Hed finished up the Cochran job, had two more projects he was putting in motion this week. Daisy was going with him to see both sites. First, though, they had to settle the wheels thing.
Teague jingled the change in his pocket, thinking that a guy had to draw a line somewhere. Maybe he was crazy to fall in love with her. She was so determined to leave White Hills. So used to the excitement of a more exotic life. So not like him.
Still, he could accept a certain level of lunacy in himself. She was so damned special that he could work with the love problem-maybe-at least a little longer. But letting Daisy drive his car-in snow-was a different problem entirely.
A guys car could be like letting someone else use your toothbrush. It was hard. Really, really hard, to let someone else do it. Really hard.
He pushed open the door to the café, the knot of dread in his throat feeling glummer by the second. She needed wheels. He had the spare vehicle. Its justthis was not good. To have to test a relationship as fragile as theirs this soon, with something as hairy-for him-as this.
She was free as of one oclock, shed told him. It was ten minutes after one right now, yet when he hiked inside, he could see right off that the café was blasting busywhen no place was blasting busy in White Hills in the middle of a snow-crusty winter. Over heads and sounds and smells, he spotted her instantlytalking to some regulars at the bar stools up front, right at the bakery counter. Three guys had her attention corralled.
Her hair was wooshed up today. Clipped somehow. Strands had escaped their prison and were cavorting in wild wisps around her neck. Her cheeks were flushed, as if shed just pulled dishes from the oven. She didnt look to have an ounce of makeup on, yet her ears were showing off a jewel that matched the same blue-hued stone around her neck. She had some kind of blouse that wrapped around her instead of buttoned, leaving a deep vee for the stone to lie, almost to her cleavage, almost showing her cleavage-only not quite. Even when she was leaning over and the guys were trying their damnedest to get a peek.
Yeah, youve got that right, she was saying to her trio of drooling fans. Jean-Luc made it big. He should. Hes a really special, talented artist.
I thought you had to die to make money if you was an artist, one of the guys said.
Well, he was hauling it in for the last few years. And I can swear on a Bible, he was definitely alive.
The three men laughed. So whyd you get divorced, then, Daisy? We all thought you had the perfect life. Traveling around the world. Living high and nice and all. Your guy making lots of money. Able to do all the things you dreamed of.
Good question, Teague thought, as he shifted out of his jacket and sidled forward-slowly-because she hadnt spotted him yet. He wanted to hear the answer to that question in the worst way.
It just didnt make sense. If her Jean-Luc was so wealthy, how come Daisy couldnt afford even a used set of wheels? Shed told him a lot the other nightbut not a clue what her divorce had been about. He needed to understand how she could have all this expensive stuff, and yet still be the worst kind of broke. Bad broke. No health-insurance broke. Seriously broke.
Smells wafted toward him. The bakery counter had little formal signs now. Lavender Cookies. Brownies with Lavender Whipped Cream. Lemon Loaf Lavandula.
Roast pork with rosemary and lavender had been added to the chalkboard up front-where Harrys lunch specials were usually limited to brats and hot dogs.
And the café had started to look completely different. The grease smell seemed to have disappeared. The cash register shone so hard it looked new. The old red-and-white-checked curtains had been pulled back with ties and the windows washed.
If Harry hadnt been shamed into doing those things in the past thirty years, it was a cinch he wasnt responsible for the improvements-and neither were the two part-time waitresses whod worked there forever. So Daisy was transforming the place. The mystery was how a woman who presented herself as willful and spoiled and used to the good life could be such a worker.
Too many customers talking for him to hear everything Daisy said, but as he walked a few feet closer, he picked up some of her comments.
Youre so right, Ted. I do love money, and Jean-Luc had a ton of it. But its like the whole town said when I was a kid, you know? I guess I just wasnt meant to settle down.
Ill bet you lived in some really fancy places.
Oh, yes. Aix-en-Provence was one of my favorites. Its a town for artists, with cobblestone streets and fountains all over the place and enchanting little squares. And then there was Bonnieux. Theres a hotel there that has the best food Ive ever eaten, not just gourmet or gourmand but beyond anything you could dream ofgâteau au chocolat fondantmeals served in the garden, with pale-pink tablecloths and flowers. And then of course there was Vence, a mountain town
She spotted him, took in a breath and then lifted five fingers in the air. Five minutes? He nodded a no-sweat. He could see that, as lazy as she was talking, she was dishing out confections and swooping away empty plates.
