Love's Embers (Canon City Series) (7 page)

Chapter Eleven

When Lark reached the warehouse, the packing crew was hard at work getting orders ready for mail-out on Monday. She walked up the stairs toward the offices and found her partner, Nancy Frye, sitting in her office.

“Hey, Nan. I was just down on the floor and Mac mentioned about not getting the delivery of tins for the hot chocolate mix. What’s up?” Lark asked and stood in the doorway.

“I’m not sure. I’ve been trying to reach Frank all morning, but I only get his message machine. Hopefully, he’ll call back. I checked the orders and it looks like we’re going to need two trips to the UPS on Monday. There are over 150 orders just for the hot chocolate. We need to get the tin problem sorted out today, or tomorrow at the latest.” Nancy stood up from her desk.

“I have Frank’s personal number. I’ll try that and if it doesn’t work, I’ll call Sheila. She always answers her phone. I thought you were going to take the weekend off?”

Nancy smiled at her. “I have a son that will want to go to college in a few years. I need the money.”

“Right. I’ll go make a call.” Lark turned and continued down the hall to her office.

Once she’d settled in, she looked through her Rolodex for the cell phone number she

wanted and dialed it. The line rang a couple of times and a female voice answered.

“Hey, Sheila. How are you doing? This is Lark,” she said.

“Hi there. We’re getting ready for the holidays. Frank’s mom and dad are coming down from Montana for Christmas and then my brother and his wife and kids will be here over New Years. They’re hoping to get some skiing in and I guess there’s a storm front moving in for next weekend, so there should be plenty of snow. How are you and your grandmother?”

“We’re fine. Same as you, we’re just getting ready for holidays, but without all the company. Is Frank there by any chance?”

“Yeah, I’ll get him.”

She heard the phone put down and Sheila’s voice at the end of the line started to shout for her husband. Lark laughed. Frank must have forgotten she was one of Sheila’s bridesmaids at their wedding and they were friends since high school.

The phone picked up. “Hi, Lark.”

“Hey Frank. I won’t keep you on the phone long, but what’s up with the tins? Can we expect them to arrive soon? We’ve got a lot of cocoa orders,” she asked.

Lark heard a brief silence on the line and Frank cleared his throat.

“I’m not sure. Listen, I was over at the BPO lodge the other night having a beer and there’s a rumor going around that Mile High is either getting bought out or closed down,” he said. “I wasn’t sure what to think. I called Frank Sebastian up in Denver and he said he’d heard the same thing. He said he was holding back stock for now.”

“Who did you hear the rumor from?”

“A couple of different people were talking about it. One of them works at the savings and loan. What’s going on, Lark?”

“As far as I know, Frank, we’re not going anywhere. There’s nothing in the pipes except getting orders out and believe me, there are a lot for the hot chocolate. Can you please deliver the tins either today or tomorrow? If we don’t get the orders filled by the end of the week, they won’t arrive in time for Christmas and my customers will be very unhappy.”

“Sure, I’ll get them over there tomorrow afternoon. Lark, please, don’t keep us in the dark. If I’m going to lose your business, it will hurt,” he said.

“I assure you Frank, there is no problem and if something comes up, my suppliers will be the first to know. Thanks for the information. I’ll talk to you soon.” Lark hung up her phone and stood.

She walked down the hall to Nancy’s office. Her partner looked up at her and Lark explained what she’d just heard.

“I guess that explains why the suppliers up in Denver were holding back. I wonder where that rumor got started. We’re doing great for the year and are totally in the black,” Nancy said and leaned back in her chair.

“Frank will have the tins here tomorrow. I’ll call Mike Strom at the bank on Monday and see if he’s heard anything. This is really weird though. I can’t figure it out.”

Lark did some work in her office for a couple of hours and then went down onto the floor to help box orders. She spent a few more hours down there and then called it a day and headed home.

When she walked into the house, she smelled Gran’s meatloaf cooking in the oven. It was one of her favorite meals and her mouth started to water.

“Hey, Gran, I’m home,” she said and took her boots off at the door. She found her

grandmother in the living room watching the weather report. “What’s Mr. Weatherman reporting?”

