Love Makes the Difference (Sully Point Book 1) (3 page)

Anna realized her mouth had opened but no words were coming
out. She closed it and shrugged. She saw that Sam was looking at her with his
head tilted--just like in the bakery today. Finally she said, "Sure. It's
just a couple streets over from here."

As soon as he leaned over to open the passenger door for her,
she felt like all her nerve endings were lit up like fireworks.
What am I
doing? What am I thinking? Oh my God, I'm getting in his car!
Her inner
dialogue became a churning chaos of questions and exclamations.

"Anna? Can you put on your seatbelt?"

"Oh yeah, sure, no problem."

"Going to visit a friend?"

"No."

He glanced over at her. "Is it rude to ask just where
you're going?"

"Not rude, no, but--it's just a building--turn left
here, then it's two blocks up."

"Anna, do you have a secret life?" Sam asked in an
obviously joking manner.

She felt the blood drain from her face and saw Sam's smile
change to a look of concern. "No, not a secret life...not like yours."
She tried smiling to deflect his curiosity. "Okay, here we are. Thanks for
the ride. I appreciate it. Drive safe tonight."

She opened the door and scrambled out of the car as quickly
as possible. After she walked a few feet toward the building and waved at him,
he didn't move and she knew he was waiting until he saw her enter the building.
Fumbling, she got her key in the door to the main floor foyer, opened it and
waved again. She watched him drive off with a sense of having escaped. Anna
didn't want him to know about her loft and her painting. It was private.

* * * *

Sam drove home with a head full of questions and no answers.
He'd been coming back from the area mall when he'd seen Anna walking down the
sidewalk. She'd seemed startled to see him—well, that was only natural. But the
thing at the end. The way she dodged his question and the strange look on her
face when he asked about a secret life...what was going on with the woman? She
also hadn't looked him directly in the eye, which seemed off for her. And that
mention of his secret life...what was she thinking about him?

In his business, he had need of a great imagination and in
his mind he was already coming up with scenarios that might fit Anna's
situation. By the time he pulled into the driveway at the beach house, he
started chuckling. He was conjuring up erotic scenes of him rescuing her from
some dire straits--definitely going a bit far out there.

Still he wondered just what she did in that building. It had
looked like an industrial type of brick building with a couple of floors. Did
she have a second job at night? He couldn't imagine Frank Grainger letting his
daughter work another job at night on top of her day job. Clearly the family
was doing okay financially, what with owning several businesses.

He turned on the Bose sound system he'd brought with him the
first week he was moved in. He didn't have a television in the house and he wouldn't
in the future. It would be an unnecessary distraction. Since it was too late to
continue any work on the outside of the house, he sat down at his makeshift
desk and opened up his laptop computer, staring at the screen. He thought about
Danielle. She was one of the most complex characters he'd ever written in one
of his books. Her sparkling green eyes hid a multitude of sins. Green eyes,
kind of like Anna's today. And just like Danielle in his story, Anna was hiding
something, something big. It dawned on him that he was back to thinking about
Anna.

He stalked off in aggravation to the kitchen to grab a beer
from the fridge. After ordering a pizza for delivery, he sat out on the deck. And
immediately started thinking about what Anna might be doing this night.

* * * *

Anna flipped on her iPod as soon as she walked in the door
to the loft. Classical music began pouring out of the speakers at a high
volume. She immediately turned it down and searched for something to listen to
that would match her mood. The question was--just what was her mood?

As always, she felt free as soon as she saw her easel set up
and waiting for her. However, she also felt keyed up and all fluttery inside
from the encounter with Sam. He really was quite gorgeous, she thought as she
wandered into the large, open room. And he seemed like a nice guy. So why did
she feel nervous thinking about him? She'd never felt like that before. Maybe
he really was a hit man. She laughed at herself. Definitely not a hit man, not
with those kind, interested eyes. And those strong hands, those were the hands
of a working man. With the body of a god. She suddenly felt turned on and confused
at the same time. No man had ever stayed on her mind like this.

