Divine Phoenix (5 page)

He grinned at her and began, “About your car…”

Lily gazed at Clay, relieved by the playful tilt of his lips. She felt guilty for withholding the truth about JT’s mark but grateful that he didn’t press the subject so she didn’t have to outright lie to him. She fully intended that no one else ever see that mark. That meant no relationships unless she was somehow able to have the tattoo removed.

While at the public library in Durst, she’d learned how to use the Internet and had done some research on tattoo removal, but her sessions on the library computers were rare and all too brief. Now that she was free she could do a little more in-depth research. She might start that quest with a visit to the family practitioner Doctor Burns had mentioned the day before.

“What about my car?”

Her hands looked small as Clay cradled them in his big, capable hands, which he’d used to defend her just moments before. The way he stroked her palms was very distracting. “A friend is working on the body damage for me. He’ll also make sure that everything runs the way that it should.”

“No, Clay. I—I may not be able to afford all those repairs up front. All I need is for it to get me from point A to point B around town. My funds are very limited and I need to find a job, but first I have to recover from all of this, and my money—” Clay put up a hand to stop her in midsentence as she got more wound up.

“Shh, Lily. Stop. All you need to focus on is regaining your strength. Deciding your next move can wait a bit. I bartered with a man so you won’t be using any of your money. It sounds like it was a miracle you have any.”

“My dad helped me.”

“Well, whatever he gave you is safe where you put it. The repairs to your car are going to be basic, for now. Nothing fancy, just getting the car up to snuff so you have safe transportation.”

“But you had to barter with something.”

“You let me worry about that.” When she would’ve argued, he gently pressed a work-roughened fingertip against her lips. “You don’t need to worry about a job, either. I can use your help in the shop.”

Floored, Lily asked, “You mean in your jewelry shop? I don’t have any experience.”

“You said you took care of customers at the auto repair shop, right? I assume you chatted with people and made them feel welcome?”

“Well, sure. But—”

“It’s really the same thing. Just talking to people who come in, finding out what they need, and handling payments. All things you have experience with. Any skills that you lack, either Tabitha or I can teach you.”

Feeling decidedly grungy and not sure that she was what he needed for his nice jewelry shop, Lily replied, “I don’t know, Clay. I may be more work to train than you anticipate.”

“Then it’ll be on a trial basis. Until I tell you that you’re untrainable and unteachable, you work for me,” he said with a look of triumph on his face. “Where’s the feisty, spirited Lily who could never back down from a challenge?”

Well, crap!
He had her there. She couldn’t very well turn him down now. The smile that crossed her face felt as unfamiliar to her as the short burst of laughter that followed it. “All right. Do you know when my car will be ready? Will I be able to go home after I get out of here?”

“Not right away. We can go see your house after you’re released, but you’re not supposed to stay alone while you’re healing. Your situation was pretty dire and you’re going to need some time to recuperate. For that reason, you’ll be staying in my spare bedroom—”

Lily gaped at him in surprise. “Clay, really! Come on! You’ve already done so much—”

Clay looked at her with wide, innocent green-gold eyes. “What? You don’t trust me? I’ll be a total gentleman.”

Is he flirting with me?
“That’s not the issue and you know it. Clay, trust me when I tell you that I’ve functioned in far greater pain than this.”

Clay grew serious and replied, “Is that supposed to make me feel better? You need someone to look after you. It’s no trouble at all. You’ll be sharing the room with my elliptical trainer which doubles as a catchall for my ironing and other odds and ends. This is an easy solution to a difficult problem, Lily. If your house needs repairs, even minor ones, they’ll take time and energy you don’t have right now. Stop worrying about being an inconvenience and just give in. Remember how persistent I am?”

“Clay…”

“Come on…”

“Clay.”

“Stubborn as ever. Come on. I already put all your boxes and luggage in the room. Fresh sheets are on the bed. I
even
cleaned the tub and cleared out half of the medicine cabinet for you. Come home with me. We’ll have time to get all caught up. I missed you, Lily.”

Then Clay unfairly pulled the maneuver that had gotten him whatever he wanted when he was little. She couldn’t help but laugh a little as he pooched out his lower lip and gave her the soulful puppy dog eyes. She could tell by the look in his moss-green-and-gold-tinged eyes that he was sincere in wanting to help. Insisting on doing for herself against medical advice seemed almost rude as he gazed at her.

“You slay me with those eyes, Clay. All right. But I insist on working to pay for the window that got broken, and the other damage,
and
the cost of my car repairs.”

“The window has already been replaced and insurance is covering all of that.”

“Oh, great. One more thing for JT to gripe about.”

“Let the insurance companies duke it out.”

Lily lay back against the pillow on the elevated head of the bed and sighed heavily. “I’m out of his clutches. I really am.” Heat traveled up to her cheeks and tears filled her eyes. She felt like a ninny all over again. It seemed like all she did was cry all over him. “But this lasts only as long as I’m incapacitated. I’m out of your hair as soon as I get the approval of Doctor Guthrie.”

“You know Emma?” Clay asked with a surprised look on his face.

