Blue Heaven (Blue Lake) (12 page)

Eva usually kicked the kids out at 11 p.m.

“I’ll get some sheets and make up the sofa. You’ll be the first one to use the pull-out.”

“Okay,” Lily said.

When Eva brought sheets and blankets into the living room, Lily had lowered all the bamboo shades. Eva went over and locked the door. Lily’s spine visibly sagged. Relief, Eva sensed. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but for whatever reason, Lily had not felt safe tonight, even though she had seemed perfectly at ease with Bob all day. And worried about what he’d think tonight.

“I’m going to lock the office door tonight, too,” Eva usually left it open for Lily or Bob. Mostly Lily, who liked her baths and Eva’s beauty products. “Just in case we want to sleep in. We don’t need any of the crew busting in on us.”

They made up the sofa bed together.

“You know, we could get your room in here ready, if you want. It might be easier to get the cottage sorted for guests if you had another place to sleep.”

“Okay,” Lily said, clicking on the remote, but turning the volume low and programming it to turn off in thirty minutes.

“ ’Night,” Lily said, her eyes half shut.

Eva wasn’t tired at all. She decided to start fooling around with a website for Bryman House. It felt good to begin to pay Daniel back for all the free work he was doing here at Blue Heaven.

Chapter Sixteen

The next morning, she showed Daniel the temporary website for his museum.

“This is what we see, but if anyone Googles ‘Bryman House’ they’ll see this.” Eva clicked over to the “Under Construction” icon she’d posted and then back to the temporary site that needed to be filled with info and photos and the video.

“Excellent,” Daniel said.

Eva agreed. She hadn’t slept much last night, and she’d heard Lily tossing and turning, too. But they’d made it through, and later, they’d relax at the spa.

Lily came into the office, having already erased any hint of having slept in the bungalow. The living room was back to normal and she was dressed in fresh jeans and the concert T-shirt Eva gave her the night before. It was old, from back when the band was still mostly a local Detroit act, but not beat up. Eva wasn’t really a concert T-shirt sort of person, although she always bought them when she attended shows. She had a drawerful that never got any use. Maybe Lily would like them.

“Hey,” Lily said to Daniel.

“You two see the video yet?”

They hadn’t. Eva had been so into building Daniel’s website, she hadn’t thought once about checking her reservations or to see if the video was up. She’d have to put a link on her site before they left for the spa.

Daniel typed into the keyboard and the video came up. They watched how his friend had edited their day yesterday to make a fast, fun, clip. They ran the clip a couple more times.

“I didn’t know you filmed me,” she said, looking at Lily.

“I didn’t,” Lily said.

Eva checked again. Daniel had still been filming then, because she’d been driving, her hair blowing in the wind, the sunlight catching her smile. In voiceover, Daniel said, “Meet Eva Delacroix, owner of Blue Heaven, a special vacation spot in Blue Lake, Michigan.”

“I look at you a lot when you don’t know I’m looking,” he said.

Her heart skidded.

“Lily, your footage is awesome,” Eva said, embarrassed. She tried to focus as the video panned the town, the pretty painted cottages, and the beach, with quick cuts to Frank and Sam on the roof of the bungalow.

Daniel’s film-buff friend ended the clip with the shot of the moon on the water and Daniel saying “Come see the moonlight on the sunrise side of the state. Visit Blue Heaven on beautiful Lake Huron this summer.”

Her website address flashed on the screen. She clicked on the link and her site appeared. She clicked on reservations and couldn’t believe it.

“You did it. I’m fully booked for the season.”

“Well, my friend put it together. He loved your footage, Lily. Said you’ve got raw talent.”

Lily smiled and twirled away. She’d been cleaning out the spare room she’d chosen, squeezing bags and boxes and lamps all into one room to make way for a bed and dresser that Eva would still have to find. She’d ordered a mattress last night online.

Lily bounced back into the room.

“I can pick out what color I want to paint my room, right?”

Daniel looked at Eva, shrugged, and walked up the staircase he’d managed to salvage from the ruin of Frank and Sam’s work.

“Sure, honey,” Eva said. She looked at the time on her computer. “We need to leave here in a half hour or so.”

“No problem,” Lily said.

