To Catch a Camden (7 page)

He nodded and seemed to be lost in thought as he finished his sandwich.

Then he said, “Have you told me everything? Because it gets a little bleaker every time I persuade you to talk about it, and I really am trying to see the whole picture so I know what to do for them.”

“That’s the whole picture,” Gia said as she wadded up the paper her own sandwich had been wrapped in, hoping she hadn’t put the Bronsons farther out on a limb by revealing it all to him. “They live a simple—and
really
frugal—life. It’s just gotten away from them.”

“And they honestly don’t have any other debt—credit cards, a car?”

Gia shook her head. “Their car is twenty years old and mostly sits in the garage—Larry drives a little if he has to and if it isn’t too far, but that’s it. They have a credit card for emergencies, but
only
for emergencies. I put them on my cell phone plan with a freebie phone so they could cancel their landline and cut that expense. For Larry’s birthday I paid off his dental bill because the payments they were making to the dentist were strapping them, so that’s gone. It’s just the house, utilities, food and medical stuff—they live hand-to-mouth...”

“And apparently have friends who do, too...” he said, frowning again.

“People who live on a fixed income have trouble making ends meet—it’s a fact of life.”

“An ugly one.”

Gia didn’t say anything to that, wondering if it was ugly enough to send him running.

But then his eyes in all their blue glory looked squarely into hers and he vowed, “We’re going to take care of this.”

Then her ex and his family flashed through her mind and something else occurred to her.

“There’s not going to be anything in it for you, right?” she said firmly. “Because the Bronsons would be furious if you used them to make the Camdens look like saints for lending a hand. If that’s what’s behind this I’ll throw rocks at you myself.”

He held up both hands, palms outward. “Nothing in it for us, I promise. How would it make us look good to say we’re helping out a couple who might not be in the position they’re in had a Camden store not gone where their hotel used to be?”

“And I’d stir up that whole story, too,” she warned.

“There’s not going to be a reason to,” he assured her. “This is your deal—we’re just trying to give some of the help you’ve asked for.”

Gia decided to take a chance and trust him. While her past experience gave her reason to be wary, so far there was no indication that he had ulterior motives where the Bronsons were concerned.

“Okay,” she conceded. Then, because it was true, she said, “I should get back to work.”

“What, no chocolate dessert at lunch?” he teased, showing that he hadn’t taken offense at her suspicion.

She appreciated that and leaned forward to say under her breath, “Nick only has some Italian cookies that aren’t very good.”

“I saw them in the case—they’re also not chocolate,” Derek whispered back. “Could that be the reason you think they’re not very good?”

“It’s possible,” she conceded.

“How about somewhere else? We could go back the way we came and around the corner to the bakery.... Lava cake...”

He thought he was tempting her with chocolate. And while that was always a temptation for her, she discovered that it was equally as tempting to prolong this time with him despite the apprehensions he aroused in her just by being who he was and coming from the family he came from.

There was just some kind of chemistry that got activated in her with this guy that she wished she could deactivate. At least she could try not to indulge it, so she held the line.

“I really can’t,” she insisted.

“Well, I guess I’ll get to see you tomorrow, so I’ll let you go today,” he said, making her wonder if he was merely being charming or if he actually wanted to spend more time with her.

It doesn’t matter!
she silently shouted at herself.

Derek took their tray and dumped the lunch remnants in the nearby trash, and then turned to pick up the jar of money.

“This can’t be lightweight. Let me carry it.” Gia didn’t argue because it
was
heavy, and she hadn’t been looking forward to toting it herself. But Derek carried it under one arm, against his hip, and didn’t seem to exert himself too much.

“So do you grow everything your company needs in the gardens here? Right in the middle of the city?” he asked as they headed back to Health Now, clearly making an effort to put things securely back on more neutral ground.

“No,” Gia answered. “This is just where the company started. We expanded about four years ago to an area outside of Broomfield. We produce about a quarter of what’s needed here and the rest there.”

“Does that mean that you work in Broomfield, too?”

