Parker fought to keep calm. Nothing. I just know artists, and most dont like to be in public. They are very private people. The creation of a work of art comes from deep inside and has to have a great deal of silence and alone time to bloom.
They exchanged a look during her spontaneous lecture.
If you hear...
Ill call, she interrupted, suddenly in a great hurry to be rid of them. Shed read once in a mystery that the guilty always talk too much, and what had she just done but rattle on.
As they walked to the door she dropped farther behind, guessing there would be no goodbyes at the door. Neither man looked at the walls that were filled with beautiful works. Their lives seemed to have no room for color, and that frightened her far more than the badge or gun they carried.
The moment the agents left, Parker rushed back to her office and closed her door. She used the phone shed bought a week ago when shed been with Tori at the airport.
Tori picked up on the second ring.
Hi, Parker, she said. When you getting here? You wouldnt believe the light in this open land.
Im not coming for a while. I have to make sure Im not followed. Stay safe, Tori. Lies seem to be circling and I fear your stepfather is encouraging them. Somehow hes even got the FBI involved.
Tori was quiet for a moment, then whispered, You understand why I had to leave.
I do. After having just been visited by the FBI, I have no doubt. No wonder you were so upset. You must have had very little privacy since your paintings became so popular. Im going to do all I can to help. Ill call again when Im on my way.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Crossroads
YANCY HUNG HIS new coat on the workshop latch and moved into his barn workshop. He didnt even look up at the loft. The woman hed called Rabbit wouldnt be up there. She hadnt been for three days.
He knew because he came to check every night. Hed even walked over a few days on his lunch break, hoping she might have dropped by. No sign of her or of his coat.
He was beginning to believe she was only a figment of his imagination. Maybe wishing for someone his age to talk to had conjured her up. A man gets used to the loneliness after a while, but that doesnt mean hope vanishes.
What were the chances that a woman hed never seen around town was hanging out in his workshop? Shed been pretty, real pretty, and he would have noticed a girl with beautiful blue eyes and dark, waist-length hair. He volunteered at half the things in town. He went to all the town-hall meetings and was always running to the grocery or the hardware store. He would have seen her somewhere.
Smiling, he remembered how her thick midnight braid had brushed her hips when shed climbed down the ladder. If he was just making her up, at least hed done a good job. Even her smile made him grin now, three days later.
You up there, Rabbit? he muttered to the silent barn.
A board above him creaked, making him jump.
Ive been waiting, she answered with a laugh. I had to make sure you were alone.
Startled, he looked up and saw her lean over the edge of the loft. She was dressed, as before, in jeans and a flannel shirt, with his coat folded over her arm. Little Rabbit was so petite folks might mistake her for a teenage boy if they didnt see her long hair braided down her back and the gentle rounding of her chest that showed even in the baggy shirt.
Yancy tried to clear his thoughts. She was back.
Well, come on down, Rabbit. Weve got work to do. The rule came back to him. No questions. I thought I might have dreamed you up, but dreams dont usually steal coats.
She swung a leg onto the ladder. Im sorry about that. I brought it back. But Ill have to borrow it again to wear home.
He watched her as her left foot hit the rung of the ladder and slipped.
An instant later she was flying down toward him, tumbling out of control like a bird with a broken wing.
Taking one step, he caught her in midflight. This dream hed been thinking about felt very solid in his arms.
Without holding her too tight, he lowered her feet to the ground. She was real. Her heart pounded against his chest for a moment before he let her go.
Thanks, she managed as she backed away. Ive always been clumsy.
You didnt look clumsy, he managed to say as he fought the urge to reach for her. You looked like you were flying.
She shoved a hand in the pocket of his coat and pulled out a bag. I brought you cookies, but it appears theyre only crumbs now.
He accepted her gift. I love cookie crumbs. Ill share them when we take our coffee break, if you can stay awhile?
I can stay. The other night, when I worked here, I walked home and slept like a baby. So, what have we got to do tonight? I feel like a cobblers elf.
