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Dakota soldered the wings on another glass angel, put down her stinking hot iron and leaned back, heels of her hands pressed into her eye sockets. Her eyes were dry and gritty, painful to keep open for much longer. She’d been at this for hours without a break but the schedule she’d drawn up for herself had to be heavy if she wanted to have any chance of making this tree a winner.
“I need a coffee, a huge slice of cake and some fresh air before I fall asleep.” She slid off her stool and plodded out to the kitchen, blinking rapidly in a vain attempt to get moisture back into her eyes. Once she had coffee in one hand, cake in the other, Dakota walked out the front door with Tiny at her heels and padded over the road to the lake’s shoreline.
She stood with her feet in the sand, eyes closed and breathed in the fresh air. Dakota had taken on a lot by putting her name in the ballot for the tree when she was busy trying to rebuild her business but she couldn’t help herself. She was desperate to belong, to fit into the town.
“Hey.” Cory came running up to her and skidded to a halt on the sandy shore, dropping to his knees. Tiny pranced up to him, her tail wagging. “Hello cute thing.” He cuddled the poodle letting her jump up and lick his chin, much to her obvious delight.
“Hi, Cory. Finished school already?” Dakota hadn’t even glanced at her watch today.
“Yeah. No homework either ’cause the holidays are almost here so it’s a good day.” He picked up a twig and shredded the bark off of it then tossed it toward the water’s edge for Tiny to retrieve.
Dakota could see he was warming up to say something so she kept silent and waited.
“Can I ask you a favor?” He glanced up at her with pleading eyes.
“Sure.” Dakota crouched down on the ground, then eased her butt back onto the sand so they were at eye level. “What can I do to help?”
“I want you to try and talk Adam into keeping his promise.” He picked up another small piece of branch, repeated the bark stripping process and dragged the twig in a pattern in the sand.
“I’m not sure I can do more than I’ve already done, Cory. We did have a conversation about it the other night and he said he was going to fix it. Has Coach heard anything?”
“If he has, he hasn’t told us.” He sighed and Dakota wanted to put her arm around his shoulders, hug him tight but being a teenager he might not appreciate it. Instead she reached out and patted his knee.
“Don’t give up yet, Cory. Adam is busy and with his father being sick and all, things might take just a little bit longer. I’m sure he won’t let you down. In fact, I have great faith in him and I know he’ll do the right thing when he can.”
They both looked up as a car came down the lane. Adam parked by Dakota’s gate, got out, walked down the edge of the road and onto the beach. “Hello. I was hoping I’d find you here, Cory.” He smiled at Dakota and she melted just a little. “I wanted to have a talk with you about the coaching clinic and my teammates.”
“It doesn’t matter.” The slump of Cory’s shoulders proved that it did. “I get that you have other more important things to do.”
“No. I made you a promise and I’m going to come good on that. I’d hate for you to think you don’t matter, because you do.” Adam crouched down beside Cory, placed a hand on his back. “But first I want to apologize. My father often mentioned it would be a good idea to come back to Cherry Lake and spend some time with the kids here and I agree, it was a great idea. I was always too busy and didn’t bother to change my schedule to fit in, which is something I should have done. It wasn’t very nice of me considering all the help that Coach Miller gave me.”
Cory screwed up his lips but didn’t say anything.
“I’m hoping you’ll give me a chance to rectify that. I’ll understand if you won’t, of course. But I wanted you to know I feel terrible about the way I’ve handled it and I want to make amends.” He gave Dakota a lightning quick smile. “I’m sorry, Cory. Really sorry I let you down like this.”
Wonder came into Cory’s eyes. He had the power to bring an adult down, make them feel as rejected as he’d been. Dakota could see his mind tossing over the options. “What if I don’t?”
Adam kept a straight face and glanced at Dakota again. She wasn’t so good at hiding her thoughts and turned away lest the smile on her lips got noticed and ruined his chance at redemption.
“Well, I guess I have to keep feeling like a heel for letting you down. I could live with it eventually if I have to but I think that maybe sooner rather than later, I’m going to get sick of not being a good guy. Let’s face it, nobody wants to be thought badly of and I do have some other interesting news.”
