Love Makes the Difference (Sully Point Book 1) (8 page)

"I wouldn't say that, not entirely," Sam said. "There
is a depth to you, a hidden depth that isn't obvious at first. And how many
people in this town would guess your biggest secret?"

"Shush! Probably nobody, but be careful."

"Don't worry. I'm very happy keeping that particular
secret."

"What secret?" Mrs. Garner said as she and Mrs.
Simpson arrived.

Anna looked panicked, but Sam replied quickly. "The
recipe for the oatmeal-raisin cookies. I know there is a special ingredient,
but she won't tell me what it is."

Mrs. Simpson and Mrs. Garner both looked from Sam to Anna
and back again. Finally Anna remembered to introduce them and ended with saying
she had no intention of giving away the family oatmeal-raisin cookie recipe.

"Are you all set here?" Anna asked them as they
opened outdoor chairs to sit on behind the table.

"Yes, we're ready to sell lots of goodies," Mrs.
Simpson said.

"Okay then, we'll take off. See you later." Anna
gave them a little wave and she and Sam got in the van to drive back to the
bakery.

Sam asked, "Is there a secret family oatmeal-raisin
cookie recipe?"

"There is now!" Anna said heatedly. Then she and
Sam burst out laughing.

* * * *

Sam had been to fairs across the country as part of his
living in small towns. He'd never looked forward to one as much as the Sully
Point fair with Anna. She'd gone home to change into 'fair-going clothes' and
he'd decided to change too. He drove to her family's house dressed in drawstring
natural linen pants with a sand and pale blue plaid cotton shirt. Brown loafers
without socks finished off his look and he was suddenly worried he might be too
casual for Anna.

She came out the door of the building before he could get
out of the car. He gave a sigh of relief. Her floral gauzy skirt came to mid-calf
and swirled around her legs. She had on a sleeveless knit top in pale green and
white sandals. As always, out of her bakery uniform and in regular clothing she
looked like a different person. She really was incredibly sexy and pretty and
yet seemed totally unaware of the fact. He couldn't decide if it was her eyes,
green in the sunlight, or her shiny auburn hair that made her pretty. Taken
individually, no feature was outstanding on her face. But all together--she was
striking. And clearly did not see herself that way. Opening the door for her,
he said, "You look lovely, Anna."

She got in the car and said, "You don't have to say
that, you know."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked as he started the car.

"I know I'm plain-looking. Always have been, always
will be. You're saying that doesn't mean I've suddenly become lovely."

Sam turned off the car. He turned toward her. "Anna,
listen to me. You aren't plain-looking, not dressed like this, with your hair
down, your eyes sparkling. You really do look lovely. Now that bakery uniform
does nothing for you, and when you pull your hair back it's hard to see the beauty
of it. But even then, there's something about you, Anna Grainger, that is
appealing."

"I--I don't know what to say."

"Just say 'Thank you, Sam' and then we'll talk of
something else."

"Thank you, Sam, sincerely."

He smiled at her and skimmed a hand down the back of her
hair. "Okay then, let's go."

Once they reached the fair, Sam explained how he was looking
for a few items for his house. "A coffee table, a lamp, any odd, different
thing to look at. Oh, and a large paperweight to hold down pages I've printed from
blowing away in the ocean breeze."

But the fair held more than just hand-made items for the
home. There were carnival games, rides, cotton candy and other foods, and even
a psychic--a palm reader to be exact. The palm reader was near the entrance to
the fair, and Sam suggested they get a reading.

Anna said, "You don't believe in psychic stuff, do you?
Even though--"

"I believe we can't know all the mysteries in life and
I'm content not to be sure about some things. But let's do it anyway because it
will be fun. I think you need more fun in your life."

"I have fun in my life!"

He just looked at her.

"I have some fun in my life. Sometimes. Every now and
then." Then she leaned close to him and whispered. "My painting is my
fun."

He patted her arm. "I know, as is my writing. But there's
more to life and having fun than only your passion. Let's have a different kind
of fun today."