And then theres the fabulous area around Fragonard and Molinard-thats flower country, and in the spring and summer, they grow lavender, roses, carnations, violets, jasmine You wanted another slice of cheesecake, didnt you, Moore?
A foolish question, Teague thought. Moore wanted anything she dished out in any form.
A foolish question, Teague thought. Moore wanted anything she dished out in any form.
Boats, too?
Ah, yes. We spent months on different yachts around the Riviera. Jean-Luc was always getting an invitation from She sashayed over to him and whispered, Im sorry! I didnt mean to be late. But Harry had to pick up something, said hed be back five minutes ago. I can leave the instant he returns, okay?
Totally okay.
He never asked, but she brought him a cookie and mug of fresh almond coffee without ever breaking stride, still keeping up with the guys and their questions and orders at the same time. Teague wondered if any of them remotely realized that she was working. Her slow, lazy voice created pictures of nude beaches and the Riviera and women decked-out in jewels, long yachts and buttery mornings and sun-soaked skin and nothing to do but be rich and indulge oneself.
Ten minutes later shed hooked a jacket and they escaped. That was a terrific cookie, he said.
Nah. Not terrific, but a pretty good recipe. It was the lavender idea that Harry bought into. He was suspicious, but he said hed try anything to see if he could bring in some customers this time of year. And my sister ran the herb haven for years, so I had an inside to the best lavender source anywhere on the planet.
He stopped her mid street, pulled on her sleeve. Immediately she turned her face up to him-her normal face, her normal voice. Fresh skin, honest eyes, the soft, soft mouth. Striking, yes, even disconcertingly beautiful, but that whole exotic spoiled-woman look had completely disappeared.
He kissed her, just to get a taste. To make sure he was with Daisy and not that confusing woman whod been weaving those stories in the café.
Hey, she murmured, when he lifted his head and frowned at her. What was that about?
I didnt want to kiss you, he assured her. I was just trying to practice being a pickpocket.
Huh? She plunged her hands into her jacket pockets. Her right one emerged with a small square box. Inside was a perfect four-leaf clover immersed in clear resin. Her lips parted and then she looked up at him again, this time with more vulnerability in her eyes than hed seen even when theyd been naked.
This is for me? You bought this for me?
Nope. I didnt buy it. The look on her face was damn near close to his downfall. He knew-from all the evidence-that she was used to all kinds of expensive stuff, so thered been no point in trying to outbuy what she already had or was used to. In fact, itd been damn scary trying to think up something to give her at allbut hed wanted to.
But then how-hey, youre rushing me along!
I know, but were really getting late now, because first we have to go to my house. Get you familiar with the car. Then you can drive to the Shillings behind me-
Teague. Its beautiful. More than beautiful. Its fresh and different and personal andperfect.
Yeah, I liked it, too. He tried to keep up a galloping pace, so she had a hard time keeping up with him, but somehow she still managed to cavort ahead for a second to get a good look at his face.
You really didnt buy it?
Nope.
Then you made it?
Are you kidding? No one can make four-leaf clovers.
I meant the resin. You sealed it in the perfect resin.
I might have. That was the most he was willing to admit to-at least until he saw how she drove.
The Shillings were expecting him around two, and their house was only a hop-skip from his. But as his white pickup took the curves, she held the four-leaf clover, kept looking at it. And then at him. And then at the road. Hell, had no one ever given her anything that didnt have a price tag attached to it?
I havent been on these roads in years, she said quietly. Down Cooper Street, across the creek, came a section everyone called Firefly Hollow. Does every teenager in the country make out here in the summer like they used to?
That was the in spot for kids, huh?
Obviously, there were no fireflies now, but in the summer the leaves formed a cool, fragrant canopy overhead. In fall the colors were brilliant; in summer fireflies danced in the shady arch. Now it was just a dip in shade and memories. Past the hollow, his white pickup climbed the hill and curved around Swishers land-Old Man Swisher had a pond.
Most of the farmers around here have ponds, but his was our swimming spot, because theres a big old cottonwood tree with a limb that was just perfect for swinging into the water.
Soevery single one of your memories of White Hills was bad?
She lifted her brows. Good grief, no. It was a great place to grow up. Its just
She never got around to finishing that thought. They passed red barns and white fences, hillsides that would be taken over by clover and buttercups in the summer. Patches of elms and big old sugar maples dotted the landscape, but they were naked now, revealing the underside of their character. Past the red covered bridge, he turned in the first drive.