Eva clicked into her email account, but Lily still hovered nearby.

“What is it, hon?”

Eva’s email box was jammed and the newsfeed had a headline about 500 Detroit advertising people out of jobs. She clicked it open, then turned to listen to Lily, who was uncharacteristically silent.

“I know I’m being a pain and all, but could I keep the cottage and the bedroom for now?”

“Well, of course. And you’re not a pain.”

“But can I sleep in the living room sometimes until my bedroom in here is done?”

Eva wondered if she should try to dig deeper into Lily’s unease. Surely Bob could not be the cause of this.

“It’s not Bob. Honest. I just,” Lily sighed, “can’t talk about it.”

“You can sleep wherever you feel comfortable,” Eva said. “At least until we get your bedroom all set.”

“So I can keep my stuff in the cottage, but, like, crash in here?”

“Yep.”

“Cool.”

Lily started to head out into the yard, but then pivoted back in. “But don’t tell Bob. He’ll feel bad. And he shouldn’t.”

“I won’t tell Bob.”

“Or Daniel.”

“Or Daniel.”

“You better get off that computer or we’re going to be late for our appointments,” Lily said.

Eva quickly read the report that her former agency had just closed their offices in Detroit. God, how much worse could it get? She spent a couple minutes answering a few emails from her closest friends still at the agency.

Even Marcus had lost his job.

Everyone had seen it coming, so they weren’t as upset as Eva had been when she’d gotten laid off. They wanted to know about her, how she was doing, if her project was on schedule, when they could visit. She knew the truth, even if they didn’t. They’d be too busy looking for work to spend time with her this summer. Still, she extended the invitation. She planned to have a guest room ready to go when she opened in June.

“Come on, Eva,” Lily said.

“I’m leaving,” Eva called up to Daniel after she’d logged off her computer.

“See you at dinner,” he said.

****

Eva and Lily spent the day together, but they never got a chance to talk. The salon ladies made a fuss over them, or blow-dryers were running, or Lily was getting her facial while Eva had a massage.

Still, after their mani-pedis were dry, they had an hour before they were supposed to meet the guys for dinner.

“Time to shop,” Eva said. “My treat.”

Lily looked adorable, fresh, and ready to rock the mall.

Maybe it wasn’t about getting Lily to open up about whatever made her leave home with little more than the clothes on her back. Maybe it was simply about taking care of her in the here and now. Somehow this grouchy girl, who lit up like Christmas at the thought of some shopping, had gotten under Eva’s skin.

Eva thought for a minute about her budget, but pushed away any nervousness about spending even more money than she’d dropped at the salon. This day was doing wonders for Lily. It was worth every penny.

Lily chose jeans, little half boots, and a gauzy tunic. Eva found a white dress with big red poppies all over it that matched her nail polish. When she would have stuck with her plain black ballet flats, Lily had insisted she buy the adorable pair of red kitten heels.

“If you don’t buy footwear, neither will I, and you know I only have one pair of sneakers. Which are like some weird art shoes now with all the paint splatters.”

It was true, so Eva bought the shoes. And some new sneakers for Lily, budget be damned.

****

Daniel watched Eva approach the table, vaguely aware of Lily at her side. Eva was more radiant than he’d ever seen her, and not just because she’d had something nice done to her hair that made it extra shiny and swingy. Maybe it was the dress, the way it scooped low, skimming the tops of her breasts. With extreme effort, Daniel banished thoughts of how he’d had her in his bed, he’d briefly held those breasts. And somehow he’d messed up and that’s all he was ever going to get of her unless he could woo her into intimacy with Mission: Fast Eddie.

“May I bring you something to drink?”

The waitress appeared the moment Lily and Eva sat. Lily and Bob ordered Cokes, and Daniel bent closer than was probably necessary to Eva, asking if she’d like to choose a bottle of wine. She smelled like flowers and something else deeper and more mysterious.

Eva flipped open the menu and said, “You know what I’ve been craving all day?”

He only wished it were him.

“A strawberry milk shake.”

“We can do that,” said the waitress.

Daniel ordered coffee. He had a feeling he’d need it during the movie. He had zero interest in the whole vampire craze.

