Scraps of Love (3 page)

     “Come on in, Adam. I hope you
don’t mind, but Jenny is still asleep.” Colleen stepped back so he could pull
the trunk into the entryway. Then she closed the door. She bent down and looked
at the old trunk. The address label said it came from Aunt Ethel. What could
this be? She pulled on the lid. It didn’t budge.

     Out of the corner of her eye,
she could see Adam looking around the small living quarters. “I don’t mind, but
I think we’ve imposed on you enough.”

     “Not at all. Help me open
this, and we’ll call it even.” She searched his face. A soft smile lifted the
corners of his mouth.

     “Deal.” Adam knelt beside the
old trunk.

     “Would you like some coffee?”
Colleen asked, standing up to get out of his way.

     Adam looked up at her. “I’d
love some, thank you.”

     Colleen went into the kitchen
and made a fresh pot of coffee. Her hands shook and her heart pounded. How
could one man shake her up like this?

     To keep busy, Colleen made bacon
and eggs. It gave her something to do and calmed her nerves. She filled two
plates, making sure to leave plenty of bacon for Jenny.

     Just as she set the plates on
the small table, Adam walked in. “It’s open.”

     “Great! Why don’t you sit down
and start eating. I’ll go see what my aunt sent.” She moved past him and
returned to the entryway.

     She knelt beside the chest and
carefully lifted the old lid. A child’s coat lay on top. The fabric looked old
and fragile. Being careful not to damage it, Colleen set it on the floor beside
her.

     She sifted through the
remaining clothes. At the bottom on the box were several books and a sewing
box. She gently lifted an old Bible from the bottom. The black leather was worn
and ragged around the edges.

     “Wow that is really old.”
Adams voice drifted over her shoulder, startling her.

     Colleen jumped. The Bible
slipped from her hand, and they both caught it. Their fingers brushed. Her
heart rebounded against her ribs.

     Adam released his hold on the
book.

     How long had he been kneeling
beside her? She felt heat crawl up her neck and into her face. She quickly
returned all the items to the chest except the Bible.

     “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to
startle you.” Adam straightened and took a step back.

     Colleen closed the lid. “It’s
okay. I just thought you were eating breakfast.” She picked up the Bible,
stood, and smiled.

     He returned her grin. “I hate
to eat alone.”

     The low reverberation of his
voice turned her knees to mush. He probably had no idea how appealing he
sounded when he spoke in low tones like that.

     “Me, too.” Colleen led the way
back to the kitchen. Adam wanted to eat with her. Did that mean anything? She
was afraid to hope. She poured them both coffee.

     When she turned back to the
table, Adam stood waiting behind his chair. Colleen didn’t know what to do. She
felt just as funny as she had the night before at dinner. If sharing meals was
going to be a regular occurrence, maybe she better put a stop to this now. “I’m
not real formal, Adam. You don’t have to do that.” She thought the protest
sounded a little weak.

     “I know.” He continued to wait
with a soft smile on his face that showed off the dimple in his right cheek.

     Colleen realized he had no
intention of sitting down until she did. She carried the coffee to the table
and allowed him to seat her.

     As soon as he sat down, Adam
asked, “Shall I say the blessing?” He extended his hand palm up on the table.

     She placed her hand in his.
“That would be nice, Thank you.”

     His smile warmed her heart,
and she bowed her head. The prayer was simple and straight to the point. Just
the way it should be.

     “Amen”

     She echoed him, pulling her
tingling palm from his, and looked up. “I hope you like your eggs sunny-side
up.” Unable to keep from staring at him, Colleen tried to focus on spreading
strawberry jam on her toast.

     Adam sampled the eggs and
grinned. “Love them. Thanks.”

     They ate in silence for
several moments. Adam laid his fork down. “Great breakfast.” He watched Colleen
sip at her coffee.

     “I hope you don’t mind that Jenny
came here last night. I’m really not sure why she came to me. I would have
thought she would have gone to one of her friends homes.” She stared into her
cup.

     Adam picked up his own coffee.
“She thinks of you as a friend, Colleen.”

     Her eyes met his. “I know, but
most kids run to other kids.”

     She watched him set his cup
back down. He reached across the table and took her hand in his. Warmth
surrounded her fingers.

     “I’m glad she chose to come
here, but I’m really sorry we placed you in the middle of our family problems.”

     The roughness of his fingers
on the back of her hand sent goose bumps up her arms. Colleen pulled her hand
away. “I’m glad I could be here for her.”

     Adam lifted his coffee cup
again and held it with both hands.

     Jenny stumbled into the room,
rubbing sleep from her eyes and focusing on her brother. She said, “I’m sorry Adam,”
as she sank into a chair.

     Colleen didn’t know if she
felt happy or sad about the interruption. She stood up, “Would you like some
eggs and bacon, Jenny?” She gathered up her plate and coffee cup.

     “If you don’t mind,” Jenny
answered. She pulled her legs up into the chair.