“There’s a storm front that’s going to be moving in during the week. The worst of it should hit on Saturday or Sunday. They’re calling for eight to ten inches of snow and it’s supposed to get really windy. They’re saying possible blizzard conditions. I hope it holds off until Sunday. I’m supposed to make a lot of pies for the dance on Saturday and already have most of what I need.” She looked up at Lark. “If it hits on Saturday, we could be eating pies until Valentine’s Day.”

Lark smiled at her. “I could handle that. Your pies every day until February, sounds like heaven to me.” She looked at the Christmas tree and saw her grandmother was busy with the scissors and tape. “Oh, damn, Gran, you’ve been wrapping. I haven’t even had a chance to think about Christmas shopping,” she whined and went to the tree. “We are going to put up our stockings for Santa this year, right.” She turned and looked at Gran with a goofy grin on her face.

“Lark, you’re silly,” Gran said and stood up. “Charlie’s coming over for dinner again tonight and he wants to take us out tomorrow night. You’re not doing anything, are you?”

She could see by the way her grandmother looked at her that they
were
going out for dinner tomorrow night. When Gran wanted something, it didn’t take much to get Lark to agree and Gran did like to get out of the kitchen every now and then. “I think that sounds just fine, Gran.”

Chapter Twelve

Lark was in bed reading. She felt tired, but her brain was going in fifteen different directions. She tried to piece together this rumor business and couldn’t make heads or tails of it. She couldn’t figure out who would have started the rumor and why. She thought about Charlie and his wonderful, warm lips and then tried to not think about him, but it was difficult. She thought about Thomas and found she really didn’t want to think about him. She realized she’d read the same page for an hour and put the book on her night stand and turned off the lamp.

She scrunched down into the covers and looked up at the ceiling. Gran’s dinner tonight tasted so good. She thought about going downstairs and having another slice of meatloaf, but decided she felt too comfortable in her bed. Gran was the best cook and always prepared something tasty. She could even make Brussels sprouts taste good.

Charlie was very charming during dinner and scored all kinds of points with Gran. Lark smiled to herself. He’d volunteered to help wash the dishes after they ate and looked great with a kitchen towel tucked into the top of his pants. After he’d gone home, she’d heard Gran rearrange the plates and silverware in the dishwasher. Lark asked her what she was doing.

“Okay, so I’m a control freak about my dishwasher. If it’s organized properly, the dishes wash better, and if you put the spoons with spoons and forks with forks in the silverware tray it’s quicker to get them put away.” Gran smiled at her and laughed. “So I’m overly-efficient with my dishes. Does that make me weird?” Lark laughed about that one and told Gran
no she wasn’t weird
.

She thought about Charlie again and smiled. He’d asked her if she could run him out to Bicken’s ranch tomorrow. He wanted to get reacquainted with his horse, Fox. He said he’d pay her back for the years she’d paid to have the horse boarded, but she wouldn’t accept anything monetarily from him. Fox become one of her friends over the years and she went out to the ranch as often as she could to ride him up into the mountains. He was sure-footed and a very smooth ride. Lark always felt that horse possessed a gentle soul and she loved him more than anything.

Charlie also asked if it would be possible to go into town to the furniture store. He wanted to find a couch and some bedroom furniture. Gran mentioned that Lark’s old set was stored in the garage and he was welcome to it.

Charlie frowned. “Do you mean all that white furniture and the bed with the pink canopy?”

Gran smirked at him and rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to use the posts. You’d have a double bed frame and all you’d need to get is a mattress and box spring. And as far as the white night stand and chest of drawers goes, you could refinish those and I wouldn’t be unhappy. They’ve been sitting in the garage for years. Would you mind if he repainted them Lark?”

No, she wouldn’t mind if he refinished it. After she’d graduated from college she’d bought a new bedroom set in blonde wood and never wanted a pink canopy again. If Lark took him into town, it would be a good time to start her Christmas shopping.

There was a light tap coming from somewhere in the room and it took her a second to realize the sound came from her window. She sat up and looked. Charlie was on the outside

tapping and waving. He wore a huge grin on his face.

