Vivid (16 page)

Vivid rushed to him, her face filled with
concern. "Are you all right? What on earth were you thinking?"

Her hands were warm and firm as she
checked his hand for damage. She looked up at him, then quickly around the
office. "Is there a towel or—never mind, here—''

She proceeded to dry his wet hand on the
front of her shirt. He knew she'd acted strictly out of reflex but his arousal
was immediate, just as it had been that morning.

He looked down at her shiny hair as she
peered at his hand. "It doesn't appear as if you've scalded yourself. You
might want to run it under cool water just to be safe. Does it sting?"

She released his hand. He flexed it.
"No."

"Good. If it begins to, let me know.
And you really should be more careful in the future, Mr. Grayson."

"I will," he replied, but the
sight of her continued to tempt him mightily. He wondered how long he'd be able
to keep his hands off her. Since this morning, he'd thought of nothing else, a
galling admission considering the circumstances. Her attire did not help
matters. He decided it best he go sit behind his desk. Truth be told, she made
him as hard as railroad iron, and in a few more moments his condition would be
impossible to conceal. He heard her ask, "Are you certain you're all
right?" "Certain, Lancaster. Let me get you your key." He walked
as if he were in pain and Vivid remembered that the men would take their
ailments to the circuit doctor. Had he really injured himself but refused to
believe her competent enough to treat a scalded hand? Vivid sighed with
disappointment, then said quietly, "I am capable of treating a simple
burn, Mr. Grayson. You needn't wait for the circuit doctor if you're in
pain."

Seated safely behind his desk now, Nate
tried not to smile. She obviously had no idea what he needed to salve his real
pain. "My hand's fine, Dr. Lancaster. Truly."

Vivid didn't believe him. "May I have
the key, please?"

Nate extended the key to her and she took
it from his hand with a curt "Thank you."

As she sauntered out, Nate forced himself
to concentrate on some papers atop his desk, hoping they would distract him,
but his will was weak. He looked up and watched those denim-clad hips until
they disappeared from view.

After Vivid removed the padlock, Magic
gently tossed Cleopatra inside and closed the door. Twenty minutes later, they
opened it again. The cat strolled out with a small brown field mouse in her
teeth. She laid the dead rodent at Magic's feet, then strode back inside. All
in all, she made five trips. When she sat down after the last one and regally
licked her paws, Magic proudly declared the job done and they could all go
safely inside.

The wood boarding up the window front kept
light from entering. Vivid stepped back outside to assess how the wood had been
attached to the window frame and she determined that a good stiff crowbar would
do to remove the boards.

"Well, hello, Viveca."

Vivid turned to see Eli Grayson coming up
the wood walk.

She smiled. "Hello, Eli. Welcome
back."

"Thank you. Quite a blustery morning,
wouldn't you say?"

"Yes, it is. What happened to the
warm weather?" The temperature had risen since the early morning hours,
but still hovered at least twenty degrees below the warmth of the past few
days.

"This is Michigan. We have a saying,
'If you don't care for the weather, just wait a few moments and it will
change.' "

She smiled. "Is it really that
temperamental?

"Would a newspaperman lie?"

Vivid ignored that barb and asked instead,
"How was Kalamazoo?" She still found the name strange and decided
that after things quieted a bit she would have to travel there.

"Still standing. Nate didn't marry
you while I was gone, did he?"

"Of course not," she responded
with a laugh.

"Good, then there's still hope for
me."

Vivid shook her head, amused by his
teasing.

"So what are you doing here?" he
asked, gesturing at the shop.

Vivid explained it to him as she took him
back inside. After he greeted his mother and Miss Edna, and surprised Magic
with some new marbles, he offered to lend a hand in the effort.

With the aid of two crowbars, Vivid and
Eli made short work of the wood covering the window. If Eli found it strange to
be engaged in such activity beside a woman, he didn't let on. Vivid silently
blessed him for being one of the few men she'd encountered here who seemed
intent upon helping rather than hindering her quest. She did notice that he
spent quite an inordinate time staring at her trousers and smiling, but she
ignored it. She wore trousers most of the time; he and the rest of the men
would simply have to become accustomed to the sight.

Once the wood was removed, the light
streamed in and the crew could better determine what they were up against. Dust
and dirt mostly. There were a few dress forms tossed like cadavers in one
corner and some dust-covered bolts of cloth in another, but other than those
things, the front room appeared to be easy to clean up.

The two small back rooms had to be lit by
the lanterns to be seen fully. They would require much more work. Spiders had
taken over the space, and there were sticky dust-filled cobs throughout. The
mice had also taken up residence in an abandoned mattress; their droppings and
pieces of the mattress's cotton batting littered the floor, along with what
appeared to be hundreds of acorn shells and other seed husks.

"Squirrels," Miss Edna remarked.

"There must be a fairly decent-sized
hole in the walls somewhere," Eli said.

"How long has this shop been
empty?" Vivid asked.

"Nearly a year now," Abigail
said, leaning on her cane. "Reba, that was the seamstress's name, left
last August."

"I was told she left because she
didn't like the winter."

"Partially," Eli said, smiling
at her as handsomely as his cousin. "Partially."

Then Magic piped up and said, "Becky
Carpenter said she left because Pa wouldn't marry her."

Silence.

Abigail cleared her throat and said,
"Majestic, dear, why don't you begin taking those dress forms over to the
store and place them in Miss Edna's cellar."

"Sure, Aunt Gail."

She departed happily and they all began to
work.

