Blue Heaven (Blue Lake) (17 page)

“Why are we lighting a fire? Why are we chatting about old times, before we even knew each other? We have so much to do before the Open House!”

Daniel grabbed Eva’s hand as she started to rise from the hearth.

“I want to see if the chimney draws right,” he said. “And we can take five minutes to talk.”

“About what? Us? Can we please just wait to go any more public than we already are until after the opening? I feel like everything is moving so fast. It’s finally here.”

Daniel didn’t know where else to go with this. Why couldn’t they just date openly and see where it went once they were in it? How did you say that to a woman without sounding like she was being evaluated?

She squinted.

“Do you see smoke hovering up there around the light fixture?”

“No.” Daniel felt frustrated but he also could sense the pressure Eva was under. So okay, he’d back off for a few days.

“I thought we were in love,” she said, out of nowhere.

Daniel felt a jolt of electricity, fear or excitement, maybe a combination of the two, until he realized she wasn’t talking about the two of them, but about the other guy, the older one from her past.

“You’re helping me, like he did. You’re showing me the ropes. You’re giving me free labor and materials.”

“It’s a trade. You’re going to help me with the museum.”

“Still. It feels the same.”

“And that’s bad because?”

“Because it ended.”

She wasn’t looking at him, but at the flames of the fire.

He thought about that. So, she wanted a guarantee. Talking about Georgia and how he couldn’t wait to get out of town had not helped his case. Of course that would bother her. She was not the hook-up type. She was the dive right in and do it, get married and have kids, type.

And then he remembered how he’d told her his parenting days were over. Right before he’d said that, she’d been warm and open. The next day she told him he couldn’t kiss her anymore. She’d made the excuse about work, but now he got it. He saw clearly who she was and what she needed. The question was, did he want to step up and give it to her?

Chapter Twenty-Two

Eva had just confessed her feelings about Marcus to Daniel when Jane came up the stairs, carrying a bottle of wine in one hand and three glasses in the other. He probably didn’t understand what she’d been talking about. He’d gone silent in the way men did when they were clueless.

“This is gorgeous,” Jane said. Eva loved Jane. She’d become her best friend in such a short time. She cared about Daniel too, but he wouldn’t always be here.

Looking from Jane to Daniel, Eva wondered about their shared past. They seemed so casual around each other. You’d never know they’d been lovers, that they’d raised Bob together. At least according to Jane.

She noticed their interactions as Daniel accepted Jane’s glass of wine, pointing out the features of the room to her. Like old friends. Like family members. Not like lovers at all. Why did she keep looking for signs that were not there?

She studied them for a few minutes. Did Jane touch Daniel’s arm out of friendship or unrequited love? Did Daniel use his shorthand way of talking to Jane because they grew up together or because he trusted her to understand his reference points?

Just when Eva was starting to think that the two of them seemed so cozy and oblivious to her, Jane turned and grinned. “So, what’s the plan for the Open House? How can I help?”

Daniel asked if anyone wanted to split a pizza.

“Eva and I were going over to Fast Eddie’s for burgers,” Jane said.

“What’s Bob doing?”

“He and Lily had their eyes on a box of macaroni and cheese in the pantry,” Eva said.

“You can join us,” Eva finally said, when Jane didn’t.

“No, no, that’s okay. I want to finish sanding the mantel and get a coat of stain on her.”

Jane looked at Eva and they both laughed.

“What?” Daniel wanted to know.

“You referred to the mantel as ‘she’ like it was alive,” Eva said.

“Like ‘she’ was your girlfriend,” Jane teased.

“Just go have dinner. You can bring me back a carry out. If that’s not too much trouble.”

“No trouble,” Jane and Eva said at the same time.

****

Eva and Lily had spent the day at the Costco in Port Huron, buying supplies for the Open House. Would four cases of wine would be enough? Eddie from the bar was going to donate a keg of beer. He also said he’d man the tap. One more worry Eva could cross off her list. She hadn’t known how she’d keep the teenagers from drinking.

