Authors: Elizabeth Powers
“I
can’t believe any father could be disappointed in a daughter like you.”
“And
I thank you for that,” Lena said with a heartfelt sigh.
Frank
nodded. “So does Jeanette go to these things too?” he asked, referring to
Lena's stepmother.
“She
does. It seems to be the one thing that she still cares about. But she’s been
drinking a lot more than she used to, and I think Dad likes having me there too
so we can keep an eye on her. He seems to think it’s just Jeanette being
Jeanette, but I’m getting kind of worried about her, to be honest.” She shook
her head and rolled her eyes up at her friend. “Life at home is so fun,” she
added dryly.
Frank
looked appalled. “Wow. I hadn’t realized that your stepmother drank. Sorry,
Lena. Moving out of their house was probably the best thing you ever did.”
“Tell
me about it. Of course, it caused Dad to write me out of his will. Again. But
wow it was worth it.” She grinned then. “At least I’ve got Pops to keep me sane,
though he had the gall to move to Arizona last year. I really need Ned to come
back from God knows where and rejoin the family,” she said, referring to her
older brother who was currently halfway around the globe, working on some
business deal that Lena didn’t begin to understand. Then deftly changing the
subject, she asked Frank, “Who’s hosting on Saturday?”
“Trish
and Dan. And you’re down for beer this weekend, so if you can’t make it, just
give
me
your six-pack and I’ll take it along.”
“Oh
yeah, and have it gone before you even make it to dinner? I don’t think so. I’ll
be there. Me
and
my beer.”
“You
are not a very trusting woman.”
“And
you
love a good beer. Now go away. I have work to do.”
“Don’t
forget to make time for Ed.”
“Who’s
Ed?” Lena asked as innocently as she could.
“Lena...”
She
grinned, leaning back in her chair. “I’m just yanking your chain, Frank. I’ll
find him for coffee, I promise. He’s a weekend warrior?”
“Yeah.
He said he’ll be in on Saturday morning. You’ll be here?”
“Yeah,
sure. I’ll be here. And if he’s not cowering in his crate, I’ll even bring Winston.
He’s an excellent judge of character.”
“In
what way? That dog is afraid of his own reflection. And me. What dog is ever
afraid of me?”
Lena
laughed. “I figure that if Winston is ever
not
afraid of a stranger he
meets, I’m either hiring the guy on the spot or marrying him. One or the
other.”
“How
will you decide which?” Frank laughed.
“Probably
by the kind of beer he drinks. And if he irritates me even half as much as you
do, it will be a working relationship only. Now go away. Seriously. It’s your
day off. You should be sitting on a park bench somewhere, feeding the birds.”
“Birds
my ass. I’m taking the Harley into the mountains. See you on Saturday, Lena. Make
sure that you get some park bench time yourself, OK?”
She
smiled up at him. “Yeah, I’ll make sure. Thanks, Frank.”
Across
town, Chase was having lunch with Jared at one of the local delis in between
meetings. Since Jared was not only his best friend, but also a top-notch
corporate lawyer who worked in the building down the block from Chase, it was
not uncommon for them to get together mid-day for a meal and to talk business. But
today, Chase’s mind was not on work. And truthfully, Jared was curious. His
friend had followed through on making some changes in a way that Jared hadn’t
expected.
“I’m
surprised at your enthusiasm for the homeless shelter,” Jared confessed. “For
some reason, I didn’t expect that you’d find it very appealing.”
“I
like it,” Chase said thoughtfully as he took a bite of his sandwich and looked
over at his friend.
Jared
looked puzzled. “So what do you like about it?”
Chase
shrugged. “I don’t know if it’s anything tangible. But there’s this spirit of camaraderie.
People get along. There’s no competition – it’s all about teamwork and pulling
together to help others. It’s just different from my normal workday.”
“You’ve
been spending a lot of time there. Have you met anyone?”
“Yeah,
but not in the sense that you’re asking. All the women are over 40, and most
are over 60. But I like it. And I feel like I’m doing a good thing. So I’ll
keep going.”