“No, Doctor Burns suggested I see her. Why?” It was on the tip of her tongue to ask how he knew Doctor Guthrie on a first name basis, but it wasn’t any of her business.

“She was the first medical professional on the scene at your accident.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I helped her.”

Lily worried for a moment that Clay might have been there when she was examined. He might have seen the tattoo. But if he had, he would’ve known what JT meant earlier.

“Then I’m glad he referred me to her. I’m really sorry about damaging your building. All I could think was…”
I needed someone safe, someone familiar. I needed you.

“What, Lily?”

“I was glad that not everything in Divine had changed completely, that there was still someone here that knew me.”

Clay’s smile filled her vision as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead. “It took a lot of years but you’re home now.” He lingered there perhaps a breath longer than a friendly peck would dictate, and she breathed in his clean, manly scent. The soft stroke of his lips on her skin was comforting and disconcerting all in the same moment.

“It’s good to be home, Clay.”

“I have to get to the shop. You focus on resting and I’ll check on you later today.”

Lily pressed the button to lower the head of the bed and got comfortable. Clay winked before he slipped out of the door, and Lily was surprised that a blush heated her cheeks. This was so foreign to her, to be flirted with like that. Would any of it ever feel normal again?

* * * *

Wednesday afternoon, Lily was released from the hospital. She refused adamantly when he tried to lift her into his gray Ford F-150, but allowed him to help her when she saw that her refusal irked him a bit.

The scent of leather surrounded her, and she felt like a poor, pitiful relation looking around the luxurious, clean interior of the truck. She wondered again at his generosity. Twenty-six years had slipped by without a word of communication between them and they’d picked back up like they’d hardly been apart.

Lily was mortified when they drove past his parents’ old place and she realized she had yet to ask about them. When she apologized, Clay waved it off. “Mom passed away in 1998 from a massive heart attack. Never knew what hit her. She was healthy as a horse until the day she died. We agreed that was the way she would’ve wanted it. To not be a burden or linger. Dad died in 2004. He had a nasty fall and got pneumonia later that winter. With his asthma, it was more than he could shake off. We were both with him to the end and nothing was left unsaid.”

Lily smiled, thinking that in the Cook family
that
had never been a problem. They had always been loving, demonstrative folks.

“Have you heard from Del?”

“Not recently but he was talking about retiring from that private military company. I’m hoping he’ll be home sometime soon. His ranch is in need of attention.”

“He owns a ranch?”

“Yeah. Out past the river bridge on FM 709. It’s a little place. We inherited it from one of our great-aunts. I wasn’t interested in working it so he bought me out and I got my own house in town.”

“Your Aunt…”

“Delbertine,” Clay supplied with a smirk. “She was close to Mom. Remember those little outfits she used to crochet out of that scratchy yarn that we had to wear every Easter?”

Lily laughed, remembering the sight of Clay and his brother, who was named Delbert after his mother’s favorite aunt, in their little handmade, itchy sailor suits. “It was nice of her to leave you both the ranch, to make up for the embarrassment.”

“I still have the pictures of us in those outfits somewhere.”

“Dad saved all of my baby pictures, too. They’re in one of my boxes. I’m sure I have some with the two of you in them. Oh! I remember this street! That oak tree has gotten huge! The house should be—Oh…boy.”

“Oh, man,” Clay murmured as he turned onto the driveway and parked in front of the garage. They both sat staring.

“It’s much smaller than I remembered.”

Her father had told her that the house had seen a succession of renters over the last three decades. A local Realtor had oversight of the property until the last time it was occupied, which was several years before. It had sat vacant since then. She removed the key from her handbag and looked over at Clay. “This does
not
look like a do-it-yourself project, does it?”

Clay smiled and said, “Doesn’t matter what we find, Lily. You have a safe place to live. Whatever shape it’s in, we’ll see it through. Sit tight for a second.”

He climbed from the truck, and this time she let him help her out without comment. The driveway was cracked and in desperate need of resurfacing. The front deck on the ranch-style house had an odd tilt to it. Every surface was cloaked with turning leaves from the pecan trees and cedar elms surrounding the house. The sun sparkled down through the remaining leaves on the trees. Several of the windows were missing their screens, which wasn’t encouraging. The only other houses were several lots down on either side on this sparsely populated street on the edge of town. Teenagers or vagrants might have made use of the house in the past.

Clay tested the deck and declared it safe to step on. She inserted the key in the lock, which seemed solid enough, and pushed the door open. She pressed her lips together, braced for disaster. A gust of stale air carried the odor of disuse.

Clay poked his head in the door and echoed her earlier sentiment. “Oh, boy.”

They stepped inside and spent the next few minutes inspecting the house, room by room. There were roof leaks in the living room and bathroom. It seemed vagrants had used the house at some point as a refuge from the elements but hadn’t done any irreparable damage. There was evidence that squirrels and other critters had somehow found an entrance into the house. All of the carpeting and vinyl were many years past their useful lives, and the rooms were all painted an odd conglomeration of outdated colors. The house had a strong musty odor from being closed up and not lived in for so many years. She could only imagine what shape the air-conditioning and heating system was in.

