes, sir.”
He went back to digging. When there were enough rocks to pick and choose from, he planned to build another stone wall. On the first one he’d used a quick-setting concrete in the center, to be sure it wouldn’t fall down, but nobody could tell—it looked just like the old walls he’d seen on the internet. A wall was sure better than piles of rocks where snakes could hide; he’d already surprised several rattlesnakes.
The apples he’d planted were growing. The Connors planned to install a drip irrigation system, but until then, the trees had to be watered by hand.
Lance looked over at the new orchard. He’d check the trees again before he left. He hoped the weather got cooler; he didn’t mind bringing water out on the little handcart, but the heat seemed hard on the saplings.
He wiped his face again, still wishing he knew what Jamie’s suggestion about them taking classes together meant. If she just wanted them to spend time together, that was cool. But maybe she’d decided she didn’t want to date a guy whose life might not be going anywhere.
The truth was he didn’t know how to be with a girl like Jamie. He needed her a lot more than she needed him, and he worried all the time that she’d decide he wasn’t good enough. And the hardest part was knowing that he really wasn’t.
* * *
AFTER WORK JAMIE changed out of her costume and raced down to the creek. Lance wasn’t there yet, and she hoped he wasn’t unhappy about her taking the time to finish her class.
Surely not, though something had been bugging him lately. She was glad that he’d told her about his grades and the other stuff. In the beginning everything had been dreamy and romantic with Lance, but according to her mom, falling in love was a lot easier than being in love.
Jamie took her shoes off and put her feet in the cool water. While she didn’t want to bother Tessa, maybe she should talk to her. Her cousin was older and had more experience with dating, so she might understand what was bothering Lance.
She bent over and looked at the rippling currents in the water. She loved Glimmer Creek and didn’t want to leave. Her parents wanted her to go away to college in the fall, so she figured working at Poppy Gold and taking more classes down in Stockton was a compromise. Mom didn’t entirely agree; she kept saying it was only for a while, but four years was forever.
Dad understood a little better.
He’d grown up in Glimmer Creek and had convinced Mom to do her residency in family medicine with Dr. Romano, saying if she hated living there, they’d discuss going somewhere else. Twenty years later, they were discussing whether they wanted to buy a house outside the town where they could keep a couple of horses and some chickens.
Jamie dug a toe into the soft sand of the creek bed. Maybe she should check and see if Lance was okay. He liked to shower and change his clothes before they got together, but what if he wasn’t feeling well? What if he’d gotten heatstroke or something from working outside this afternoon? It was the hottest day they’d had so far.
Suddenly worried, Jamie got up, only to see Lance coming down the path.
“Hey,” he said. “Sorry I’m late. I had to make two extra trips for water to give to the apple trees.”
“That’s okay.” Jamie brushed the hair away from his forehead to see if the bruise was gone; it was hard to tell with his dark tan, but she thought so. “Should we sit down or go for a walk?”
“Let’s sit.”
Jamie happily sat down again. She wanted to ask if she was right, that something was bothering him, and about other things, too, like why he didn’t push for more than kissing, but right now it was enough that they were together.
* * *
LATE IN THE afternoon Tessa returned home following a visit with Uncle Milt at the ice-cream parlor on the pedestrian shopping street. They’d arranged to meet there so she could casually hand off the video recordings and copies of the threatening letters Rob McKinley had received.
The letters were disturbing, pieced together from clips from magazines and newspapers, ugly in tone and sounding a little unhinged. How Rob could be so cool about it she didn’t know.
Back at her apartment in the Victorian Cat, Tessa hastily changed into something appropriate for a wedding. She did her hair in a French braid and headed for the old town square park. The rows of chairs for the guests were already in place, and two industrial-sized misting machines had been set up, blowing water-cooled air over the area.
While they weren’t the most attractive pieces of equipment, she had a feeling they’d be quite popular with the guests and bridal couple. Nobody had expected such a heat wave in May.
Satisfied, she went to check the staff’s progress on setting up for the reception. Luckily they had air-conditioning in the concert hall.
Inside, Aunt Polly turned around as she approached and smiled. “You look lovely, dear. I think the worst part about these things is figuring out what to wear.”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Tessa said. “Maybe we should have a standard employee uniform for formal events. Then nobody would have to keep a black skirt or pants and a white top in their wardrobe and we’d all be more easily identified. I’m not sure the sky blue armbands are enough.”
Yet Tessa’s heart thumped painfully. Her mother had always resisted uniforms for employees other than the maintenance and housekeeping staffs, preferring to rely on a dress code and name tags. When Tessa had first taken over management of Poppy Gold, she’d instituted the armbands, but even that had felt as if she was stomping on Meredith Connor’s legacy.
“Excellent idea,” Aunt Polly affirmed.
To Tessa’s annoyance, Gabe’s comment about delegating floated through her head. He was a fine one to talk about delegating; he was a one-man demolition team.
“Uh, yeah. Do you want to come up with something?” Tessa asked. “Maybe with a Victorian flair, but comfortable and practical?”
Aunt Polly seemed pleased. “I’ll do several sketches and see where we could have them made. Something might even be available already with the uniform companies, so I’ll check them out, as well. But...uh...how about uniforms the rest of the time? I know my sister didn’t care for them, but you have to do things your own way.”
Tessa let out a breath. “Sure. Come up with a proposal, and we’ll discuss how extensive to make it.”
“Sounds good.”
A chair clattered to the floor from a trolley, and Tessa jumped...mostly from realizing it was Gabe pushing the trolley. She hadn’t recognized him at first; he was wearing black shoes and pants and a long-sleeved white shirt, adorned with the usual sky blue armband. He looked entirely too tall and sexy for comfort.
She hurried over. “Gabe, what are you doing here?”
“Maintenance, naturally. One of the guys scheduled for tonight didn’t feel well, and I volunteered to fill in.”
“Don’t you have other things to do?” she asked pointedly.
“Not that I can think of. After all, you’re working and I’m lonely.”
Lord. She didn’t want to pretend they were socializing, but other employees might well wonder why they were spending so much time together. Romance was a reasonable cover story. As for the investigation, Rob had left that morning, so Gabe was probably bored and at loose ends.
She stepped even closer. “I’m going to play along, but you’re going to stay lonely,” she said in a very, very low tone.
“Please don’t tell me we’re having our first fight,” Gabe replied, except his voice was loud enough that others in the concert hall might be able to overhear.
Tessa regarded him blackly. With anyone else she might have suspected it was a twisted joke, but with Gabe McKinley, it was probably just part of the act.
“Sorry, I have work to do.”
She headed for the kitchen, only to have him call after her, “Tessa, are you sure it’s going to be too late for me to come over after the reception?”
She froze.
Finally she turned and looked back, wanting to tell him that having fun at someone else’s expense wasn’t the same as having a sense of humor.
“Yes, Gabe, I’m absolutely positive.”
To her everlasting annoyance, he actually smiled.