Smitten (33 page)

Nick lifted his chin. “I have a bit of culture, ma’am.” He bowed, took her hand, and pressed his lips against it, nearly taking Shelby’s breath away.

“Oh my,” she said, pretending to fan herself with all the charm of Scarlett O’Hara. Little did he know she was only partially pretending. “Where’s Willow?”

“She’s at a friend’s house tonight. I just dropped her off and spotted you, so I stopped.”

“Aha! So you aren’t here just for the culture.”

He winced. “Busted.”

“Well, are you going to stay?”

“Sure. Why not.”

“Want to sit over there?” She pointed to a spot not far from the string trio.

“Looks good.”

They walked over, and she spread a blanket on the ground. “I’m sorry, I only brought enough tea for myself.

I would have brought more had I known you were going to join me.”

“No problem. I don’t need anything.” He patted his stomach.

She laughed, taking in the fact that his shirt had a nice crisp look to it and his casual khaki pants, not jeans, had a pressed crease down the middle.

Who was this man?

“I’ve got to say I’m surprised by the hair,” Nick said, pointing to her ponytail. “That’s only the second time I think I’ve ever seen you wear it that way.”

“I let down my guard every now and then,” she teased.

“Especially on a beautiful fall night like this one.” She tugged on her sweater.

“Listen, I want to apologize for being a jerk about the whole town makeover. You can leave that wreath on the door.

I’ve just had to work through my manly pride.”

Shelby let out a good laugh. “Really? Somehow I never saw you as the proud type.”

“Ouch.”

“Oh no.” She leaned over and touched his arm. “I meant that in a good way.”

“How are the plans coming for the high tea?”

“With Rose’s help, I’m getting the menu pulled together.”

“Good. Do you have enough tables?”

“The rental place in town will be delivering tables and linens the day of the tea. Should be fun.”

“Any entertainment?”

She pointed to the string trio. “Best in town.”

“Sounds like you have it all worked out.”

“I hope so. I tend to get a little stressed as the day draws near.”

“Thanks for the warning,” he said.

“Hey, there’s the dad of one of my students. He’s a widower too. You should meet him. Ryan, would you like to join us?”

Ryan Stevenson greeted Shelby and Nick and settled into a place on their blanket. They made small talk until the music started.

She hadn’t wanted to invite Ryan, but she needed a distraction from Nick. She couldn’t say why, but she was out of sorts. Uncomfortable. She looked forward to this event every Friday night, but tonight she struggled to get lost in the music.

No matter how hard she tried to rein them in, her thoughts kept going to Nick and the fact he was sitting so close to her, his woodsy scent tantalizing her.

The music filled the air, but Nick hardly noticed. He couldn’t figure out what was going on inside his head. Why had he taken care to put on khaki pants and a nice shirt? Yes, he knew he would be driving by the concert and most likely would spot Shelby—or he had hoped he would. And that was what he couldn’t figure out—why he wanted to see her.

He moved it around in his mind. They were friends, and they hadn’t talked much lately. Maybe that was it. Yet Nick couldn’t get past feeling that something was stirring between them—at least on his part. He glanced at the dude sitting with them and tried not to show his irritation. Why did she invite that guy to sit with them? She obviously didn’t care if they were alone—which irritated him to no end.

He’d better be careful. They’d been friends too long to mess things up now.

Still, the churning inside his belly didn’t feel like friendship.

C
HAPTER
E
IGHT

A
gentle October breeze fluttered through the limbs of balsam firs, sending a sweet Christmas perfume into the air. Shelby’s boots crunched pebbles into the hardened patch of earth designated as Nick’s driveway as she went to the building where she held her classes.

No sooner had she placed the materials on the table than the girls started to file into the building and seat themselves at the chairs around the tables. Though it was a Saturday, they had come together specifically to work on invitations for their high tea.

One by one the girls settled into work. Shelby walked around the tables and checked on their progress as they cut out the printed form of the woman in the dress that they would then stitch into place on the invitation. Shelby’s occasional hobby of scrapbooking was paying off.

“Since we only have two sewing machines, you’ll have to take turns. While others are at the machines, if you’ve finished cutting out the woman in the dress, you can cut out the paper for the ruffle, which we will sew into place at the bottom of the dress.”

