Project Love (Cascade Brides Series) (4 page)

“
Uh, I can't. I'm sorry. I'm involved in raising
awareness for pet alteration this weekend.” She swallowed. “But
thanks for asking.”

His dark eyes darted between her and the poster until
his brows drew together. “I see. Well, I'll let you get back to
work. Thank you for helping me get the coffee to my office.”

“
No problem.” Jessie's motions grew more frantic.
“I'll see you around.”

Daniel nodded tersely, then pivoted and headed back up
the street.

Charity watched him for a moment. She could appreciate
his trim stature complemented by wide shoulders and long legs.
However she could not appreciate being someone's cause.

Nope. We are not going there
.

***

Daniel sat at attention in the wooden pew. Overhead
golden light poured through the Gothic stained-glass windows, gilding
the prayer book he held in his hands. On the dais, a group of
youngsters sang in reverent soprano, their voices swelling and
echoing to the arched ceilings above. Candles flickered, adding to
the atmosphere of worship. He loved services here. Loved the way they
helped him refocus on God after a long, crazy week at work.

He looked at the space next to him. In a congregation of
about a hundred, the place right next him him was empty.

It was stupid to ask a stranger to church. What
reaction was I expecting? Have I ever even asked her what her name
is?
He couldn't remember. He just knew her name was Charity.
Smooth, Tabor. Smooth.
He sighed and watched the choir sing.
After a moment, he hummed along. Despite his embarrassment at
bungling a church invitation to a woman he barely knew, the hymn
calmed him and brought him back to what really mattered.

Dear Lord, thank You for Your presence, Your mercy
that's new every morning. Help me to seek You, and I know all the
things I worry about will fall into place
. He squeezed his eyes
shut, heat creeping into his face.
And be with Charity. Bless her
and help her find what she's looking for
.

Daniel thought about the appreciative, smiling faces of
the women where he worked. Then he thought about the liquid brown
eyes of the woman at the coffee shop.

And me, too
.

***

Charity now knew how the gold store people felt. And the
close-out furniture store people. Or just anyone who had to hold
signs for eight hours a day—because she just
had
to
volunteer for both the morning and afternoon shifts. Despite being on
her feet at the coffee shop during the week, at least there she moved
around. Here, she occupied a street corner and held up a sign
announcing free pet fixing. She squinted up at the photo on the sign.
The dog and cats looked happy. But they wouldn't be if they knew what
was coming. Snip snip!

A car honked as it passed. Which could mean several
things.
Yay! Spaying your pet is awesome!
Or
You look
really dumb holding that sign!
Either way, her feet hurt. She
checked the time on her phone. Five minutes to go until she was done
for the day.

Afternoon sun flickered through the trees, washing the
street in a pretty orange light. It would've been a lovely day for a
trail hike. Maybe to Multnomah Falls or Crown Point on the Columbia
Gorge. She hadn't visited the landmarks in ages. Too busy
working...or bettering her community. And less animals starving in
the streets or being put down in kill shelters
was
an
improvement. So, not a waste of time. She just wished her aching feet
agreed.

Once it was four, she walked back to the animal clinic
and handed in the sign. The staff had a table filled with goodies for
the event volunteers, but Charity didn't stay. Just entering the
building had her sneezing. She kept her eyes away from the glass case
filled with adorable cats lounging on carpeted shelves or playing
with balls of strings.
Stop! Look away!

She walked the eight blocks back to her apartment,
thinking longingly of a hot bath. And after that, maybe a
movie—something girly and romantic. Her stomach growled. Add to
that a yummy dinner. Then she remembered she hadn't been grocery
shopping in a week and the refrigerator promised to be distressingly
empty. There was an Asian place on the way home. She could stop for
take-out, which meant no prep and no clean-up. Win-win.

Two blocks later, Charity entered the Viking Burger
restaurant. Despite the name, there wasn't a burger to be found. The
place sold fried rice, meat and veggies, and yakisoba. She suspected
the owners didn't see any point changing the name from the previous
restaurant because the sign was still perfectly good. Ignoring the
painted walls which featured a burly guy in a horned hat, she ordered
a beef and broccoli combo.

“
We're out.”

Charity blinked at the kid who stood behind the counter,
checking his phone. “You're out of beef and broccoli?”

“
Out.” He returned to his phone.

She sighed. “Okay, what about chicken chow mein and
egg foo young?”

Once the kid finished texting, he rang up the order.
“$9.99.”

Charity was tempted to make a face.
At least
McDonald's has a value menu
. She handed over a ten and waited for
the order to be filled. Her evening plans were getting off to a
wobbly start.

When she had her bag with its warm Styrofoam containers,
she walked the rest of the way home with a slower tread. Once inside
her apartment, she plunked the food and her purse on the table, and
headed into the bathroom to start filling the tub. Except it was
already full. With something that looked distinctly slimy. “Holly?”

Her roommate popped her head in the bathroom. “Don't
mess with that. I'm waiting for when the conditions are perfect.”

“
Conditions?”

“
I'm hand-marbling wallpaper,” the redhead said in a
long-suffering tone. “Don't move around too much. It stirs up the
dust.”

Charity stifled an impulse to pout. “Dust.” She left
the bathroom and headed back into the living room. Surely she could
count on at least a movie to accompany her dinner. For some reason,
the TV was about ten feet from where it was the last time she watched
it. Then again Holly was big on rearranging furniture. When Charity
turned on the old console, all she got was snow.

“
Holly, the TV's not working.”

“
You didn't pay the cable bill,” Holly said from her
bedroom. “Anyway, the noise bugs me. Quiet really is better for my
project.”

