Restorations (Book One Oregon In Love) (7 page)

And about meeting Brian, being impressed by
him, and even hoping for a reconciliation for his
granddaughter.

By the time she finished reading the
journal, tears streamed down her face. After a lifetime growing up
in near-poverty with her mother, Sara understood his concern about
her financial situation. She knew he worried about her school debts
and low-paying job. And of the fact that she never really had any
place to call home. For now, she'd ignore his worries about her
love-life. Sara closed the book in her lap and stared out the
window.

The reasoning behind her grandfather’s plans
packed an emotional wallop. It now seemed blatantly disrespectful
to proceed with her intentions to sell the house. Sara thought of
her job and hopes of advancement. And of the apartment she just
finished repainting and decorating inside.

All these things seemed superfluous in light
of this new knowledge. Sara closed her eyes. Hattie had asked her
to pray. Before the words formed on her lips, she had a pretty good
idea her life was about to take a different turn.

***

Sara gave a stunned look at
the phone receiver in her hand before absently hanging it
up.
Well, if I wanted
confirmation...

She sank onto the couch and glanced across
the room at her aunt. Hattie sat in the opposite chair, crocheting
a baby afghan for an upcoming shower at her church.

“Um, I just lost my job.”

Hattie put down her project. “Oh, dear, I’m
so very sorry. Why did they let you go?”

Sara slumped against the cushion. “The temp
in my place turned out to be more experienced than me. Taking two
weeks off with no vacation time after having the job for only a few
months didn’t help either.” She slapped the couch pillow with her
hand.

“Well, perhaps it’s for the best. You know
they say when God closes a door, He opens a window.”

Sara wrinkled her nose. She'd just seen that
adage cross-stitched in a frame on the wall in her bedroom. The
phrase was trite and pat and she resented the notion it might also
be true. Could Buell Creek really be the window? Because it felt a
whole lot more like a pothole.

Yesterday, while reading the journal, things
seemed clear. Today, doubts beset her and she felt weak with the
realization of the logistics involved. She needed to go back to
Crescent City, clean out her desk, pack up her apartment, and rent
a moving trailer. Bringing the farmhouse up to Eli’s wishes could
take weeks or even months to accomplish.

There remained the thorny matter of her
tenant. How would she ever get rid of him? She refused to accept
the idea he had any part of the new ‘window’ thing. God knew the
mess she made of her life when she became involved with Brian.
Following this line of reasoning, the man must soon be gone from
the picture.

Cross-stitch
that
.

Chapter Six

When Brian heard of Sara’s plan to move to
Buell Creek for good, he praised the Lord. Circumstances were
working together more smoothly than he'd hoped. The only bump in
the road was Sara herself.

Hattie informed him Sara planned to attempt
the move on her own, but Brian had other ideas. He couldn’t
insinuate himself into her plans too obviously. He needed to be
stealthy and discreet.

Fortunately, Hattie worried about her niece
doing everything by herself and supplied him with all the necessary
information about her schedule and airline plans. As he made his
way through the hundreds of travelers at Portland International
Airport, he hoped his excuse wouldn’t be too flimsy.

Brian scanned the crowds, looking for the
dark-haired beauty who made his heart go pitter pat.

“Sara!” he said when he saw her at the end
of a line to check her baggage. He quickly eeled his way through
the press, arriving at her side slightly out of breath. “Imagine us
meeting here like this.”

Sara’s gray eyes widened to their fullest.
Her dismayed expression quickly changed to one of suspicion.

“What are
you
doing
here?”

Brian offered his most charming smile. “I’m
going to see my sister in California.”

Sara frowned. “I thought you were just down
there.”

“We’re, uh, close. I’m actually hoping to
convince her to move up here.”

“I see.” It was obvious from her tone she
didn’t. She shifted her bag to her other shoulder. “How long are
you going to be down there?”

Brian’s smile cracked. He planned to ask her
that question. He really meant to visit his sister, but needed to
find out from Sara when she planned to drive the moving trailer
back to Buell Creek. He intended to come back with her.