Im putting together the hearth for the fireplace. I could really use your help. He pulled a tarp away from a long piece of wood hed carved months ago. Its a two-man job.
Her face lit up when she grinned. One man, one rabbit, you mean.
Thatll have to do. It crossed his mind that the lady might be a little nuts to show up at night in a strangers barn, but right about now in his life, a bubble off normal didnt sound like too bad a place to be. He liked watching her work. She had skills hed probably never develop. Plain, old, ordinary wood became art in her hands.
As the night aged, he began to feel like he was half-drunk. Shed come back. The work seemed to go more than twice as fast with her help. When he made a mistake, alone he would have sworn, but together they laughed.
It was funny, he thought as he watched her; deep inside, he felt like hed known her all his life. Hed read once about an old Greek myth that claimed humans were once twice as tall. When the gods decided to make males and females different, they cut all the humans in half. From that day on, people walked around searching for their other half.
An easy way of just being together drifted between them. They didnt need to ask questions or carry on small talk. Like theyd always been a part of each others lives. Or like they were each others missing half. Impossible, he thought. Men like him were loners, born to have no one care enough to last a lifetime.
She helped him carry the hearth through the darkness between the barn and the house. When he clicked on the construction lights in the old house, she squealed with pure joy.
Turning loose her side of the hearth, she circled the room. Even in the shadows I can see the beauty of this place. The construction lamps made spotlights on the floor of the huge open room, and she danced in and out of their beams like a ballerina on stage.
Yancy didnt notice the beauty of the room hed so carefully created. He was too busy watching her. Take your time looking around. Ill just stand here holding this hunk of wood myself, he teased.
Her laughter filled the empty space. She ran back and helped him carry the hearth to where the bones of a fireplace waited to be dressed.
As he spread his arms wide to hold the frame in place, she moved between him and the hearth, measuring, taping everything in place. By the time she was satisfied all was level and balanced, he was no longer thinking, period. When she brushed against him, he seemed to be the only one who noticed theyd touched. She smelled so good. Like peaches and freshly washed linens. He could do nothing but stand perfectly still, holding the hearth in place and breathing in the nearness of her.
When she finally left to run back to the barn for the toolbox, he forced himself to relax and think of what they were doing, not what he would have liked to do. If hed thought she would have welcomed an advance, he might have dropped the hearth and grabbed her. After all, he could rebuild the hearth, but he might never get another chance to hold her.
Only she might not welcome his touch. He wasnt the kind of man who knew how to come on strong with a woman. He guessed his shy Rabbit wasnt much more knowledgeable when it came to men and women than he was. She did love helping, though. A kind heart was rare in the world.
When she returned, she was all business, but the easy nearness, the light touches continued. He told himself she wasnt noticing what she was doing, but he was memorizing every brush her body made against his, every time her hand touched his shoulder, and loving the way she leaned near. If she was launching a gentle attack, maybe he should tell her that hed gladly surrender.
An hour later, they both stood back and admired their work. The hearth was beautiful. A work of art, thanks to her cuts and finishing.
Not bad, Yancy said. We could roast marshmallows in a fire there.
She nodded. If we had the wood for a fire, a few matches, some chairs to sit in and some marshmallows.
Just details, he admitted, looking around. Im almost finished with the downstairs and I have no idea about furniture.
You could make it.
He liked that idea. I wouldnt need much. I got the bar to eat on. All Id need is a stool and maybe a rocker by the fire.
She moved to the bar and leaned against it. What about your guests? Where would rabbits sit?
Without thinking, he circled her waist and lifted her up. You could sit on the bar.
A moment later he realized what hed done. He might have let her touch him, but this time hed touched her. No, hed handled her. Like she was a kid or a close friend. He didnt even know her name. He had no right. He didnt know much but one rule had always been clear. A woman could touch a man, but a man never handled a woman without an indication of the womans consent.
Yancy stepped back and straightened. His eyes staring down at the floor like hed done in prison when he was little more than a kid lost in a world of rules and punishment. Hed spent every day since hed been out trying to act normal, trying to do what was right, but deep down he knew part of him would always be an ex-con.
