“So that’s why so many folks go to Ella’s for pie and ice cream.”
“It’s a good reason. Plus her pies…” Elizabeth gave a chef’s kiss. “So, what about this afternoon?”
“I’ve got the boards at my shop, the ones from the tower. I thought we could start sanding down the edges and clean them up some. When that’s done, put on a polyurethane sealer.”
She regarded him for a long moment before answering, and he wondered what was going on behind those blue eyes. “Sure, why not?” She pointed to his cane. “I thought you ditched that thing.”
“My knee didn’t like climbing the fire tower steps yesterday. I made a couple of trips carrying the pine boards up to get started on repairs.”
“I’ll do the carrying this afternoon.”
The worship leader called the congregation to stand. Ryder hoisted himself up, leaning on his cane.
“You can sit, you know,” she whispered.
“Give me a sec,” he said, adjusting his weight from one leg to the other. “I’ll be all right.”
“You’re as bad as me, wanting to do everything on your own.”
The couple behind them issued a loud, “Shhhhh.”
Ryder laughed softly with a glance at Elizabeth. “I’ve been kicked out of class, out of bars, out of cars, and out of offices, but never out of church.”
“Then shhhhh.”
Okay, so they laughed through the first song, but wasn’t church supposed to be a joyful place? Joy of the Lord and all?
When they sat for the offering and announcements, it seemed, and maybe he was making it up, natural to be there with her. Like she was part of him. Like someone he’d been looking for his whole life.
The summer sun winking through the trees along River Road led her straight to Ryder’s place. Down a partially paved path to gravel and dirt, she pushed her little VW Bug up a hill, then into the clearing where his small place sat in a patch of green grass.
Tucking her keys in the old ashtray, she grabbed the work gloves—shoved on her by Granny—and followed the stone path to the deck.
While she looked forward to working on the boards from the fire tower, she questioned her decision to spend more time with Ryder. Liking him was way too easy. But when she thought about it, going to his shed might “shed” some light on the mystery of the purchase orders.
“Did you build this place?” she asked as she made her way toward the deck steps. “It’s beautiful.” The house looked like something out of a magazine, with the cedar and stone siding and a massive deck.
“It was a dilapidated hunting cabin when I found it. The owner sold it to me for a hundred bucks, happy to get out of paying taxes.” He patted the stone siding. “We’re pals, this place and me. It barely sheltered me when it rained, let snow drift across the hardwood, and when sunlight hit a glass on a table, it nearly burned down. But it’s cleaned up well.” He stepped onto the deck, pointing to the shed. “You ready?”
“After a tour of the inside. Unless your underwear and socks are all over the floor.”
“I picked them up just for you.”
She was greeted by two very friendly German shepherds, Fred and Ginger, whose nails clicked across the sanded and refinished hardwoods as they followed them through every room. The design was simple but light and bright, fitting a man’s cabin in the woods.
“So you went to design school before forestry?”
Ryder reached into the fridge for two bottles of water. “You live around Cherry Donovan for eighteen years, you learn a thing or two about interior design. Even with all of her travels, she was always remodeling one room or the other.” He passed a water to her. “Be warned, the shed looks nothing like this.”
Elizabeth followed him out with a final glance through the kitchen to the living room, toward the main bedroom. Not one piece of teak or cherry board to be found.
The shed was the same. She pretended to take a tour while Ryder set up the carved pieces from the fire tower on his workbench, looking behind things and into containers. No sign of luxury lumber. She turned at the whir of a sander.
“You want to sand or clean up the boards with this brush? I think we can use it to make sure we can read all the initials.”
“Hand me the brush. If I use the sander, we’ll have nothing left.” She sat on the stool across from him and reached for the nearest board. Ryder suggested she gently clean it off with the wire brush first, knock off the mildew and debris, then check on the initials.
Ryder turned on the old radio and music filled the shed, and an apprehension Elizabeth didn’t know she carried lifted.
