Paisley's Pattern (11 page)

Paisley only smiled and nodded. It had been fun. She bunched up the hood around her neck. The sight of the cheerleading squad with bare arms and legs gave her a shiver.

“Gone to many games?” Nora asked.

“A few in high school. I've always liked soccer better.” Paisley soaked in the sights and sounds.

The crowd had just risen to their feet. The men jostled back to their seats. Rob handed her a bottle of water, set his at his feet, and they all placed hands over their hearts for “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Kick-off and noise ensued.

Rob got into the game as much as Oren. The home team scored and even Paisley jumped up to give a yell. They went into halftime two touchdowns ahead.

“Can we have hot chocolate now, please?” Sara hollered then clicked her teeth together in an exaggerated chatter. The men got up. Sara popped into Rob's vacated spot and snuggled against Paisley. “I bet the football players are drinking cold energy drinks. Too cold for me.”

“Tell me about your day,” Nora invited her daughter.

“It was gross. But kind of an adventure.”

The women listened as Sara gave a perked-up, detailed account of her discoveries in the basement, including a minute description of mouse skeletons. She wound down, and then gave Paisley a hug.

“Thanks. You were a big help today.” Paisley hugged back

“It was fun. I think Uncle Rob had fun. Brrr. It's cold enough out here to snizzle.”

Paisley pushed aside the edge of her hood to see Nora's face. “Huh?”

“Sara made up the word. I think she was three. It's a combination of freezing drizzle and snow. Sometimes happens around here.”

A strong longing suffused Paisley. She wanted a family. This was not a mundane life. This was belonging to others. And others belonging to her. “What do you think the temperature is now?”

“Around fifty degrees, but with the wind it feels like it's somewhere in the upper thirties. We have to readjust our inner thermostats late each fall as we transition into winter.”

“I think I like it,” Rob announced, appearing with the scrumptious scent of steaming cocoa. He held out the cardboard carrier.

And to Paisley, he looked more than sufficient to take part in her longings.

“I'd say you're acclimating.” Oren blew and slurped.

They grew quiet, sipping their hot chocolate. The marching band finished their routine.

Paisley decided as long as she could wrap up and cuddle next to Rob, she'd learn to like the game of football, even if she had to endure the cold.

Rob settled his empty cup in the carrier and gave her a small smile. “Having a good time?”

“I am, thanks. You?”

Perhaps Rob contemplated the same conviction of belonging she had earlier. She swirled her drink to get the last mix of chocolate and noticed the cold again as soon as her hands were empty. She reached for her gloves.

“Just wait until it's around zero and the wind chill makes it twenty below,” Oren said to them.

“Then it'll indeed be cuddling weather,” Nora answered, bumping her shoulder against Oren's side. He kissed her forehead.

“You two look just right together,” Paisley said. “I'd love to spend the evening with Sara if you want to go out tomorrow night.”

“I won't turn that down,” Nora said without consulting her husband. “Why don't you both come? Plan to eat at home with Sara.”

Home. Was the idea of this place as a potential home also growing on Rob? Dare she hope he'd ask her to be part of his life as much as she entertained the concept of planting roots in Nebraska?

Lord, show me what Your plan is for me, and work on Rob's heart. Please remind me to call and say no to the nursery job in California, where I'd be in my element with luscious flowers. Show me if I'm meant to stay here and take the chance my luscious Rob may move on without me.

 

~*~

 

Rob had never been a babysitter in his life, but he had laughed a lot spending time with his niece. And it felt good.

“People tell jokes around here all the time,” Sara said, placing the word “jokes” on the word game board. “Especially the redneck ones that I don't get most of the time.”

“What's your definition of redneck, sweetie?” Paisley asked. “Do you know any jokes, Rob?”

“Not me,” Rob answered. “You must remember I've never been much into comedy. But I like the way they all laugh at themselves.”