He looked at Eva next to him, ran his eyes over her body as discreetly as possible. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her legs before. When she sat, a lot of them showed. They were lovely. Her throat clearing signaled that she noticed him staring.

“Great shoes,” he said, although if she asked what color they were, he’d be unmasked as a liar. But was it his fault that he was interested in this new Eva, the Eva underneath the jeans and work shirts?

“Thanks,” she said, about the shoes.

“You look very pretty tonight,” he said.

She blushed.

He didn’t compliment her enough. He should do that more often. But surely she knew how lovely she was? How her face made his heart ache because, for whatever silly reasons, she wouldn’t let him kiss her anymore?

“Get a room,” Lily said.

Bob snickered.

Eva rolled her eyes at the kids.

“Don’t mind them. They don’t get out much.”

To Daniel, the situation was surreal. This wasn’t a date. Not really. More of a family outing, although they made a weird family.

“Eva,” Bob said, grabbing a dinner roll as soon as the basket hit the table, “how do you want me to adjust the payroll for Logan and Tom?”

“Don’t,” Daniel said. Damn it. He’d meant to speak to Bob about the skilled carpenters he’d hired on his own dime.

“Those are the new guys I saw working on the addition last week?”

Bob nodded.

“Yeah,” Daniel said. He knew she could be touchy about her project. “Don’t worry about paying them. They owe me a favor.”

He could see the wheels turning in Eva’s mind.

“Well,” Bob went on, oblivious to the minefield he’d stepped into, “we should only pay Sam half days. That’s all he’s been good for.”

“Does he have a family to support?” Eva asked.

“Wife, grown kids. A couple grandkids, I think.”

“Well, then just continue to pay him the daily rate.”

“If you’re sure.”

She tried to be tough, but Daniel knew that deep inside she was a softie. She sucked on her milkshake, which was possibly the sexiest thing he’d ever seen, while Daniel tried to gauge her reaction to Logan and Tom, but he was totally distracted by her cherry-lipsticked mouth covering the bright pink straw.

At the show, they had to split up. Apparently many teenage girls, plus their mothers and boyfriends, liked vampires. Lily and Bob sat two rows in front of them. While the previews aired, Daniel said, “I wish you’d let me pay for dinner. I know how much Bob eats. Your grocery bill has to be huge.”

“Well, you’re one up on me then,” she whispered, “because I have no clue how much skilled carpenters get paid these days, but I’m betting it’s more than a hundred bucks a day.”

Yep. She was still pissed. He’d only been trying to help get her back into her house sooner. Also he wanted the best workmanship possible, and that just was not possible with the town drunk and a roofer.

“You’ll pay me back this winter. Six months of trudging through the cold and snow every day just about equals what the trades pay.”

“Sounds like fun.”

Fun. Huh. She hadn’t lived through a Blue Lake winter yet.

Chapter Seventeen

Daniel hadn’t paid much attention to the movie. He’d been too busy trying to figure out exactly when he could get Eva’s place done and how much time that left him until September and whether Eva would agree to at least come to Fast Eddie’s and meet his friends, because she needed friends, not just Jane, and then he could ask her to dance. He’d make sure it was a slow one and then he could hold her body very close to his.

“The kids behaved well tonight.” Daniel got out of the car, stood with Eva as Lily and Bob retreated to their cottages. It was now or never. Do or die. If she said no…he wouldn’t think about that.

“Lily’s been dying to see that movie.”

“What? Er, what about you?”

“I like
True Blood
better.” He had no idea what she was talking about so he skipped over that.

“You—”

“You—”

They both said the word at the same time. “You first,” Daniel said.

“You were a good sport tonight,” she said. The night temperature had cooled and she rubbed her pretty arms with her newly polished fingernails. She turned and headed for her own door.

“It’s not about that,” he said, following her. He couldn’t lose this opportunity. He had to nail the Fast Eddie plan tonight. “It’s what you do when you’re a parent. You put them first.”

Eva opened the door to the office, the next room on his list to tackle. The wood registration counter was like a siren calling him. “I know what you mean,” she said, oblivious that he’d followed her into the house. “I felt a little like that today. I’d never have taken a day off work to blow time and money at a salon if I hadn’t wanted to cheer up Lily.”