“It does. All the offices are in Denver—Broomfield is just greenhouses and another outdoor garden that’s about the size of a football field—but the botanists and horticulturists go back and forth to care for the plants. That’s where Peggy and Marshall are today—you met them last Saturday, too.”

“Right, I remember—Peggy is the really, really skinny woman and Marshall is—”

“The really, really
not
skinny guy,” Gia supplied for him.

“He’s a big man,” Derek agreed with a laugh. “Knows a lot about music and computers.”

“Yes, he does—his two passions outside of work.” Again Gia was surprised that Derek had bothered to get so friendly with everyone.

Maybe that was what she was responding to, she told herself. Maybe it was just his general friendliness—the same general friendliness he showed to everyone—and she’d been out of the single world for so long that she somehow read more into it than was there.

The possibility made her feel all the more ridiculous for having thought about him as much as she had for the past week. For having made-up, flirty conversations with him in her head. Flirty conversations that were so much wittier than anything she’d pulled off today....

He insisted on taking the jar all the way inside to her office, where she assured him it was safe to leave it on her desk.

But once he’d done that and she was waiting for him to leave so she could take her blouse off again, he instead turned his focus onto her.

“Thanks for going to lunch with me today,” he said.

“Even if I gave you a hard time?”

He grinned. “There does always seem to be a minute or two when we’re together when you narrow those big brown eyes and look at me like I’m the enemy. You’re just not sure about me yet, are you?” he asked.

Gia shrugged.

And that made him grin. “You’re not,” he said, as if it amused him. But also with what sounded like affection.

Or maybe she was just imagining it.

She was probably just imagining it.

Along with the sense she kept having that there were small sparks shooting between them as he studied her face.

“You were on my mind a lot this past week,” he said then. His mouth eased into a small, thoughtful smile as his gaze rose somewhat and he added, “Must be the hair.” His blue eyes returned to hers. “But it made me want to touch base with you on our own just a little before we’re in the middle of everything and everybody tomorrow....”

So that was what had prompted the lunch....

Gia nodded because she suddenly couldn’t think straight enough to say anything. Instead, her thoughts were drifting to the idea of him kissing her....

Kissing her...

That was something else she’d thought way, way too much about since last Saturday night.

Something that certainly had no place here and now, at work....

And yet he was looking at her so intently that it caused her to actually entertain the notion that he might be thinking about it, too.

That couldn’t be...

But he wasn’t even making small talk anymore. He was standing there—dashingly handsome in a suit that probably cost as much as her car—just looking into her eyes.

Then down at her mouth....

The outer office had been empty when they’d come in. Everyone was probably in the lunchroom, and her office couldn’t be seen from there. Plus, she’d probably be able to hear something if anyone came back....

Her chin went up a fraction of an inch as she looked into those astonishingly blue eyes...and was shocked to find herself ready.

Ready to be kissed by someone other than Elliot.

Ready to be kissed by this man she hadn’t been able to get out of her head for two solid weeks now....

And she really, honestly thought he was going to do it as she watched him move forward.

This is crazy!

And yet she didn’t back off....

But then Derek did. He caught himself and stood a little straighter.

Without the sound of anyone coming, Gia realized. Without any indication that she would have rejected him. Still, he’d backed off.

He made a sort of confused, mildly troubled face and smiled a tight-lipped smile before saying, “So I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“At the Bronsons’, bright and early. One of their church friends is taking them out for the day so we can just work. All of us.”

Somehow that
we
had had an intimate inflection so she’d felt the need to amend it.

He smiled more openly and she knew he was about to make a joke even before he said, “What was I in danger of this week—a ladder getting kicked out from under me? Being pushed down stairs?”

Gia got hold of herself and said, “No threats this round. You’re safe.”

He smiled as if he wasn’t so sure about that.

Then he took a step toward her office door and said, “I’ll let you get back to your plants and saving lives with leaves.”

“Saving lives with leaves,”
she parroted. “Hmm...that could be one of our slogans.”

“I don’t need credit for that, either,” he joked, making her smile.

And like him.

Even though she didn’t want to.

“See you tomorrow,” he said as he went out.

“See you tomorrow,” she answered.