Lark got out of bed and went to the window. She unlocked it and slid the window up. When they were kids, Charlie spent millions of nights with her. They’d have sleep overs all the time and it kept him safe from his father’s rage. When they’d turned fourteen or fifteen, Gran got a little weird about him staying in Lark’s room. She put the foldout couch together for him and insisted he sleep in the living room. Gran never explained why and Lark couldn’t figure it out until now when she was older. She didn’t want them to get physical at such an early age and Lark appreciated the sentiment now.

“Charlie, what are you doing? Are you crazy?” she whispered.

He climbed in through the window, peeled off his coat and boots and crawled into her bed.

“What are you doing?” she asked and closed the window.

“I’m free..zing.” He shook under the comforter. “The fire went out dur..ing dinner and the wood I..I..I brought in is wet and won’t light. The house is a freezer,” he said and his teeth chattered. “We...we used to do this all the time when we were kids. I couldn’t think of anyplace warmer.”

“You could have broken your neck out on the roof.”

“Naw, it was like riding a bike.” He shook again and pulled the over tighter around his neck. “The cinder block wall is still goo...good, but there was a little ice on the roof. I slipped a couple of times, but made it okay.” He looked at her. “Please, get in here and warm me up.”

She walked to the other side of the bed and started to get under the comforter. “Where’s Break....oh, my Lord, you’re an ice cube tray. I can feel your feet through your socks and mine.” She snuggled close to him and let him wrap himself around her. “Why didn’t you get in your truck?”

“I thought about that, but by the time the thing warmed up, the neighbors would have complained to the police about the noise. To keep it warm, I’d have to leave the engine running. I didn’t want to wake everyone up.”

“Where’s Breaker?”

“I left him outside. He does well in cold weather with his fur coat.” He shivered. “God, you feel good.”

His face was pressed up against her chest and her arms held onto his back. “This really brings back memories.”

“Yeah, all those times I slept over here...you saved me, you know?”

“Charlie, come on.”

“No, you did.” He propped himself up on his elbow and took her hand. “Those nights when my dad was drunk, it really helped to know there was a safe place I could go. You and Gran never turned me away. I have so much to thank you for; I don’t know how to get started.” He kissed her hand and scrunched back down under the comforter.

“Well, you saved me, too. Back in our school days, when that bitch Sally Hoskins and her buds made fun of my name and called me Meadow Lark, you kept me grounded. I was never much of a fighter, but I really wanted to beat her up.” She put her hand in his hair and snuggled closer.

“I knew it made you sad, because your mom gave you that name. I brought you chocolate, flowers and that movie newly released on VHS...what was it?”

“The Truman Show. I loved that movie.”

“Right, and we made popcorn and Gran fell asleep in her rocker,” he said.

“When the movie ended, you went out the back door, like you were going home and then you climbed up the wall and we had a sleepover.” She looked down at him and felt the tingle start in the lower half of her body. “You know, Gran was aware of your being up here. When we were a little older, she tried once to discuss exactly what we were up to when we had sleep overs.” She laughed and it must have been contagious because Charlie laughed, too.

There was a light knock on her bedroom door. They both stopped laughing. “Come in,” Lark said.

The door opened and a large wolf landed on the middle of the bed, stepping on both Charlie and Lark.

“Breaker was scratching at the back door and seemed lonely. He came right up the stairs and stood at your door. I wondered why for a second, but then I remembered. He’ll make sure you two behave. Good night kids,” Gran said and closed the door.

Breaker rubbed up against Lark and pushed Charlie to the other side of the bed. He parked himself right between them and got comfortable.

“I should have left you at the house, you dork,” Charlie said to the wolf.

Lark scratched behind his ears. “No, you shouldn’t have done that. He’ll be fine.”

The bedroom door reopened and Gran leaned in, again. “Speaking of which, Charlie, there is a really nice sleeper sofa downstairs. I’m just saying,” Gran said and left the room.

Lark turned on the bedside lamp and looked at Charlie. The both laughed.

“I think Gran just gave us a hint,” Charlie said and lay back on the pillows.

“She has nothing but our best interests at heart,” she replied and continued to pet Breaker. “Are you warmed up yet?”

“Yeah, my teeth aren’t chattering anymore.”