So far, the RSVPs were up to 200. Jane said more people would show up, not bothering to RSVP, or not knowing that it was even required. Not everyone had a computer, not everyone had a cell phone. And Open House did sort of mean “come whenever if” or so Jane explained to Eva.

She’d pulled a couple thousand out of the bank for food and paper products. Then worried over her bank balance. No need, she’d told herself, adding up the total for her first week’s renters. Still, a part of her would not be happy until she’d proved she could repay that loan not by reservations, but by cash in hand.

They came home with a loaded down car and started unpacking. Bob helped, telling her he had finished staining the gazebo, a gift from the Bryman brothers. Eva had of course argued that the gazebo gift was entirely unnecessary, but they’d insisted, and she’d felt churlish about saying no so she finally accepted it with as good grace as she could muster. It was just that they were doing so much for her. It never ended. But she had to admit, the gazebo would be a great little place to sit with a summer drink, looking over the water without going down to the beach.

Right now it sat under a huge canvas tent, just in case of rain. The side that was open to the water had been screened with canvas, and if it actually did rain, Bob could lash the other three canvas sides into place.

“I’ll take the canvas down in the morning if the sun is out,” Bob said. Eva had no doubt that the sun would shine down on her party.

Bob helped Lily get the rest of the party supplies unloaded and stored. He’d offered to man the barbecue at the Open House, and had asked for a certain kind of grilling charcoal, which they’d found, so he was happy.

Eva went to the street to get her mail and saw the stack of dreaded credit card bills.

She opened the bill that said “IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR ACCOUNT” on the outside of the envelope first. It said her interest rate had been doubled. Another card that had guaranteed zero percent interest for a year had raised her rate to 18%. She quickly did some numbers in her head. She hadn’t counted on the extra expense of these interest rates. She felt like she was drowning. She knew this was happening to people all over the country, but she couldn’t believe it had happened to her. Or that she’d let it.

“What would Marcus do?” She wondered. They’d had plenty of experience with going over budget on a campaign and he’d always found a creative way to solve problems.

One thing she knew for sure is that he would not let his confidence waver for one second. All she needed was confidence in the plan unfolding as it should. Her vacationers would come, they would pay, she would be solvent. Maybe she should take that on faith and pay a couple of these cards off with her emergency savings. She’d already dipped into it for the party. 18% would add up quickly over the winter months, when she had no revenue coming in.

She went online and transferred her savings to checking, but held off writing the checks. She still had a little bit of cash in there and some time before the bills came due. Everything would be fine. She would have faith in herself and in the universe. What could go wrong now with less than a week until opening day of the new Blue Heaven?

****

The morning of the Open House, Eva arranged the finishing touches in the addition. Happy and excited, she also felt a little ache inside she couldn’t quite place. Probably just pre-party nerves. There would be so many people she didn’t know. She knew Meg and Luke and the rest of the people from Eddie’s. She knew the guys on the renovation crew, Lois the vet, plus Eddie from the bar and the lady who owned the antique store. She was beginning to feel part of a community, even if she couldn’t remember everyone’s name.

The mantel had been bare while the stain dried, but now she arranged family photos there. She missed her folks. Even though she spoke to her mom on the phone every week, it wasn’t the same. She admired her walls, their golden yellow paint cheered her. A light green sectional with clean lines that could easily seat twelve reflected the leaves of the trees outside the many windows. She didn’t have anything covering the windows at all, because Daniel had done such an incredible job on the wood framing them and the view from every angle of nature was better than any textile could provide.

Daniel. How would they behave today around the entire town? As a couple or still remain quietly seeing each other? She knew he wanted them to be open about their relationship and realized, as she moved a picture frame an inch to the left, that she wanted that, too.

The room looked perfect to her eyes but what would other people think? She picked up and rearranged a fat aqua urn, set a large bowl of oranges on the coffee table. Her eyes rested on Mama, taking a well-deserved break from the kittens on a rust-colored throw puddled on a chaise lounge. Eva angled a guitar she’d bought for $5 next to the cat. A perfect still life.