Then she was alone in her office, needing a few minutes to recover before she could go out and see anyone.

Wondering during that time exactly what had just happened between them.

And if not being kissed in a very long time might have robbed her of the ability to read the signs....

Chapter Five

“O
h, hi,” Gia said, stopping cold in the doorway of the Bronsons’ bedroom on Saturday morning.

When she’d assigned everyone to the work that needed to be done today, it had taken a strong force of will not to team herself up with Derek. Instead, she’d put him with Jeanine to paint the guest room across the hall. So she was surprised to see him in the room she was supposed to be painting with Tyson.

Jeanine was single and actively looking for a mate. Although it had secretly not sat well with Gia, she’d forced herself to put the two together. She’d reasoned that if something got started between them then maybe she could stomp out whatever it was that was going on with her in regards to Derek.

But there he was, managing to look good even in a pair of ragged old jeans and a plain white undershirt-sort-of-T-shirt, taking tarps out of their packaging.

“Hi,” he answered her greeting.

“You know the guest room is across the hall...” she informed him.

“Yeah, I did some rearranging—did
you
know that Tyson is dating the blonde bombshell from your marketing department?”

“I introduced them, so yes, I knew that. Minna...”

Minna, who was wearing short shorts and a bandeau top that barely contained her ample chest, while Gia was in throwaway jeans torn at the knee and an equally ratty T-shirt so it wouldn’t matter if she got paint splattered.

Minna, whose long blond hair was flowing free, while Gia’s had to be pulled back into a twist that hardly contained her geyser of curls.

Minna, who, yes, looked like a blonde bombshell while Gia felt as if she faded into the woodwork in comparison, despite the fact that she’d done her makeup today.

“Plus,” she added, “Tyson is not only my best friend, he temporarily lives in the apartment on the upper floor of my house, so there isn’t much I
don’t
know about him.”

“Well, it seemed like they’d want to work together. And last week Jeanine and that Adam Smythe from the Botanical Gardens were getting pretty friendly—I thought Jeanine would rather paint with him than with me. So we made some changes. Is that okay, or did you have your heart set on working with Tyson? He said he didn’t think it mattered who worked where as long as everything got done.”

Tyson had spent most of the past week with Minna and Gia had hardly seen him. She’d thought a day of painting together would give them a chance to catch up. But more important, she’d counted on him to provide her with a safety net from Derek. She hadn’t been able to talk to Tyson, though, and let him know that it felt risky for her to be in close quarters with Derek all day, so he couldn’t have known that was her plan.

But she certainly couldn’t tell Derek that. Or make a fuss over harmless changes in the roster.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said, hoping she sounded as indifferent as she was trying to sound.

And at the same time, she wondered if Derek had purposely switched the teams to be with her.

That was unlikely, she told herself.

But it still didn’t calm the tiny wave of excitement that it was even remotely possible.

“What’s with the bed? It has some...topography...” he said then, pointing his chin at it as he stood at the foot taking the tarps out of their packages and setting them on the floor.

“Oh, I rigged it,” Gia said, finally going all the way into the room. “Larry has reflux problems when he lies down flat, so I got him a foam wedge to prop him up a little. Marion has a bad shoulder that doesn’t bother her if her arm on that side has something to rest on, and an arthritic hip that hurts less if her knees are bent some when she sleeps. So I put a piece of foam under the mattress pad on the edge of the bed for her arm, and another piece where her knees go. I know it looks weird—they call it the Frankenstein bed—but it works.”

He angled his head in the direction she’d just come from. “And the
rigging
on the light switch? I saw that when I moved the dresser away from the wall....”

“If the dresser goes against that wall, they have more space in here, but it covered the light switch. So I fixed it so the light switch is usable with the dresser in front of it.”

“Your idea, too?”

“Yeah,” she said, taking the wrapping off the roll of tape she was going to use to paint edges.

“Inventive.”

“It’s just a few pieces of foam and a stick with a hole in one end and knob on the other,” Gia said. Then, when he shook out one of the tarps to put over the bed, she added, “Let’s take the pictures off the walls and put them on the bed first, then cover it all.”