Guess I'll commune with my thoughts
. At least
there was a hot meal in the offing. But when she opened her bag, the
egg foo young gravy had leaked everywhere and the chow mein was cold.

***

“
I hate Mondays.”

Jessie smacked Charity's arm as he went past with a
broom. “Cheer up.”

“
Why?”

“
'Cause I said so and I'm the boss.”

She made a face at him, which just made him laugh.
Charity glanced at her other co-worker—a transfer from the west
side store named Amy, who had corn silk blonde hair and cornflower
blue eyes. Corn everywhere. Maybe she told corny puns, too.

“
So everything is pretty much the same here,” Amy
said after perusing the shop's interior.

Charity nodded. “At least that's what I've been told.”

Amy's eyes widened to an impossible size. “You mean
you haven't been to all six stores?”

“
There's six?”

Jessie snorted.

Charity ignored him. “I've...been busy.”

“
Doing what?” he said from under the shelving below
the counter.

“
Making a difference,” she said darkly.

Jessie got to his feet. “Lemme guess, you did whatever
the latest project was advertised on the poster Jill brought in.”

Face hot, Charity rolled her eyes. “Don't assume
things.”

He grinned. “I know because I saw you out on that
corner holding the sign for the animal clinic. Didn't you hear me
honk?”

“
And how did you spend your weekend?” she asked
sweetly. “Let's see if you can top helping cute, fluffy animals.”

“
I hung out with my grandma.”

“
Hah, family doesn't count.”

His brows inched up his head. “It doesn't?”

Charity cast a nervous glance at Amy, who was apparently
absorbed in the conversation. “I just mean, that's a given.”

Jessie tapped his chin. “When's the last time you hung
out with your family?”

“
I have a girl's night out with my cousins every
week,” Amy offered.

Charity began refilling the stirrer straws container.
“We probably shouldn't be discussing our personal lives on company
time,” she said with a disdainful sniff.

Jessie laughed. “Nice misdirection. But I'll let you
slide this time. We got a customer coming in.”

She glanced at the door and saw Daniel on the other side
of the glass. For some reason, her respiration jumped a notch.
Resisting the impulse to smooth her hair, she squared her shoulders
and prepared to serve him. But he didn't come inside right away.
Instead, he stood staring at the posters on the glass. Finally, he
pulled open the door and entered the shop.

“
Hey, Charity, can you grab some coffee cup lids from
the back?”

Charity looked askance at Jessie. He appeared to be in
earnest. Wondering why she felt disappointed, she moved away from the
counter and pushed through the double doors to the store room. Of
course the lids weren't readily available. She had to sort through a
recent shipment of boxes and find the one that contained lids. It
took several minutes—which meant by the time she returned to the
counter, Daniel would already be at his table, poring over his
paperwork.

Feeling glum, but not pausing to examine the reason, she
grabbed a stack of lids and headed back through the doors.

Just in time to see Daniel flashing a bright smile at
Amy.

Charity gripped the lids, which caused a few to squirt
out from the stack and clatter to the floor.

The disturbance caused Daniel to turn his attention her
way—his smile evaporating when their gazes met. It was like the sun
disappearing behind a cloud. Which happened a lot in the Pacific
Northwest.

Jessie, huffing about clumsy employees, picked up the
spilled lids and threw them away. Then he removed the rest of the
stack from Charity's hands.

Daniel took his coffee and went over to the table in the
corner.

“
Omigosh, is he a regular?”

Feeling like she was coming out of a trance, Charity
glanced at Amy, who had flushed cheeks and shiny eyes. “Yeah,”
she said slowly, “he's a regular.”

Why did he smile at her? Does he really dislike me
that much?

“
I wonder if he's single. He kinda reminds me of Ben
Affleck. Just a little. Do you see it? When Ben was young and
lean—before he got famous and all. I mean this guy is way cuter. I
wonder if he's single.”

“
Um.” Charity tried to focus on something barista-y,
but she couldn't think of what to do next. She looked over at where
Daniel sat, wondering why she felt so depressed.

He caught her gaze and reached for his coffee. But he
bumped it and it tipped. Jumping up, he yanked his papers away before
they got splattered.

Charity grabbed a damp bar towel and hurried over. But
as she mopped up the spill, she found she couldn't meet his eyes.
What's wrong with me? I'm the chipper one at the store. Not Amy or
anyone else. Why am I acting so weird?

“
I checked the posters.”

At the sound of Daniel's voice, she finally raised her
head and looked at him. “Posters?”

“
You know, the ones on the window,” he said quietly.
He lowered himself back onto his chair. “There's nothing new.”

Charity gripped the stained towel in her hands. “Uh,
yeah. Jill hasn't been in yet this week.”

“
I'm glad, because I had hoped to catch you before the
next poster was put up.”

She forced herself to focus on his words. “I don't
understand what you mean.”

Daniel put a hand in his pocket. “When there was one
about ivy, I heard you talking with your co-workers about how you
spent your Saturday helping with that project. And then there was the
animal clinic one.”

He listens to what I say? Why? Is he a creep?
Charity
stared at him, trying to discern his secrets. But his eyes revealed
nothing suspicious.

“
And then I saw you with a sign.”

She blinked. “Huh?”

“
You know, for the free spay thing.”

Oh, yay
. “Did...did you honk?”

“
No, I thought that would be rude.”

“
Oh.” She shook her head. “I...I like to be
involved in my community.”

“
That's really great.” He somehow managed to appear
affirming without actually smiling.