Cory continued to stroke Tiny’s ears as he thought over the proposition. Finally, he couldn’t hold in his interest any longer. “What news?”
“I spoke to Buzz Wallace last night.”
Cory bolted upright. “Buzz Wallace, the striker? That Buzz Wallace?” His mouth hung open.
“Yep, that one. He wanted to come and visit but his family has something on and he can’t get away. He doesn’t want to let his mom down after all she’s done. Said he’d sign some shirts for the team if you’ll let him take a raincheck on it. You see, he really wants to come to Cherry Lake and watch you guys training one day.”
Dakota’s heart pattered wildly. Adam was going all out to try and make it up to Cory and for that she was giving him top marks.
“Are you kidding me?” Cory knelt up and stared at Adam.
“No. Dead serious. Scout’s honor.”
Cory waved his arms, the words sticking in his throat. “Oh my goodness. The guys will go nuts when I tell them.” He paused, eyed off Adam. “I can tell them, right?”
“Sure. But there’s more.” Adam now sported a grin from ear to ear. Such a difference to the man who was crying about his future just the other day.
“Our goalie, Ryan, said he can come for a day’s clinic if, and only if, you and I can call it even.” He smiled at Dakota and her heart melted even more. “You have no idea what it’s cost me to talk him into doing this. I’m going to be owing him favors for years but I have the feeling it’ll be worth it.”
“Deal! You’re the best soccer player in the world.” He looked ready to burst into tears and threw himself into Adam’s arms, knocking him back on the sand. “Thank you so much.” His words were muffled but they both heard him regardless.
Dakota had to swallow to keep the emotion in check but her eyes filled no matter how hard she tried to fight it.
Cory pulled away, composed himself and straightened his shirt. “Can I go and tell Dad?”
Adam lifted himself up from the sand, rested on his elbows. “Sure you can and tell Coach Miller too. Tell him I’ll call him and confirm the date later today but it will be before Christmas breakup.”
Cory waved and scurried down the road, doing a launch into the air with a fist pump and a roar of triumph on the way. They watched in silence until he turned into his grandfather’s house. The door slammed and Cory’s muffled voice reached their ears.
“That was very sweet of you, Adam.” She wrapped her arms around her waist and turned her head to look out over Flathead Lake. Her hair blew into her face and when she turned back she pulled it back, tucked it behind her ears.
“You told me to go and make it right. I think I’ve done that.” He moved closer to her, his eyes on her face.
“Yeah, I’d say so. What did it actually cost you?” For an instant, Dakota wished she hadn’t asked.
“That’s one thing I need your help with and I’m going to say sorry up front because I know what this is going to do to your already busy schedule.” His earlier smile had now turned sheepish and she waited for the bomb to drop. It couldn’t be good after that comment. “I know Ryan likes your work. He’s bought pieces for his wife and I might have told him about the decorations you gave me.” Adam bit his bottom lip and watched her.
“And?”
“He asked if I could get you to make him some icicles for their tree. His wife would be over the moon if you could. And,” he winced, “so would I because it would mean I could give the kids exactly what they want.”
Her jaw muscles clenched her teeth together involuntary, almost biting her tongue. It took a moment or two to relax enough to talk. “Do you have any idea how much work I have going on right now trying to do my own decorations for my own tree? To say nothing of the orders from my website or the amount of pieces Rachel has asked for.”
He grinned at her with a boyish exuberance. “Yeah, I know.”
“And the things I have to help my sister with for the gala night. How will I manage that?”
“I can help you there. The office isn’t that busy right now this close to Christmas and I kind of like the idea of looking after you.”
“But it won’t be any good if you’re going to wander off doing other things and leave me hanging.” This was all too much. Just managing her own list of must haves was going to be stretching every waking moment.
“I only have to go to see the team doctor. In and out in one day, two tops. We can work around that.” He reached for her hand. “Come on, friend. Help a guy out here, please. We can’t have the kids thinking badly of me. I don’t want to be dubbed the Christmas Grinch and I’m doing my best here just like you suggested.” He smiled at her. “But I need help from a friend.”