“A few days,” he hedged.

Sara searched his face for several seconds.
Then with an infinitesimal shrug, she turned away and moved forward
in line.

Sara thought furiously, hardly able to
believe Brian stood next to her at the airport. Without a doubt,
Hattie was behind this. Her aunt had expressed concern at her plans
to relocate alone. Compressing her lips, Sara turned her attention
to the back of the woman in front of her, not willing to admit the
tiny measure of relief she experienced at Brian’s sudden
presence.

Then again, she reminded
herself sternly, the thought of enduring his company undiluted was
too much to bear. Sara had to figure out a way to dodge him and
proceed with her plans unhindered.
What is
up with my aunt and her harebrained ideas?

When they boarded the plane, Sara almost
expected Brian to have a seat next to her. Instead, he sat on the
opposite side, several rows ahead. This, of course, suited her just
fine. A quick glance to her left revealed a thirty-something man as
her seat mate. Sara responded to his greeting with a tight smile
and fixed her gaze on the tops of the passengers’ heads in front of
her.

After the plane taxied and
lifted into the air, she stole a look up the row to where Brian
sat. She couldn’t help but admire his expressive face as he spoke
with a blonde flight attendant—an attractive blonde flight
attendant. She narrowed her gaze as she watched him flirt with her.
At least that’s what he appeared to be doing. He smiled at the
flight attendant. She smiled back.
Flirting, pure and simple. Infuriating man
.

“A bird in the hand is worth two in the
bush.”

“I beg your pardon?” Sara turned to her seat
mate with a puzzled look. He was a dark, crudely handsome man with
brown eyes lit by a roguish twinkle. He introduced himself with a
name belying his Italian origins. She gave a limp shake to his
proffered hand.

“I’ve been watching you,” he said. “You
can’t keep your eyes off the guy in forty-four-A.”

Sara sent him a fulminating look, feeling
heat creep into her face. “Excuse me?”

“My point is this. While you’re hankering
for someone who is obviously not hankering for you, you might as
well enjoy the one you’re with.” He stabbed his chest with his
thumb. “That would be me.”

Stifling a sharp rejoinder, Sara took a book
out of her purse and pretended to read. Even Brian’s company was
preferable to the masher next to her.

By the time the flight ended and the
passengers disgorged from the plane, Sara fought a monster
headache. She heard the Don Juan wannabe mumble moodily about the
misfortune of sitting next to such an ice queen.

Ignoring him, Sara met up with Brian in the
airport baggage claim. His lopsided smile shone like a beacon amid
so many strangers. She didn’t take exception when he carried her
bags. Her fatigue seemed to burgeon with her every step, making her
wonder if the effects of the flu continued to plague her.

Brian’s voice broke into her thoughts. “I,
uh, thought perhaps we could drive to Crescent City together. I
could drop you off there, visit my sister who lives further down
the coast and meet you back in a few days to help you move the big
stuff into the trailer.”

Sara pressed a hand to her pounding temple.
“Fine,” she said, only half-aware of what she agreed to.

Once ensconced in a rental car, she realized
Brian had taken care of all the details. Admittedly, she felt
grateful for his presence and didn’t know how she could’ve managed
without him. She thanked him, but reminded herself to keep him at
arm’s length in case he tried to inveigle his way into her good
graces. Then, remembering the blonde flight attendant, Sara
acknowledged Brian hardly needed to go to such effort to capture a
female’s attention.

Her headache worsened.

Soon they arrived in Sara’s neighborhood,
located in a poorer section of town. Sara stiffly climbed from the
car and looked around. She tried to imagine how things might appear
as seen through Brian’s eyes. The struggling neighborhood contained
run-down houses amid newly renovated ones. Cars on blocks occupied
weed filled yards and some young men hung around in a group.

Despite her tight resources, Sara could’ve
afforded a place in a slightly better area, but she preferred older
buildings full of history and character. Her building, once a
sprawling Victorian mansion, was now carved up into five separate
apartments.

