Restorations (Book One Oregon In Love) (15 page)

When their food arrived, he took her hand in
his and gave thanks. After the prayer he continued to hold her
hand, loathe to let go. He leaned forward to bring it to his lips,
but a sudden mirth in Sara’s eyes gave him pause.

She gave a half snort, half giggle. “Your
elbow is in your fettuccine Alfredo,” she whispered.

Brian jerked his elbow off his plate and
stared at it with a stunned expression as if finding someone else’s
body part in his food. He scrubbed off his elbow with a napkin and
grinned ruefully at her. He could tell she was trying to control a
fit of the giggles. “I guess I wasn’t using my noodle just
then.”

Sara groaned and erupted into laughter. As a
result, she visibly relaxed, and they ended up sharing a pleasant
meal together.

Afterward, he took her to several downtown
antique shops specializing in decor from the Arts and Crafts
period. Sara found an autumn leaf rug with the pattern designed by
William Morris that she had to have. More purchases included muslin
pillow covers embroidered with ginkgo leaves, and a small, sinuous
vase finished with a bluish-green glaze.

The stores where they shopped were
relatively dim inside so when they walked outside from the last
shop, Brian was shocked to see the sky dark with clouds releasing a
deluge of rain. They retreated back into the store and waited for
the downpour to pass. He attempted to call the roofing crew but
realized his cell phone battery was dead. After another fifteen
minutes, the rain stopped as abruptly as it started and a ray of
sun pierced through the clouds.

Brian took Sara’s arm and grimly led her
from the store. They dodged puddles on the long walk back to the
truck while his mind fretted over the untimely rain. Sara’s house
had been completely opened up as the roofers prepared to put down
the new plywood sheeting. He could only guess at the damage done by
the rain.

Aware of the deepening tension coming from
Brian, Sara couldn’t think of any way to dispel the gloom. When
they arrived at his truck, she found she’d forgotten to roll her
window all the way up and the passenger side of the bench seat was
drenched.

Unable to find anything to place over the
seat, Brian patted the middle space. “You’ll have to sit here.”
After putting her shopping bags on the floor of the passenger side,
he ushered her around to the driver’s side of the cab.

Sara got in and scooted to the middle, glad
her rug would be delivered later to the house by the store. Brian
got in beside her and when they were both belted, he started the
engine. She shivered in her sleeveless dress as the temperature had
fallen considerably.

Brian reached over to turn on the heater.
“It will take a minute to warm up.” He stretched his arm along the
back of the seat. “Move closer and I’ll keep you warm until the
heater kicks in.”

The matter-of-fact way in which he spoke
robbed his words of any double meaning, but Sara needed no further
encouragement. She slid over until she sat hip to hip with him,
biting back an anxious smile as his arm came to rest around her
shoulders.

They drove back to Buell Creek in silence.
Sara peeked up at his harsh expression, knowing that he was worried
about the roof. She didn’t know how to reassure him. By the time
they arrived back at the house, she blinked drowsily, realizing
she’d fallen asleep. Brian eased his arm away and helped her out of
the cab.

“Let’s see how bad it is,” she heard him say
as he made his way toward the house. Sara rushed to keep up with
his long strides.

The foreman of the roofing crew came out to
meet him. He put up his hands in a calming gesture. “We managed to
get the house covered with tarps before the worst part of the rain.
Luckily there wasn’t much wind, so the damage, if any, should be
minimal.”

Sara left them as they discussed the details
and went into the house. When she walked into the kitchen, stepping
carefully around the construction debris, she noticed the floor
appeared wet. The crew members shook their heads when they saw
her.

“Talk about bad timing, man,” said Jeff.
“Brian’s gonna be furious.”

Offering them a weak smile, Sara proceeded
through the kitchen and on up the staircase. She braced herself for
what she might find as she mounted the steps. After going through
all four bedrooms, she already saw brownish stains, evidence of
water damage on the ceilings.