Clay gave her a sympathetic look and wrapped his arm around her, tucking her against his side. “Look on the bright side, Lil. There aren’t any gaping holes in the roof, there aren’t any squatters to contend with, and we haven’t heard any banjoes play yet.”

Lily smiled at his lame humor and poked him in the ribs. The vibration of his deep voice in his chest did funny things to her insides. She couldn’t have put it into words right then, but she liked being held that way. It was comforting and safe. She could come to crave it if she wasn’t careful.

Stepping in the tiny bedroom that had been hers, she said, “I remember this room being huge.” She opened the closet and stroked the inside of the door where she had scratched her initials one day when she’d been bored. She remembered the hanger bar being completely out of her reach, but it was now at chest level.

She took another walk through the house, noticing several soft spots in the floor. She suspected the water damage from the leaks had caused the wood floor beneath the carpeting to rot.

“I’m in over my head. It’s not as bad as it could’ve been. But…I can’t live here. I’ll need a contractor to fix everything to make it livable. I don’t have the money for this…I’m basically homeless.”

“Wrong. My house is home for now.”

Disbelieving, Lily turned to him. “This is so far out of my ability to finance. You’d have a roommate for
years
, not weeks.”

Clay stood in front of her, big and solid, and placed his hands on her shoulders and gently squeezed before stroking her long hair back from her neck. “Don’t give up yet, Lily. You’ve got a job and you might be able to secure financing. You never know when your luck might turn. I’m going to take a look in the attic. I’ll be right back.” Watching him walk away, she really wanted believe him. The hope growing inside her felt altogether foreign.

She was grateful he was with her. She would’ve had no idea what to look for in the attic. She supposed the first step was having someone check the wiring and the heating and cooling system. The ancient appliances looked ready for the junkyard.

Looking out of a filmy bedroom window, she remembered standing in that spot, watching for Clay and Del to show up on their bicycles to go play in the neighborhood. The years slipped away and memories assailed her. Gathering pecans in the yard with her mom, helping weed flowerbeds, looking forward to a bigger-girl bike. As a seventh grader she’d had every belief and intention of growing up in this house, but it hadn’t worked out that way.

She made a beeline to the backdoor and had to shove it open because it had stuck. She placed her hand over the incision site when it twinged. The overgrown yard was empty. The rosebushes her mom had loved were gone, along with the flower beds they’d built. She remembered helping her mom out here when she’d pruned those bushes. Lily had always cringed, watching her mom cut them back to almost nothing, then had marveled each time the roses came back more vibrant and beautiful than before. No sign of the roses remained.

When they’d moved, it had been in a big hurry. Her dad had landed a big job in the oil fields in South Texas, and they’d had to move fast in order for him to start the job on time. Lily remembered crying for days. They’d stopped by the Cooks’ house, but they’d been away on a family vacation. They’d been in a hurry, and her dad didn’t know what their mailing address would be, so she had to leave a note to tell them she would write to them.

She’d done a good job of keeping in touch, sending letters and pictures, but as the years went by more time elapsed between the correspondences. Before she knew it, time had gotten away and a month and then a year had gone by with no communication.

Clay and his brother had occupied her thoughts often over the years, and she’d thought several times of writing to them to reestablish the connection. But she’d gone to college part-time and gotten a job, and soon so many years had gone by that she’d been embarrassed to reach out to them.

They had no other family in Divine and so no reason to ever return. The Realtor had sent a rental check for the house like clockwork and handled all maintenance issues for them. She’d always wondered what her parents had done with the house and now she knew.

“You’re going to need an electrician to look at the wiring,” Clay said from directly behind her. She jumped in fright and the incision throbbed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought you heard me walk in. You okay? You look sad.”

Self-consciously, Lily crossed her arms over her chest and felt the heated blush rise in her cheeks. “I wasn’t a very good friend to you and Del. I should’ve tried harder to stay in touch. I’ll bet you thought I didn’t care about you.”

Clay let out a heavy sigh and turned her so she faced him. “Lily, we were seventh graders. When they left, you had to go with them. We missed you for a long time, but we didn’t hold it against you. We weren’t any better about keeping in touch than you were. So don’t blame yourself.”

“I never had friends as good as the two of you.”

Stroking her cheekbones lightly, he replied, “That doesn’t make me happy to hear it. You still had years of your childhood ahead of you.”

Lily shook her head and shrugged. “I got by. What did you find?”

“Your squirrel’s hoard of empty pecan shells, and unfortunately, evidence that they’ve chewed on the wiring up there.”

“Shoot. I guess I need to make a list.”

“Come on. We’ve seen everything we need to see. You can work on the list at home while you relax.”

Lily nodded and followed him out. While she locked the door, Clay picked up some pecans lying in the front yard and said, “You always had good pecan trees.”

“Grab a bunch,” she said, and then snickered. “I’ll crack your nuts at the house.”

It felt good to laugh as Clay cringed and grabbed his crotch in a completely juvenile gesture that would’ve made any seventh grade boy proud.