“Good idea.”

There was a gallery of framed photographs on one wall, but when Gia met Derek there he was looking at them rather than taking them down.

“These must be their parents,” Derek observed of the black-and-white pictures that showed people with Roaring Twenties hairstyles and fashion.

Gia pointed out which was Larry’s family and which was Marion’s. “And that’s Marion with her parents when she was five or six.” Then she pointed to another cluster of snapshots. “That’s Roddy.”

“Oooh, he doesn’t look well,” Derek said sympathetically.

“Even as a newborn he wasn’t just pink and perfect. But they loved him the way he was.”

Gia took down the photos and laid them extra carefully on the bed.

“This must be Larry and Marion’s wedding picture,” Derek said as he brought another black-and-white photograph to set beside those of Roddy.

Gia glanced at it. “I can never get over how young Marion looks in that picture. When I say that to her, she jokes that she was Larry’s child bride,” Gia said affectionately. “But even Larry was only nineteen.”

“How did they meet?” Derek asked as they removed the remainder of the photos, placed them on the bed and then covered everything with a tarp.

“They met at the Trocadero Ballroom in the old Elitch Gardens,” Gia said, referring to one of Denver’s original entertainment centers that had included an amusement park and a renowned theater and ballroom.

“Some big band was there,” Gia went on. “I’ve never heard of it, but they actually have an old album of the music—and a record player to play it—and sometimes they put it on and dance to it even now. Anyway, they were there separately with friends and none of them knew each other. But all of Larry’s friends had asked Marion to dance and been turned down. Then Larry strolled right across the middle of the dance floor—that’s how Marion puts it—and she says he was the one she was waiting for.”

“She wasn’t afraid that he’d get discouraged by all the other rejections and never ask?”

“Larry says she was giving him the eye from across the room, so he thought he’d have better luck. Marion denies it, but when she does Larry shakes his head to let you know she’s lying and she just laughs.”

“And they’ve been married how long?” Derek asked with some amusement in his voice.

“Since a week after Marion graduated from high school when she was seventeen—this year was their seventieth anniversary.”

“Wow,” Derek said as they draped tarps over the dresser and lined the floor with them.

“I know, hard to imagine, isn’t it? And they’re still so good together. Even after all they’ve gone through, one’s eyes light up when the other comes into a room, they still flirt with each other and—”

“Sleep in the same lumpy bed.”

Gia laughed and hoped she didn’t sound like a sappy romantic when she echoed, “They still sleep in the same lumpy bed.” Then she said, “And I catch them holding hands just sitting on the couch watching TV sometimes. Marion says Larry has never forgotten a birthday or an anniversary, and I don’t know what she does on Valentine’s Day, but whatever it is, he always says that she’s never forgotten one of those either, and then he wiggles his eyebrows and makes Marion blush.”

Derek laughed. “Seriously? Even now, in their eighties, after seventy years of marriage?”

“Seriously. I make sure to give this place a wide berth that whole day and night.”

He laughed harder. “Seems like that might be wise.”

“And they still kiss....” Gia marveled as they began to put tape around the bedroom window.

“Aren’t they supposed to?”

“I don’t know,” she mused. “Sometimes people who haven’t been married anywhere near as long have to force their spouse to kiss them hello or goodbye or...you know, anytime that it isn’t going to lead to...sex.... And eventually they just give up trying...”

“Is that the voice of experience?” he asked gently.

It was. But she’d basically been thinking out loud of her own marriage in comparison to Larry and Marion’s, and she wasn’t willing to let Derek know that, so she merely said, “I just mean that it’s still obvious that Larry and Marion really do love each other and enjoy each other’s company. They aren’t like a lot of people who’ve been together for a while—they aren’t just roommates. They don’t bicker. It isn’t as if they’re only together for convenience or out of habit but don’t really like each other—”

“Yeah, I guess I know what you’re talking about. I’ve seen couples like that, too. The spark is gone, they’re bored, there’s no excitement or they actually seem to
dis
like each other, and you wonder why they’re together at all.”

