Fifteen

 

Talia pulled up to the empty church and parked in front as always. She stared at the structure, impressed with how well it had been cleaned. If she didn't know better, she wouldn't have had any clue how rundown it had looked before. Once she got inside, the sanctuary would be even better.

While she'd spent the last few days at the house and visiting with Tiffany, her dad and the volunteers from the other church had been working even harder from the looks of it. Being that she was home, she'd taken more breaks than she had when working here, at the building. She'd caught up on some shows and reading, and as a result, felt better than she had since arriving in Kittle Falls.

She glanced over at Cruz's shop. Had he made just as much progress? She'd missed seeing him, but that was actually part of the reason she'd stayed back at home. Her feelings for him were so strong, and when he was around… it was hard to think straight. And he probably would have thought she was crazy.

They had nothing—nothing—in common. Well, not once they didn't have businesses to clean in long-abandoned buildings. That was where any similarities ended. They couldn't have been more of a mismatched set. And not only that, there was no way someone as worldly as him would ever have any interest in someone as sheltered as her.

She shook her head. She hadn't come here early on a Saturday to think about their wild neighbor. It was time to get the rest of the classrooms cleaned up and ready. From what her dad had told her, the other rooms had mostly been cleared out, and only needed cleaning. Some of them had had broken desks and chairs that would need replacing—but at least she wouldn't have to clean or move them.

Talia studied the structure again, this time envisioning all the Christmas decorations. Maybe that's what she should do instead of working on more classrooms. She imagined the look of surprise on her dad's face when he came back and saw that. He was a couple towns over buying supplies they hadn't been able to find in Kittle Falls.

She paused, trying to think if they had moved the decorations to the church yet. It was so hard to keep everything straight. She thought they were downstairs in the reception hall. That had turned into a temporary catch-all room. As soon as the main level was ready, the downstairs would finally get the attention it deserved.

Talia sipped her coffee and turned the car off—her car. She smiled, glad they had two vehicles again. It had definitely been a productive few days. It wasn't pretty, but it ran, and though used, came with a warranty.

It was cold out, and she found herself not wanting to step into the frigid air. Every day seemed to get cooler, and she was already tired of the snow. At least it was only on the ground today. Nothing falling from the sky.

She locked up the car and studied the building, trying to imagine where their Christmas decorations would fit. There was a perfect spot near the front where the life-sized manger scene could go. Their icicle lights should fit around the front, assuming the tall ladder was still in the back where the other church had left it.

Snow crunched as a car drove along the road, but Talia didn't pay any attention. She was trying to figure out if they had enough lights to decorate the trees in front. An eight foot, bushy pine would be the perfect choice, and it might just work.

"Talia," came a familiar male voice from behind.

She spun around. Julian stood behind her. He wore such finely-pressed slacks and coat that she expected to see a store tag sticking out. He held her eye contact.

Her pulse raced. "What are you doing here?"

"That's a fine how-do-you-do."

"We don't need any help today."

Julian looked all around. "Are you sure? I don't see anyone else."

"If we need you, we'll call your pastor."

He stepped closer. Talia stepped back. He moved closer. "There's so much work to do. Surely, I can help with something."

Talia glanced to the building. She wouldn't have enough time to run away and get inside. It was locked, and the locks tended to be tricky.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"I'd feel better if you left."

"Why?" He took another step toward her.

She took a deep breath. "Because I'm asking you to leave."

Julian cocked his head. "You don't want me here?"

"No. Please leave."

He huffed. "Yet you don't mind that uneducated tattoo artist?"

"Cruz has a college degree."

Julian snorted. "In art. I'm sure a monkey could do that."

Talia's heart felt like it would burst through her chest. She took a deep breath and pulled out her phone. "I'm calling my dad."

"Oh? To see if he wants my help?" He arched a brow.

She narrowed her eyes. "No. To tell him you won't leave."

"If you wanted me to go, you just had to ask." Julian waved a hand in dismissal, spun around, and went to his car.

Talia stared as he drove away, spraying snow behind. She went around the back of the building, shaking, and took three tries to unlock the door leading to the reception hall. She saw the familiar boxes of Christmas decorations right away.

Talia took deep breaths to calm herself and then went over to them, trying to decide which to open first. The manger scene or lights? She glanced around and saw the ladder that belonged to one of the volunteers. That was how they'd gotten the outside of the building clean, and now it would help her to get the lights up. Who knew when they would return for it? She should take advantage of it and get the lights up.

Talia went over to the box that held their lights and froze when she saw her mom's handwriting on the side. Her breath caught and she felt a lump form in her throat. It was so painful to deal with her mom's absence, and times like this, it hit hard.

"I'm going to do this for you, Mom," she whispered. She pulled out a string of icicle lights and laid them on the ground, finding a plug to test them. A quick survey showed they were all still good. Repeating the same process, she checked all the others. Only one strand had any burned out, so she decided to start with that one, putting it on the side where no one would see the burned out ones.

She took that string and went out to the side opposite Cruz's shop, laying them on the snow. Then she went back inside and brought out the ladder, balancing it with care. She had to pull out a section before leaning it against the building. Staring up, she saw it reached almost to the eaves. It would be perfect for hanging the lights.

