In a Moon Smile (19 page)

“I still can’t believe it,” he leaned back against the navy blue vinyl booth. “This could be a great beginning for me. I’d love nothing better than to sell that store and paint all day every day, for the rest of my life. But you know what, Chesney? Even if nothing comes of it, I’m still really proud of the possibility.”

“It’s definitely a great opportunity,” she smiled. “But while you’re out on your bike today with me, who’s minding the store?”

“Oh, Luke’s there today,” Deke said. “Wednesdays are usually pretty slow this time of year. It’s the end of summer. We won’t get really busy again until people start buying supplies for winter.”

“So…I know where you grew up and I know about your love for art, I even know how you ended up in the hardware business,” Chesney said. “But I don’t know other things about you…like…if you’re married.”

“And you’re interested because….you’re falling in love with me?” Deke grinned and wiggled his eyebrows.

Chesney’s face went red with embarrassment. “We’re friends, Deke,” she said.

“Shouldn’t I be able to ask about your marital status?”

“Can I ask about your status?” Deke asked.

Their meals arrived and Chesney’s taste buds actually ached when she laid eyes on that greasy burger. To hell with tofu and naked lettuce. She closed her eyes and bit into the perfectly prepared, kazillion-calorie lunch.

“You already know my status,” Chesney said as she dipped a French fry in ketchup. “In fact the entire town of Bean Blossom knows my status, Deke. No, I’m not married. And no, I’m not involved with anyone.”

“Me neither,” Deke said. “On both counts.”

“Never?”

“Once,” he said. “For almost two years. But we were too young to know we weren’t ready to be married. And when we figured it out, we got a friendly divorce and moved on with our lives.”

Chesney punched thoughtfully at the ice in her glass with the straw. “No kids?” she asked.

“Not unless I count my two pitties, Fred and Wilma,” Deke smiled. “But I’m okay with how it all turned out. My pitbulls and a couple of stray cats keep me company. I’m not saying that I don’t get lonely. I would love to fall in love with a good woman. But I don’t wish for that to happen anymore. If she’s out there, I will be crazy happy to find her and cherish her for the rest of my life.” He finished off the slab of meatloaf and asked the question Chesney dreaded. “What about you?

Why aren’t you involved with anyone?”

“Honestly?” she shrugged. “I’ll tell you the truth, Deke. I think I’m cursed.”

“Aw, Chez,” Deke shook his head slowly and studied her. “You’re joking. Aren’t you?”

“Grace was cursed too,” she said. “Remember, Deke? She spent all of her life alone. And when it comes to men, I inherited every bit of my grandmother’s misfortune.”

“Oh, I doubt that,” Deke said.

“I don’t,” she said.

“You’re a strong, feisty young woman,” Deke said. “Maybe your world is more like mine. Maybe our true loves don’t come around until later, when we can truly appreciate everything a true love has to offer.”

“I hope that happens for you,” Chesney smiled. “But Deke, I’m done with men. I’m an ass magnet.”

Deke exploded with laughter and Chesney calmly wiggled out of the booth and stood. She already knew he would laugh at her damn curse. She already knew Deke wouldn’t take her seriously. She wasn’t necessarily angry about his response. But she was absolutely finished talking about the subject. “I might be done with men but I’m not done with stripping wallpaper,” Chesney said. “So I should get back to Chesney Ridge. Are you ready to go?”

They rode back in silence. But when Deke stopped the bike in front of the house, he smiled shyly as Chesney thanked him for the lunch break “You’re a great girl, Chesney. Don’t close your heart for too long, okay? You just haven’t met the right guy yet.”

“Thanks for the ride, Deke. And congratulations on the art show.”

“I’ll see you in a couple of days,” he said. “If memory serves me right, you’ll be coming into town for more paint.” Then he disappeared back down the lane.

When she walked inside, she found Dalton in the library, installing ceiling-high bookshelves. She decided not to acknowledge him. After all, he walked past her plenty of times like she was invisible.

“How was the ride?” he asked as Chesney walked past.

