Heartwishes Part 3

"Like to look around?" Colin asked.

"So I can tell Isla about the place for when she lives here?"

"That's exactly what I had in mind." He was teasing, but whether or not she got the job was no joke to her and he saw it on her face. He lowered his voice. "I'll talk to Mom tonight, and I'll get Dad to talk to her too. And Shamus. Maybe the three of us can persuade her to choose the right person." He started to say more but broke off because a woman standing near the cereals started running toward him.

"Colin!" she said. "I went by your office today but Roy said you were away on family business. I am so glad to see you."

"Did it happen again, Tara?" Colin asked.

For the first time, Gemma saw his "sheriff face." In a second he went from teasing and laughing to very serious.

When the woman said, "Someone trampled my flowers again," Gemma had to restrain her smile. The news on TV was full of murders and other heinous crimes, but this woman was concerned about her tulips?

"Did Roy make casts of the footprints?"

"Yes. She came as soon as I called."

Gemma's eyes widened. Footprint casts? This sounded more serious than just flowers being knocked down.

"Colin, I don't know what to do," Tara said. "I have two little kids and with Jimmie away so much . . ."

Colin put his arm out to the woman and she laid her cheek against his chest as she tried not to cry. "Want to stay in our guesthouse?" he asked as he put his hand on her back. "The big one is taken, but you and the kids are welcome to use the second one."

She pulled away. "No, we'll be all right. That man you recommended is putting the cameras up, and Jimmie will be home tonight, so we'll be fine." Tara pulled a tissue out of her pocket and blew her nose as she looked at Gemma. "Is this a new girlfriend?"

"I'm one of the candidates for the job of cataloging the Frazier doc.u.ments," Gemma said quickly, stepping a little farther away from Colin. She didn't want to be the cause of any gossip in the small town.

Judging from Tara's blank look, she had no idea what Gemma was referring to. "If Colin likes you, then you have my vote." She glanced at her basket. "I have to go before this thaws. Colin, thank you for . . . for everything."

"You have my cell number. If you hear or see anything, call me and I'll be there."

"Thanks," she said, then wheeled her cart away.

He turned to Gemma, looking as though nothing unusual had happened. "So this is the aisle where Ellie keeps the cereals. If you like Kellogg's Raisin Bran-the kind that real people eat-you have me to thank for its being here. I told Ellie that if she didn't start stocking Raisin Bran I was going to Williamsburg to-"

"What was that all about?" Gemma asked, cutting him off. "Please say you can tell me or I'll go crazy trying to figure it out."

Colin shrugged. "We don't know anything for sure. Someone keeps walking through Tara's flower beds in the middle of the night. Yesterday there was a light rain, so my deputy, Roy, could get some casts of the footprints. It's an old-fashioned technique, but then we're an old-fashioned town-and our budget is limited."

"Do you think it's malicious, meant to frighten her, or is it a robber . . . or worse?"

"No robberies, no outlet to her backyard, but it's scared the daylights out of Tara. She's having surveillance cameras installed."

"And you offered her a place to stay," Gemma said.

"Yeah, we mostly use the guesthouses for anyone who needs them. Ellie's waving at us. Our sandwiches are ready."

Gemma followed him to the back and waited as Ellie handed him a white bag.

"Did you talk to Tara?" Ellie asked.

"Yeah," Colin said. "Whoever's doing it doesn't seem to mean any harm, but I'm going to be cautious."

"You always are. Oh, by the way, Taylor took the boxes out to Merlin's Farm this morning, so you don't need to go. Did you meet our newest resident? Dr. Burgess?"

"Not yet," Colin said, "but I've heard of him." He turned to Gemma. "A retired professor of English history has moved here. He wants to be near Williamsburg, and he used to teach at Oxford."

"Sounds interesting. I'd like to meet him."

"I don't think he's in good health, poor man." She looked at Gemma. "If you two are planning to eat outside, you should know that there's a playgroup out there. Colin will be swamped."

"Thanks for warning us," he said, then moved aside for Gemma to go ahead of him toward the front. There was a big refrigerated cabinet full of fruit juice drinks near the registers. "Take your pick."

"Anything with raspberries," Gemma said as Colin held the door open. "What about you?"

"I'm a lemonade man."

"Pink or yellow?"

He gave her a look.

"Yeah, right. My boys won't touch anything pink either."

"So now I'm one of your boys?" He led them to the end register where the girl greeted him by name. Colin held up their food, she nodded, and they left. It looked like he had an account there.

"If I say that you are one of my kids, will it get me the job?" she asked as they got to the door.

"Why do you think I brought you to the most public place in Edilean?"

"I have no idea."

"By now at least three women have called someone in my family to say that you should be hired."

"Why would they do that? They don't know me from the other applicants."

"Ha! By now they not only know your name but probably your Social Security number."

Gemma laughed. "This town couldn't be worse than a college campus. We know who's researching what before the first book is opened."

He was standing by the front door and looking out. To the left, under the deep roof overhang, were several little tables, and they were full of young mothers with their children. One of them was the woman whose baby both Colin and Gemma had held. "That sounds like a scary place," he mumbled.

"And you look scared."

"Terrified. They know I can change diapers." Obviously, he wasn't talking about the academic life.

"Give me your car keys."

He looked at her. "What?"

"Give me your keys and I'll drive to the back and pick you up."

"My Jeep is a standard shift."

"Gee whiz. With a clutch and everything? However will I manage?" She batted her lashes at him in mock helplessness.

Colin gave her a one-sided grin and handed her his keys. "See you in a minute."

