The Old Fashioned Way (A Homespun Romance) (13 page)

Neither of them noticed the boy cycle up the drive, or the paper whizz past them.  The thump as it hit the porch made Abby draw away.

She looked at Daniel in a daze, wondering why kissing him felt so right.  And so wonderful.  The glint in his eyes made her blood run wild and hot.

"The paper," he reminded her. 

"The paper," agreed Abby reluctantly.

As Abby and Daniel went into the kitchen, the others joined them.  Hank Trammell had done them proud.  The article was all he had promised, and more.  The pictures were beautiful. 

"This is wonderful," said Sarah, a little later.

"I think this is going to do the trick for us."  Daniel's gaze was fixed on Abby.  He couldn't mistake the signals he was getting now.  She hadn't looked at him once since they had come in.  "Be prepared to be very busy from now on."

As the others talked in the background, Daniel thought back to the kiss.  What had gone wrong?  Abby had definitely given it her all.  Recalling the way she had wrapped her arms around him, and matched his enthusiasm, he wondered why she was backing off now.

Abby couldn't understand the way she had responded to Daniel.  Uninhibited, wild, hot.  She wanted more.  Her self-control was in shreds and it didn't even matter.

The only thing that bothered her was what did Daniel want?  She stole a quick look at him.  He seemed as composed as ever as he talked to Gran.  The kiss hadn't affected him at all.  She had to make sure she didn't embarrass Daniel with the way she felt, had to remember he would be gone soon. 

Give her time, Hawthorn. 

It was obvious, Daniel told himself later, that Abby wasn't ready to discuss her feelings.  She was scared by them.  Rushing her would only frighten her.  He had to find some way to tell her how he felt.  A way that wouldn't send her back into her shell.

Daniel went in search of Agnes that afternoon.  He found her in the community room reading a magazine.

"Do you have some red thread I can sew this on with?" he asked, holding out the button that had he had pulled off his tee-shirt.

Agnes looked at the button and said, "Leave it on my table and I will do it later.  What you need is a wife to take care of such tasks for you.  Why aren't you married?"

"I've been too involved in my work," Daniel said hesitantly.

"Abby is a nice person," Agnes, as usual, never wasted time getting to the point. 

"Yes, she is." Daniel said quietly.  "How did she meet her late husband?"

Maybe he could find some what-not-to-do clues if he knew a little more of what had happened.

"At Katy Nelson's wedding.  Sarah had the reception here because Lou has a very small yard.  Rod took one look at Abby and this place, decided she had money, and swept her off her feet.  He didn't find out till too late that the money Abby's parents left her was in trust and Abby wouldn't get it till she was twenty five.  By then it was too late."

Abby, Daniel decided, would distrust any sudden moves.  He'd have to take it very slow, try and curb his impatience.

Agnes smiled, and went back to her magazine as Daniel left the room.  She would show Hamish the recipe for the wedding cake tonight and ask him if he would be able to make one like it. 

In spite of what Daniel had said, no one could believe the deluge of mail they received in the course of the week.  Since Monday, the store had been inundated with customers.  Gran had asked two of her friends to help out in the store.

"There are checks, offers from corporations to sponsor us, orders for the thing we make, requests for catalogs.  One person writes he's here on holiday from France and would it be possible for us to mail lace curtains to his home address."  Sarah's flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes made her look twenty years younger.  "If this is a dream, don't wake me up."

Daniel looked around the community room.  Agnes opened the letters and sorted them into piles.  Hamish made a note of all the checks they'd received.  Sarah read aloud from some of the letters.  The store had closed an hour ago, but there was still so much to be done.

Daniel looked at Abby.  She sat back from the group, watching him.  He could have sworn there was pain in her eyes.  As their gazes met, she got up, said "Excuse me," and left the room.

Daniel stood to go after her, just as Hamish held a letter out to him.  "Look at this one, will you?  It's from an eighty five year old man who wants to leave us all his money.  Says it’s for the sense of belonging we’ve created in the community."

Daniel sat down again, trying to mask his uneasiness.  What was wrong with Abby?  The outcome was exactly what she had wanted, wasn't it?

One of Gran's favorite sayings was, "Be careful what you want.  You may get it."

Abby was very familiar with the message behind the words.  She had wanted the Busy Bee to pull through.  Her pleasure over the success they'd met with was overshadowed by the thought that Daniel would soon be leaving them.  There was no longer any need for him to stay on in Carbon Canyon. 

Thursday night, Daniel stepped into the office, and found Abby looking at some papers.

"Hi!  I saw the light and wondered who was in here this late."  He hadn't seen her all of yesterday.  Sarah had mentioned Abby was spending the day with Jack William's at Vista.  She hadn't showed up at Hamish's class either.  Daniel had taken his frustration out by knocking chips off his block of wood.

"Abby, what's wrong?"  Daniel had meant to lead up to it gradually, but the look on her face destroyed the little patience he'd mustered.

Abby's mind raced to find an explanation.  Pride insisted Daniel shouldn't guess what was really upsetting her.

"I haven't heard from Mrs. G." she said quickly.  Mrs. G. had told her she would be away till Friday, but Daniel didn't know that.  "I guess I'm worried about what she's going to say."

A corner of Daniel's mouth lifted.  "Has anyone else called you?"

"I have six appointments for estimates." 

She didn't add that she had put them off for next week.  Till after she had heard from Mrs. G.  For some reason Abby felt Mrs. G's acceptance or refusal of her bid would be the star to set her future course by.

"Is that a copy of your bid?"

"Yes."  She had been thinking of Daniel as she'd stared at the papers.  Now Abby was glad, she'd had them out.  At least he hadn't caught her staring into space.  That would have been hard to explain.

