Restorations (Book One Oregon In Love) (19 page)

Sara angled alongside the door and peeked
in. Brian came up close behind her, relishing this little interlude
of nearness. Then his attention became riveted on the tableau
inside. In amazement, he saw Hattie sitting next to a man on her
couch. Tears streamed down her face as the man took her hands
gently in his.

“I never got that letter, Hattie. If I had,
I never would’ve let you go, you have to believe that.”

Sara let out a little gasp. Brian put a
finger to his lips, and she nodded before turning back to
watch.

Hattie lowered her eyes. “I believe you,
Robert. But all those years...”

“Then let’s not waste another moment being
apart.” Still holding her hands, the man sank onto one knee and
gazed adoringly into her eyes. “Marry me.”

Hattie’s face radiated joy as she said,
“Yes.”

Robert raised her hands to his lips. “I
promise to cherish you forever, Hattie. You’re the only woman I’ve
ever loved.”

The couple existed insulated in a cocoon of
emotion. Brian knew they’d never notice the two interlopers on the
front porch. As if by mutual consent, he and Sara quietly made
their way down the steps and back to the truck. He glanced over at
Sara to see how she was taking this new development. She sat
rigidly with her hands in her lap, her cheeks tinged deep pink as
he pulled away from the house.

She looked so demure and agitated at the
same time that it suddenly dawned on him what he was doing wrong.
Instead of treating her like spun glass, he kissed her every chance
he got. After witnessing the scene at Hattie’s house, it explained
why Sara often stared up at him like a rabbit being hypnotized by a
snake when he was about to kiss her. What she wanted was a
storybook courtship.

And so she should have it, he decided. Even
if it killed him.

No more winks, meaningful looks, or stolen
kisses. From here on out, it was roses and romance, and no touching
until he could persuade her to marry him. Brian gripped the
steering wheel until his knuckles turned white with the strength of
his conviction.

Sara shot a sideways look at Brian and
suppressed a shudder. What on earth made him look so grim? She
hoped he wasn’t disgusted with her conduct from the night before.
He was probably used to girls throwing themselves at him and maybe
he assumed she was like all the rest.

Her thoughts returned to Hattie. What a
shock! While glad of her aunt’s obvious happiness, a part of her
felt quite hurt that Hattie never said anything about this to her.
Who was this Robert guy? Someone Hattie had a history with, judging
from the eavesdropped conversation. She hoped he wasn’t a loser
who’d break her heart. Sara planned to watch him closely. And they
were getting married! ‘Robert’ would be her uncle. Uncle Robert.
She wrinkled her nose. It would definitely take some getting used
to.

A few minutes later they arrived at the
farmhouse. In spite of the thoughts swirling in her head, she
noticed how a new coat of exterior paint had transformed the house.
The main body was painted a dark gray-green. The trim was painted a
much lighter shade and the refinished front door glowed with warm
brown tones.

Before she could get out of the truck, Brian
told her to wait. He jumped out and came around to the passenger
side, and opened her door. Sara gave him an odd look, but accepted
his help out.

Together they walked up the repaired front
porch and into the living room. Since it remained bare of
furniture, they sat down at the dining room table.

Sara tossed her purse onto an empty chair
and turned to Brian. “Can you believe that? Hattie has a
boyfriend!”

“A fiancé, from the sound of it.”

She looked at him sharply, wondering at the
strange tone in his voice. “Yes, fiancé.”

“And you had no idea about any of this?”

She shook her head. “Not really. I mean, I
knew she was gone from home quite a bit, and she seemed reticent
about giving out any information. But that there was a man involved
never occurred to me.”

“Why not? Your aunt is pretty and she’s as
sweet as they get. It’s amazing she hasn’t been snapped up before
this.”

“It sounded like he and Hattie had been
together before. I wonder what happened. Something about a
letter?”

“Sounds a little like what happened with
us.”

“What do you mean?”

He shrugged, but the look in his eyes gave
lie to his easy manner. “We have a similar history.”