She smiled to herself before she turned around to face him. “We had a great ride,” Chesney said lightly. “We stopped for lunch at Cathy’s.”

“Are you dating Deke?” Dalton asked.

“Why do you care?” Chesney shot back.

“I don’t care,” Dalton said. “I was just asking. But if you think you can keep it secret, you’re wrong. There are no secrets in Bean Blossom.”

“Let me know what you hear about me then, okay?” Chesney continued past him without answering his question. She smiled to herself, wondering if Dalton might just be the tiniest bit interested in her business. Before jumping right back into the second layer of wallpaper on the dining room wall, she stretched out on the floor to rest for a few moments. That greasy burger and the delicious homemade pie had made her lazy. She closed her eyes, envisioning several favorite books lining those beautiful shelves Dalton was installing. And promptly fell asleep.

“Ms. Blake?” Dalton's face, so close that she could feel his breath, startled her awake. “Are you  alright?”

Struggling to sit up, her eyelids felt heavy. She felt intoxicated. She was red with humiliation. “I guess I was overcome by your carpentry,” Chesney said with a yawn. “Or it might have been that greasy burger at Cathy’s.”

“I think you just need some rest,” Dalton said. “You work all these long hours on the house. It’s starting to catch up with you.”

“I'm fine,” she lied. “Now that I've had a little cat nap, I think I'll finish that second coat of paint in the hallway.” She jumped up and hurried to the hallway to put some distance between them and to pretend Dalton’s eyes weren’t following her every move. For the rest of the day, Chesney intently slathered paint up and down the hallway. But she could still feel Dalton’s breath on her face. She wrestled with her conscience about how much she had hoped, during those few seconds, that Dalton Moore the handyman, would lean close and brush his lips against hers. “Stop it,” she hissed at herself. “Get those thoughts out of your head. You are a cursed woman. You should not think about him or any other man. You are cursed when it comes to relationships.”

That evening after Dalton packed up his tools, Chesney ate some dinner alone in front of the TV. outside on the porch swing, she waited patiently to watch the sun yawn and stretch along the faded old fence behind the barn. “Are you happy that I'm here, Grace?” Chesney asked the starry sky. “Do you like what I've done so far? How about that kitchen? Is that gorgeous or what?”

When the evening dew set in, she went back inside and leaned against the door frame in the study to admire the bookshelves. “Damn it, Dalton,” she breathed. “It is harder and harder to pretend that I’m not staring at you. Who knows how I can possibly make it through this. As hard as it will be to say good-bye, you need to get going soon.”

When the last few shreds of lavender and gray flowers from the dining room walls finally fell away, Chesney thought about cheering for herself. Three layers of sticky wall covering was now gone. Every wall was freshly bare and ready for a new personality. She felt absolutely giddy about how beautifully the house was growing into its own. That final goal had been achieved before the sun came up, so she started the coffee and turned on the oven. Just as Dalton arrived to begin his work day, nicely browned biscuits came out of the oven. She arranged them next to an assortment of sliced bananas, strawberries and oranges on a plate, tucked a few flowers in a vase on the table and greeted the handyman with a smile. “Before we start to work, we're having breakfast,” Chesney said with a grin. “I want to celebrate with you, Mr. Moore, the fact that the dining room is now naked of all wallpaper.”

Dalton returned the smile. He tossed his tool belt over a saw horse and sat down on a crate near the window. “I never pass up a free breakfast,” he said as he tried to balance the plate on his knees.

“Sorry I don't have a table and chairs yet,” Chesney said with a giggle. “It’s on my list of things to purchase.”

“Not a problem.” As he sipped at the hot coffee, Dalton’s eyes were on her.

“Cream for your coffee?” She nervously passed the fresh fruit to the cute handyman, making a point to be warm and friendly, but not flirty. He again balanced the plate on his knees before looking at her.

“I like it strong. Black,” Dalton grinned. His stare was intense and Chesney’s heartbeat quickened. Though she secretly wanted Dalton’s attention, his gaze made her feel uncomfortable. His eyes remained locked on hers.