“Larry and Marion still talk. They still laugh together. They still think of each other first. They aren’t even impatient with the small things that can get annoying—Larry will say something silly and Marion thinks it’s endearing, or Marion will repeat the same story over and over and every time she does Larry will just say that she tells it so well. They’re just...happy to have each other, I guess. Even after all this time.”

“I envy that,” he admitted. “It’s how I’d like to end up.”

Gia laughed. “Is that what you were thinking when you went out with Tyson’s nutty cousin Sharon? That you could find it with her?” she teased as he pried open the paint can and poured some into the tray.

Derek didn’t seem to take offense because he laughed, too. “Hey, you never know...Sharon might not have been my Marion, but it beats some of the women I go out with who make me feel like I’m watching paint dry when they talk.”

That would probably be me,
Gia thought.

But what she said was, “So only psychics and mediums and vampire witches for you!”

He laughed again. “Vampire witches? I don’t
think
I’ve ever dated one of those.”

“But you’d probably like the fangs and magic spells, right?”

More laughing. “Now you’re starting to sound like my grandmother.”

That
couldn’t be good....

So Gia opted to change the subject and handed Derek the roller and the extension pole that went with it. “How about you work on the ceiling while I start the walls?”

He agreed, and as they went to work he said, “So what was the big band that brought Larry and Marion together?”

After telling him the name, they began to talk about what kind of music they each liked. That led to a discussion of favorite television programs and movies, travel destinations, food—besides chocolate—colors, seasons, holidays and on and on.

To subjects Gia only hoped didn’t make her sound like his grandmother....

* * *

The day flew by for Gia. When it was over, she left Tyson to oversee the finishing work and cleanup so she could run home to do some last-minute preparations for the barbecue she’d invited everyone to afterward.

Seizing the opportunity that afforded her, she quickly changed out of her paint-splattered clothes and into a pair of black capris with a tailored black-and-white flowered blouse.

She also took her hair down and brushed it, letting it fall into its natural curls around her shoulders, and freshened her makeup.

She had pitchers of sangria waiting when, one by one, her workers came over from next door. When she’d emailed everybody about the barbecue, she’d let them know they could change into fresh clothes at her place if they wanted. Those who did were directed to Tyson’s bathroom upstairs, her own on the ground floor or the one in the basement apartment.

She tried not to be pleased that Derek was among the barbecue attendees—she’d been wondering if he would skip it—but she was happier than she wanted to be at the sight of him following Tyson in her back door.

She also tried not to notice how good he looked—or smelled—after disappearing upstairs for a while and then reappearing with his hair damp, his face cleanly shaven, wearing a pair of jeans that fit him to sexy perfection and a sunflower-yellow henley T-shirt that accentuated his shoulders, chest and impressively muscled biceps.

“Put me to work here, too,” he commanded as Gia tore her eyes away from the sight of him and continued to put sliced pickles on the condiment tray she was preparing.

“What can I do to help?” he persisted. “I’m a great grill man if you want me to cook.”

“You’re a great grill man?” Gia repeated skeptically.

“Thanks to a burger joint on Colorado Boulevard where I worked when I was seventeen. You can call for references if you want.”

A Camden had flipped burgers as a teenager? That was hard to believe, and Gia decided to call his bluff. “The barbecue is lit and the burgers and hot dogs are on a plate in the fridge.”

“I’ll need this and these—” he said, reaching into the utensil container on the counter for a spatula and tongs, as if he really did know what he was doing. Then he went to the refrigerator.

“There’s veggie burgers, too, for anyone who doesn’t want meat. They’re on the green dish but I’ll get that one—you won’t be able to carry it all out.”

“I think I can manage—don’t stop what you’re doing,” he said, taking the serving platter full of hamburgers and hot dogs in one hand, and the green plate in the one that already held the tongs and spatula.

“You’re sure?” Gia asked.

“Sure,” he answered, pushing her screen door open with a very, very fine rear end and taking everything outside.

Gia watched him from the window above the sink, finding that he really did seem to know his way around the grill and have it all under control.

He also seemed to be a people magnet because several of her friends and coworkers migrated to the barbecue to talk while he worked.