"Would you mind if I took a look at it?"

"Of course, not."

Abby watched Daniel skim the pages.  The person she had come to know here was so different from the business expert who made his living giving seminars.  Abby wondered if he regretted the time he'd spent here. 

"This is excellently done."

Daniel looked at her curiously.  Her color was high, accentuated by the warm pink shirt she wore.

"I'm just wondering if a ten percent profit margin is too much.  I'll order the drapes and the blinds through Veneers in the outlet plaza.  The rest of the furniture and furnishings myself."

Daniel's eyes widened.  "Too much?  Too little is more like it.  The ten percent margin includes your time and labor.  You've done a great job with the calculations, but you have to remember as your business builds you're going to have more overheads because you're going to be delegating more of the work."

She didn't want a huge company, just enough orders to enable her to do the work she loved.

"Besides when you marry and start a family, you'll need more time for yourself."

Abby felt herself blush.  "I have no intention of getting married again," she said.

An uncomfortable silence filled the office. 

"Not ever?"  Daniel made no effort to hide the surprise in his voice.

"N...not ever."  Her report card had failed scrawled in large red letters next to the subject of marriage.

Daniel looked at her for a minute and Abby thought he was going to say something.  Instead he got to his feet.  "Well, it's been a long day.  Think I'll go for a walk before I turn in.  Want to come along?"

Abby’s self-control didn't need stretching.  "No, thanks," she said quickly.  "I'll just finish what I'm working on."

Daniel wasn't a permanent part of her world.  The emptiness the thought filled her with, frightened Abby.  She didn't want anyone to have that kind of power over her again.  Not ever. 

As the door shut behind Daniel, Abby put her head down on her hands.  Trying to make some kind of sense of her emotions seemed impossible.  She didn't want Daniel to leave, yet she knew he couldn't stay.  A thousand piece puzzle would be easier to put together than the fragments of her muddled thoughts.

Mrs. G. called Abby early Friday evening, and told her the job was hers. 

"What made you select me?"  Abby asked over the telephone.  Shock made it hard for her to believe it was really true.

"Your prices are very reasonable and I liked the fact you didn't assume just because I had a big house I could afford the most expensive furnishings.  Also, you aren't pushy, which is a big plus with me.  I can see it's going to be fun working with you."

Abby felt as if she were floating on a cloud by the time she hung up.  She had Daniel to thank for all this.  He'd told her to be herself, and it had worked.  If Mrs. G. liked her, chances were other people would too.  Daniel had been right.  Believing in one's abilities opened doors.

Abby had to find him and thank him right away.  Rushing into the community room, she said, "Where's Daniel?"

Six pairs of eyes turned to look at her.  Looks were exchanged.  Knowing smiles appeared.

"He's gone out for a while," Sarah said.

"I've got the job at Mrs. G's," announced Abby.  "I can't believe it.  This is going to help with the mortgage payment."

There was a small silence, and then Sarah said, "Abby, sit down for a minute, will you?  There's something we've been wanting to talk to you about."

Abby slipped into a chair.  "Yes, Gran?"

"You've done more than enough for us.  I called Mr. Hawkins this morning and he's convinced the worst of our problems are behind us.  Daniel is going to help us create a website with pictures of our merchandise and Mr. Wong says he can manage the website.  We didn’t think we would have one remember but after the article, we’re inundated with letters from women who want to make things for the store.  Mail orders, plus the money people are donating to keep the store going is more money than we'll need." 

Abby noticed Gran wore her this-is-for-your-own-good look.

"We want you to keep all the profit you make from your interior decorating business for yourself."  Gran sounded very firm.  "It was very generous of you to put your money into the store when we were going through the rough times, but we don't need your help financially any more.  It's time you started thinking of yourself."

"Life is short," added Agnes.  "You have to stop worrying about us and concentrate on yourself."

"We are going to try and repay you as soon as possible for all you’ve done for us," Gran said.

"The money doesn't matter," said Abby quickly.

"I know," Gran's smile was full of love as she looked at her.  "It is just something we want to do over a period of time.  We can never repay the amount of work and love you put in to save the store.  I've hired Franz Koch and Lou Wong, so you'll be free now."

"Thanks, Gran."

Abby left the community room.  Instead of feeling a load had slipped off her shoulders, she felt as if she had been cut adrift without an oar.  Why had Gran been so firm about not needing her?  Why the insistence she should get on with her own life?

Abby felt as if she'd arrived at a crossroads.  She wasn't sure which direction to take now.  Everything was changing so quickly.  Daniel would be gone soon.  The trio didn't need her any more.  She was free.

Free to do what, Abby wondered.  Loneliness overwhelmed her as she looked at the papers on the desk in front of her.  There was her work.  She had to concentrate on that. 

Mrs. G. had loved the idea of the guest bedroom having lace curtains, and a crocheted bedspread.  It would be nice to be able to use some of the things from the store.  Abby was glad she had set aside the things she'd thought she might need, before they'd been flooded with orders.  The shop had looked bare this morning.

Deciding to go to the outlet plaza and see if she could find anything there for Mrs. G's house, Abby went out to the van.  A change of scene might dispel this heaviness in her chest.

As she drove to the plaza, Abby told herself it was good that Gran had hired Franz and Lou.  It would give her time to concentrate on Mrs. G's house.  And of course, they hadn't cut her adrift.  She would still spend her free time helping them.

In the plaza Abby found several furniture outlets.  They promised her delivery in record time.  Loaded down with catalogs, Abby looked for the fabric outlet she'd seen in the plaza map.