“I don't really know what it means, but guys laugh.” Sara puffed out her rosy cheeks. “Dad says people need comic relief at the end of a stressful day. Here's one. You know you're a redneck during a drought if you hear rain on the roof and think it's a hamster in a cage.”

The adults laughed appropriately. Paisley mouthed, “I didn't really get it.”

Rob gave a minute head jerk.

Sara added, “My dad heard that at the bank and told me and my mom.”

Rob covered a smile and took his turn placing a word on the board. The evening had been more comfortable and enjoyable than he could have imagined.

At last, Paisley announced they needed to clean up their snacks and get Sara settled for the night.

She protested and delayed, talking around her mouthful of toothpaste. Then she insisted each adult read a chapter from the current book she was reading.

“Lights out,” Paisley said a half hour later and rolled off the white iron bed to stand at the foot.

“Uncle Rob, tuck me in, please.”

He smoothed the covers up to Sara's chin, and she immediately pulled her arms out from under. “I can't say my prayer if I can't move.”

They all laughed as he stepped back next to Paisley.

Sara giggled the first words. “Dear God, thank You for bringing my new Uncle Rob to Nebraska. And thank You that Paisley is cleaning out Grandpa's house. I want them to stay with us forever and ever. I love You, Jesus. Amen.” She popped her eyes open and slammed them shut. “Oh, and bring them to church tomorrow.”

Humbled by his niece's words, Rob eased her door shut, double checking the night light. He reached for Paisley's hand and led her down the hall.

“Sara wore me out. Kids have a ton of energy, don't they?” Paisley commented.

“I'm tired, too. We've all worked hard for two days, tackling that basement. You still want to find a movie to watch, or shall we just sit?”

“Doing nothing sounds like a plan. I want to let my mind go. Playing all those games zapped my brain cells. Sara was pretty pleased she beat us most of the time, wasn't she?”

Rob chuckled. “I'd say she's ready for the adult game. How about finding us something to drink and I'll close the windows. It's getting cool out there.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Paisley repeated and went on to the kitchen.

Rob attended to the slider, two open windows, and checked for unlocked doors. He returned to the great room.

Paisley rummaged in the kitchen beyond the dividing island. Her long layered skirt floated around her as she moved. She met his gaze and gave him a secret smile. Women were complex creatures.

“You're oblivious,” he said.

She gracefully slid coasters and placed tall glasses on the table in front of the couch. “Oblivious to what?”

He grazed a finger down her hairline, tucking her hair behind one ear. “You are lovely. Others see it. It's one of the things that first drew me to you, because you are unaware of how you glow from within. You are interested in others and put them first.”

Her eyelids drifted shut.

He used his left hand to trace her hairline. “You don't give guys flirty looks, and you aren't prideful. The way you came to Rainbow's aid, and how you've worked so hard on the Waverly house, your actions are admirable.” He threaded his fingers into the hair and lifted the heavy mass off her shoulders. He smoothed the ends at her collarbones, inhaling her light floral scent before releasing the gold. Cupping her face in both hands, he moved in to sip the nectar of her sweet lips.

Don't leave me again, my lovely lady.
His plan was to show her she couldn't live without him. He feared his dark world would return and last forever if she took off.

 

 

 

 

10

 

Would Paisley ever breathe again?

Rob curled her hair away from the damp skin of her neck and deepened their kiss. Her toes ignited. Her cognition sank into an endless sea of sensation. Her whole world at this moment in time was encapsulated in Rob. He surrounded her and invaded her sanity.

His heavy breathing as he pulled back told her their connection got to him as well.

The heat of his touch left a trail of awareness down her side as his fingertips brushed her ribs.

He released his hold on her arms.

Her knees noodled.

They slumped to the couch together.

He leaned forward and she raised her arms to shoulder height, palms out.

She couldn't meet his gaze.

Rob coughed. Then he chuckled. And he laughed wholeheartedly, a sound she'd never heard. Even Sara in fine performance, hadn't brought forth such a heartfelt reaction.