     Adam’s gaze on Colleen made
her self-conscious. She turned and smiled at Jenny. “I’ve got some bacon ready
for you. How do you like your eggs cooked?”

     “Scrambled please.” Jenny laid
her head on her knees and faced Adam.

     “I shouldn’t have left home
like that last night, Adam. I’m really sorry, and as soon as I get done with
breakfast, I’ll call Sarah and tell her I’m not going to Durango today.” She
rubbed her cheek against the sleeve of her yellow terrycloth robe.

     Blue eyes shimmered with
tears. Truth shined in their depths. Adam wondered what had caused the change
in her attitude. “Why didn’t you just tell me you were meeting David and the
other boys and going up there together, instead of trying to sneak around and
do it?”

     Jenny glanced in Colleen’s
direction. Colleen gave a slight nod of encouragement.

     “I was afraid you wouldn’t let
me go.” Jenny turned to face him once more. “Honest, that’s the truth.”

     Adam stared at his sister, and
then glanced at Colleen. She smiled and nodded to show him she believed Jenny.

     Adam scowled. “You were right.
I wouldn’t have let you go.”

     Jenny sighed heavily.

     “I expect you to tell me the
truth, Jenny.”

     “I’m sorry”, she whispered.

     Adam reached over and patted
her leg. “Me, too.”

     They sat in silence for
several long minutes. Colleen felt a little left out. She wished she had a
brother who cared as much about her as Adam did about Jenny. She set a steaming
plate of food in front of Jenny. “More coffee, Adam?”

     “Please.” Adam held his cup
out to her.

     “How about you, Jenny? Coffee
or hot chocolate?” Colleen took Adam’s cup and smiled at her young friend.

     “Chocolate.” Jenny picked up
her fork and moved the eggs around.

     “Jenny?”

     She looked over at Adam.

     “I’ll make you a deal. Agree to
always tell me the truth and never run away again, and I’ll agree to drive you
and Sarah to Durango.” Adam accepted the coffee from Colleen. He took a sip,
his eyes on Jenny.

     Jenny searched his face.
“Aren’t you letting me off easy?”

     The guarded look in his eyes
spoke volumes. “Maybe. But I’m praying I can trust you and your word.”

     Jenny lowered her eyes and
chewed her bottom lip.

     Adam gaze flickered to
Colleen. Colleen couldn’t help herself and directed a beaming smile of approval
at him. He was handling this just right.

     “I promise to never run away
again, and I’ll try not to lie anymore.” Jenny’s statement drew his attention
once more.

     Adam laughed.

     “What’s so funny?” Jenny
snapped.

     “I appreciate your honesty,
Jen. You thought about it and decided you might need to lie to me again, so you
said you’d try not to lie. That’s not quite what I meant.”

     Jenny gave him a sheepish
look. “I didn’t want to lie.”

     He hugged her to him. “I
appreciate that.” He tightened his arms around her, and then let her go. “So
how soon can you ladies be ready to drive into Durango?”

     Adam meant her too? Colleen
almost dropped the coffee pot. Maybe the day wouldn’t turn out to be so bad
after all.

     Colleen enjoyed Jenny and
Sarah’s chatter on the way to Durango. They talked about everything from boys
to magazines and back to boys. She hoped Adam wasn’t too bored with their girl
talk.

     Adam drove with expertise. He
took the curves up and down the mountain with skill and alertness. His eyes
remained trained on the road, but every time Jenny mentioned David, a frown
marred his features, a sure giveaway that he was paying attention to the girls.

     As they passed on of the many
small waterfalls, Colleen smiled.

     “I notice you’ve smiled every
time we pass one of those.” He grinned at her, and then returned his gaze to
the winding road.

     “I love waterfalls. I’m not
sure what it is about them that I enjoy. Grammy always said it was because they
were so peaceful and soothing.” Colleen eased back into her seat and allowed
the scenery to comfort her. When would the pain of losing her grandmother
diminish? She wondered as surveyed the passing scenery.

     Cottonwoods and pine trees
lined the highway. In some spots, large walls of rock hugged one side of the
road, and on the other side a steep drop-off took her breath away.

     The girls squealed in the
backseat as a truck passed a little too close to them. So much for relaxing.
Colleen sat up straighter in her seat. The road curved and twisted all the way
into Durango.

     “Adam, don’t forget we’re
meeting David and Matt at Denny’s.” Jenny leaned against the seat. She flashed
a red, white, and blue grin at colleen, then scooted back into her seatbelt.

     “Do you want to eat at Denny’s
or someplace else?” Adam turned his head and asked Colleen.

     His boyish grin turned her
stomach into a cage of hovering hummingbirds. She wiped her clammy palms on her
jeans.

     “Denny’s is fine.” Did her
voice quiver? Colleen sneaked a peek over her shoulder. Both Jenny and Sarah
were deep in conversation. If her voice had trembled, they would have looked
up. She relaxed to see them still attentive to one another.