“What is it?” she finally asked.

“What are you talking about?”

“Why are you staring at me? You look like you want to say something or ask me something. So what is it?”

“Why are you here?” Dalton asked.

“What kind of question is that?” Chesney nervously averted her eyes. “What do you mean? Why am I in the kitchen instead of starting to strip the hallway wallpaper?” She offered a weak laugh and realized that the handyman had no intention of letting her off the hook.

“I’m asking why you are in Bean Blossom.”

“Why do you care?”

“Just curious, I guess,” Dalton said. “Not a lot of people our age choose to live in a little berg in the hills like Bean Blossom.”

“I could ask you the same question, Mr. Moore. Why are you here?” she asked.

“I love it here,” Dalton said. “I was raised a few miles down the road.”

He thoughtfully stirred his coffee. “As a kid, I couldn't wait to get out of here,” he said. “I thought life was passing me by.”

Hanging on every word and on every moment he glanced up at her with those beautiful, azure eyes, Chesney swallowed hard, anxious to hear about who Dalton Moore was when he wasn’t busy being her handyman.

“So…I left home. Went to college and pursued a career in literature. After I completed my doctorate, I taught at Boston University for a while,” he said.

Doctorate? She was stunned. “From Bean Blossom to Boston? Talk about a culture shock.” She laughed nervously, hoping to hide the shock.

“No worse than you,” Dalton said. “From Chicago and New York to here.”

Chesney recalled the day at the hardware store, when Luke gave her the rundown, that Bean Blossom residents gossiped. And they wrongly thought she had been married and divorced. Had Dalton heard that rumor? She thought about asking. How much of her business did Dalton Moore already know? And how much of it was accurate? In another life, Dalton’s place was a Boston campus. Hmm. She conjured up a vision of him standing in front of a classroom. She wondered how he spoke to students and what he looked like in a sports coat. Embarrassed that her thoughts could drift so quickly when this man was in her presence made her straighten her back and pretend to be totally enthralled by the coffee she stirred.

Get a hold of yourself, moron. Don’t forget that you’re cursed. Who cares what this man has heard about you? Stay back. Stay way back. Anything with a penis can be harmful to your health.

Unfortunately, Chesney wasn’t very good at taking her own advice. So she did not leave the kitchen like she knew she should. She did not work hard to hide her interest in the handyman, either. “What made you leave Boston to come back to Bean Blossom?”

“I discovered that I didn't care anymore about climbing the professional ladder. I didn't like the people I was climbing the ladder with. I wasn't impressed with the prize at the top, either. The prize wasn’t all that I fantasized about.”

“Prize?”

“You know, big house, longer work hours, high blood pressure, no time,” Dalton said. “Two years ago, I came home. I bought a small farm south of here. Then I bought a couple of horses, two chickens, a rooster and some calves. I contribute articles for books, occasionally. I teach a class sometimes at one of the colleges up north. But the majority of the time, I do carpentry work. And I take care of my animals.”

As she passed the plate of hot biscuits in Dalton’s direction, Chesney smiled. “Amazing. More coffee?”

“What's your story?” His eyes fixed on hers.

Damn it.

Clearly, Dalton Moore was a persistent man. He was waiting rather impatiently for his employer to disclose at least a few tidbits about life before Bean Blossom. It didn’t seem likely to Chesney that she would escape his curiosity, unless she made a run for it. But she wasn’t entertaining thoughts of running away. She was daydreaming about placing her face against Dalton’s gorgeous chest. “Oh you know the story…city slicker gone mad,” she said with a fake smile. “I just needed a change…of scenery.”

“Yeah?” he helped himself to another biscuit and smothered it with butter while Chesney tried to change the subject.

“Can you believe the transformation in this kitchen?” She sighed and looked around. “I’m so in love with it. Now that we’re so close to winter, the yard work will have to wait until next spring. It’s too late in the year to do much. Don’t you agree?”

“How long were you in New York?” Dalton asked.