Sara stared down at her hands. A new thought
sprang to mind. Apparently Hattie and Robert were kept apart due to
a misunderstanding. The result was wasted years.

Although she dreaded rejection, she suddenly
realized if she didn’t try and take what was right in front of her,
she might regret it for the rest of her life. The notion of years
spent without Brian made her feel decidedly ill. But did she have
the courage to open her heart fully to him? Especially after what
happened two years ago?

The phone rang. Glad for the diversion, Sara
leaned over and grabbed the receiver. “Hattie! Um, how are things
going?” She turned to Brian and made a face. “Oh, really? That
sounds great. See you there.”

She sighed and hung up the phone. “She said
there’s someone she wants us to meet and wants us to come out to
her place.”

“What time?”

“Now.”

“Are you ready for this?”

Sara took a deep breath. “I guess.”

Brian motioned her forward. “After you.”

Aside from the fact that he insisted on
opening not only the front door but his truck door as well, she
felt glad of his company in this new situation. At her aunt’s
house, Sara slowly preceded him up the porch steps and timidly
knocked on the door.

The door swung open and the beaming face of
her aunt met them in welcome. “Come in!”

As they stepped inside, Sara’s eyes
instinctively went to her aunt’s left hand. Sure enough, a
brilliant diamond ring sparkled on her third finger. She composed
her features and smiled warmly at the man who came up behind
Hattie.

“Sara, Brian, I want you to meet Robert
Hastings. Robert, my niece and her, um...”

Brian reached out and shook Robert’s hand.
“Brian Farris. I’m doing a remodel at Sara’s house.”

Sara blushed at the word stumble and shook
his hand as well. Robert Hastings, quite a bit taller than Hattie,
had piercing blue eyes in a tanned face and dark brown hair
liberally sprinkled with gray. His eyes were lit with tenderness
when he looked at Hattie. Sara felt a queer little tug at her
heart. There seemed nothing worrisome about this man. She decided
to relax and trust her aunt’s judgment.

“Let’s go into the living room, shall we?”
Robert said.

After everyone settled, Hattie offered
refreshments. She and Brian refused, not wanting to stall the
inevitable announcement.

“Sara, dear,” began her aunt, perched on the
couch next to Robert, “you were too young to remember this, but I
met Robert almost twenty years ago. We met when I was at
college.”

Brian sensed Sara stiffen and stifled an
impulse to reach out to her.

“We dated and...and fell in love.” Hattie
looked up at Robert with tears in her eyes. “He was in the army and
had orders to ship out to Europe. We had a big fight about
something, I can’t remember what now, but I refused to speak to him
before he had to go.”

Under his breath, Brian muttered, “That
sounds familiar.”

“He left a letter, but for one reason or
another, it never reached me and I thought...the worst, I’m
afraid.”

Robert took Hattie’s hand and gave it a
squeeze.

“And then a few months later I learned he
had married and I was angrier than ever. I refused to read any of
his correspondence after that and so never knew until recently that
there was another Robert Hastings in his unit who had married.
Robert ended up staying in the service in Europe and only just
returned to America two years ago after retiring from the
army.”

“I was half-way around the world, but even
through all the years, you were never far from my heart,” Robert
said, patting her hand. “But I was too crusty and fearful to
contact you, sure you were happy with someone else.”

Hattie blushed. “We met again while I was at
a medical conference last spring, before Eli passed away. Robert
was there for the same conference as he’s a respiratory therapist.
We began to see each other, slowly at first, and now....”

“And now Hattie’s agreed to be my wife.”

Brian watched with tender amusement as Sara
sprang from the chair and embraced her aunt. Despite her
foreknowledge, she seemed genuinely surprised.

After all the hugs and tears, and
exclamations over the ring, they decided to go out to lunch
together. Brian had to admit Robert seemed above-board and was
pleased with the way he fit so naturally into the picture.

There were times during lunch when Brian
caught Sara’s gaze. Her gray eyes were filled with flitting
emotions and a touch of wariness. He was more determined than ever
to treat her like china and win her affection the way he should’ve
from the beginning.

