Secretly Smitten (15 page)

Arnold nodded. “I remember.”

“You do?”

“Sure. David Hutchins.”

“Little Mia found his dog tags in the attic. Grandma Rose said he died in the Korean War, but she has no idea how the dog tags got there. It’s added some excitement to the household.”

“So the Garner sisters have themselves a mystery, do they?” Arnold giggled like a small child, and she laughed at him.

“I wouldn’t say my aunts have a mystery. No, we granddaughters have ourselves a mystery because no one wants to talk about it, so naturally that makes us even more interested. He may not have died in the war after all.”

“Sometimes history is best left in the past.”

“I agree with you,” she said. “But if nothing else, we should get the dog tags back to their rightful owner, don’t you think? His family would probably want to have them.”

“You girls have no romantic notions about this former beau?”

“We’re keeping the aunts and Grandma Rose out of it for now. We know he survived the war, and we’ve tracked him from California to North Carolina. We’re trying to find out for certain if he’s still alive. Wouldn’t you want your dog tags returned to your family?”

“What’s Rose say about this?”

Zoe shook her head. “Not a thing. No use in getting her hopes up.”

“And Violet?”

“I don’t think she knows a thing about it.”

“I’ll bet she does.” Arnold chuckled as he swallowed another spoonful.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Not a thing, Zoe. Don’t worry your pretty little head about it. And I’d give up any idea of finding David. If he wanted to be found, I reckon he’d have come back a long time ago.”

Zoe wondered if that was true, but the romantic in her wasn’t about to let well enough alone. If her grandmother had another shot at love, there was hope for everyone. Cupid’s Arrow was about creating connections between people, and what better way to make it happen than with the public relations firestorm a love story resurrected from the fifties could start?

“Well, thanks for bringing by the dinner, Zoe. It was wonderful, as always.”

“You want to come to my mom’s with me? I’m sure there’ll be some delicious dessert. And you never know if one of those Garner sisters isn’t worth a second look.” She grinned.

“I’ve been looking at those Garner sisters since I had the eyesight to see them, and none of them ever looked back in sixty years. Besides, it’s almost my bedtime. I never will understand you kids and your late nights.”

It was only five o’clock, but in an old logging town the men rose early and were home for supper by four thirty or so. Zoe went back to making coffee and chided herself for not spending more time with the people she fed. They needed more than a hot meal. “The coffee’s almost ready. I’d better be off to my mom’s before it gets dark.”

“Do you have anyone signed up for that dating service of yours yet?”

“I already have thirty people—can you believe it? I think some of them might be doing me a favor, but once I get going, they’ll see how believing in me did
them
the favor.”

“Paying to meet a mate. It sounds so backwards.”

“People don’t meet as easily as they once did, Arnold. Everything is all wired now. Face-to-face meetings are more difficult.”

“Speaking of wired.” Arnold put down his spoon. His bowl was wiped clean. “I don’t want you cooking in that old storefront until you get it checked out. The new city manager is right. Electrical is nothing to play with.”

She paused. “That’s right, you were an electrician at the mill. I’d forgotten.” She probably shouldn’t have mentioned it. Now Arnold would worry.

“You’re not old enough to remember when one of those old buildings went up in flames in the sixties. Zoe, it tore through that building so fast, there was nothing left of it in a matter of minutes. If the new city manager thinks you should get it checked out, you should get it checked out.”

“The problem is, I can’t afford to fix the wiring, and I promised Miss Draper that I wouldn’t bother her with repairs, so she gave me the rent for a song.”

“That woman is as rich as Croesus, and she has a responsibility. Don’t let her cry poor and put yourself in danger for something as ridiculous as money. She could buy and sell this town. Do you want me to talk to her?”

“No, Arnold. Don’t worry, I’ll handle everything.”

He shook his head. “I’m coming to check it out tomorrow.”

“Arnold, I can’t let you do that.”

“I’m not going to sleep until I check it out, so you may as well pick me up in the morning. You can get the Buick then.”

“Exposed wiring is that big of a deal?”

“Exposed?” Arnold slapped the table. “You didn’t say the wiring was exposed. The fire inspector must have missed that. He wouldn’t let you gather people in that place.”

“The walkway by the store is really uneven. I’d feel terrible if you fell. I’m just going to have to hire an electrician and pray for a way to pay for everything until the income starts.” She mentally started calculating where she might come up with the money. Even worse, if Arnold reacted so violently, what must the new city manager think of her?

“I’ll bring the walker,” Arnold said.

Zoe knew that was a generous gesture on his part. He didn’t like to go out, and he didn’t like to look feeble.

“I can’t ask you to do that. Maybe I’m not fit to run a business.” Why did everyone else know these simple details?

“None of us is fit to do anything. It’s only with the Lord’s help we get by. Life is full of setbacks, Zoe. This town was dead as a doornail, but did we give up? Just put one foot in front of the next and accept the help. Accept the help.”

She nodded, but wished she had a better alternative than calling on a ninety-year-old man for help. It was Arnold’s turn to rest in life. “All right, I’ll pick you up at eight tomorrow.”

“Don’t be late.”

She smiled. “I won’t.” When the coffee had dripped enough, she filled his cup and set it on the table. “Black, right?”

“You better run home now before one of your aunts calls me looking for you. They’ll blame me for talking too much, and I don’t want to encounter their wrath.”