She smiled up at him suddenly, making him catch his breath. "Okay,
mister, you're on. Lead me to the fun!"

The palm reader read Sam's palm first, predicting he would
one day amass a fortune and great fame. Anna couldn't help but giggle. Then it
was her turn.

"Yes, you also will achieve fame and fortune...and
love. A great love."

Anna frowned. "A great love? Are you sure of that?"

"Yes, yes, it is quite clear here. See this line?"

"What about Sam? You didn't mention any love stuff for
him."

The psychic held out her hand for Sam's again and stared at
it. Then she looked at Anna's. Finally she chuckled. "Yes, a great love
for you and also for him." She continued chuckling as they left.

As they walked away, Anna said, "Well that's good. You'll
find love, since you already have fame and fortune, and I'll get all three when
I'm looking for none of them."

Sam looked thoughtfully at his hand and glanced back at the
psychic's tent. "Yes, well you tend to get things when you least expect
them." He took Anna's hand in his and traced the line the psychic had
shown them. Then he continued to hold her hand in his as they walked away. "Come
on. Let's go play some carnival games and win prizes."

She laughed.

* * * *

Anna felt like she was in some kind of fantasy. She was on a
real date with Sam at last! He was totally--well, no other word for it--sexy in
those linen pants. His blond hair was getting a bit long and he brushed it back
from his face with his hand. While his other hand held hers. It was mind-blowing
to her. He seemed to actually like her. And what he'd said in the car about how
she looked...she had been making more of an effort lately, wearing makeup and
paying more attention to her looks. Mainly because of the little comments he
made, random compliments here and there. But he'd called her 'lovely' and that...changed
something inside her, like something shifted her perception of herself.

The games were a hoot, with him winning a very small stuffed
teddy bear for her at the ring toss while she won him a goldfish at the fishing
game.

"There's no way I'm carrying this fish all over the
fair. Let's find a nice bowl for it, and then put it in the car for
safekeeping."

They found a set of mixing bowls at the potter's booth Sam
thought would go well in his kitchen, as well as a good-sized clear fish bowl.
After settling the goldfish in the car, they returned to the fair and wandered
through the craft section.

Anna enjoyed watching how he looked at things. It was never
about price, but all about quality. He seemed to appreciate the effort put into
some of the pieces, but by lunch time he had only found a coffee table for his
house and arranged to have it delivered.

"That wood for the table is great and will be perfect
in the beach house, but I'm just not crazy about anything else I've seen here,"
he said while they found seats at a table under a large tent. They both had
plates piled high with fish tacos and beer-battered onion rings.

"You could always go to a furniture store. In Boston or
even New York."

"I hate to go that far when I only need a few things.
Maybe I'll check out the local furniture store for the lamp. Then I would just need
something for the wall across from the couch. I hate staring at a blank wall."

He took a big bite of fish taco. Anna nibbled on an onion
ring and thought hard. Of course there was a solution to his blank wall.
Sitting in her packing crate--and the storage locker--were quite a few
paintings. If he found one he liked...but could she let go of any of them? True,
she had been thinking of putting them in a gallery if the owner liked them. But
this was now, not in the future.

"What's wrong, Anna? Why aren't you eating?" Sam
frowned at her.

"I was thinking," she said, deciding in that
moment what to do. "I think you should go through my paintings and see if
you like one enough to put up on your wall. You could have one of them for your
house."

Sam's looked incredulous. "You're kidding...really? I'd
pay you well for it, never fear. It would be great to have one."

"Oh, you wouldn't have to pay me. Think of it as
payment for helping out at the loft."

"They are your very hard work, work you've poured your
soul into unless I miss my guess. Of course I'm going to pay for the painting.
That's only right."

Anna was quiet again. Sam went back to eating, glancing at
her periodically. Finally she picked up her fork and began to eat some fish out
of a taco. He was right about one thing--it was definitely work to paint. Fun,
glorious, wonderful work. She'd never gotten any money for doing something she
loved.

"All right. You can pay."

Cody sat down beside her and asked, "Pay for what?"