The beautiful tones astonished Paisley because Rob's world had been so glum. What a thrilling, full-of-life, beautiful sound.

Still unable to look him in the eye, she giggled like a teenaged girl who'd entertained a boyfriend while babysitting.

“Hey, you two, you guys woke me up!” Sara stood in the doorway rubbing her eyes. “What's so funny, anyway? Are you two still telling redneck jokes?”

Paisley snorted, choking down more laughter.

Rob stood. The couch cushion shifted back into place. “Maybe we'll tell you someday, sweetkins. For now, let me walk you back to your room, and I promise we'll be quiet.”

He moved down the hall, accompanied by the adorable little girl in lime-green and purple polka-dotted pajamas. The man was everything she could hope for. Paisley drank half her glass of sports drink in the hopes it replaced rattled emotions as handily as it reenergized athletes.

Rob returned with a huge grin on his face. He picked up his glass and drained it, the whole time gazing at her over the rim. He smoothed the moisture off his mouth with the back of hand then rubbed his neck. “I had this crazy picture of a kid sneaking into a house where his girlfriend was babysitting.”

She covered her mouth with both hands, shoulders shaking in silent laughter. Once she gained control, she only managed, “Me, too. And then Sara walked in.”

“Are you finished? We need a little space.” At her nod, he took their glasses to the sink. “Lights're coming up the lane so they must be back.”

Paisley didn't add much to Rob's rundown of the evening. “In answer to Nora's question, we had a wonderful time with Sara. You've got a pretty smart cookie on your hands.”

Paisley nodded in agreement.

“Sometimes I think she's eight going on fifteen,” Oren said.

Nora stressed her thanks three times.

They bade a final good night and rode back to Norfolk in silence.

At the light, Rob pulled up behind a car with California plates.

Paisley stared at the plates, her mind winging back to the job offer. As if Rob was thinking about it too, the space between them suddenly filled with tension as palpable as a third body.

“You never said,” he ground out. “Are you taking that nursery job?”

“I haven't decided. Right now, I'm enjoying every day we're given, Rob.”

He turned the corner onto Aunt Rainbow's street. “Your indecisiveness, my never knowing where you'll be a week from now, or even tomorrow, is as irritating as a nail that won't pound straight. You drive me crazy.”

“I don't mean to. I'll let myself out. And don't forget you promised Sara you'll be in church in the morning.” She had to be sure this new, contented Rob was the real man, not putting on a show to coax her back. They'd kissed, they'd spent time together, but she still wasn't confident enough that happy Rob would stick. After his outburst, the time wasn't right to tell him she had no plan to accept the job.

Paisley manhandled the pickup door, straining hard to open it against the wind, fighting with her own anger. The door didn't stay, but crashed against her thigh as it slammed behind her. She started walking and was yanked back against the pickup. Her full skirt caught. She twisted around just as Rob released the door. She yanked her torn skirt and gathered it next to her side.

The wind bit off whatever Rob was saying as the door slammed.

 

~*~

 

Sunday morning Paisley smiled over the way they'd both expressed feeling like naughty teens. She sat close to the back of the church, soaking in the potpourri of people and the building. At one point, Sara turned and waved at her.

Rob had honored his promise to Sara and attended church with his brother and the family.

The pastor spoke. “In order for us to apply what the Bible teaches we have to make it real to us today. God's Word needs to be a message from the heart rather than a message from the head. And isn't that what faith is all about?”

Paisley listened. Her head held the key to all rationalization. Her heart was another matter.
It hurts inside because I care.
She slipped out early due to her distracted musings without talking to anyone other than the usher.

On Monday, she marked the rainbow colored tags with the fine point marker, her second pen since the project began. Countless times, she bumped her bruised thigh.

The family had worked on the basement mess together, separating, discussing, and stacking items salvaged for sale.

This job in Norfolk would be over as soon as she finished marking what was left in the basement corner. What other jobs could Aunt Rainbow have in the hopper? Did she still need Paisley's help?