Maybe too perfect. She took one orange out of the bowl and set it next to a pair of candlesticks holding tall amber colored candles. No more fussing. That was it. Everything was done. If she was nervous today, what would it be like when the magazine came knocking? Daniel had given her the news yesterday. A writer and photographer would be arriving next week on Monday to do a feature on Bryman and Blue Lake. It was a dream come true for Daniel, and from a marketing standpoint, for her business, too.

She took one final glance around the room, hoping Daniel liked her finishing touches. If he approved, it almost didn’t matter what anybody else thought. He had not seen it since he’d helped her, Bob, and Lily arrange the heavy pieces delivered yesterday. She’d practically lived up here since then.

Daniel had done so much for her, she wished she’d thought of a really good surprise for him. Her wheels were turning as she went downstairs to make sure everything there was okay. Her showplace rooms were the office with the new curving bannister and the living room. The kitchen still looked the same, tiny but cheery. She’d have to show her bedroom, but had installed a baby gate so people knew not to go into it, just take a peek at the cavorting kittens. They were her excuse for the baby gate, a bit of advice from Jane, who said she’d have people sitting all over her bed unless she made it off limits.

Eva sorted out the house as best she could, and even came up with what she hoped would be a neat surprise for Daniel. She thought about it as she cleaned up after herself in the bathroom. She thought about it as she put on jeans and a casual tunic. She didn’t think she’d get cold, but because of the plan, she changed from her white tunic to a deep blue one. How would she fit the surprise into the constant activity of hostess? She knew Daniel’s surprise would not make her cold, but she hung a sweater over her office chair just to be safe.

She checked the computer. A few more RSVPs. Another reservation for fall.

Jane and Daniel came in together while Eva was still in the office.

“Looks like rain,” Jane said.

Eva winked at Daniel. That was it for now. But later, after the guests arrived…well, she just hoped he’d be happy.

Chapter Twenty-Three

“No way.” Eva put her sexy plan out of her mind to disagree with Jane about the rain, pointing to the patch of sunshine on her patterned rug. She clicked off her website and shut the computer down. She took the various papers all over her desk and gathered them up into a tidy sheaf before stashing them in a drawer. Then she came out from behind the registration counter to join her friends.

“If it rains, people can use the tent. We’ll control the number of folks touring the place.”

“Nobody’s going in MY cottage or my room.” Lily carried a baby gate as she stomped in behind Bob.

Eva shrugged. Lily was entitled to her privacy, while Bob had been stoic about returning to live with Daniel.

Things were changing. First the noisy crew left, now Bob would be leaving tonight, and Lily would officially move into the bungalow with Eva. Then the guests would descend. The new idea she’d come up with to surprise Daniel in the midst of all these strangers terrified and elated her at the same time.

Frank was the first guest after her friends to arrive. His wife smiled so wide her face almost cracked as she handed Eva a huge Tupperware container of fruit salad. His kids, teenagers, were drawn immediately to the beach. Eva and Jane had been right about the weather. It was still warm and sunny, but there were dark clouds on the horizon.

Maybe people would notice the impending showers and show up earlier rather than later.

A guy from the crew came next, with his wife, who carried a Bible in her hand.

“Vera here wants to say a blessing over your place,” he said, eyeing the keg of beer that Eddie was priming.

He left Eva alone with Vera, even though Eva could see that she was not going to be alone, not really, for many more hours. People were pouring into her property like they poured out of church on Sunday morning.

“I do hope you’ll succeed here,” Vera said piously, “even though I’m unsure whether the Lord really approves of the name of this place.”

“That was the name it had before I owned it,” Eva said.

“I know,” said Vera, pointedly. But then someone else came up, a guy from the cottage crew. He introduced his wife and kids and cousins and uncle.

A few hours later, which had passed like minutes, Eva was weary but relieved. Her new neighbors had welcomed her and she felt good about that. She just had a minute to sneak into the bathroom and call her mother. She’d figured out what was missing in her perfect house. Her family.