As Love Blooms (10 page)

Toasted almonds scented the air. Reese drew in a deep breath and smiled as Sonja Swenhaugen set a piping hot piece of cake before him and another in front of her husband Erik.

Reese cut a bite with his fork, speared it, and slipped it between his lips. The butter-rich delicacy melted on his tongue and he moaned. “You’re spoiling me, Sonja.”

“If you get yourself a wife, I won’t have to.” She lifted an enameled pot from the stove and refilled his coffee cup.

“I could never find someone who can bake like you.” Reese raised the corner of his lip in a cheeky smile.

She wiped her hands on her apron and sat down at the table. “I’m sure you’d find my neighbor’s daughter Inga to your liking. I only wish you’d let me introduce the two of you. She’s such a sweet girl.”

“And she’s plump, so I bet she can bake quite well—or at least eat quite well.” Erik laughed and downed his coffee. “Momma, leave poor Reese alone and let him enjoy his
fyrstekake
.”

Reese set down his fork and took a swallow of coffee. “Fristakaka?”

“It means royalty cake, and it’s my favorite. I could eat it every day.”

“And if you did, you’d look like Inga.” Sonja patted her husband’s arm. “Now, Reese, about finding you a wife.”

Erik pushed his chair back from the table and stood. “Momma, let him be. He’s already met a girl.”

“You have!” Sonja’s eyes widened. “Tell me about her. Is she pretty? Does she have a pleasant disposition? Can she work like a man if she needs to?”

Reese chuckled to himself. Tessa could even look like a man—or at least a boy—if she needed to. He took in Sonja’s hopeful expression and wished Erik wasn’t so incredibly honest with his blonde-haired bride of fifteen years. “I mentioned to Erik I’d met a girl named Tessa, but she’s just a friend.”

“And is she pretty?”

Reese swallowed the last of his coffee. “Even in overalls.”

“Overalls?” Sonja scowled. “What kind of girl is this Tessa?”

“Tessa knows no limits.” He chuckled. “But don’t worry, Sonja. She’s just a friend.”

“Friends sometimes become more.”

Erik laid his hand on her shoulder. “Let him be, Momma. He came over here on his day off to help me put a new roof on the shed, not answer all of your questions.”

“That may be, but someone has to look out for him.” She paused as Reese stood. “Promise me you’ll be careful with this girl. She may bring you great happiness or she may bring you terrible grief.”

Erik swung the back door open and laughed. “Or she may bring you a little of both.”

How true, but that was enough talk about Tessa. She invaded his thoughts enough without Sonja’s help.

Reese thanked his hostess for the cake, then headed outside. He located the ladder and propped it against the shed. Erik opened the shed’s door to reveal the shingles they’d be using. Reese heaved
a bundle onto his shoulder and began the climb to the roof, and Erik followed behind him with a bundle of his own. They worked in silence for nearly half an hour with the steady ring of a hammer filling the warm spring air.

Erik leaned back and wiped his brow with the sleeve of his shirt. “You’ve grown quiet, my young friend. Did Momma’s questions bother you? You know, she was only teasing about your Tessa.”

“She’s not
my
Tessa, and yes, I know Sonja was teasing me.”

Erik moved to the ladder. “We need another bundle, but when I get back, I want to hear about why your young lady friend was wearing overalls. There must be a story in there.”

Reese grabbed another shingle. “There is, but for the time being, I think I’ll keep it to myself.”

Thank goodness Erik honored his request, because if he’d pressed him, Reese probably would have spilled everything about the overall-clad girl who filled his dreams.

 10 

Why Reese found himself at Como Park after church services this morning was a mystery even to him. A niggling feeling had surfaced every time he thought of the park, and he’d grown to appreciate those moments as coming straight from the Lord. But why had the Lord prompted him to come here today on his day off?

Still dressed in his blue serge suit, he began a trek down Banana Walk. The fruit trees and other palms were adjusting well to being moved from the hothouse outdoors, even if the days weren’t quite hot enough yet to keep the plants truly happy.

He paused to touch the soil of the ferns. It needed more water. He needed to check on who’d been assigned to use the pumper on Friday.

After turning in the direction of the park office, he stopped on the path. Tessa? He watched the young lady approach. Gone were her overalls. They’d been replaced by an attractive ivory dress with a belt that accentuated her small waist. A huge matching ivory hat—decked with more silk roses than the east garden and bearing an enormous matching bow—dipped alluringly to the right.

He whistled softly. Today Miss Gregory was all young lady, and if he were honest with himself, he’d have to admit he liked what he saw. A lot.

But why was she here?