Gemma gave a nod, then sauntered out the front door. She could feel the eyes of the mothers on her, but she didn't turn to look at them. When she reached Colin's car, she quickly got inside and started it. The man her mother had hired to teach her to drive had insisted that she learn on a standard shift, and now she was glad of it.

The moment she put the Jeep in reverse, she knew that something had been done to the engine to escalate its power. Colin might say that he wasn't involved with his family's car dealerships, but he owned a vehicle that was far from being standard issue.

Gemma had a moment of panic when she put the gearshift in first, let up on the clutch, and the car leaped ahead as though it were a cheetah taking off after prey. When she went around the corner of the grocery, even as slow as she was going, she was sure she was on only two wheels. She barely had the car under control when she saw Colin outside waiting for her. He was talking to two young men who were wearing ap.r.o.ns and unloading a pickup truck. She managed to bring the Jeep to a smooth stop, put it in park, then she slid to the pa.s.senger seat.

Colin got in beside her and put the food and drinks in the back. "Have any problems?"

"None at all," she said, then they looked at each other and laughed.

"Does this thing take jet fuel?" she asked.

"See that red b.u.t.ton?" He pointed to the cigarette lighter. "That makes the wheels retract and I start flying."

"I can believe that. The brave sheriff jetting away to escape dirty diapers."

Chuckling, he drove out of the parking lot and turned a corner that took them back to the square. "If we sit anywhere in this town to eat, it'll be like it was at the grocery. In Edilean, I'm a fairly public person."

"I feel a 'but' coming on," she said.

"I have a secret. Like to see it?"

"Sure," she said, but there was caution in her voice. She didn't know him well enough to predict what kind of secrets he had.

"Last week I closed on a house, and no one in town knows I bought it, not even my family."

Gemma let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "An old house?" There was hope in her voice.

"No, sorry. New by Edilean standards. Built about 1946 or 7, and fairly recently completely remodeled."

"Oh." Her voice showed her disappointment.

"It looks a bit like a Frank Lloyd Wright."

"Oh." Gemma perked up.

"My cousin Luke rebuilt the house. He lived there for a while, but then he married the woman who owns Edilean Manor, so he moved in with her. He and I worked out a deal in private, and now the house is mine."

"Edilean Manor," Gemma said, her eyes wide. "I saw photos of it on the Web site. Is it as good as it looks?"

"Better. I'll make sure you see it."

"Before I leave," Gemma said and frowned. In just a few hours the job had come to mean more than just the Frazier doc.u.ments. She'd met people and was becoming involved in their problems. And maybe she and Colin were becoming friends. Or maybe more than friends. She was quite attracted to him, both physically and as a person. And she liked that he was so well respected by the people in town. Even the children liked him.

"If you leave," Colin corrected as he pulled into the driveway of a very pretty house.

To hide her smile at his tone, Gemma leaned forward to get a look at the house. It did indeed look a bit like a Frank Lloyd Wright design, with its deep overhanging roof and built-in flower boxes. The trim around the windows and door was of rich wood that glowed with warmth.

Colin pushed a remote attached to his sun visor, and the garage door opened. There was nothing inside, not so much as a garden hose. As the big door rolled shut behind them, he reached to the back and got the food. "Want to see the house?"

"Love to," she said as she got out and followed him.

There was a covered breezeway leading from the garage to the side door. It was made of wood of three colors, all of it sealed to preserve the natural shades.

Gemma ran her hand along the rail. "You say your cousin Luke did this? Or did he hire someone to do it?"

"He's the woodworker." Colin used his key to open the back door and they entered the kitchen. It was beautiful, with new cabinets painted pale yellow, and granite countertops of a deep gold. All the appliances were stainless steel.

The kitchen opened into a dining room that had more of the beautifully finished windows that looked out to the front.

"Wow!" Gemma said, and Colin smiled at her.

The living room was to the right, partially walled off from the kitchen-dining area. One whole side was a stone fireplace flanked by shelves for books and a big TV. There was a large Oriental rug on the floor, but it was the only thing in the room. In fact, there was no furniture anywhere.

"Mind sitting on the floor?" Colin asked.

"My favorite place."

"But only if you have a dozen books open around you and a notebook in your hand. And how many colors of pens do you use?"

"Seven-which is one fewer than Kirk says he uses. I'll have to ask him what number eight is."

They spread the food out on the paper wrappers on the carpet and began to eat.

"This is delicious," Gemma said.

"If Ellie makes it, you can bet it is."

Gemma looked around the beautiful room. There were gla.s.s doors along the back and they opened into a courtyard that had a garden beyond.

She looked back at him and again thought how much she loved the look of him. In the last couple of years she'd spent so much time with athletes that she'd become attracted to larger men. Besides the boys that she'd tutored there'd been the coaches. One of the a.s.sistants and she had dated for months. But she'd broken it off when his lack of interest about anything but sports got to her.

She could feel that indescribable "something" that made her think that Colin was also attracted to her. However, she was very aware that he'd maneuvered the conversation so Gemma had admitted she didn't have a boyfriend, but Colin had said nothing about his own love life. If it hadn't been for her adviser telling her all three sons were unmarried, she wouldn't even know that. "How does your girlfriend like this house?"

"I told you that no one has seen it."

Which was a perfect nonanswer, Gemma thought, and she was d.a.m.ned if she was going to work to find out more about his personal life. "I like the house very much," she said at last. "You should be very happy here."

Colin moved to lean back against the wall, and took his time before speaking, as though he were contemplating what to say. "In the last year and a half three of my friends . . . well, actually four, got married, and it's made me think about my own future." He looked at her and smiled warmly. "I'm sure that's more than you wanted to know about me."

She wanted to say that she'd like to hear a lot more, but it was too soon for that.