A gentle October breeze fluttered through the limbs of balsam firs, sending a sweet Christmas perfume into the air. Shelby’s boots crunched pebbles into the hardened patch of earth designated as Nick’s driveway as she went to the building where she held her classes.
No sooner had she placed the materials on the table than the girls started to file into the building and seat themselves at the chairs around the tables. Though it was a Saturday, they had come together specifically to work on invitations for their high tea.
One by one the girls settled into work. Shelby walked around the tables and checked on their progress as they cut out the printed form of the woman in the dress that they would then stitch into place on the invitation. Shelby’s occasional hobby of scrapbooking was paying off.
“Since we only have two sewing machines, you’ll have to take turns. While others are at the machines, if you’ve finished cutting out the woman in the dress, you can cut out the paper for the ruffle, which we will sew into place at the bottom of the dress.”
“Does this look right, Miss Shelby?” one student asked.
“Yes, Madison, it looks wonderful.”
Papers scattered about, scissors in hands, the girls chatted excitedly, each one raising her voice to be heard over the others.
“Let’s keep our talking soft, girls.” Shelby inched toward a student and leaned in. “Cally, you’ll need to straighten the background paper before you sew it on.”
Shelby continued walking, her small heels clacking against the cement as she made her way around the tables. She drew in a breath of the cinnamon candle on her desk that scented the room and thought about her time with Nick last night.
He had been so relaxed. He was the same great friend he had always been, but now she noticed the curve of his jaw, the strength in his arms, the chocolate brown of his eyes. Why hadn’t she noticed those things before? Something in his grin made her stomach flip just to think of it.
“Okay, girls, make sure you watch those scalloped edges.
Keep them nice and trimmed.”
Shelby was pleased with the progress the girls were making on the invitations—until one of them let out an earsplitting scream.
“What in the world?” Shelby turned in the direction of the sewing machines. “Willow, honey, what is it?”
Willow cried and held up her index finger—with the broken needle pierced clear through it.
Shelby’s breath caught. “Madison, quickly, go get Mr.
Majors.”
The little girl ran out the door.
In another moment Nick dashed inside, spotted Willow crying, and rushed to her side.
“I’m not sure what happened, exactly. She was sewing and—”
Nick frowned at Shelby, scooped Willow into his arms, and ran out to his truck without a word.
After the last student left, Shelby waited awhile and straightened the room, hoping she’d catch Willow and Nick when they returned. She had tried to contact him on his cell phone, but her call went straight into voice mail. Cell service was always spotty in this part of the state. Once everyone was gone, she decided to go to the hospital and see if she could find them. But just as she stepped out of the building and headed toward her car, Nick pulled up in his truck.
“How is she?” Shelby asked when she reached the car.
“She’s going to be all right. Though she’ll most likely lose feeling in the tip of her finger.”
“I’m so sorry, Willow,” Shelby said as she and Nick walked with her into the house.
Once Willow was placed comfortably in her bed so she could sleep off her pain medicine, Shelby followed Nick out of the room.
“Well, I guess I’d better go,” Shelby said.
Nick rubbed the back of his neck. His face was flushed.
“What happened out there?”
“She was sewing, Nick, and her finger got in the way of the needle. It can happen if you aren’t careful.”
“Oh, so it was her fault? Don’t you watch what your students are doing? Kids can get hurt.”
“I’m aware of that, but—”
“You can’t leave them alone for a minute. You should know that. If you’re going to work with children—”
“Nick, I—”
“I can’t talk about it right now.” He walked over and opened the door for her.
Words gathered in her throat, then dissolved with one swallow. “I’m sorry,” she whispered as she walked past him.
Nick ran his fingers through his hair and slumped down on his couch. He didn’t know why he reacted that way to Shelby. He knew it wasn’t her fault. It was just seeing Willow in pain and feeling so helpless himself, he had to get mad at somebody, and she was the only one around.
That was a lame excuse, and he knew it. But it was also the truth. He was mad. Mad that his daughter was hurt, and he wanted to blame someone. Though he knew accidents happened and he knew Willow’s negligence had brought it on, he could hardly blame her when she was in a world of pain already.
The more he thought about it, the more he realized there was more going on inside him than this. The situation brought to mind the thing that he wrestled with the most.
He couldn’t always protect those whom he loved from pain.
Shelby stopped by the grocery store on the way home and spotted Reese.
“Hey, girl.”
Reese turned around. “Hi, Shelby.” They pushed their carts down the aisle together.
“You all right? You look a little upset.”
Shelby forced a smile. “I’m fine. It’s been a long day.”
“How’s the remodel coming along?”
“Going faster than I’d hoped.”
“Griffen doing a nice job?” Reese asked.
Griffen and Reese had been good friends since high school. Where you saw one playing basketball, you saw the other. The two of them were well matched athletically.
“He’s doing a great job. He’ll be done in no time.”
“Then you’ll have to leave Nick’s and move your school back to your place.” Reese gave Shelby a sideways glance and lifted a teasing grin.
“Don’t get me started.”
They finished their shopping and walked out to the parking lot together.
“Wow, who’s that?” Reese said.
Shelby looked up from digging for her car keys in her purse and followed Reese’s gaze across the parking lot toward a man carrying two bags of groceries. He wore a baseball cap and a snug black T-shirt that revealed bulging biceps.
“Isn’t that Griffen?” Shelby said.
“What? No.” Reese leaned forward, squinting.
The man in question unloaded his bags into a truck, then walked around to the driver’s side, clearly visible. Reese’s mouth went slack, then she snapped it shut, looking away from her best buddy. Her face turned a pretty shade of pink.
Shelby felt a bubble of laughter building, but she pressed her lips together, smothering its release.