     Once Adam parked, the girls
wasted no time getting into Denny’s and finding the boys. The four of them were
seated at a small table with their heads together behind menus when Adam and
Colleen caught up.

     A waitress led them to a
nearby booth. She waited until they were seated and asked, “What would you like
to drink?”

     Colleen answered first. “I’d
like an iced tea, please.” She took the offered menu.

     Adam watched Jenny smile at
David. “I’ll have the same.” He made eye contact with his sister. She nodded
slightly as if to reassure him. Adam relaxed and turned around to face Colleen.
He immediately didn’t like having his back to his sister and her friends.

     “Looks like we’ve been
abandoned for the boys.” Colleen drew his attention. She studied her choices
from the menu with a slight frown.

     “Something wrong?” he asked,
picking up his own glossy menu.

     A soft laugh answered him.
“Not really. I’m looking for chicken-fried steak and don’t see it here.” She
continued to study the lists.

     Adam’s gaze moved over the
menu with speed. “Here it is.” He pointed it out for her.

     “Where? I still don’t see it.”
Her gaze darted from his menu to hers. Her frown deepened on her forehead.

     Adam moved from his side of
the booth and scooted in next to her.  He noticed she didn’t shift away from him
but leaned forward to see where he pointed.

     “Oh, my menu is missing that
page. See?” Colleen held hers up for his inspection.

     He smiled; glad it was missing
a page. It gave him the perfect excuse to move into her side of the booth.

     She returned his smile and
quickly looked back at his menu as she pushed a black curl behind her ear.

     Adam watched a pink flush
travel up her neck and into her cheeks. He wasn’t sure what caused her to blush
but had to admit he enjoyed the freshness of her shyness. The feeling of being
watched drew his head up.

     He looked toward Jenny’s
table. She wasn’t looking at him at the moment, but he felt pretty sure she had
been watching them. He wondered what she would think if he asked Colleen out on
a date.

     The waitress came by and took
their orders. Colleen surprised him by ordering a ham and cheese sandwich with
chips.

     “I thought you were going to
order the chicken-fried steak,” He commented when the waitress left their table
and moved to Jenny’s.

     She scooted away a little and
turned her seat to face him. “I was, but it’s pretty heavy and I plan on
walking up and down historic Main Street.” She took a sip from her tea.

     He faked a sour face. “I wish
you’d told me that before I ordered a steak and baked potato.”

     Colleen laughed. “You still
have time to change your order.”

     Two hours later, Adam wished
he had changed his order. His meal rested in the pit of his stomach like heavy
metal.

     Jenny and David stood on the
opposite side of the street. Jenny called, “Hey Colleen, I found the scrapbook
store.” She motioned for them to cross the road.

     Colleen grabbed Adam’s upper
arm and attempted to pull him across the busy street. “Come on slowpoke. You’re
going to get us run over.”

     Adam reached for her hand and
slipped it into his as they ran across the street. The warmth from her soft
palm lightened his heart. He continued to hold it even after they were safely
across. They fell into step behind the two teenagers.

     “It’s called Scrapaholics.
It’s right up here.”  Jenny called over her shoulder as she and David continued
to lead the way.

     Adam noticed that David held
Jenny’s hand. His gaze moved to his and Colleen’s interlaced fingers. Was he
acting like a lovesick teenager?

     As they traveled up the small
hill, Colleen tightened her grip on his hand. He moved his gaze to her face.
She rewarded him with a smile.

     “Here it is,” Jenny announced
needlessly.

     Disappointment spread over him
when Colleen released his hand and followed Jenny and David inside. Through the
glass window of the scrapbook store, he could see Jenny and Colleen already
engrossed in a wall of stickers.

     Adam decided to stand outside
for a few moments and enjoy the fall air. He leaned against the red brick
building and looked up and down the side street. He could see Main Street from
where he stood.

     Adam glanced around Durango’s
downtown. Many of the original buildings were constructed by Durango’s
pioneers. He wondered if Colleen would like to visit the Rio Grande Land that
contained the restored depot in 1881. It had been years since he’d been inside
it.

     Colleen had already mentioned
she’d like to have dinner at the Strater Hotel. Adam admitted he enjoyed the
quaintness of the building that was built in 1887. A reflection of the town’s
prosperity, it remained a central attraction in downtown Durango for locals and
visitors.

     He prayed she wouldn’t want
that dinner anytime soon. His stomach still felt full from lunch. Adam smiled. He’d
enjoyed the teasing and lightness during the meal. Colleen, quiet and shy one
moment, proved quick-witted and playful the next.

     “What are you all smiles
about, Adam Walker?”

     Adam turned to see Cassie
Masters walking down the hill toward him. “Cassie, how good to see you. What
did the doctor say?”

     Cassie laughed. Her cheeks
filled with color, and she nodded.

     “You are? Really?” Adam hugged
her to him. He released her quickly and held her out to look at her.

     “Yes. Really.” She laughed
again. “Oh, Adam, I am so very happy.”