His Winter Rose and Apple Blossom Bride (30 page)

“Oh, no! But that’s what makes the play come alive. We have to have your costumes.”

“Then you’d better find someone who can build those sets.”

Ashley mulled it over as she drove to the school to give her weekly slide show. If only Michael would do it. He kept claiming he didn’t have time, but she’d seen him playing football with Jason the week after the big snowstorm had melted. If he needed help with Tati she could help.

Maybe it was time to confront him again. Maybe if he knew the play was about to be cancelled.

The boisterous but interested art class was always a fun hour, but there were so many questions that Ashley ended up entering the staff room to get her coat ten minutes after the last bell of the day had gone. Michael bumped into her on the way out.

“Hi,” she said brightly, wondering how to broach the subject of the sets.

“Hey, beautiful. How’d art class go?” He grabbed his coat, thrust his arms into it.

“Don’t leave yet, Masters,” the principal called. “We have a staff meeting today.”

“I’ve got to pick up Tati. I hope you don’t mind if I bring her back here because it’s either that or I miss the meeting. I couldn’t get a sitter.”

The principal frowned, but after a moment she nodded permission. “Get back fast,” she ordered. “We’ve got a full agenda today.”

“Right.” He matched his step to Ashley’s. “She has no idea what she’s in for,” he mumbled as they walked down the hall.

“What do you mean?”

“Principal Zilk likes lots of debate on everything. Tati’s not good at either sitting still or being patient. I can only imagine the disaster that’s about to befall Serenity Bay High. Today’s skating day and my daughter does not like missing her skating.”

“Why don’t I take her?” The offer popped out before Ashley could even think about it, but now that it was said, she wasn’t sorry. She liked Tatiana.

“You skate?” He raised one eyebrow as if he found the idea utterly impossible.

“I used to. Fairly well, actually.” She could see he didn’t believe her. “In fact, I started figure skating when I was five and finished at boarding school. I was a soloist for several winter carnivals and played the Sugar Plum Fairy once at Christmas.”

“Well, good for you. But Tati—” He stopped, shook his head.

“Look, how hard can it be to get one little girl on the ice, Michael?”

His eyes opened very wide as he came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the hall. Teens flooded around them on either side but Michael seemed oblivious.

“You have no idea,” he told her softly.

“Don’t be so melodramatic. She’s a little girl. I’m an adult. I can do it. You go to your meeting. I’ll take care of Tatiana. When you’re finished, you can come and pick us up. Around five?”

He looked stunned, but after several seconds he nodded and told her how to find the day care.

“I’ll phone the lady in charge of the day care so she knows you’re coming,” he said.

“Good.” She grinned. “You look worried. Don’t. I won’t let anything happen to Tati.”

“Tati will be fine. It’s you I’m worried about. You look like dandelion fluff that a good wind could pick up and toss across the bay. And Tati is a lot more than a mere wind.”

“Oh, stop it. You’re just trying to scare me.” She laughed, but noticed he didn’t join in. “I’ll see you later,” Ashley promised before turning to leave.

“Ashley,” he called, just loudly enough for her to hear. She glanced over one shoulder. “Try to keep her away from the other kids, will you?”

Hard as she looked, Ashley couldn’t see a glimmer of humor in his eyes. She walked out of the school, changed from her high-heeled boots to a pair of lower ones in the car, then drove to the address Michael had given her. Tati was dressed and waiting at the door, her skates zipped inside leather bags slung around her shoulders.

“Are you really taking me skating?” she asked excitedly.

“Sure.”

“Are you going to skate, too?”

“I might try. If there are some skates my size.”

“They have big girls’ skates at the sporting goods store. Wanda’s aunt got some. Can we go there first?”

“Why not?”

Half an hour later with the white skates tied on, Ashley lifted her foot to step delicately onto the ice.

“Please don’t let me embarrass myself and fall on my behind,” she prayed as the blade slid out of her control.

She thought she heard God laugh.

* * *

Michael stepped inside the rink to the sound of raised voices. His protective instincts zipped up like mercury on a hot day as he rushed toward the ice. In one glance he assessed the problem.

With her usual penchant for accidents Tati had apparently taken down an entire chain of skaters—and they were not happy about it. Ashley sat on the ice as well, a pained look on her face.