“Don’t
you want to find someplace where there are some younger women around?”
“I
think there are a few younger volunteers that show up in the evenings and some
weekends. And I’m told that the head of the place is in her 30s. I haven’t met
her yet, but I hear good things about her. She must be a spitfire to put up
with her staff – they are a bunch of crazy people. Crazy in a good way, of
course.”
“Oh
of course,” Jared repeated sarcastically, but then he leaned back in his seat
and grinned. “This sounds good for you, Chase. You might even forget why you
started this whole stupid thing in the first place.”
Shaking
his head, Chase said adamantly, “No, I won’t forget. But this helping others
thing is doing wonders for my self esteem, so leave me alone.”
Jared
rolled his eyes. “Fine. You’re coming over on Saturday night? Gina’s cooking.”
“Sure.
I’ll bring the wine.”
“Gina’s
making burgers. Make it beer.”
“Fantastic.
I’ll bring a couple of six packs. Thanks for the invite.”
Crumpling
up the paper from around his sandwich, Jared slid out of the booth they were
sharing and stood up next to the table. “I’ve got to go. I’ve got another
meeting in ten minutes. See you this weekend.”
Late
Saturday morning, flashlight in hand, Lena was on her hands and knees, crawling
under a set of metal risers in the basement and looking for an old box of
children’s books. The box had come into the shelter via a donation from a local
library about six months ago, and the staff had moved it downstairs and out of
the way while they were painting and doing some renovations in the children’s
play room. But now, with the painting done and shelves newly installed along
the walls, it was time to dig the box out and put the books out for the
children to read. Problem was, she had absolutely no idea where the box had
ended up.
As
she was backing out the way she came, she heard footsteps on the stairs.
“Lena?”
she heard Frank calling her name.
“What?”
she called out.
“Where
are you?”
“I’m
over here. I’ll be right out,” she said, starting to stand too soon and whacking
her head on one of the metal poles. Crawling out, she rubbed the top of her
head, cursing under her breath.
“Lena?”
“Geez,
Frank. Give me a sec. I just concussed myself on that damn pole, and I’m seeing
stars.”
“What
are you doing?” the older man demanded.
“Looking
for that missing box of books,” Lena said.
“I
found it this morning. It’s in the office.”
“Oh,
for...” Lena took a deep breath, and let it out in a long sigh, turning off her
flashlight as she did so. “Thank you. Where was it?”
“Behind
the old mattresses that we need to take to the dump when we get a few hours
with a truck.”
“Oh
wow. I never would have thought to look there,” she admitted. “So did you need
me for something?” she asked. “Or did you just get sent to look for me when Amelia
noticed that I was missing?”
Frank
moved aside then, and Lena realized that he had brought someone down to the
basement with him.
“Lena,
this is Ed – he’s the volunteer I told you about. I wanted you to meet him
before you both left for the day. Ed, this is Lena Magill. She’s in charge of
this place.”
Lena
brushed her hand against her jeans to get the dust off before she shook hands,
but then looked up at the man and gasped.
She
was looking up at the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen in her life. He was
tall, dressed in faded blue jeans and a woven fabric pullover in a dark forest
green. And wow did he fill those jeans out well, she thought. His eyes were a
deep chocolate brown, and his brown hair was rumpled, and streaked through with
gray. He looked kind, reliable, and sexier than anything Lena had seen in a
long time. Maybe her whole life. But the thing is, she knew him. And knew him
well.
“Chase?”
“Charlene?”
Frank
looked from one of them to the other, his intelligent eyes shrewdly taking in
their equal astonishment. And he’d heard Lena call this man Chase. So that
opened up a world of questions, but he wisely kept silent and just watched.
Chase
was looking down at Lena with a look of surprise, but he also seemed to be
working hard to not stare. Wondering what there was about her appearance that
had him in such a state of astonishment, she glanced down at herself, and
realized that she was not only clad in an outfit that he would never have
imagined her in, but she was absolutely and completely covered with dust. So
that’s why he was looking at her so strangely! She burst out laughing.