“Come on, boys. I’ll help you get the sleeper set up.” She climbed out of bed and held her hand out to Charlie.

He pushed Breaker off the bed and took her hand. They stopped at the hallway closet and she loaded his arms with sheets, blankets and pillows.

They pulled the cushions off, which Breaker found very comfortable. Lark spread the fitted sheet over the mattress and crawled up on her knees to reach the other side. She heard Charlie quietly whistle behind her and felt his cold hand through her flannel pajama bottoms. Her heart pounded in her chest and fear crept into her stomach. She could hear the men laugh. After she closed her eyes and remembered June was in the past and it was only Charlie who touched her rear-end, she calmed down.

Lark looked over her shoulder. “Ducky, that is a place I would rather you didn’t feel.” She tried to stop her voice from sounding tense. It was just Charlie who touched her. He wouldn’t hurt her.

He looked at her and didn’t smile. “This may be rude, but I told you before. You do have a great ass, totally gorgeous. Sorry.”

Lark smiled and felt his hand move down her leg. “Damn,” she whispered and turned around on her knees to face him. She crawled toward him and felt his hands move around her waist. “You are too tempting.” She put her finger on his lips and moved her hands around his neck.

He leaned his lips down to hers and his tongue swirled in her mouth. She nibbled his lips and let her own tongue trace over his teeth. His arms tightened around her and she did likewise wanting to touch every inch of his body with hers. The room grew warm and she felt sure he wouldn’t be frozen anymore.

He pulled her up and wrapped her legs around his waist. He gently laid her out on the mattress and pressed down on top of her. Their kiss didn’t separate and Lark felt as though she’d never been truly kissed before. Every nerve in her body tingled and she didn’t want to let him go.

That was until she felt a wet, slurpy lick on the side of her face. Charlie got it, too, and put his hand up to the wolf.

“Breaker, get down.” She watched the animal obey. “Good boy, now lie down, go on, lie down.” The wolf’s head disappeared below the sleeper.

Charlie looked down at her and kissed her lightly. “Where were we?”

She ran her hands through his hair and caught her breath. His hand was moving up under her fleece nightshirt. “Ducky, what is your hand doing?”

He wiggled his eyebrows and grinned. “It’s feeling your nice, firm breast. It’s so soft, but firm.” He pinched her nipple and she sucked in air. “Do you like that, Lou?” he whispered and lightly bit her chin.

She opened her eyes. “Gran is right upstairs and the zipper on your jeans is rubbing me the wrong way and killing the mood.”

“Would you like for me to take them off?”

Lark smiled. “You wish.” She pushed him off of her and rolled onto her side. “I think we can safely say there are some old emotions resurfacing between us.”

“Lou, we only ever shared one kiss and we were kids. I had no idea what any of our parts were for until I read Playboy magazine. We were friends and now I think the relationship is

finally getting the chance to grow up.”

“I’m engaged to another man, and getting married in three weeks. I’m glad you came home and we’ve had a chance to forgive one another, but...”

“But what?” He moved his hand up to her face and touched her hair. “You can’t tell me you’re not feeling something. That last kiss was extremely hot and I know I want to keep touching you. Lou, I want more. I want us,” he said.

“I know you do. I have a whole new ball of guilt forming in my heart, because I don’t want to lead you on. Your kisses are wonderful, but that’s as far as it goes, Ducky.” She moved off the sleeper and started to pick up a flat sheet.

He sat up. “I can finish making the bed. Thanks for warming me up, Lou.”

He stared at her and she couldn’t read his look. It seemed the emotions he wanted to release boiled below the surface and it was hard to tell what he was thinking.

“We’ll talk more tomorrow. Goodnight, Ducky.” She turned and went back up to her room.

She pulled the covers over her head and couldn’t figure out what just happened. They’d been all over each other and she did want him to make love to her, but was stuck. She wanted to be faithful to Thomas and didn’t want to sleep around the way she knew Thomas did. She needed that honesty. She didn’t want to play games and said it earlier. Charlie was too tempting and he’d woken something up in her that she’d feared was dead. She hadn’t felt any kind of sexual hunger for months and wondered if she were to go farther with Charlie would she be able to put the horrible past behind her.