“Does this look right, Miss Shelby?” one student asked.

“Yes, Madison, it looks wonderful.”

Papers scattered about, scissors in hands, the girls chatted excitedly, each one raising her voice to be heard over the others.

“Let’s keep our talking soft, girls.” Shelby inched toward a student and leaned in. “Cally, you’ll need to straighten the background paper before you sew it on.”

Shelby continued walking, her small heels clacking against the cement as she made her way around the tables. She drew in a breath of the cinnamon candle on her desk that scented the room and thought about her time with Nick last night.

He had been so relaxed. He was the same great friend he had always been, but now she noticed the curve of his jaw, the strength in his arms, the chocolate brown of his eyes. Why hadn’t she noticed those things before? Something in his grin made her stomach flip just to think of it.

“Okay, girls, make sure you watch those scalloped edges.

Keep them nice and trimmed.”

Shelby was pleased with the progress the girls were making on the invitations—until one of them let out an earsplitting scream.

“What in the world?” Shelby turned in the direction of the sewing machines. “Willow, honey, what is it?”

Willow cried and held up her index finger—with the broken needle pierced clear through it.

Shelby’s breath caught. “Madison, quickly, go get Mr.

Majors.”

The little girl ran out the door.

In another moment Nick dashed inside, spotted Willow crying, and rushed to her side.

“I’m not sure what happened, exactly. She was sewing and—”

Nick frowned at Shelby, scooped Willow into his arms, and ran out to his truck without a word.

After the last student left, Shelby waited awhile and straightened the room, hoping she’d catch Willow and Nick when they returned. She had tried to contact him on his cell phone, but her call went straight into voice mail. Cell service was always spotty in this part of the state. Once everyone was gone, she decided to go to the hospital and see if she could find them. But just as she stepped out of the building and headed toward her car, Nick pulled up in his truck.

“How is she?” Shelby asked when she reached the car.

“She’s going to be all right. Though she’ll most likely lose feeling in the tip of her finger.”

“I’m so sorry, Willow,” Shelby said as she and Nick walked with her into the house.

Once Willow was placed comfortably in her bed so she could sleep off her pain medicine, Shelby followed Nick out of the room.

“Well, I guess I’d better go,” Shelby said.

Nick rubbed the back of his neck. His face was flushed.

“What happened out there?”

“She was sewing, Nick, and her finger got in the way of the needle. It can happen if you aren’t careful.”

“Oh, so it was her fault? Don’t you watch what your students are doing? Kids can get hurt.”

“I’m aware of that, but—”

“You can’t leave them alone for a minute. You should know that. If you’re going to work with children—”

“Nick, I—”

“I can’t talk about it right now.” He walked over and opened the door for her.

Words gathered in her throat, then dissolved with one swallow. “I’m sorry,” she whispered as she walked past him.

Nick ran his fingers through his hair and slumped down on his couch. He didn’t know why he reacted that way to Shelby. He knew it wasn’t her fault. It was just seeing Willow in pain and feeling so helpless himself, he had to get mad at somebody, and she was the only one around.

That was a lame excuse, and he knew it. But it was also the truth. He was mad. Mad that his daughter was hurt, and he wanted to blame someone. Though he knew accidents happened and he knew Willow’s negligence had brought it on, he could hardly blame her when she was in a world of pain already.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized there was more going on inside him than this. The situation brought to mind the thing that he wrestled with the most.

He couldn’t always protect those whom he loved from pain.

Shelby stopped by the grocery store on the way home and spotted Reese.

“Hey, girl.”

Reese turned around. “Hi, Shelby.” They pushed their carts down the aisle together.

“You all right? You look a little upset.”

Shelby forced a smile. “I’m fine. It’s been a long day.”

“How’s the remodel coming along?”

“Going faster than I’d hoped.”

“Griffen doing a nice job?” Reese asked.

Griffen and Reese had been good friends since high school. Where you saw one playing basketball, you saw the other. The two of them were well matched athletically.

“He’s doing a great job. He’ll be done in no time.”

“Then you’ll have to leave Nick’s and move your school back to your place.” Reese gave Shelby a sideways glance and lifted a teasing grin.

“Don’t get me started.”

They finished their shopping and walked out to the parking lot together.

“Wow, who’s that?” Reese said.