Anna pulled out tubes of paint and unveiled the painting she
had been working on for weeks. She stood back and stared at it for long
minutes. Finally she spoke aloud. "I'm going to need really loud music.
Gotta focus." Shoving any more thoughts of the mysterious Sam Carter to
the back of her mind, she took a deep breath, raised the volume on the music,
and reached for her favorite paint brush.

Painting had always been her path to peace. From a very
young age, drawing had been something she wanted to do. Her mother recognized
this and began taking her to the loft. Sitting for hours watching her mother
paint, she absorbed lessons no teacher could ever give to her in words.

Anna wasn't sure what would have happened if her mother hadn't
died. But with that death, her grief and her paintings got all wrapped up
together. Painting became a private thing, her escape, her place to feel all
the things she couldn't express to her father, who was grieving too. Although
she had let her family see her paintings through the years, she never showed
them to anyone else. Painting was her link to her mother, and that was not
something to be shared with outsiders. The loft became the refuge where she
could let out all the intense feelings inside, with painting and drawing the
conduit for the emotions. In the loft she became more free and expressive and
felt like her true self.

Now as she touched the canvas with her brush she felt a
disturbance that didn't come from within, but from someone outside herself.
Sam. Thoughts of him were intruding into her private place.

She began to paint with a vengeance.

Chapter 2

The alarm woke her with the radio coming on and blaring
loudly in the still-dark room. Stumbling across the floor to turn it off, Anna
stubbed her toe and hopped the rest of the way over to the table. She'd spent
the night in the loft on the old couch. It was surprisingly comfortable for
sleeping.

Deciding to take a shower at the loft rather than going
home, she was glad she'd left a clean uniform in the closet, a pale yellow one.
The uniform was Holly's idea. She felt it gave a clean, tidy look to the
bakery. Anna thought it would look just as clean and tidy if she wore jeans and
a t-shirt, but Holly could not be convinced of that. In the end, Anna and Kayla,
the high school girl who helped out, wore a variety of pastel colors in
polyester. Anna was pretty sure they resembled cupcakes in their uniforms.

She hurried through her shower, getting ready quickly because
she was dying for a cup of coffee. Somehow she had run out of coffee here. The
bakery had the best coffee, anyway, due to the expensive coffee machine.

She ran a brush through her hair and wondered again why she
didn't just cut it off to a shorter length since it always ended up in a
ponytail or bun.

The mirror in the bathroom was tiny compared to most bathroom
fixtures. She glanced at her face and decided there really was no point in
makeup--she was plain and she always would be. She stuck her tongue out at the
mirror and then whirled around to leave.

Running to the bakery, she made it with plenty of time to
make bread loaves and rolls. After drinking a cup of coffee, she was ready to
tackle the donuts just as the sun started to come up. The bakery wasn't a donut
shop, but every morning it carried one or two flavors. Anna's favorites were
the cinnamon sugar-apple cider donuts she made in the fall, but today's batch
would be pretty darn good--chocolate with chocolate frosting.

She got a phone call from her father around six a.m. right
after she put blueberry muffins in the oven. After reassuring him she'd spent a
peaceful night at the loft, she began organizing trays of baked goods for the
day.

     During all her activity, she determinedly did not think
of Sam. Granted, it took some effort to ignore those thoughts, but she
accomplished it. She figured if she stayed busy enough, she wouldn't fall into
any stupid fantasies about the man. So it was with a sense of surprise and also
inevitability that she saw him walking up to the front door of the bakery when
she took down the closed sign.
What is he doing out at that house of his,
lifting weights? You can see his abs through the t-shirt he's wearing.
It
seemed to her a bit unfair he looked quite so delicious this early in the day.

She opened the door, waving him inside. "Come on in,
Sam. The muffins are still warm from the oven and the donuts are scrumptious
today."

Sam stepped inside and stopped, taking a deep breath. "This
place smells...heavenly. I want one of everything."