Hearing a noise behind her, she turned to
find Brian looking up at the stains with disgust. She approached
him and laid a tentative hand on his arm. “It can be fixed and I’m
not upset, okay?”

He smiled at her in a distracted way but
said nothing.

“Thank you for the trip today. It was very
helpful.”

“I’m glad.”

Sara gave up. It seemed as if she didn’t
exist. She gave a little shrug and made her way downstairs, leaving
him to worry in peace. She could only wonder if this house—which
brought them together—would end up keeping them apart.

Chapter Fourteen

The following Sunday dawned quiet in the
absence of construction. The new shake roof was on and the water
damage, repaired. Apparently all should’ve been well with her
contractor, but that wasn’t the case. Preparing for church, Sara
let out a tired sigh.

After the day they spent together in the
city, he acted aloof again, leaving her feeling hurt and
bewildered, but not that surprised. She tried to be mature and
accepting of this fact, but felt keenly disappointed all the same.
She had to admit just because she now wanted to be with him, didn’t
mean she could.

Sara frowned as she pulled the front of her
hair back with a clip. If Brian didn’t have any interest in her,
well, fine. She was determined not to wear her heart on her sleeve.
No more straying eyes and heartfelt sighs.

As if in mockery to her
thoughts, another heavy sigh escaped her while she finished her
hair.
Now, what to wear?
Not really caring at this point, she settled on
the first thing she came to in her closet, a brushed silk red dress
she hadn’t worn for a while. She'd bought it some time ago when in
one of her more fanciful moods. It had a square neckline and an
empire waist. The sleeves were long and fitted and the skirt fell
to just above her ankles.

After it was on, she scrutinized herself in
the mirror. The deep red emphasized the whiteness of her skin and
once again she wished she possessed the kind of complexion that
could handle a little sun. She turned a lobster pink when exposed
to UV rays. Naturally, she had to be the pale-as-pasteurized-milk
type when she knew Brian preferred the deeply tanned beach bunny
look.

Deciding to quit worrying about her
appearance, Sara applied a bit of make-up, grabbed her purse, and
headed out to the Ford. A warm, violent wind tore the black clouds
to rags and blew her hair into her face. She wrenched open the door
of the pickup and as she tossed in her purse, wondered if she
should go back for her coat in case it rained later. But she was
used to the vagaries of Oregon weather and so decided against it. A
glance at her watch showed she was already late for church.

Just as Sara stepped up into the cab, she
heard her name being called. She turned and saw Brian walking up
the drive toward her. Schooling her expression to be nonchalant but
friendly, she stepped back down and smiled at his approach. “Good
morning.”

Brian stopped and leaned against the hood of
the truck, gazing down at her in a way that made her earlier
admonitions melt away.

“Are you going to Hattie’s after
church?”

Holding her blowing hair out of her face,
she nodded. “I don’t see her as much as I’d like, so I try to spend
my Sunday afternoons with her.”

Brian looked down. “If you were planning on
coming back here after church, I thought we could ride
together.”

What a sensible
suggestion
. He probably just wanted to save
on gas consumption. “You’re welcome to come to Hattie’s with me.
You don’t need an official invitation.”

Brian shook his head. “I need to come back
here and do some paperwork later.”

Sara smiled thinly. “Then I’ll see you at
church?”

He nodded and went back to his own
vehicle.

Once inside the cab, Sara started the
reluctant engine and wondered why being Miss Manners made her feel
so dismal.

Brian arrived at church several minutes late
and noticed the pew where Sara and Hattie sat was full. He’d sat
with her before, but wasn’t sure if he should make a habit of it.
It would start people speculating on the nature of their
relationship. Maybe she wanted other single men in the church to
know she was available and wouldn’t appreciate him assuming such a
proprietary role.

Brian sent a dark look around the
congregation and wondered if any male present had designs on her.
But everyone seemed to be enjoying the worship too much to notice
one disgruntled attendee. Feeling ashamed of himself, Brian closed
his eyes and let the words of a hymn wash over him.