“I’ll see you in the morning.” She flung her canvas bag over her shoulder. “I’m turning off the coffee machine. If you want more, you’ll have to heat it up in the microwave.”

He gave a weary grin. “That’s my girl.”

“Just once, I wish you’d eat with Miss Evelyn. She’s good company, and it would save me a trip.”

“I don’t want no womenfolk. I want to watch the game when I want to watch the game, and I don’t want anyone telling me chocolate is bad for my cholesterol. At my age, you get stuck in your ways. You just focus on yourself—finding you a man and starting a family.”

She shook her head. “Not me, Arnold. I may be young, but I’m set in my ways too. I was meant to put people together, not be part of a couple.”

“I don’t believe that. Anyone who cooks like you must have to beat the men off with a stick. The trouble will be that no man is good enough for our Zoe.”

Everyone she cooked for was well advanced in years and preferred soft, strained food. Unless she was planning on setting herself up with an octogenarian, her cooking skills were of little use in “finding herself a man.”

“You’re just trying to change the subject. Maybe Evelyn likes chocolate. I’ll ask her tomorrow.”

“Don’t ask her anything. You go on about your business and leave the romance to the young, where it belongs.” He crossed his arms and sat back in his chair. “That goes for your grandmother too. Don’t think I don’t know what you girls are up to, trying to track down David Hutchins.”

She smiled. “Evelyn might cheer you up.”

“Already wore one woman out,” he grumbled. “Besides, I’ve known Evelyn since before your mother was born. Don’t you think if we were meant to be, we’d be?”

“Maybe, but I’m a romantic. Maybe romance is different at your age, but it’s still nice to think about having someone to talk to, isn’t it?”

“You’d best be on your way, Zoe. I’ll see you in the morning.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Z
oe skipped down the stairs of Arnold’s house and hurried along the asphalt sidewalk, hurtling on her bicycle toward her mother’s house. When she approached the modest wood frame house, the sun was dwindling and she realized Arnold was right. She’d need a car soon.

At her mom’s, she parked the bike off the pathway and took the stairs two at a time. Anna stood in the door with a hand on her hip. “It’s about time you got here. Where have you been, young lady?”

Zoe kissed her cheek and brushed past. “Just running late, as usual. Do you need help in the kitchen?”

“Don’t be silly, dinner’s on the table. What did you bring?”

The family ate weekly in a potluck format, and though the meals rarely made sense or went together, it had become their way. They might enjoy a meal of Mom’s sweet potatoes and marshmallows served alongside Aunt Violet’s chicken tikka masala that she’d garnered from some gourmet magazine. Her oldest sister, Tess, always brought her incredible homemade bread, and that went with everything. Clare always brought fresh vegetables.

Aunt Violet, with her haphazard red lipstick and cotton-candy-pink blush, met Zoe as she entered the dining room. “’Bout time. Being late conveys the message that you think you’re more important than everyone else, Zoe. Keep that in mind.”

Zoe kissed her aunt on her sparkly cheek. “I love you, Aunt Violet, and I’ll make it on time next week. I promise.”

“What did you bring?”

“Orange Jell-O,” she answered sheepishly. She often got so overwhelmed cooking for the elders of Smitten, her family paid the price. They got what was left in her, and today that amounted to Jell-O salad set with mandarin oranges. She wished she’d thought to say orange aspic. It sounded better. Not that any of the women ever complained. They simply enjoyed being together.

Most folks said Smitten was a man’s town because it had been a logging town for decades, but you’d never know it by Zoe’s family. Her mother, Anna Thomas, considered herself an abject failure at romance after the divorce. Zoe disagreed. That was her father’s failure, since he’d left them after she and her sisters were grown and had begun another family as if they’d never existed.

Zoe scanned the dining room, which somehow didn’t feel right. As her aunts and grandmother parted, she noticed a male figure standing at the head of the table smiling conspiratorially at her. William Singer? Her stomach betrayed her by fluttering at the sight of him.

“What’s he doing here?” she whispered to Aunt Petunia.

“Yes!” Aunt Petunia shouted. “We have a man here! Good-looking one too. Did you see the build on that guy? Didn’t think they made ’em like that anymore.”

Zoe wanted to crawl under the table. Tess, God bless her, tried to salvage the moment.

“Zoe’s business must already be working. We have a man at our table.” Tess winked at her. “This is William Singer. He’s new in town. It appears the success of Smitten has brought the need for a city manager.”

“We’ve met,” Zoe said, avoiding the pull of his gaze. She kept her eyes locked on Tess, though everything in her fought the urge to stare at the mystery of William Singer. Gone was his telltale city suit, and though she’d only caught a glimpse of him, she realized she could name every detail of his presence: dark-washed jeans, nothing that might be purchased in town, and a gray collared shirt, casually unbuttoned at the top. She could picture the outline of how the shirt hugged his muscular chest, and the depth of those sea-colored eyes, and she wondered if that’s why the Garner/Thomas women were destined for romantic failure. Perhaps they were programmed to find attractive only dangerous men who couldn’t stay put.

She cleared her throat and pulled Clare around the dining room wall. “What is he doing here? Did you know about this?”

Clare, now dressed for dinner in a loose-knit cardigan over an ancient cotton dress that hung like a sack on her, smiled as if she’d done a good deed. “I thought you’d be happy I invited him. Maybe he can give you some advice on what you can do to fix the store. He didn’t have anywhere to go, and I know how you hate to see people alone.”