Dakota warred with herself mentally but she knew she was doomed as soon as the smile deepened and she saw his dimples for the first time. It occurred to her that she’d never seen Adam so content before either. How very unusual for a man possibly facing ill health and the end of his career. He must have come to terms with his lot in life and for that she was grateful. She knew how hard it was to drag yourself out of the dumps when life stacked so many obstacles in the way.
“You make it very hard to say no. But,” she wagged her finger at him, “I’m not letting you get away quite so easily. It takes hours to make each piece and you adding to it isn’t really viable right now. To make up for the extra hours, I’m going to have to cut back on other things, like sleeping and eating.”
“I can’t help with the sleeping, but I can help with the eating if you’d let me arrange something.”
“You can cook?” Obviously the man had many talents.
“Of course I can.” His frown told her how offended he was at her words of doubt. “I pride myself on my kitchen skills. You can ask my mother if you like, she taught me most of what I know.”
“Really? If you like you can arrange a couple of meals to be delivered, I won’t expect you to slave over my stove. And I’ll take anything so long as I don’t have to cook it. I have far too many angels to make to be fussy over what I eat.”
“Leave it with me. You go create your masterpieces and I’ll take care of kitchen duties for the next couple of nights and we can see how we go from there. If you need me to cook until gala night, I will. Deal?”
“Deal.”
Adam grabbed her around the waist and twirled until the cake and coffee sloshed around in her stomach and she begged him to stop. “Don’t. I’m going to be sick if you continue.”
Adam kissed her on the nose. “You, my darling girl, are the best friend a guy could have.”
Friend? She’d see about that. The guy was in so deep he couldn’t even see it, but she could. The warmth that came into his smile when she touched him, the way his face lit up when he saw her and his shoulders lost the tension that he carried with him. She knew she’d have to let him come to the realization himself and didn’t want to push him. But biding her time was going to be hard when all Dakota wanted to do was throw herself into his arms. Patience wasn’t her strong point. How on earth was she going to carry on as if there was nothing more than friendship between them until he came to his senses?
“I can work with that if you can, Coach. Ryan said the next two weeks are cool for him but after that, he’s going to be busy with family Christmas commitments. Leon said the same thing and the kids will be out of school for the holidays anyway.”
Coach checked his calendar and came up with a game plan that Adam thought would work, named a day that seemed possible for everyone involved. “Right, Adam, I’ll leave it in your hands then to let them know for sure. You know there’s going to be a heap of interest from the locals seeing these guys here, don’t you?”
Adam grinned, leaned his elbow on his desk, the phone cradled in his ear. “Hell, even I’m thrilled to have them here.”
“How about we make the most of it? Charge the parents a small fee to watch the training. Maybe get someone to make hotdogs as well. I know we can get the food donated if I ask nicely. Be a good lead up to the Grange gala ball, get the local paper to do a spread. We can donate the money to the cause. Pretty sure the boys would like to do that. What do you think?”
Trust Coach to come up with ideas to benefit everyone. He was good at thinking outside the box. “Brilliant idea. My father would be very grateful for the extra money toward the repair fund and it would also make the kids feel as though they’ve had a hand in the restoration work. Make it a real town project where everyone is involved.”
Coach chuckled. “Right, I’ll get onto the food side of things and you let me know as soon as you nail down a date. Then I can send out a newsletter to parents and tell them what’s happening.” He hung up and Adam breathed a sigh of relief. At last he was making things right. He doubted he could live with seeing the disappointment in the kids’ eyes knowing it was his fault it was there.
The door opened and a couple walked in, holding hands. Adam stood up.
“Hello, welcome to Cherry Lake. I’m Adam Clement. What can I do to help you today?”
Later that night he ran into the grocery store, annoyed with himself for being late on the first night he was cooking dinner for Dakota. He gathered his supplies and then drove over to her house. He had a bottle of her favorite wine already and a small thank you gift because when he saw it, it reminded him of her.