“Oh, boy.” He laced up his skates and took off across the ice, rushing in behind Tati to lift her off her feet and out of the path of a boy her age who looked ready to push her down—once he got back on his feet. “Hi, kiddo.”

“Daddy!” She smiled and his heart sang. “Ashley and I are skating.”

“I can see that.” He checked Ashley’s face, knew he’d arrived in the nick of time. He offered a hand to pull her up then glanced around. “You guys playing bowling or something? Why’s everyone sitting down?”

“Very funny,” she muttered as she dusted herself off.

Michael forced himself not to stare at the length of her legs displayed so elegantly in the black jeans. He turned instead to survey the group. “Let’s try Crack the Whip. Anyone interested?”

It was a favorite because even the little ones could cling on to someone else as they formed a long chain that circled round and round the ice. Loud agreement greeted his suggestion. He set Tati down, grabbed Ashley’s gloved hand and placed it into his daughter’s.

“Hang on,” he advised as he started the circle. More and more children grabbed on until they were turning in a giant pinwheel. Fifteen minutes later the group had completely forgotten about Tati’s misadventure and he judged it safe to leave the ice.

“That was fun, Daddy.”

“It was, wasn’t it?” He scooped her off the ice onto a bench and began unfastening her skates until he noticed that Ashley hadn’t moved an inch after sitting down. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing yet.” She shifted positions gingerly on the hard bench and winced. “But I have a hunch there will be by tomorrow. Contrary to my earlier boast, I’m not quite ready for the Olympics. Ow.” She closed her eyes, groaned.

As soon as Tati’s feet were tucked inside her boots, she wandered over to watch the other skaters. Michael set to work on Ashley’s skates, unlacing them, then easing them off her feet. A soft sigh slipped from her lips as he massaged her toes.

“Don’t think this will wipe the slate clean,” she told him softly, that diamond glint back in her gray eyes. “You still owe me. Big-time. You realize I probably won’t be able to walk tomorrow?”

He chuckled, slid her other foot free. “Which part of you hurts the most?”

“Never mind.” She drew her foot away, bent to put on her boots. “Being in a car accident doesn’t even begin to compare to this.”

“Are you comparing my daughter to an accident?” he joked as he put his own shoes back on.

“I refuse to answer that for fear of self-incrimination.” She glanced at Tati, kept her voice low. “You might get a call tonight. A woman was here teaching her daughter to skate. Tatiana apparently knows them. She kept trying to help but—” Ashley chuckled “—I don’t think it was appreciated.”

“I’ll handle her.” He picked up the skates, slung them over his shoulder. “I can’t thank you enough, Ashley. It was a boring meeting. Tati would have driven them crazy. How about if I buy you supper as a down payment on my massive debt?”

He thought she’d refuse. But after staring at him for a moment, Ashley finally nodded.

“Dinner would be nice—if they have very soft chairs.”

A rush of satisfaction filled him, until she continued.

“It’s about time Piper and Jason spent an evening alone together, without me playing third wheel.”

Slightly deflated, he collected Tati and walked outside beside her, not realizing until they stopped that they would have too many vehicles. Ashley clicked a button and the locks on a big SUV opened.

Michael gulped.

“Boy, when you take advice, you really take advice,” he said, studying the latest features on her brand-new model.

She grinned, a quick flash of humor that did amazing things to her beautiful face. “I’m a quick study,” she told him. “One dump in a snowbank is enough for me.”

“Can we go in Ashley’s new car?” Tati asked, dragging on his hand.

Michael couldn’t have said it better himself.

“Do you mind? According to the rental agreement I have tons of mileage available and I probably won’t make a dent in it.” Ashley started the motor and the heater. “I could drive you back here after dinner.”

He nodded. “I’ll get Tati’s car seat.”

“Don’t bother. There’s a child’s jump seat in the back. It’s good enough to go to the restaurant and back, isn’t it?” Ashley blinked. “After all, she rode over here in it.”

Good point.

He nodded. “Okay. In you go, honey.” He boosted her up, made sure the belt was securely fastened, then pulled open his door. “It’s a great vehicle,” he told Ashley, buckling his own belt.

