Annie's Neighborhood (Harlequin Heartwarming) (13 page)

“I talked to Koot half an hour ago. He said you stuck your nose into what’s sure to be another hornet’s nest.”

“And that would be?”

“A teen center. I can’t think of many things likely to cause my department bigger headaches than gathering a bunch of teenagers together at a single location in a town understaffed by police. A town you know darned well is rife with gang activity. Honestly, what are you thinking?”

She yanked on the bill of her Dodgers cap. “The truth is, as I talked to Chantal Culver, her mom and the others, it struck me that this town’s been held hostage for too long. Kids shouldn’t be afraid to meet their friends after school or do things outside their homes. I haven’t worked out the details yet. Maybe I could hire a couple of handymen once I find a place. I’d hoped you could steer me toward a cheap, empty building not too far from the high school. Ideally it needs property out back big enough to fence and set up a basketball court.”

He threw both hands up in the air. “Are you bull―uh, kidding me?”

“I’m dead serious. Oh, I hired Mrs. Culver to make drapes for the front windows of the homes we’ve painted. It was dumb luck that she and I stumbled across the most fantastic sale of perfect fabrics. I know it’ll be a while before Sadie Talmage is healed enough to sew, and Davena needs work.... Anyway, I think Sadie’s design expertise can be put to better use decorating the teen center.”

“You’re certifiable!”

“I don’t agree. People are getting involved. By the way, I plan to paint homes on your street next, starting with Davena Culver’s place at the end of your cul-de-sac.” Turning aside, Annie opened a cooler sitting near the porch and removed two bottles of water. She handed Sky one, and smiled over the lip of hers as he rolled his cold bottle across his forehead. “Would it be okay to give Zack an orange pop as a treat for sanding?” she asked.

He checked his watch. “Sure, why not mess up my whole day? I’m going to get yelled at, anyway, for bringing him home late, all because Koot mistakenly thought I could drop by here and talk some sense into you. So, when Corrine takes a strip off me for ruining Zack’s dinner with a soft drink, it’s a mere ripple in my life.”

He dug out the bottle of orange soda buried under ice in the cooler. “Zack,” he called. “Give Miz Annie her sandpaper and come get a drink. We need to head out to the farm. We’re already late. You can drink this on the way.”

The boy trotted over and gave Annie the crumpled square of sandpaper. “Did you ask Mama if it’s okay?” he said, querying his dad. “Papa Archibald doesn’t let his kids or me drink soda, ’cause he says it rots your teeth.”

Sky wrenched off the bottle cap. “I drink the occasional soda. My teeth are fine. Please try not to spill on your white shirt.” Under his breath in an aside to Annie he muttered, “Who sends a boy to the zoo in a white dress shirt?”

“I’m in enough trouble with you, Sky. I won’t be stepping into
that
trap.”

“Mmm.” He opened his water and took a long drink. “The main problem is...I’m worried about you, Annie. Worried about the lengths Stinger leaders will go to maintain a grip on their turf.”

Annie’s heart caved, just a bit. “I, ah, thought I’d annoyed you.”

“There is that.” His slow smile was lopsided.

“Daddy, you said we were gonna be late. Can we come back another time and help paint?” The boy turned his eager face up to Annie.

Sky answered for her. “Zack, let’s see how our next visit coincides with Annie’s schedule to paint my house.”

“She’s gonna paint
your
house? What color? I like red.”

“It won’t be red.”

“Why?” Zack juggled his drink as he gazed at his dad. Already the boy had orange staining his lips and chin.

“Have you seen any red houses?” Sky asked.

Zack skipped backward a few steps. “Nope, but Grover says it’s okay to be different from everybody else.”

“Grover who?” Sky had started walking toward the street where his car sat, but he stopped to question his son.

“You know, Grover on TV.”

Annie, trailing a few steps behind the pair, said, “I think he means Grover from
Sesame Street
.”

Zack nodded vigorously and his soda did slop onto his white dress shirt.

Sky glanced at Annie as he straightened the bottle Zack held. “How do you know so much about a kids’ TV show?”

“We had a TV going 24/7 in the waiting room of our counseling offices. Believe it or not, the characters on that program dispense a lot of sage advice.”