“No
wonder you’re looking at me like I sprouted an alien head. Sorry about the mess
here – I usually don’t wear such a thick covering of dust. So. ‘Ed.’ Frank has
been telling me about you for weeks, and I’m glad to finally see you and know
that he’s not imagining you.”
Chase
seemed to have recovered quickly. “Sorry we caught you at a bad time,” he grinned,
sticking out his hand to her.
Lena
reached out her hand to meet his, and was surprised at the warmth that seemed
to emanate from his larger palm to hers. Pulling back, she unobtrusively rubbed
her hand on the back of her shirt and looked up at Chase.
“So
I owe you coffee, I think. At least, Frank decrees that I owe you coffee,” she
said waving toward her co-worker who was watching their exchange curiously. “I
really just want to hear more about what you’d like to do here at Helping Hands.
My genius weekend manager wants to pull you out of the kitchen soup line and
into an office,” she smiled. “But I’d want to be sure that was something you
wanted. Since you work in an office all day, you might not really want to
volunteer to do the same kind of work.”
“Thanks
for considering that. But if I can be of help to you on the administration
side, I’m happy to take a look. My guess is that what I could do for you here
would be quite different from my day to day responsibilities.”
Lena
nodded.
Yeah
, she thought.
You wouldn't exactly be brokering any
multi-million-dollar deals here.
But
Chase was still talking. “I might still want to grab a spoon every now and then,
though, and help out in the kitchen. I’m surprised at how much I enjoy that.”
Lena
looked up at him in astonishment. Chase liked working the kitchen?
Really
?
Realizing that she was staring at him rudely, she closed her mouth and then
nodded. “OK, I get that. I think we all do, actually. So did you want to meet today,
or set a time to meet later on?” she asked, hoping that he’d want to meet later
in the week. She didn’t like spending a full day at the shelter on Saturdays
unless she absolutely needed to.
“I
just stopped by to meet you and to see about a time to talk. I can’t stay this
morning, and I need to be out of town tomorrow. But if you can meet toward the
end of the day sometime during the work week, I’ll leave the office early one
evening and come over here.”
“That
would be fine,” Lena sighed with relief.
“Can
I check my calendar and call with a suggestion?”
“That
sounds great.” She turned to see Frank heading toward the stairs. “Do
not
abandon us down here,” she called to her manager. “I do not know where the traps
are since you friggin'
move them all the time
.”
Frank
grinned. “I’m just trying to stay one step ahead of the mice.”
“You
have mice?” Chase asked.
“Every
building in this part of town has mice. But we do our share of keeping the
population down. Well, Frank does. I hate killing them, so I’d use those humane
traps and go let them go out in the forest. But both Frank and Tomas tell me
that they just find their way back here, so they took over the mouse-control
business more than a year ago. Now I just stay out of the basement unless I
need to come down here.”
“Like
for the books.”
“Yeah.
Darn Frank. I should have known he’d come down here to get them for me today.”
“
I
heard that
.”
“And
I appreciate it,” she sighed. “It’s both good and pathetic when your staff is
several steps ahead of you.” They’d reached the stairs. “You go on up. I’ll get
the lights as we go.”
When
they reached the top of the stairs, Frank turned to Lena. “Go home. And don’t
forget the beer tonight. Get the good stuff – none of this Yuengling crap.”
Lena
laughed. “It’s better than that nasty Miller Light that you drink,” she
retorted.
“I
don’t drink that stuff. I just buy it for everyone else,” Frank grinned.
She
shook her head in amusement. “See you tonight, you no-good beer-swilling
louse.” Turning to Chase, she simply said, “Nice to see you again. I’ll look
forward to talking with you this week.”
“Likewise,”
he returned with a smile. Turning to Frank, he said, “She’s right, you know. Yuengling
does top Miller Light.”
Frank
grinned as Lena walked away, laughing. “Yeah, it does. I just like to yank her
chain a time or two, since she yanks mine on a regular basis. You should join
us one Saturday. A bunch of us get together pretty regularly for beer and good
food. You’d be more than welcome. Even tonight.”