Their gazes connected, sending a jolt through his chest. She flashed him a wide smile and walked toward him. “Reese, isn’t Sunday your day off?”

“I could say the same thing to you.” He cleared his throat. Normally words came easy when he was with her. Why was it so hard to talk to her today?

“I wanted to check on our garden. I know it’s silly, but I had a feeling I should come to the park today.”

Chill bumps crept up Reese’s neck.

“What about you?”

“No reason.” Reese stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked down at his shoes. “Shall we go take a look together? Then maybe I can show you some of the other parts of the park.”

She clasped her hands together at her waist. “Oh, Reese, I would love that.”

“Good.”

Good? That was the best he could do?

He offered her the crook of his arm. She didn’t hesitate before slipping her hand in place. He covered it with his own and tucked her arm against his side, his chest warming at the contact.

What was Tessa doing to him? No girl had ever affected him this way. He’d stepped out with more than one girl in the last few years, but none of them turned him into a blithering idiot. Tessa simply had a way about her that drew him in.

She squeezed his arm. “I’m so excited. I’ve yet to explore the whole park.”

“It’s twenty-two acres, Tessa. I don’t think we can explore all of it today.”

“Then you’ll just have to promise me more days like this one.”

For some reason the idea of doing that made him much happier than it should have. He’d better be careful or Tessa was going to have him under her spell by the end of the day.

But magic was only an illusion, and he wanted the real thing.

Dust motes danced in the air, suspended in a May sunbeam. Tessa released a contented sigh from her seat on a park bench beside Reese. Strains of “The Land of Golden Dreams” came from the bandstand. The round, open building was built on pilings and set out in the water of Lake Como as if on giant stilts.

The trills of the flutes echoed off the water, and Tessa let the music feed her fantasy. She imagined the dust motes as fairies, flitting around on the wind.

She glanced at Reese, and a smile crooked her mouth. She doubted he ever thought about such whimsical creatures. As much as she was given to a flight of fancy, he seemed rooted to reality, and she found that quiet strength oddly attractive.

So far, their day had been entrancing. He’d shown her the Schiffman Fountain with its cast-iron mermaid spouting water from the seashell in her hands, and the Mannheimer Memorial. The wooden pergola, resting on marble columns, sat on a hill and held a sparkling white fountain.

They’d laughed at the children running through the recently constructed playground. He’d shown her the statue of Henrik Ibsen, donated by the Sons of Norway, and the elephant topiary, situated on an island in the center of Cozy Lake. When the band concluded, he told her they would return to Cozy Lake, south of Lake Como.

Reese had proved a most attentive, almost flirtatious companion, but he was probably being kind. A solid man like Reese wouldn’t find a whimsical girl like her of any great interest.

“Tessa?” Reese waved his hand in front of her face.

She blinked and laughed. When had the music stopped? “Sorry. I was distracted.”

“By?”

By you.
Her cheeks warmed. She stood and adjusted her skirt. “I was thinking about the dust motes.”

“Dust motes.” He didn’t pursue the topic but instead directed Tessa down the long, classical concrete pergola west of the lakeside pavilion. They passed beneath the canopy of red and yellow climbing roses, their sweet fragrance cloying the air.

“Okay, I may regret asking this, but I have to know. Why were you thinking about the dust motes?”

“They reminded me of fairies.” She grinned. “Do you regret asking me already?”

“Not yet. Go on.”

“I was once in a production of
Peter Pan
at the Metropolitan Opera House. Don’t look so impressed. I was only the nanny, so my part was small, but the specks floating in the sunbeam reminded me of Tinker Bell and her fairy dust.”

He chuckled. “And what would you sprinkle fairy dust on right now? Would you have the fairies carry us away to Paris or the Orient?”

“No.” She looked at him from beneath the brim of her hat, butterflies colliding in her stomach. “This day is perfect as it is.”

His lips curved and his eyes sparkled like the sun off the water. He seemed to want to say something, but instead he inclined his head toward the lake. “Come on. I want to show you something.”

She brushed away a twinge of disappointment and reminded herself to quit imagining things where they weren’t. They were friends—partners, even—but nothing more.

Fairy dust? The way his heart was pounding, Reese would have sworn Tessa had sprinkled fairy dust all over him.

Focus. Show
her the park.
Tomorrow they could get back to work on their garden. Back to normal. He didn’t need a relationship with someone like Tessa. He needed someone predictable, solid, normal.

But why did “normal” hold so little appeal right now?

Tessa seemed quieter than before. Had he offended her somehow? No, she’d said the day was perfect, and he’d have to agree. Tessa was effervescent—bubbling like the fountain. She delighted in everything she saw, and she made him look at things through fresh eyes.