“Where do you want to eat?”

“Pizza!” Tati chirped from behind them.

“Pizza it is.” Ashley pulled out from her parking spot and drove toward the town’s favorite pizza spot.

“It’s not a bad choice,” Michael told her. “They’ve got a play area for kids. She can burn off her excess energy while we talk.”

“Excess energy?” Ashley blinked. “I don’t think so.”

“Wait. You’ll see.”

“What do you want to talk about?” A small frown hit her mouth.

He shrugged. “Anything.” Everything about you.

They were a bit early for the supper crowd. Michael chose a table where he could see Tati, but where their conversation wouldn’t be overheard.

“Is this okay?”

“Perfect.” She allowed him to take her coat and hang it up with Tati’s, then eased onto the plush seat.

“Soft enough?” he asked, tongue-in-cheek.

She blushed. “Yes, thank you. Doesn’t it smell wonderful?”

“Trying to change the subject?”

“Yes.”

Tati hurried off to play. An awkward silence fell.

“I really want—”

“You have a wonderful—”

He grinned. “Ladies first.”

“I was just going to tell you how much I enjoyed being with Tatiana. She’s a lovely child. So inquisitive and open to new experiences. And she just plunges into life, doesn’t she?”

A crash emanated from the play area. Michael glanced over, made a face as his daughter’s head appeared poking out of the ball pit.

“Like that, you mean?” He loved Ashley’s smile, the way it encompassed her whole face.

“I envy her the freedom to be so abandoned.”

The softly murmured words surprised him. “Why would you envy her? You’re free to plunge into whatever you want, aren’t you?”

She stared at him for a long moment. Finally she nodded. But a second later she changed the subject.

“What is your shop class working on now?”

“Finishing up their individual projects. There are those students who get everything done ahead of time, those who meet the deadline and those who leave everything to the last minute. I seem to have a majority from the latter group. Hurry isn’t a good thing when you’re working with tools so I like to allocate some extra classroom time, just in case.”

“What about the ones who are already finished?”

“They can start something new, or work with one of the others.” He held her gaze, shook his head. “I do not want to talk about school, Ashley.”

“Why not? Don’t you like your job?”

He waited until they’d given their order to the server before answering.

“It’s okay. For now.”

“What would you rather be doing?”

He couldn’t very well explain without looking as if he wanted her help, and at this moment in time, Michael wasn’t ready to talk about his carvings. He’d read a verse in his devotions this morning about trusting God for the perfect timing. Maybe it was a hint to stop worrying about a showing next summer. He needed time to think about what that would mean to his dream.

“Michael?”

“Sorry. Got sidetracked.” He pushed the doubts away. “Let’s talk about you instead of me. What did you do today?”

“School. Went with Piper for a dress fitting. Went skating.” She sipped her coffee. “Oh, yes, and I went to see a weaver this morning. I’m going to look for a gallery to display her work.”

His heart rate quickened but Michael ignored it.

“Do you think they’ll agree?”

“No one has so far.” She played with her spoon, her face pensive. “I’m finding a certain reluctance among many gallery owners to feature artists who don’t have some previous gallery experience, or who don’t come from one of the schools that teach textiles, painting, whatever. It’s frustrating because the work here is so innovative. It’s going to take someone with vision and commitment to see the potential. So far I haven’t run into that person.”

“Sounds to me like you’re her, Ashley.”

“Tracey said something like that, too.” She leaned forward. “Why did you say it?”

“You obviously have an eye for exceptional work. You have gallery experience, I’m told. And you have an insight into how to market an artist.” Michael shrugged. “Maybe you should think about starting your own gallery.”

The pizza arrived, followed seconds later by Tati who was red-faced and glowering. “There’s a very bad boy over there.”

“Well, he can play by himself while we eat. But first you need a wash. Let’s go clean up.” Michael took her by the hand and headed for the bathroom. When he returned, Ashley gave him a quizzical look he couldn’t interpret.

The server refilled their glasses and left extra grated cheese.

“I’m starved.”

“So am I.”

They finished all but the last piece. Tati begged for another go at the play area now that the miscreant had left. Michael agreed, hoping it would wear her out so sleep would come quickly tonight. He hadn’t done anything in his studio for days.