“Would it be okay? I spoke to Diane last night. I wouldn’t mind checking in with her, maybe just give her some encouragement that she’s not in this alone.”
“Can never give too much of that. Sure.” He pointed to the far side of the building. “If you park over there, you can take the stairs straight up.”
“Is it okay that I brought a few things for them?”
“Yeah. That’s really thoughtful.”
She got out of the car. For a short girl, she had legs that seemed to go on forever as she stretched them out to stand. She draped her arms across the top of the door. “I can’t tell you how moving it was for me to see all that last night. The way everyone worked together against the power of that fire. I never realized just how hot and fierce a house fire could be.” She swallowed. “I… it just never really dawned on me. Anyway, I hope you weren’t upset with us showing up. Orene was insistent.”
“Oh, I know Orene, and there’s no stopping her when she has her mind on something. She does stuff like that, and trying to chase her off takes me off task. She knows to stay out of the way.”
“Good. I was worried we’d upset you.”
“Don’t you worry about that.” He had a feeling it would behard for her to set him off, especially the way her wide smile reached her eyes. He found it hard to pull his gaze from hers, and his mouth went a little dry. “I’m headed home for some rest. You go on up.” He lifted his hand in a wave and started to walk away.
“Umm—”
He stopped and turned back.
“Once you’re rested up, I’d like to pick up on our conversation, ya know, from before the fire alarm went off. I mean, if you wanted to get lunch or something.”
She’s asking me out?City girls. He’d never get used to that. Practically married to his job, he didn’t mind the company of a beautiful woman, even if she was only going to be here for a couple of weeks. “Sure. Yeah.”
“You can just call Orene’s or I could give you my number.” Her cheeks turned slightly pink.
Tucker pulled his phone from his pocket and brought up the telephone screen. “Here. Call yourself. I’ll have yours and you’ll have mine.”
She typed her phone number in so quickly that her shiny red fingernails were almost a blur, except for the cute little silver bells on her pointer finger.
“I like your fingernails.”
She curled her fingers in, laughing. “Kind of fun. I don’t usually do decorations like that, but my manicurist wanted to do something special as a holiday gift for me. It’s sweet, isn’t it?”
“It is. It’s my favorite Christmas carol.”
“‘Silver Bells’? Mine too. When I was in first grade, we did this ice-skating thing on the stage in the cafeteria for the Christmas pageant. I was dressed in this cute little red corduroy dress, white tights, and earmuffs. Like ice-dancing couples, we slid inour socks around the floor in a big circle and sang ‘Silver Bells.’” She rocked as if recalling the motion of skating across that floor.
“I bet you were adorable.” He could almost picture a pint-sized version of her with a rounder childish face and pink lips. “You should come with me to the elementary school Christmas program if you’re still in town on the twentieth. There’s nothing cuter.”
“You have children?”
“No. I know them all, though. I do safety talks for the school twice a year.”
“I’d like that. You’re on. I should be here. I’ll put it on my calendar, which, by the way, is very open except for decorating that tree, which seems to be getting fancier by the second.”
“Don’t tell me.” He covered his ears. “I’ll be accused of stealing secrets when we win.”
“You’re going to have to really do something to beat us. You’ve never seen competitive until you’ve seen Natalie in full action.”
“I can almost imagine that.” The exhaustion he’d been feeling seemed to lift. He could spend all day in Sheila’s smile—friendly, compassionate, and full of life.
“Go. You need your rest after last night. I’m going to go up and check on the Jacob family.” She slid back behind the wheel of the Tesla, and with barely a sound, eased across the lot and out of sight.
He climbed into his truck, still marveling over how anyone could change his energy with just a smile.
Chapter Eleven
Following her visit with the Jacobs, Sheila went back to Orene’s. Her mind was consumed with figuring out a way to help that family.