Vivid thought about Magic's revelation as
she and Miss Edna swept up the debris from the dirt floor. Had the town's former
seamstress really left because of unrequited love? Vivid remembered the night
she and Nate Grayson discussed how he had lost all hope of finding a woman to
share what his parents had shared. Had that hope died because of this Reba?
Vivid finally decided it made no sense to wrestle with questions for which she
had no answers. Besides, why worry over a man who didn't even believe her
competent enough to treat a small burn?

Vivid and her small contingent worked full
bore until a bit past the noon hour, at which point Abigail declared a luncheon
break. Abigail, who'd spent the morning supervising everyone, left to retrieve
the basket of food from the buggy. Magic tagged along to help, and when they
returned, Magic told her great-aunt, “I promised Pa me and Cleopatra would have
our lunch with him today. May I be excused?"

"Why certainly, dear."

Vivid watched Magic exit with a run.

"Walk!" her great aunt warned,
too late as always.

After lunch, Vivid and her helpers went
back to work. By mid-afternoon, though, she was alone. Miss Edna had to return
to her store, and Eli left to take the tired Abigail and Magic back home and
then head off to tend to business at the
Gazette.
Vivid thanked him and
promised to treat him free of cost should the need ever arise. Eli asked her to
have dinner with him instead and departed with a smile. Vivid spent the balance
of the afternoon sweeping acorns and hauling the debris to a growing pile in
back of the shop. She returned from yet another trip to find one of the
Patterson twins inside the shop.

"May I help you?" she asked.
Vivid remembered their names as being Abraham and Aaron but she had no idea
which of the two stood before her now.

"You know which one I am?" he
asked challengingly.

By his manner, she assumed him to be the
more cantankerous of the two. "Aaron."

He didn't answer. She noticed then that he
kept rubbing his right jaw and wincing. "Something paining your jaw,
Aaron?"

"No," he replied almost too
quickly.

"Are you certain?"

"Not letting a female doctor on
me."

"That's your choice, Mr. Patterson.
Why are you here, then?"

"Heard you were moving in. Just came
over to get a look is all."

Again he held his jaw, but he quickly
dropped his arm and said, "Reba Winston used to own this place."

"Yes, I've heard that."

"Good-looking woman, Reba."

Vivid hadn't heard that.

"Yep," Aaron said. "Right
good-looking woman."

Vivid waited to see where this strange
encounter was heading. He looked around once more, then added, "Well, just
wanted to take a look."

"I'm pleased you showed an interest.
Stop back anytime, Mr. Patterson."

He grumbled something that sounded like
thank you, then left. Curious, Vivid walked to the doorway and saw him
clutching his jaw as he headed up the walk. He was obviously in pain from
something. Vivid stepped back inside, shaking her head at his stubbornness, and
the stubbornness of one other man in particular.

As the afternoon waned into evening, Vivid
decided she could do no more today. The front of the shop appeared infinitely
cleaner, but it would be several days before the back rooms were usable. She
stretched to relieve her muscles of the tightness and aches. She'd worked hard
today. After dinner she planned on taking a hot bath and going straight to bed.
Tomorrow was Sunday, and Sunday meant church.

After closing the door and throwing the
bolt, she took the short walk to Nate's office to ask if he wanted the key
returned.

Nate had convinced himself that his
reaction to Lancaster that morning had occurred simply because he'd been caught
unawares. He had not seen many women in trousers. He doubted he'd be so bowled
over by her a second time. Yet when he looked up and saw her at the door, he
was thankful he was already seated. “Evening, Dr. Lancaster. Are you ladies
still working?"

"No. Your aunt and daughter left a
few hours ago."

"How's it coming?"

"Not too badly. The back rooms are a
mess, but nothing that can't be remedied. I came to ask if I may keep the
key."

"You might as well. The shop's yours
now."

Vivid nodded and slipped the key into her
breast pocket.

Nate tried not to be interested in the way
her shirt brushed against her nipple as she buttoned the pocket flap, but he
was finding it extremely difficult. "Do you need a ride?''

"No, Abigail left me the buggy. Your
cousin Eli came by and took them home.

Silence.

Vivid felt compelled to explain. "He
stopped in and remained to lend a hand."

"Always helpful, my cousin. How long
did he hang around?"

"He didn't just hang around. He
worked very hard and stayed past lunch. When your aunt tired, he drove them
home." Vivid wondered if the tension between the two men was rooted in
more than a difference in politics.

He asked, "Are you going to be able
to get back alone?"

Vivid hadn't really thought much about the
return trip. She'd made the ride into town only a few times but felt fairly
confident she could drive back home without losing her way.

"How's your sense of direction?"

"I've no idea."

"No idea?" he repeated.

She shrugged. "I've never had to test
it, so I can't say whether it is good or bad."

"Do you at least know west from
north?"

Vivid didn't lie. "No, but I will
learn."

Nate shook his head.

Vivid felt the need to defend herself,
"Mr. Grayson, we established your perceptions of my shortcomings the day
we met. Surely not even you expect me to become a trailblazer overnight."

He looked over at her standing before him,
dirty and disheveled from all the work she'd done that day, and replied,
"No, you're right.

She smiled. "Are you actually
agreeing with me?"

Nate wondered if there was a man on the
planet able to resist her smile. "It seems I am. I don't plan on making it
a habit, though."

Vivid didn't take offense. "Hannibal
didn't cross the Alps in a day, Mr. Grayson."

"True, but how many times did he get
lost?"

When Vivid turned and stalked out, they
were both smiling. Vivid was lost. She pulled back on the reins and sat a
moment looking around. The surroundings didn't appear even vaguely familiar.
She should have taken that left fork about a quarter of a mile back. She
emitted a soft oath, then picked up the reins and headed the buggy back the way
she'd come.