“Maybe, but all the same, don’t you be painting my house red.”

Annie smothered a laugh. “I’d never do that. You get to choose your own colors. I gave Davena Culver the folder of exterior colors I picked up before I painted my house. She’ll pass it along to the residents on your street. If you stop to check on Deshawn, his mom can tell you who has it. Once you’ve seen it, you can phone me with your color choices.”

“How have you organized such a big operation in one day? You’ve hired a seamstress, circulated a color chart and you’ve added some painters, I see.”

They’d progressed to where Sky’s car was parked on the street. Zack’s head continued to swivel between the two adults as he gulped his orange drink.

“It all began with me painting my own house. Isn’t it great that all my grandmother’s wishes are coming together? Oh, something I didn’t tell you,” Annie said. “At lunch, Mrs. Gonzales introduced me to an unemployed iron worker. I’ve retained him to make decorative coverings for the windows and doors on the homes we’ve completed. I saw some of his work. It’s exactly what the neighborhood needs to ward off more break-ins of the type experienced by the Spurlocks, the Gilroys and me.”

“Annie, for crying out loud! You can’t go around hiring every out-of-work Tom, Dick and Betty in this neighborhood.”

“Why not?”

“Because...because...” he sputtered.

She rolled her eyes. “
Because
doesn’t strike me as a valid reason.”

“Okay, how about this... When the Stingers hear about the amount of cash you’re shelling out―and they will―you might as well
ask
the gang to grab you for whatever ransom pops into their heads.” Sky’s gaze and Annie’s locked in another feud.

“Why are people going to grab Annie, huh, Daddy?” Zachary’s childish giggles broke the intensity of Sky and Annie’s argument.

She rearranged her defiant features into a warm smile for the boy. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Zachary. Thank you for sanding that molding for me. You were a big help.”

The little guy puffed out his chest. “It was fun, but I’d rather paint. Or nail. I like nailing stuff, too.”

“Well, a lot of those things will need doing before we finish this project. Maybe I’ll see you again if your dad brings you around.”

“Will you, Daddy?”

“Maybe, after Annie and her friends start painting my house. But we’ll have to clear it with your mother.” Sky took his son’s hand, opened the back door of the car and boosted Zack into the child seat.

Even from where she stood a distance away from the vehicle, Annie heard the boy’s complaint. “Mama will talk to Papa Archibald, and he’ll say no. He does what Mama wants, and she doesn’t like your house. Do you think she’ll like it better if Annie paints it a pretty color?”

“Mmm.” Again Sky answered with a noncommittal noise.

Zack, once buckled in by his father, waved and waved and waved at Annie.

She envisioned more of the orange soda spewing onto his shirt thanks to those energetic waves. He was a cute little guy. And sharp. It saddened her to know how many hoops Sky had to jump through to have access to his son, whom he so obviously loved. Her squabble with him seemed minor compared to the wrangling he must go through with his ex-wife. Her mood softer, Annie raised her hand in recognition of Zack’s goodbye. She made sure Sky saw her, too, as he ducked into the driver’s seat.

“Bye,” he called, maybe yielding a little, as well. “You be careful climbing around on tall ladders...and doing other things. We’ll touch base later.”

Annie resisted the urge to watch Sky drive out of sight. However, her mood swing from happy to pensive didn’t get past Rita Gonzales.

“Chief Cordova is worried about you Annie. It’s easy to see he’s got a thing for you.”

Annie paused as she put on a pair of work gloves. “The thing he has for me is that he’s convinced I’m making his work life more difficult.”

“No.” The older woman shook her head. “He may not admit it, and he may not
want
to care about you, but it’s written all over his face. You two are shooting off enough sparks for anyone to see.”

Annie choked off her laugh, because it was plain that Rita believed every word she’d said. “I don’t mean to make fun of you, Rita, but Sky Cordova and I have shot sparks of a different kind from the day we met.”

Rita grinned. “
All
the sparks that fly between a man and a woman are rooted in desire. Mark my words. He’ll keep coming around and keep coming around with one excuse after another. Some may be pretty lame before the truth knocks one or both of you upside the head.”