Talia grabbed the string of lights and climbed up. She was still a little unsteady—thanks to Julian—but she wasn't going to let that stop her. It was a good thing she had no fear. She got that from her mom—but look where that had gotten her. She promised her mom silently that she would stay safe.

Once at the top, Talia noticed tiny hooks installed along the bottom edge of the eaves. Someone had obviously already made a habit of putting the holiday decorations. Had it been when the building had been a church or the restaurant? It didn't matter. She just needed to get them up.

She held up the string, trying to figure out the best way to hang them. She tried several times until she finally found a way she liked. It took a while to get the string up, needing to climb up and down every time she had to move the ladder a few feet.

Beads of sweat formed around her hairline—she was glad she'd opted for a ponytail or she'd be even warmer. Once she had a routine down, it seemed to go faster. It was trickier when she got to the front of the building because of the bushes in the yard and the stairs by the doors, but she managed.

Talia was quite proud of herself and nearly felt like a pro by the time she reached the other side of the building. She set up the ladder and ran back inside for another string of lights. She climbed up and attached them to last set and then slid them into the hooks, excitement growing. She was almost done, and couldn't wait to plug them in.

The next time she moved the ladder over, she had a hard time getting it as she wanted it. There was a strange ledge sticking out. It wasn't very big, it stuck out a couple feet and appeared fragile. Talia didn't want to touch it for fear it would crumble. It looked like it led to the attic.

Talia climbed the ladder and slid the lights into the first spot. As she reached for the second hook, the ladder wobbled. Talia held still, glancing down. Nothing looked unusual down there, but as she moved her gaze up, she noticed the ledge against the ladder at a funny angle she hadn't noticed before.

She slid her foot down one rung, but as she did, the ladder moved to the right. She was going to crash down onto the ground—two stories below. Heart racing, she reached for the ledge and immediately regretted that decision. The board made a creaking noise as the ladder fell to the ground, crashing below into the snow.

On one hand, she was glad to have not fallen with it, but on the other hand, she couldn't hold onto to the ledge for long, and there wasn't anything else for her to cling to. Had there been anything she could grasp, she would have climbed down. Talia stared at the window leading into the attic.

There wasn't any way she could get that open to climb inside. The window looked as difficult to open as the ones in the classroom and she couldn't risk letting go of the ledge as she hung on for dear life.

Looking around, she really only had one option, and it wasn't a good one. She opened her mouth and screamed as loud as she could, making her throat sore. Most of this block and the next one over were abandoned. The few places open for business weren't likely to be on a Saturday morning.

Heart pounding, she listened, hoping to hear footsteps crunching over the hardened snow. Nothing. But it was hard to hear over the sound of her own pulse.

Talia took a deep breath and screamed as loud as she could again, not caring how raw she made her throat. Once safe, she could drink all the tea and honey she wanted to soothe it.

The ledge made another creaking sound. Talia held on tighter, staring at the string of lights hanging down toward the ground. There was no way they would hold her weight… would they? Could that be a possibility? It was starting to look like her only choice.

She imagined sliding down, tearing up her skin on the lights. But that was the best case scenario. More than likely, it wouldn't hold and she would crash down on top of the ladder, breaking bones and bringing down the eaves with her.

Talia yelled for help one more time. Why had she decided to do this alone? What had she been thinking? If she killed herself, she would send her dad to an early grave. Though he was strong, she knew how much he ached over her mom's loss. She wanted to kick herself for being so stupid.

"Talia?" came a familiar male voice.

She turned her head and saw Cruz. Her fear faded slightly with the hopes of him rescuing her. "Help!" she called.

He let out some profanities, but she could hear sounds of the ladder. He had to be picking it up.

Talia breathed a sigh of relief, but her sweaty palms slid on the ledge. Her heart sped up even more. What if she couldn't hold on long enough for him to get to her? If she fell to her death, not only would it kill her dad, but Cruz would probably feel guilty for not getting to her in time.

She moved her hands around, trying to find a part of the wood that wasn't slippery. But the plank wasn't the problem. It was her hands. Tears sprang to her eyes.

She heard the ladder hit the wall next to her.

"Hang on!" Cruz called. She could hear the sounds of him climbing up the rungs.

Cruz's hands grasped onto her side.

"As opposed to letting go?"

"Are you always difficult?"

She let Cruz guide her onto the ladder and then she whipped around and wrapped her arms around him, clinging tightly. "Thank you," she whispered, unable to keep her tears back.

"I… can't… breathe."

She released her grip slightly and stared into his eyes, never having been so happy to see anyone.

"You're going to have to let—"

A loud crack sounded. Talia turned back to where the ledge was and saw it tumbling toward the ground. Her eyes widened, watching until it hit the ground, smashing into dozens of pieces. A horrible sound escaped from her throat.

"Come on," Cruz whispered. "We need to climb down. I need you to do that for me. Are you okay to do that?"

Talia nodded, afraid to speak.

"I'll be right below you. If you slide, I'll catch you. But I can't carry you down."

She swallowed. "Okay."