A hint of a smile. “I don’t know, I think so.”
It was obvious I wasn’t getting any information from him. I would ask Carol later. “Hope Nan wasn’t too ruthless with Jeopardy last night. She likes to win.”
Scott grinned. “Yeah she does. She actually faked a heart attack when I started to win. Scared me half to death.”
I gasped and covered my laugh. “I’m so sorry.”
“I’ll get her next time,” he chuckled.
Was he planning on a next time?
“How are you feeling about tonight?” Scott walked beside me along the path.
“Pretty good.” I shrugged. “We’ll see how the meeting goes. How are things going here?” I looked back at the bed-and-breakfast.
“Pretty good. Hey, I was going to ask, were your parents married here? There were these pictures on the kitchen wall and the bride looks a lot like you.”
The fall trees were dropping their leaves; I focused on the ones around my feet. “Remember how I said things were complicated with Carol?”
Scott’s forehead creased. “Yeah.”
“Well,” I sighed. What could it hurt if he knew? “Carol and my mom were best friends. This place holds a lot of good memories for me with my parents . . . but it was also where we held their funeral. Until Carol forced me to help plan the trunk-or-treat this month, I’d stayed away since.”
Scott stopped walking and took my hand. “You came here just to help me find a place to stay?” He looked humbled.
I didn’t want it to be a big deal. “That and because I want to escape Hillsdale and you’re helping me plan that.” I smiled. “Carol has the crazy idea in her head that I can take this place over for her.” I laughed. “Can you even imagine? That requireswaytoo much planning.”
Scott went quiet. It must be because he feels guilty about having me coming to the B&B.
“But this has been fun.” I looked around at the trees, the colored leaves, this beautiful place. “I think it’s magical.” I bumped Scott’s shoulder, trying to ease the mood. He had become stiff and distant. I didn’t want his pity. “It’s been good making fun memories here again, and remembering the goodthat existed here before. Please don’t feel bad. It's healing for me.”
The meeting was almost over, and everyone’s booths were looking amazing. Hopefully, the community would have a good turnout for the decorated trunks. I walked through the group, examining different projects and their status of completion. I pretended I was giving them all equal attention, but I checked on Scott and the boys more than the rest.
Just in case they needed help, I reminded myself and the butterflies in my stomach as I watched Scott interact with the group of boys.
They were painting a big piece of particle board with holes cut into it. Most of the boys were laughing and goofing around, but Josh stood still, staring at the section he was painting. The way he was mixing paints to make the color of the ocean was sweet and showed his obvious care for this project. I wondered if he got the opportunity to paint much. I stepped near the painting and examined it. “That looks great.”
“No it doesn’t.” He huffed and glared. “I can’t get the color of the water right. I know it needs to be darker, but none of the mixes feel right.”
Scott’s hand froze midair as he was painting his section of ocean neon blue. “Um, am I ruining this for you Josh?”
The boy shook his head. “You can paint your section how you want.”
Scott stepped a little closer to him and rested his arm on Josh’s shoulder. My insides melted. “Well, if it was your section, how would you paint it?”
Of course, he would be great with kids . . . not that it mattered.
We’re just friends.
I was leaving.
Without missing a beat, Josh answered, “Your ocean is too bright, your fish too orange and your bird isn’t thick enough.”
Scott’s eyes widened, and I chuckled. The rest of the boys were now in the middle of a leaf fight. Scott might need reinforcements. I stepped in. “Tell you what, Josh. How about you give both of us tips and we can try to fix it?”
Scott smiled and Josh nodded.
I picked up a brush, and Josh fixed my grip. For the next fifteen minutes, I learned more about painting than I ever could have imagined.