Anne gave a wry shrug. “You’re a romantic, Rita, but I’m not. As for Sky, he was burned badly by his marriage. In my job as a social worker I’ve met other guys like him—men who become cynical after divorce. I saw so many bad and broken marriages I’ve developed a cynicism toward getting into a relationship myself. Two cynics do not a good match make,” she joked.

“Well, Homer says I have a sixth sense when it comes to forecasting which couples will end up together. I’m just giving you fair warning, Annie. Even though we don’t know each other well, I predict I’ll dance at the chief’s and your wedding.”

Snickering at that, Annie climbed back up the ladder. She thought humorously about Rita’s predictions for a while and considered them total nonsense. But painting was a mindless task and left too much time for her mind to wander. Even after being dumped by her high school sweetheart, she’d only dated coworkers once or twice. Mostly she’d been too busy. Looking back she could see the lack of real attraction, of
sparks,
between her and any of them. Heaven knew she’d helped untangle enough messes that occurred with clients and their exes; she wasn’t interested in being the hated
other
woman. And all too often, ex-wives did consider any woman who dared to date a former husband the
other,
even if they’d instigated the split themselves.

The more she slopped on paint and let her mind roam back to her encounters with Sky, the more it occurred to her that he touched some sad, needy place in her soul. The fact that she still
had
sad, needy places surprised and irritated her. She liked to think she was strong and independent. However, she’d gone to California after high school because of her various unresolved issues—a romance turned sour, the history of a footloose mom she’d never met and a no-name father. In college psychology courses, it became clear that she’d felt abandoned by everyone except Gran Ida. Annie had told herself that she’d banished those feelings and left them behind.

She wrestled her wandering thoughts under control as she got off the ladder and moved it to begin painting the next section of siding. That physical act broke the cycle of wayward memories and let her concentrate on her plans for the town.

* * *

H
OMER
G
ONZALES
ARRIVED
home from his day job around seven-thirty. He carried a lunch box and a bag of groceries. Rita, Annie and the others had finished painting the house and were starting on the gingerbread moldings they’d sanded.

“I can’t believe the difference a coat of paint made to our house,” Homer exclaimed. “I’m late because I stopped for groceries, Rita. Mrs. Tompkins raved to me about how nice our house looks. She told everyone within earshot to come and see our street. She went on and on, calling you an angel, Annie. Oh, by the way, I ran into our chief of police in the checkout line and he asked me to give you this note.” Homer pulled a folded paper out of his pocket and passed it to Annie, who shifted her paintbrush and took off one glove.

She opened the note and saw what appeared to be an address. “Did he say what this is?”

“No. I assumed it was self-explanatory.”

“Excuse me a minute while I call him. Homer, if you feel up to nailing some of this trim to the fascia boards, your house will be done, and tomorrow we can start on Evelyn Dodd’s place next door.”

“Let me put the milk and bread in the house and I’ll get right on it.”

Turning away, Annie found Sky’s cell number on her phone, and punched Send.

“Cordova,” Sky answered briskly.

“Hi, it’s Annie. Homer Gonzales gave me a note with an address, but I’m afraid I’m in the dark.”

“You said you wanted a place to open a teen center,” he said gruffly. “On the way home from the farm, I remembered hearing about a warehouse that’s reverted back to the city in a foreclosure. I drove by. It’s two blocks from the high school. It has a sizable back lot, already fenced. I have no idea what’s inside. Maybe one big room.” Silence hung between them for a moment after he stopped speaking. “Annie, are you still with me?”

“I am. I...guess I’m getting over the shock of this. The
pleasant
shock. Before, you sounded as if you were a hundred percent against my idea of opening a teen center.”

“Yeah, well, I was...am. I assumed you’d do it, anyway.”

She heard him move his phone and pictured him flustered at being caught doing something nice for her. Annie lightened her tone. “Would you have brought the address to me yourself, or would you have carried it around until you ran into someone like Homer, who could deliver it for you?”

“I intended to sleep on it tonight and make a decision in the morning. I met Homer at an opportune time for you, because I decided to pass it off instead of letting it give me another headache.”

Mesmerized by his low voice, Annie almost didn’t say thank you before Sky clicked off. Still, she was left smiling, and was once more reminded of Rita Gonzales’s speculation that Sky cared for her.