Reese pointed a finger at Shelby. “Not one word.”
“Now you know how I feel,” Shelby said. “I won’t tease you if you won’t tease me.”
“Deal,” Reese said.
They said good-bye, and by the time Shelby reached home, fatigue had swept over her. She could barely manage to drag herself into the house. Even Penelope’s little happy dance at seeing her failed to lift her spirits. A heaviness weighed on Shelby’s chest.
Willow would be fine, she knew that. But the anger on Nick’s face . . . she had never seen that before. Not that way.
And it was all directed at her. Dropping her keys and groceries on the counter, she went into the bedroom to change. She was too tired to eat dinner.
Putting on pink running pants and a matching pullover with ruffled cuffs on the sleeves, she headed to the kitchen to put away the groceries, make some tea, and then call it a night.
Despite all the work they’d done on the invitations, she’d still need to address them and get them in the mail. But she could address them tomorrow and mail them on Monday. She had time.
Penelope barely had time to settle into her pajama bottoms and curl up on the sofa, and Shelby had just sat down next to her, cup of tea in hand, when the doorbell rang. Hope surged through her. Maybe Nick was coming to apologize— though Shelby wasn’t at all sure he would leave Willow. Maybe Willow was up and feeling better. She walked downstairs to the door with Penelope following, doggy toenails clacking daintily against the hardwood floor.
With a renewed spirit, Shelby smiled and opened the door. One look at the visitor, and all life seemed to drain to her toes.
“Hi, Shelby. Aren’t you going to invite me inside?”
Reluctantly she stepped aside. “Dad, what are you doing here?”
“Can’t a man come see his daughter?”
“Well, of course. It’s just so unexpected.”
They never hugged, so she wasn’t sure what to do. That’s when she noticed he had something with him.
Luggage.
He followed her gaze. “I don’t want to presume. If you can direct me to a hotel, I’ll be happy to stay there.”
“Don’t be silly,” she said. “I’d love to have you stay here— how long did you say?”
“I didn’t. But it would just be a little while.”
Little while. As in days, weeks, months? Years?
“What about that job you had lined up?”
“Oh, that. It didn’t work out. They’d hired someone else before I got there. Guess they needed me a week earlier, and I didn’t realize it.”
“I’m sorry, Dad.”
“Oh well. It’s not as though I had to have it to survive.”
Shelby led him upstairs and flipped on the lights in the guest room. “I just cleaned this room yesterday. It should work well for you.”
“It looks nice, Shelby. Real nice.” He rolled his luggage to the foot of the bed. “Don’t want to be a bother, but do you have anything to eat? I’m starved.”
This day just kept getting better.
You see this, right, Lord?
“No, Willow, you are not going.” Nick stormed across the floor toward the kitchen. The door hinge squeaked, and he turned around.
Shelby stood in the doorway, embarrassed that she’d caught them in a family moment. “I’m so sorry. I knocked and heard you say something. I assumed it was to tell me to come in.”
“What do you need?” He didn’t say that in an I-want-to-help-you kind of way. He said it in a hurry-up-I’m-busy sort of way.
“I just wanted to drop these off for Willow. She left them in class.” Shelby walked over and handed Willow the tickets she had ordered.
“See what I mean? You can’t even keep track of tickets.
How can I expect you to be careful at a ski resort?” Nick turned on Shelby. “And that’s another thing. Why in the world would you invite Willow on a ski trip? Can you guarantee to me that you will watch her 24/7?”
“I—” Shelby stuttered.
“Dad, I’m twelve years old!”
“She could fall and break a leg—”
“But I—”
“—hit a tree, get a concussion—”
“Nick, I—”
“—get kidnapped by some psycho weirdo person.”
He looked like Nick Majors, but right at this moment, Shelby had her doubts. She stared at him.
“Well, can you guarantee none of those things will happen to my daughter?”
Shelby blew out a sigh. “No. But I—”
“Then she’s not going. I won’t have her well-being compromised.”
“I’m not a baby. Stop treating me like one!” Willow stormed off to her bedroom and slammed the door behind her.
“I was trying to tell you, Nick. I merely suggested we should go sometime. We didn’t set a definite date.”
He paused as though to catch his breath. “I’m sorry, Shelby, but you need to talk to me about these things first.
I’m trying to get a handle on things, but I need to think it through. I have to protect her at all costs.”
She would not point out that his overprotective attitude could cost him a relationship with his daughter. She turned on her heels and left.
Nick was making her absolutely crazy. She wanted to help Willow, but she wasn’t sure how to go about it. All this time she thought she’d known Nick, but obviously the good-friend role was far different from the father thing. Shelby was quickly losing faith in the family unit.
Once she got home, she shoved the front door closed behind her, allowing a gust of cold air to swish through the entryway and blow a grocery list off the hallway stand. The grocery list she had forgotten to take with her so they could eat tonight.
“Welcome home.” Her dad stood in the hallway, holding a glass of iced tea in his hand. “What did you have in mind for dinner?”
“I need to get changed,” she said. “It’s been a long day.”
He shrugged and walked back into the living room. Shelby watched him and felt a tinge of regret for her biting tone, but she was entitled to a bad day, wasn’t she? Besides, since when was she responsible for his dinner? She hadn’t expected him to come to her home. And aside from that, he still hadn’t told her what he was doing there. How long was he planning to stay anyway? If history had told her anything, she didn’t need to worry that he would stay there forever. He never stayed anywhere longer than a couple of months. But the very idea of a couple of months made her skin prickly.
Shelby walked into her room, closed the door, leaned against it, and shut her eyes. Maybe if she stayed there, this whole mess would go away.