"Um, Sam is going to pay for the ride we're going on."

Cody looked at Sam, "So what ride are you going on, The
Bullet?"

"No!" Anna and Sam said together. They laughed and
Anna continued. "No, we're going to ride the Merry-Go-Round. I've always
loved it."

"Yeah, I remember from when we were kids. You'd ride
that thing forever. So, Sis, how long have you and Sam here been dating?"

Anna felt herself blushing. Sam said smoothly, "Today
is our first date. Did you come to the fair with a date, Cody?"

Cody frowned and shook his head.
Hmm
, Anna thought,
something's wrong in Cody's dating world.
Somehow hearing Sam tell Cody
they were on a date made her feel all warm inside.

Cody was talking to Sam about renovating Anna's loft when
she next tuned in to the conversation. She'd managed to finish up her fish, and
left all but a few onion rings on her plate, which Cody finished off.

"I talked to Dad this morning about appliances. We
thought maybe some of those retro style appliances, but they cost too much. So
we think we'll just do basic stainless steel."

"Yeah, those vintage appliances can cost a pretty
penny, but they're worth it. I installed them in my beach house."

Cody's surprise showed on his face. "You did? Nice one."

Anna said, "Isn't there something called appliance
paint?"

Both Cody and Sam nodded.

"Well, how about we just get a white fridge and stove
and then I can paint them red? That should liven the place up."

Cody nodded. "Great idea. I'm gonna go find Dad and
tell him. See you guys later."

They watched Cody walk off and Sam said, "You're always
full of creative ideas, aren't you?"

She shrugged. "It only makes sense. But tell me, what
color did you get for your kitchen?"

"Beach-blue. It's an old-fashioned blue. I'll be
interested to see what you think of it when you visit."

"Am I going to visit?"

"I want you to...if you want to."

"Then I will," she said with a smile.

* * * *

By the time they left the fair, Sam was sure of one thing.
He was falling in love with Anna Grainger.

Chapter 5

Anna had paintings spread out all along the walls of the
loft. She'd retrieved some she had in storage as well, so there were more in a
corner leaning against each other.

Sam walked slowly around the room. Stopping before each one
and looking at it before moving on. Anna watched him for a while, but it made
her too nervous, so finally she went into the almost-completed kitchen to make
coffee. It seemed strange to have someone look at what she'd painted, even the
older paintings, because they all had a piece of her in them. She wondered how
it was for him with his books to have millions of people reading his words. No
wonder he worked under a pen name and tried so hard to keep his privacy.

Anna hadn't realized just how many paintings she actually
had until she'd opened up the storage locker. She'd rented it two years ago and
was rather stunned by how much she had when put together with the paintings in
the loft. Maybe it was time to make room for new ones.

Sam startled her by coming up behind her and running a hand
down her arm. "Whoa, warn a person, I almost spilled the coffee." She
carried the tray with cups and a warming carafe filled with coffee to the brass
chest she used for a coffee table.

He followed her and said, "I've decided."

Carefully, she set the tray down with suddenly shaking
hands. "You have? You like one well enough to have in your home?"

He shook his head. "Anna, what am I going to do with
you? I don't like just one well enough--it's taken me all this time because I
like too many of them. They're wonderful. Moving and powerful, raw and real,
whether you're doing something more realistic or something fantastical or
purely abstract--the intensity, the beauty--I don't have words to describe
them."

Anna sank down on the couch. "You're doing pretty well,
I'd say."

He sat next to her and took her hand in his. "Hey, are
you all right? You've gone pale all of a sudden."

"I'm just stunned to hear your reaction. It's more than
I ever dreamed would be possible. Wow." She felt as if her heart would
burst in that moment and a weight was lifted that she hadn't known she carried.
Someone else could see in them what she had meant when creating them! It was a
heady feeling.

"Here, it's this one." Sam got up and pointed to a
painting he'd propped up on the chair away from the others. It was a painting
of a beach and the ocean at night, and at first glance could be taken as a
scene from Sully Point--until the eyes noticed three moons hung in the sky.