Chase
smiled his thanks. “I’ve got plans tonight, but I’d like to join you sometime. I
appreciate the invite. See you later.”
From
her office, Lena watched Chase Hamilton shake hands with Frank, then walk out
of the shelter and head toward the parking lot in back. His appearance here had
completely thrown her, and she felt the need to get out of her office and just
go home and attempt to scritch Winston and
think
about things, but she wanted
to be sure that she didn’t run into Chase when she left.
First,
why in heaven’s name was he here? Of all places for him to choose to volunteer
his time, why did he choose
her
shelter? She knew that she had startled
him as much as he’d startled her, so it wasn’t a deliberate move on his part. But
what made him come here? And, more to the point, why was he volunteering
anywhere? He was a multi-millionaire, with the responsibilities and the
headaches that came with being the owner of his own business and the employer
of thousands. So why was he here, at Helping Hands? Had her father encouraged
him to come and check it out without telling him why? But no, that made no
sense – her father was actually rather embarrassed by what she did, not proud
of it.
Well,
Lena thought. She could ask him. Along with why he was introducing himself by
his first name, rather than the name he used socially.
But
the other thing that she needed to think about was her own reaction to the man.
He’d been dressed differently than she’d ever seen him, and he looked far more
appealing to her in blue jeans and a t-shirt than he ever did in a suit or a
tuxedo. He didn’t look as stiff, as foreboding, or as dismissive of her. He
even had smiled at her, a genuine smile that didn’t look forced, fake, or
condescending. Despite the fact that they’d only talked for about five minutes
today, it was a more authentic conversation than any they’d had over the past
several months.
But
that didn’t explain the attraction. And it didn’t explain why she suddenly
wanted to explain to this man that she did indeed have a brain. She knew what
cases the Supreme Court was hearing. She knew the results of the latest jobs
report that had just come out. She knew what was happening with the housing
market, both locally and nationally. She wasn’t even a little bit interested in
gardening or reality shows.
Stunned,
Lena sat down in her chair. All of the fun she’d been having over the past few
months was seriously backfiring, she thought. She’d led him to believe that she
was basically a rock with arms. And while she was pretty sure that his opinion
of her had already changed in the last hour, she was going to need to explain
to the man why she’d been essentially lying to him for months. Or, at the very
least, leading him to believe something that wasn’t true.
Sighing,
she started to laugh to herself. Well, this was a lesson to remember, she
thought. Dishonesty doesn’t pay. Even when it’s all done in fun. Ah well. At
least this would make a good story to share with Frank and Janie one night. But
for now, she was going home. She had a neurotic dog to walk, beer to buy, and a
good evening with friends ahead of her. And spending some good quality time
with Winston was sounding awfully good.
Beer?
Charlene Magill was buying beer? And, presumably, drinking it? Chase sat in his
car in a near state of shock, still wondering if he had imagined her at the
shelter. In all the months he’d known her, he had no idea that she worked. No
idea that she was anything other than what she’d appeared to be – a spoiled
rich girl, living off of Daddy’s money.
He
thought about the woman he’d met today – a woman who was completely different
from the woman he’d escorted to society functions for the better part of six
months. This woman had passion, interests, and even a sense of humor. She was
engaging. She was well-liked by her staff. She was even... more attractive? Although
she’d been dressed in old blue jeans and an old cotton shirt, and was
completely covered in dust, she was far more radiant than the well-made up and
well-coiffed woman he usually saw.
So
now he was intrigued. What was her story?
Starting
his car, he pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to his home. He had
beer chilling in the fridge, and he was due at Jared and Gina’s in a few hours,
so he had some time to kill. And he was going to spend it doing what he never
did – he was going to Google the name of a woman he was interested in. He
wanted to learn more about Charlene… no,
Lena
Magill.
Three
hours later, Chase was sitting at the island in Gina’s kitchen, drinking a beer
and telling her and Jared about meeting Lena at the shelter today, and about
what he’d learned since then about her past, as well as about the shelter she
ran. Jared was munching on tortilla chips and trying hard not to laugh at his
friend’s story, but Gina was enthralled.