Later, during the sermon, he became easily
distracted. One minute he listened intently to the message and in
the next, his gaze slid to where Sara sat across the aisle. He
remembered how her eyes reflected the dark clouds earlier this
morning. And the way the wind whipped her dress against her figure
while her hair blew around her face. She appeared to be a part of
the advancing storm—volatile and unpredictable.

Brian smiled at his whimsical turn of mind.
At one time, he used poetry and flowery words to woo her, and some
of that exposure must’ve really soaked into his brain. But he
didn't need to be a poet to figure out what ailed him.

Love
. He loved her and he didn’t know what to do about it. He was
afraid if he made a misstep with her, he might lose any chance to
win her over. Brian bowed his head and released the situation to
the Lord, along with the desire in his heart, his
uncertainty.
All of it
. If Sara were truly for him, God would make a way. Of that he
could be certain.

When the service ended, Sara and Hattie
stood and chatted with other members of the congregation as people
filed out the main door. Instinctively, Sara’s gaze sought out
Brian’s figure. When she located him, she saw him talking with two
pretty young ladies, obviously enjoying himself. A wave of jealousy
washed over her so suddenly she gripped the back of the pew to
steady herself. For the first time, she realized the church
positively teemed with single, nubile females. Any one of them
could steal him away with a bat of an eye.

The experience was reminiscent of when she
and Brian dated in college. Even as his bona fide girlfriend, she
never felt quite secure in his affections. He'd had a habit of
letting his eyes trail after any girl within sight, making her
wonder if he’d casually cast her off when a better opportunity came
along.

Sara forced herself to take
a breath.
That was then, this was
now
. But how could she be sure Brian was
different? The tiny seed of doubt began to grow and burgeon within
her. If they somehow managed to get together again, how could she
be sure he wouldn’t always be on the lookout for a better thing?
Had he really changed all that much? Sara wanted to believe so, but
a residual fear lurked in the corners of her heart—fear of the way
he could hurt her again.

With great effort, Sara brought herself back
to the conversation at hand. It seemed everyone was talking about
the weather change from summer heat to sudden rain. As Hattie made
ready to leave, Sara followed behind her with her eyes lowered,
determined not to look in Brian’s direction as she left. When she
emerged from the church, she took a deep breath of the moist, tepid
air.

A thin drizzle began and people shrugged
into raincoats before braving the walk through the parking lot.
Sara thought ruefully of the coat she left behind. She looked up
into the sky. Great thunderclouds boiled up against the horizon,
scudding straight for her.

“I’ll see you at your place in a few
minutes,” she said to Hattie before making the dash to her
truck.

She made it into the cab before the downpour
while a foreboding rumble of thunder sounded overhead. Once safely
ensconced inside, she dug through her purse, looking for her keys.
By the time she found them at the bottom, the parking lot had all
but emptied of cars. Brian’s pickup was one of the few vehicles
remaining. Sara quickly put the key in the ignition to start the
engine. She didn’t want to be around when he came strolling out of
the church with a beauty on each arm.

But when she turned the key, all she heard
was a chattering sound from under the hood.

She closed her eyes and tried again several
times, somehow knowing it was no use. Feeling disgusted with all
motorized vehicles in general, Sara realized she needed to go back
into the church before it closed to call Hattie. She pushed open
her door and slid out, just in time to receive an onslaught of
rain. She was soaked to the skin within seconds.

Sputtering and wiping her streaming hair out
of her eyes, Sara groped blindly for the door handle. As she
scrambled inside, she saw Brian appear at her window. She rolled
down the window a crack.

“Having a problem, Sara?”

“My truck won’t start,” she mumbled.

“Scoot over and I’ll give it a try.”

She moved across the seat, refraining to
point out he would hardly have more success in the simple act of
turning a key. Brian’s frame filled the small cab as he got in. He
pumped the gas pedal and turned the key with the same result then
looked at her and shrugged.