A white-haired lady in a plaid flannel shirt sat down next to the sheriff, clearly hoping to join the conversation and sniff out more gossip. Teague did my deck a couple years back. Did a great job, he did. I tried to fix him up with my granddaughter, but he just wouldnt bite, even though shes cute as all can be and smart besides.
Lorena?
Yes, Lorena, she concurred to the sheriff, then turned back to Daisy. Teague, he said, hed learned the hard way that marriage wasnt for him. No one could live with him, he said. Hed tried, he said. Its not like he was against marriage, but somehow the woman always ended up mad at him, he-
Said, Daisy finished for her. What can I get for you?
Oh, one of those shortbread cookies, dear. When I heard about that big chocolate heart, I almost died
Daisy didnt hear the details about how she almost died, because she zipped back in the kitchen for another batch of the cookies. When she returned, the lady in the plaid jacket was still going on as if shed never left.
So I said to Sue Ellen, I said, some girl must have hurt him bad. He jokes about being bullheaded and all, but thats not a bad quality in a man. What girl wants a man with no backbone, right, dear? So that cant be the real reason. Some girl had to really stab his heart so bad he was afraid to try again. Or maybe that girl zapped his confidence in the sack, do you think?
Daisy blinked, opened her mouth, closed it again. She glanced at George, whose mouth was twitching.
Um, she managed to say.
Well, whatever she did to him doesnt matter. The point is, hes finally over it if hes chasing after you. But youd better snap him up before the rest of the girls realize hes on the market, you know?
Thanks for the advice. Would you like coffee with your cookie?
Oh, no, dear, I dont drink much coffee, not with my cholesterol. She scooped two more butter-laden cookies on her plate and smiled. Are you hoping hell propose?
Yeah, Daisy, George echoed, Are you hoping hell propose?
A very rough morning was followed by a rough noon hour, and from there the day went seriously downhill. Around two Daisy started phoning Teague. She wasnt scheduled to work with him that day; he was doing some kind of one-man carpentry work, she didnt remember exactly where. Wherever, he always traveled with his cell phone so customers could always reach him.
Not today. She called at two. Then at two-thirty. Then at three. Then three-thirty. He simply didnt answer and his voice mail didnt activate. He was always reachable by phone.
Except for today.
Damnation, where was he?
Teague, the mayor said, Its not that I have anything personal against your doing this. I just dont think Im the one you should be asking permission from.
Teague sighed. The mayor, Peter Strunk, had only been in office since November. In the true spirit of Vermont, where nobody really wanted government if they could avoid it, the people had elected a mayor who wasnt likely to interfere in much of anything. The problem with a wishy-washy leader, though, was that he waswellwishy-washy.
Look, Teague said, theres no reason this has to be so complicated. I just want to put up some banners on Main Street for a few hours. Not even a whole day. Ill put them up myself. Ill take them down myself.
I know, you said all that. Peter had the hen-pecked look he got when he had dinner with his wife. Thats not the issue. I think your idea is charming. I have no objections to it at all. I cant see what harm it would do-
So all I need is your permission.
But the things Im in charge of-the things a mayor is supposed to do-theres nothing about this kind of thing.
Mayor, Teague said patiently, Ive asked everyone else. I started with a cop, who sent me to the sheriff. He was gone, but at the office there, somebody said I had to go to the courthouse to get a permit. Then I went to get a permit, but they said they gave permits for things like parades and all, but for an individual request like this, they didnt know. The bottom line is nobody seems to be able to give me a yes but you.
But Im not sure
Teague stood up. I know youre not sure. He pulled on his jacket, which hed never thought hed have to take off-but whod have guessed hed waste almost two hours in the mayors office? So the deal seems to be this. Maybe I cant get a yes out of anyone, but no ones given me a no either. So Im doing it. If somebody uncovers that this is a major felony Im guilty of, then put me in jail-but dont do it until Saturday, okay?
Just hold on, there. I know there have to be safety regulations-
Im sure there are. But I think Ill just go with common sense, rather than waste another whole day trying to figure them out. You have a good day, now, Pete.
Bureaucracy. It was enough to make a man want to move to Alaska. Teague bolted down the courthouse steps and slugged his hands in his pockets against the sharp-shooting wind. Forecast had been for a clear day with no wind. Naturally, it was snowing hard and the wind was fierce as a temper.