The light shone from her workroom out onto the lawn as he pulled up in front of the house. Head bent over the table, she didn’t even move when he slammed his car door. Adam walked up the path and knocked on the door.
“Come in!”
He opened the door, stepped in and was immediately assaulted by a ball of black fluff. She danced around his legs as he made his way to the kitchen. “Just me.” He put down his supplies and picked up Tiny, headed to the workroom.
“I know.”
He ducked his head in the door and watched her for a moment.
“I can’t stop this. Rather delicate I’m afraid and if I try to come back to it later, the solder marks will show up more because the metal gets a chance to cool off. Then if I heat it up again, it leaves a bluer tinge that I try to avoid at all costs.”
Adam leaned on the doorframe. “I understand. I’m blown away by your skill, Dakota. I wish I had half as much talent as you do.”
“Ha! Says he who can bend a ball better than anyone else on US soil.”
A warm glow rippled over his skin. She must have checked up on him to know that. When they’d met, she didn’t even know who he was. For a reason he couldn’t fathom, it made him feel special. Normally he took that kind of praise in stride. After all, he’d earned it with the hours and hours of training he’d put in to get that good.
“I gather you would have also spent considerable time honing your craft. I’m sure you didn’t just wake up one day and know you could do it. Technique is a hard won accomplishment, no matter what the application.”
“Just listen to us. Talk about mutual admiration. Anyone would think we were the needy type.” She poked her tongue between her lips, held the soldering iron in what looked like an impossible angle and kept it there for a second before taking it away. “There. Done. You little stunner.” Dakota placed the iron on a heat mat and flicked off the switch. The angel in her hand was complete. She placed it back down on the table and sat back, stretching her arms over her head. “That one took a considerable amount of time. I really didn’t expect it to so I’m not exactly sure why it did.”
Adam stepped closer, crouched down and inspected the ornament. “If I was an expert, which I’m not, I’d say it has something to do with those gorgeous intricate wings she’s sporting. Very cool, Dakota. Seriously very cool indeed.”
“Thanks.” She slid down off her stool and bent over, touched her toes and stood up, a bubbly grin on her face. “I want wine and food please, then I have to go back to work to make icicles for someone.” She nudged him in the ribs. “What have you got planned for dinner, Adam?”
“Steak with whiskey sauce, baby potatoes and greens. And a bottle of your favorite wine. Sound okay?” He placed his hand on her back and walked out to the kitchen pushing her ahead of him.
“Ooh yes. I’ll light the fire while you pour me a glass. If I fall asleep, nudge me awake, okay?”
Was this her way of making him feel bad for dragging her into his problems? He hoped not but he could see the dark shadows under her eyes and he had to take some responsibility for adding to them. “I’m sorry I roped you into this when you have so much on your plate.”
She waved a hand at him. “Oh please, don’t be silly. I was joking. I’d do the same for any friend in need.” Was that a note of sarcasm in her voice? She knelt down in front of the fire and started to build a nest of paper and kindling while he opened the wine.
“Here you go.” Adam handed her a glass and she sat on her heels, took a sip and sighed in pleasure.
“This is so good. I needed a break, thanks for looking after me.”
“As you said, it’s what friends do.” He went back to the kitchen to prep his dinner.
When he returned to the lounge room fifteen minutes later, Dakota had snuggled down on the couch and lay with her eyes closed, soft snores coming from her parted lips. How was he going to wake her when she looked so peaceful? He couldn’t leave her there. If the fire burned out in the night, she would wake up cold. And if he tried to carry her to her bed, she would probably only wake up and he didn’t want her to get the wrong impression. Plus, she said she had to go back to work tonight.
He stood watching her while he drank his wine, arguing with himself about what to do and more importantly, what his true feelings were toward her. Frustrated when he couldn’t come up with an answer he liked, he left her peaceful and returned to the kitchen to cook the steak. When it was resting and almost ready to plate up, he woke her up.
“Hey, sleepy head. Dinner’s ready. Are you sure you don’t want to go to bed?”