By the time they returned to the farmhouse,
Sara felt the need to lie down. After Brian went to his cottage,
she trailed into her bedroom and collapsed onto the bed. Her
emotions were spent. From the sentimental joy of Hattie’s reunion
with Robert, to the knowledge she could lose Brian out of the same
misplaced stubbornness and fear, she felt she’d run the full gamut
of emotions between hope and despair.

She didn’t want to think
about how she’d feel if Brian only toyed with her affections
without being serious about her.
I can
agonize about that tomorrow
.

Sara hugged a pillow to her chest and
decided if she didn’t want to repeat her aunt’s history, she needed
to tell Brian exactly what was in her heart. No matter the outcome,
she needed to lay it all on the line. Closing her mind to thoughts
of rejection, she resolved to talk to him soon.

Before it became twenty years later.

Chapter Eighteen

After adjusting the pictures on the walls of
each bedroom until they hung perfectly straight and smoothing out
all the handmade quilts on each bed, Sara felt confident the
upstairs rooms were ready for the open house tomorrow. She
double-checked the master bath with its gleaming tiles and fancy
bathtub before making her way downstairs.

With the construction so close to completion
and the date of an upcoming annual town festival, Sara had earlier
decided to combine the two and set the date for the bed and
breakfast’s open house with the Buell Creek Founders’ Day
Celebration. The title sounded bigger than the actual event, Sara
thought wryly. The festival boasted a farmer’s market, a downtown
sidewalk sale, a tractor pull, a hottest chili contest/feed, and a
petting zoo. A few local bands would play throughout the weekend
and a small carnival would take over the elementary school’s
parking lot.

The decision had left them with just a week
to get everything done. Brian had assured her it was possible, but
after she started advertising the open house, she entertained
doubts the remodel would be complete in time. Hattie promised to
help with the food for the open house and that took off some
pressure, but there was still so much to do. Sara had worked with a
will on the seemingly endless list of last minute tasks, and as the
days flew past, she became craven, avoiding her ‘talk’ with Brian.
Now that the house was ready, she no longer had an excuse for
avoiding him.

It was especially difficult to broach the
subject. He seemed once again distant, the teasing glint absent
from his eyes. He'd adopted a reserved and formal manner, at odds
with his normally gregarious personality. Sara wondered if the
pressures of completing the job on time left him no opportunity to
seek her out. Her mind shied away from the notion he no longer had
an interest in her. The idea pained her too much to consider.

She casually walked through the rooms on the
lookout for Brian. Her steps took her through the living room,
where the refinished oak floors glowed with a mellow light from the
mica torchiér lamps. Mission style furniture and wicker chairs
flanked either side of the stone fireplace.

In the dining room, she paused to look out
the new bay window toward the hazy mountains in the distance. As
she made her way through the kitchen, she could hardly believe the
transformation. Black granite countertops contrasted with the
brushed steel of the appliances. Clear vertical grain fir cabinets
and terra cotta flooring gave the room a warm, homey feel.

Sara suddenly knew without a doubt her
grandfather would’ve been please with the result of the remodel.
Her eyes filmed over with tears as a wave of loneliness threatened
to overwhelm her. She missed him dreadfully and knew he would’ve
given her wisdom and insight into her predicament with her
contractor. With a sad little shake of her head, she continued in
the search for Brian.

She didn’t find him until
she went outside. He stood in the newly landscaped front yard amid
birdbaths, twig furniture, and flower-filled pots. He stood with
his back to her, and Sara came almost abreast of him before she
realized he was talking on his cell phone. As she waited for him to
finish the call, she couldn't help but hear part of the
conversation.
California
,
new project
,
and
relocate
coalesced in her mind.

Brian planned on moving away for his next
job.

Her heart dropped to her
toes, and in spite of the balminess of the day, she felt suddenly
chilled.
I've waited too long!
Sara bit her lip so hard she let out a small cry
of pain.