Hed missed the whole afternoons work, but he figured he could make that up by working late tonight. He just had to pick the projects where the owners were gone or on vacation. And although this day had been totally frustrating so far, he glanced at his watch-he still had a good hour of daylight left.
He parked his truck at the far edge of Main Streets business section. Traffic wouldnt quite qualify as rush hour-there was no rush hour in White Hills-but just before dinner, lots of vehicles were cuddled tight at every light, and most of them were crabby. Moms whod been kid-caring all day, dads whod just put in nine hours straight, everybody tired of slushy roads and dark evenings. When Teague carted a ladder from the back of his truck, a couple of people honked a hello at him, but no one paid him much attention.
The three main shopping blocks of Main Street were gussied up with old-fashioned gas lights. Before Christmas, the lampposts had been decorated with wreaths and lights, but every season there seemed some excuse to string a banner across the road. It was a challenging job for one man to do alone, particularly when he had to stop traffic now and then to accomplish it. But, hell. If a guy had to risk breaking his neck for a woman, the woman should at least be worth it, right?
And Daisy, his heart had indelibly told him, was totally worth it.
He knew she had feelings for himmaybe not love yet? So he hadnt won her heart. So they had some problems. But he knew some of her built-in walls now. She had a fear of being ordinary-so obviously he had to find ways to show her that he was never going to treat her as ordinary in a million zillion years. And she had a fear that living in White Hills would doom her to boredomso he had to find ways to show her that a small town didnt have to be staid.
Suddenly cars started honking. Two pickups stopped. One burly old-timer in a fur cap came barreling out of his truck, looking ready for a fight and furious as all get-out. What the hell are you trying to do, Teague? Kill yourself?
Hey, Shaunessy. No, Im just having a little trouble-
Youre having more than a little trouble. Youre stopping traffic. Youre working on a ladder in a high wind. Now, whatever the hell youre trying to do, lets just get it done so we can all go home.
Exactly, the bearded man behind him echoed, what I was thinking.
A couple more townspeople followed up behind him. Hed done work for a lot of them, of course. And although Vermonters could be stubborn and independent, they tended to pitch in when they saw someone in big trouble. Its not as if he would have given up if hed had to do this totally on his own.
He wasnt giving up. Not on Daisy. Not until hed tried every last thing he could conceivably think of first.
But it was possible-even probable-that trying to string three sets of banners across Main Street without some help would have taken him all night and then some.
When the townspeople saw what he was doing, he saw a lot of rolled eyes and private grins. But they helped.
Two hours later the job was done.
Then it was just an issue of waiting for Daisy to wake up in the morning and see what hed done.
The next morning, Daisy rushed over to open the top oven. The smell of char scented the air. An entire tray of croissants was more black-topped than the highway. She pulled out the tray, smacked it on the counter and waved off the smoke in exasperation.
It wasnt as if shed never had a baking snafu, but it was one thing to have a bad-hair day, another to have two nonstop mean days in a row. And that wasnt even counting bad hair.
Teague was the problem, of course. She tossed down the oven pads. What was going on? From the night theyd connected after the blizzard, no day had passed without their talking or being together. But he hadnt called. And she hadnt been able to reach him.
Last night, of course, shed left town before dinner, driven the back roads to investigate the present she wanted to give him on Valentines Day. Her heart lifted, just thinking about it-except that worry almost instantly replaced elation. Nothing exactly had to be wrong.
But she knew it was. Inside, outside, and every-other-way wrong.
Daisy! Harry hollered. Theres another one.
She charged out from the kitchen and found another beaming face at the counter, waiting for her with a little wrapped package, blue and white, with a red bow. I just brought you a little something, dear! It was the grandmother with the plaid jacket.
Thats very kind, Daisy said with total bewilderment. In the last hour-since seven that morning-three other people had brought her gifts. She knew all of them, in the way everybody knew each others faces in White Hills, even if they werent personal friends. But the first present had been a bar of honeysuckle soap, and the next had been some vanilla sugar scrub.
The grandma in the plaid jacket had wrapped up an oversize loofah. Overall, Daisy was starting to wonder if she was suffering from deodorant fade-out, since all these people suddenly seemed to feel she needed grooming and cleaning products.
Thats so kind of you, she said again. But you didnt have to give me anything.
Of course I didnt, dear. But were all enjoying having you back home in White Hills so much. And your mom and dad and family arent here right now, so it just seemed like you might need a gift today.