Page 52 of Vodka and Chocolate Drops

“It didn’t.”

“Aww.” Her friend looked genuinely bothered, and Amber felt the sting of rejection as freshly as if it had happened again.

“Do you have any leftover spray paint?”

“From giving this place a makeover?” Mandy asked, moving past Amber to check the storage room. She was wearing washed-and-worn designer jeans that fitted her contours in a way that would cause Amber to sell her family secrets to the press if she could obtain the same results.

Okay, maybe not the best analogy,she thought, crossing her arms.

“Whatever you have and don’t need.”

Now that she was here, she didn’t want to mention Mandy’s grand gesture, which had led to her spray painting her declaration of love for her now-fiancé on the town’s water tower. Amber had a feeling her friend would put two and two together and try to stop her. Mandy’s little stunt had got her apprehended by Scott, and led to her having to repaint the entire tower. But it had also snagged Frankie’s undying love.

In Amber’s mind, the cost-benefit analysis came out in favor of spray painting the tower.

Mandy gave her a long look before riffling through her supply closet. “I have this.” She shook a can of spray paint. “About a third left. Want it?”

Amber held the can against her chest. “Thank you.”

Mandy faced her, hands on her hips. “What are you going to do with it?”

She shrugged.

“Amber Lynn!” Mandy hauled her back into her office and shut the door, making Amber feel immediately claustrophobic in the tiny space. “You had better not be planning to do what I think you’re planning to do!”

“Nothing. I’m not. Nothing.” She was stuttering. She was so bad at keeping secrets. No wonder everyone was already figuring out who Delia was.

“You so are!”

Amber waved, paint tucked under her arm, as she hustled out the office before her friend could change her mind for her.

“There are other ways. Ways that are legal,” Mandy called after her.

Yeah, and they hadn’t worked. She was desperate. She needed to do something. Take action. She couldn’t live like this any longer. One more day without Scott was one day too long.

Amber strode back into the office. “Don’t. Tell. Scott.”

Mandy’s shoulders slumped. “Having to repaint that water tower wasn’t fun, Amber. If the town hadn’t helped me out I’d still be up there and still picking specks of aquamarine off my skin.”

“Who said anything about painting the water tower?” Amber said, a new idea blossoming in her mind.

* * *

Mandy had been totallyonto her. Well, sort of.

She had planned to spray paint her initials along with Scott’s on the tower. But after talking to her friend she’d decided to paint arrows on the road, each one leading Scott closer and closer to a spot in town where Amber would be waiting with a brilliant declaration of love, and possibly roses.

But in the end, she’d lost faith in herself and had gone with the old standby--the water tower.

However, once Amber was up on the tower, with the wind whipping down the mountainside and the town spread out below her, it seemed more like a stupid, spontaneous idea that would cause more problems than it would solve. A police officer who was applying for a promotion wouldn’t hook up with a vandal. Plus everyone would know it had been her, which would leave Scott in an awkward position if he didn’t arrest her. You didn’t put the man you loved in a position like that.

Amber sighed, tears leaking out as she leaned against the cold metal water tank, her legs spread out in front of her on the walkway. She idly turned the spray can from end to end, making the marble inside clang as it moved. From up here she could see the shadowy forms of people walking down Main Street, pausing to chat and laugh with each other as the streetlights came on. She could see folks out in their yards, heading inside for their favorite television shows, and trailing in from bike rides and hikes through the meadow just outside of town before it grew too dark to see. On the other side of the tower, she’d be able to see up the mountain to where she lived. Her whole world was spread out in front of her, and although it wasn’t very large, for the first time the idea didn’t bother her as much as she thought it should.

Amber swiped at her damp cheeks as she heard the clanging of boots coming up the steel ladder that led to the walkway where she was sitting. She glanced through the opening and saw Scott powering his way up as though he climbed five-story ladders every day. His shoulders bunched and flexed under his light police jacket as he moved, his chest so broad and strong it made her long to feel it.

“Come to enjoy the view?” she asked when he wordlessly sat beside her, barely out of breath despite the speed of his ascent.

He eyed the spray can, then glanced behind them at the pristine, unpainted surface. He seemed relieved.

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