A giggle escaped her lips and Anna clapped a hand to her
mouth. She
never
giggled. Sam laughed and then, after a few seconds, so
did she. He always seemed so comfortable and at ease. She found her guard
coming down just being around him.

He walked over to the trays of baked goods and seemed to think
hard about what his choice would be. Finally she said, "How long are you
planning on being in Sully Point, Sam?"

He met her gaze. "I'm not sure yet, but at least six
months, I think. Why?"

"Well, if you're going to be here that long, you'll
have time to sample everything we make. You won't miss out if you don't try it
all today."

He laughed again. "You're right. It isn't quite so
momentous a decision, is it? Okay, I want one of those blueberry muffins. And
what the hell, give me one of those sinful-looking donuts. I can see I'm going
to have to increase my workouts if I keep coming here."

"You work out? What kind of exercise do you do?"

"Some cardio, some weights and running on the beach--enough
to stay in shape."

"Ah," she said and bent her head down so her
flushed face wasn't quite so visible as she boxed up his baked goods.
Weight
lifting! I knew it.

He took the box when she handed it to him and stood there.
She stared at him, puzzled, and he said with a grin, "Are these free or
were you going to charge me something?"

Now the blush was truly pronounced. "Of course, yes. I
think I might need more coffee this morning."

"That reminds me, I'd like a large cup of coffee with
cream if you have it."

"Sure. No problem." She turned to the counter running
along the side wall and reached for a large cup.

"The coffee smells really rich. Do you use a dark
roast?"

"Yes, plus this special machine we have makes
unbelievably good coffee," she said as she gave him the coffee cup.

"Hmm, we'll see about that." He set down the box
of goodies and took a sip of coffee. "Oh, well now, that is damn fine
coffee. You're right, this might be the best coffee I've ever had."

"I see you're wearing one of the tourist t-shirts. Are
you trying to fit in more?"

"It seemed like a good idea after hearing about the
stories flying around about me."

She laughed. "Sam, I hate to tell you this, but wearing
a Sully Point t-shirt isn't going to do much to stop the rumors. A small town
like this thrives on rumors. Anyone with the least bit of mystery around
them--well, let's just say fitting in isn't going to be easy."

His face looked thoughtful. "So--do you think of me as
surrounded by mystery?"

"Me?"
Oh yeah,
she thought. "Of
course not, you seem like a regular guy
to me."

"Are you making fun of me now, Anna?" Sam asked
with a widening grin on his face.

"Only a little." She laughed. "If you want to
get to know people in town better, you should come by the Spaghetti Dinner
tonight at St. Luke's Church. Most of the town turns out for it every year,
even if they don't attend the church. We set up tables out on the lawn and then
some of us dress up to be the peasant servers."

"Peasant servers?"

She grinned. "Basically it means we dress in peasant
blouses and ruffled skirts. There's lots of visiting between tables and plenty
of people to get to know."

"It sounds like fun and something I should do. If only
to see you in a peasant girl outfit."

She didn't know what to say to that and smiled. "Oh, before
I forget, I'm supposed to tell you Cody's friend just sold his pickup and he
doesn't know of anyone else who might have one for sale." Her father had
been sure to mention the information about the pickup truck to her when he
called earlier. He seemed sure she would see Sam before he did.

"That's too bad. I'll wait a while and see if one comes
up for sale in the paper."

"Do you need a pickup for your work?" Anna asked
with a mischievous grin.

"Trying to trick me, aren't you? But I'm not saying. I
could always need a truck to bring construction supplies out to the beach
house."

"True, you could," she said with sparkling eyes.
"Except, according to my father, you're almost finished fixing up the
place."

"And it's back to me," he said with a smile.
"So...you've been discussing me with your father?"

She searched frantically for a clever answer and came up
with, "Yes."

He nodded and stood there as if waiting for more.

"Well, with all the rumors, of course you'd come up in
conversation," she said rather defensively.