She usually ignored the peeling paint, but
sensed Brian’s disapproval as she led him to the entry. The door
boasted a large sheet of wavy glass bordered by small squares of
stained glass, although she didn’t remember seeing so many cracked
or missing panes before.

Inside the foyer her landlady, at one time,
had penciled the word ‘manager’ on the wall next to another door.
Sara led Brian down the hall and up a flight of creaking stairs
flanked by an often-painted balustrade.

“Glad to see you don’t live on the first
floor at least,” she heard him mumble.

Sara bristled but refrained from responding.
She opened the door of her apartment and ushered him in. Compared
to the outside, the inside presented an oasis of sun-filled rooms
with brightly painted walls, antique furniture, and colorful
pillows, rugs and pictures. The stained glass, which graced most of
the windows, created harlequinade patterns on the oak floor and
bathed the room in pastel hues.

Sara tossed her keys onto a nearby oak table
and turned to Brian. “Well, thanks again for all your help. I’ll
see you in what, three days?”

Brian glanced around the room and then
walked over to the main window, gazing out onto the street below.
He turned back to Sara with his arms crossed over his chest. “I
can’t leave you here alone. It’s too dangerous.”

Sara sputtered.

He held up a hand. “Hattie charged me with
your safety and it would be unconscionable to leave you here in a
neighborhood filled with guys who’d as soon slit your throat as say
howdy.”

Sara went to the window, and just to annoy
Brian, waved to the boys below. They waved back.

“Get away from the window!”

Planting her hands on her hips, she turned
to him. “Let me inform you that I’ve lived here for almost six
months with no problems and furthermore, you are leaving to go
visit your sister!”

“My sister will have to wait. I’m not
leaving, Sara.”

“You...are...not...going to stay in my
apartment!”

Brian’s face creased into a smile. “No, I
suppose I can’t do that, now can I?” He rubbed his chin
thoughtfully and startled Sara by disappearing out the door.

On wobbly legs, she leaned against the wall.
She wasn’t interested in what Brian was cooking up because she knew
it would only manage to cause her displeasure. All the same, she
headed into the bathroom to freshen up before he returned.

A few minutes later, Sara sat down on the
couch in the living room and blew out a breath. Out of the corner
of her eye, she noticed the red flashing light of her answering
machine. She pressed the button and leaned back against the
cushions with her eyes closed. Most were old messages from Hattie,
one from a friend at work wondering when she’d be back, and one
from a guy she dated once before.

“Hi, Sara, this is Daryl Cummings. I thought
we had a date last night but you never showed up. Are you
okay?”

Sara slapped a hand to her head and groaned.
She’d completely forgot she ever made the plans with him. After the
loss of her grandfather, she’d flown straight to Oregon. She needed
to call him right away.

“Who’s Daryl?” Brian asked, striding in the
door with a set of keys jingling in his hand.

Sara stabbed a button on the machine,
cutting Daryl off in mid-sentence from another call asking where
she was.

Brian plopped down onto the couch next to
her and held up the keys. “You’ll never guess.”

“You’re right. I won’t.”

“I went down and talked to your manager and
she had a little studio empty right next door to you, close enough
to hear if you need help. So I rented it for a few nights.”

“I hope you didn’t use me as a character
reference,” Sara said dryly. No doubt, Brian flashed his lazy smile
at Mrs. Hogarth to get what he wanted.

Brian pocketed the keys and looked at her
with a wide grin. “Isn’t it great? Now I can be proper protection
to you while we’re here.”

Sara stared at him. Brian proper?
Protection? She recalled spending every free moment in his arms.
Her gaze drifted to his lips. She still remembered the way they
felt against her own—tender, teasing...possessive. When she raised
her eyes, she found him watching her as if he read her thoughts.
Her face flamed.

“Who’s Daryl?”

Sara blinked, jolted by the question. The
heat in her face deepened. She tilted up her chin. “None of your
business.”

Brian regarded her for a moment before
standing up. “Why don’t I order us some take-out Chinese and after
we eat dinner, we can start organizing the move.”