The silence of the empty room seemed to throb with each heartbeat.
Theyd had a great night working together, talking, laughing. But a woman who wouldnt tell him her name wasnt likely to welcome his hands on her. When hed caught her as she fell from the loft, hed felt her stiffen even as he lowered her to her feet. Shed been polite. Shed thanked him for saving her, but shed moved away.
Yancy? Her voice echoed in the empty room.
Im sorry, he whispered as he forced himself to look up. I didnt mean to...
Her gray-blue eyes were smiling. Its okay, Yancy. You didnt hurt me. She crossed her legs and put her elbows on her knees. The bar may be a little high but the view is great up here. I can almost see your handmade furniture. Rockers by the fire. A writing table by the window. Bookshelves climbing along the wall to match the stair steps over there. If you build me a stool, make it a few inches higher than yours so well look directly at each other. I get tired of always looking up at people.
He leaned his head to the side, studying her as if she were an animal hed never encountered. Youre not mad at me?
Why? She watched him.
I put my hands on you, Rabbit.
You did that when you caught me. If you hadnt Id have probably broken a few bones. When he just kept staring, she added, Ive made up my mind that you are a good man, Yancy Grey. Ive not always been a good judge of men, but Im learning. I am not afraid of you. I believe you wont hurt me.
I wouldnt, he managed to say, knowing she had no idea what a gift she was giving him with her trust. But most folks dont warm up to me very fast after they find out Ive been in prison. Ive done hard time, Rabbit, and they say that changes a man forever.
She looked more interested than afraid. Want to talk about it?
Hed been asked before and always said no, but somehow this time he thought it might be all right. He jumped up to sit on the bar a foot away from her and began.
He told her of how hed been caught stealing when he was nineteen and had turned twenty in prison.
She listened as he remembered details hed spent years trying to forget. He had to be honest with her. She trusted him.
The smells in the whole place made me half-sick most of the time. Id go out in the yard, even on the coldest days, just to be able to breathe. Once, it was snowing and I was the only one to step outside. I just stood, looking up at the snow, and listened to the rare sound of silence while I breathed in the smell of nothing but winter.
She covered his hand with hers without saying a word.
I used to lie awake in my tiny cell listening to the sounds around me, wishing I were somewhere, anywhere else. Sometimes Id dream of getting out and just living a normal life, but prison is still there in the back of my mind. No matter how hard I breathe out, theres still a little bit of the smell left in my lungs.
Her stormy-day blue eyes were full of compassion.
Its been seven years and I still feel the pressure to do everything right. Like I have to watch myself every minute. If I do one thing wrong Ill somehow wake up back in prison with all the bad smells and the sound of men crying and cussing. If I say the wrong thing. If I dont tell people the truth about where Ive been, then Im hiding. If I do, Im afraid of how theyll react.
Lacing his fingers in her small hand, he added, I wouldnt be surprised if you disappeared, Little Rabbit. If you do, I should tell you that tonight was just about the best of my life. Even if I never see you again, I dont think Ill ever forget working beside you. It was nice, real nice.
Hed had this routine before with women hed met. They acted like it didnt matter that hed served time, but if he called for a second date, they were always busy. He expected it. He hadnt blamed them. He wouldnt blame her. Shed probably just disappear as if shed never been there and hed have no idea how to even look for her.
She pulled her hand away and he let her go without protest. Help me down, Yancy. Its late.
He nodded and jumped off the bar. Carefully, he circled her waist and lifted her down. She didnt meet his eyes as she looked around the room.
What are you building next? she asked, changing the subject.
The banister. He answered in a dull voice, knowing this must be her way of saying goodbye. I thought Id make the rails out of the same oak that I used on the hearth, then have the top done in wrought iron to make it more modern.
She moved into the shadows where the stairs climbed the north wall. He heard her feet take the first few steps. I can see it. Itll add warmth to the room and last forever.
Im thinking my lifetime will be enough. I dont have any relatives to pass this place along to. He walked to her and glanced up into the darkness, where no lights warmed the second floor.