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Suddenly, she was aware that Daniel was talking, and she averted her gaze back to his face, swallowing past the sudden dryness in her throat.
“So, you think you can handle holding the ladder while I nail these last few boards into place?” Daniel gestured to the ladder, leaning against the nearby lamp post with a raised eyebrow.
Tessa rolled her eyes but nodded reluctantly. “Gee, I think I can handle such a complicated task. It might take some extra effort, but I’ll do my best," she grabbed the ladder, noting its awkward weight, and nearly took out a nearby volunteer as she swung it toward the display.
“Try not to cause any injuries, Tessa. We wouldn’t want Algon to have company on bed rest,” Daniel quipped.
Tessa blew a curl out of her eyes and glared at him as she situated the ladder in the designated area. Steadying it, she quirked an eyebrow at Daniel, “Well, Your Highness?”
Daniel’s smirk widened. “I think I can get used to the royal treatment,” he tucked his hammer under his arm and began to ascend the ladder. “Just keep it steady. This should only take a few moments.”
As he got to work hammering boards into place, Tessa watched with feigned disinterest. The truth was, there was something about watching a man perform manual labor that really sent most women into a tizzy. She could no longer call herself an exception to that rule, it seemed.
Daniel started working on another board, and Tessa sighed. This wasn’t exactly what she had pictured when she had agreed to volunteer, holding up a ladder so Daniel could do all the work. She wanted to take a more active role in the event. Absently, she swept her gaze around the plaza, where other volunteers were busily decorating for the big event.
Suddenly, Tessa’s phone blared at top volume.Oh hell, I hope that isn’t Angela checking on me again. I still don’t know what to tell her about my whereabouts.She had been avoiding the confrontation as long as she could, but she knew that she would eventually need to face the music—own up to her crazy scheme.
Her grip loosened on the ladder as she reached with one hand for her phone to silence it. She could deal with this later. The problem would be there in a few hours. She just needed to—
The ladder suddenly swayed and wobbled in Tessa’s hand.Oh crap.She hurriedly put her other hand on the ladder, attempting to correct her mistake. But it was too late. Daniel had lost his footing and was plummeting from the ladder.
In a panic, Tessa dove to try to catch his arm on the way down. This was her fault, and she would never hear the end of it if Daniel ended up with a concussion. But he was falling too fast. He passed through her grasp, and she lost her footing as well. With an alarmed squawk, she tumbled with him.
The two landed on the concrete in a pile of limbs. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be any lasting damage to herself, Tessa noted. But she cast a worried glance toward Daniel. To his surprise, the man was laughing. Not just silently chuckling. His chest was heaving with large belts of laughter.
He finally quieted his giggle fit and reached out to brush some of Tessa’s mussed hair out of her face. “We really need to stop meeting like this,” he quipped.
Now Tessa was laughing as well. She leaned into the touch of his hand, despite herself, and smiled, “We just keepfallingfor each other, don’t we?”
Daniel suddenly seemed to recover himself, and his smile slipped slightly. He pulled away his hand and cleared his throat, “Well, we still have a lot to do. Make sure you keep that ladder steady this time. Maybe put it on vibrate.”
Tessa began climbing to her feet, “Point taken. I really am sorry about that. I thought I had it.”
“Well, you’ll find that it’s easier to keep a ladder steady if you’re holding it with both hands,” he said it accusingly, but there was no real bite to it. He almost seemed to be… joking around with her. Tessa was bewildered by this change in him. Could it be that he was starting to come around?
Throughout the rest of the day, they fell into a good rhythm. Tessa found that she was learning a lot, and she enjoyed the steady work. The chill of autumn kept the sun from being too brutal, and she actually really liked speaking with Daniel. His gruff demeanor, she was starting to learn, was just a thin veil across a good-humored personality.
“So, don’t think about it,” Daniel was saying as they walked toward the lunch area for a break. “Top three artists. Go!”
Tessa counted off on her fingers. “Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, of course. Petula Clark. Gary Puckett and the Union Gap.”
Daniel tilted his head to the side, a bemused expression on his face, “You just made that last one up. I’m sure of it.”
Tessa laughed and jostled him with her shoulder, “Don’t tease. It’s not becoming.”
A comfortable smile spread across Daniel’s features, and he shrugged, “Why do you like all this old music, anyway? It seems odd, given your age.”
At that, Tessa chewed on her lip, thinking back to her childhood with wistfulness. “It comes down to my dad, really. He was always a huge music buff. He loved to learn little tidbits about music history, and the sixties were his favorite time period. He would spend hours organizing these great playlists on iTunes when I was a kid. Everything from mood to tempo to number one hits,” she shook her head at the memory. “It was just a really great way to connect with him, you know?”
Truthfully, Tessa’s relationship with her father had always been something she cherished. Where she struggled to maintain connections in her adult life, that early connection with her dad told her she was capable of it.
Daniel seemed to consider this with a slight nod, “Sounds like you guys really get along.”
With an enthusiastic nod, Tessa continued. “Oh yeah, Mom used to say I was his Mini Me,” she laughed, letting the memory wash over her. “I really miss him. It’s been too long since I have been back home, and he’s not one for talking on the phone.”
Daniel suddenly grew quiet, a faraway look in his eyes, “That sounds really nice.”
“Do you not have a great relationship with your dad, then?” Tessa regretted the words almost as soon as they came out. She knew all too well that parents could be a touchy subject and to just let people offer up the information they wanted to give.
