Page 2 of Always Be True: Tino
“Okay, Natalie, let her rip.”
She hit the On button and jumped a bit when the saw tore into the drywall. He steadied her arms with his hands, but then left it up to her to continue on her own. All in all, she did a pretty credible job, taking her time and biting her lower lip as she guided the blade along the lines he’d marked.
After finishing the last cut, Natalie turned off the saw and stepped back from the wall to critique her work. “It’s a little crooked.”
He brushed away some of the dust. “Not enough to matter. You did a fine job, especially for your first time with a power saw. Besides, no one will be able to tell once it’s taped and mudded.”
His words clearly pleased her as she surrendered the saw and safety glasses to him. “Thanks for letting me do that, Tino. I’d hang around to help with the patch, but it’s almost eleven thirty, and everyone stops to eat lunch at noon. I’m supposed to help serve today, so I’d better go get cleaned up.”
Then she frowned. “You will join us for lunch, won’t you?”
Actually, he’d planned on finishing this last patch before heading over to his brother’s place. However, eating lunch with a bunch of strangers suddenly sounded a whole lot better than drinking beer and watching a ballgame with Jack.
“Sure, I can stay.”
“Great! I hope you like pizza and salad.” Natalie picked up a small backpack and took off across the gym at her usual speed. Halfway across the room, she stopped and turned back to face him. “If there’s room, save me a spot at your table.”
Okay, then. So maybe this whole attraction thing wasn’t a one-way street. “I will. See you then.”
“Great!”
She shot him another one of her bright smiles and disappeared through a door on the other side of the room.
—
Natalie forced herself to cross the rest of the gym without looking back a second time, even though she dearly wanted to know if Tino Gianelli was watching as she walked away. She suspected…no, shehopedhe was.
He was the first interesting—not to mention attractive—man she’d met since ending her engagement to Benton Humboldt. She liked Tino’s dark, wavy hair and teasing eyes the color of bittersweet chocolate. It probably wouldn’t amount to anything, but a girl could always hope. Besides, flirting with a handsome man over pizza and Caesar salad was a harmless way to dip her toes back in the dating pool again.
“Hey, Miss Natalie, how’s it going?”
She smiled at Clarence, the janitor who kept things running here at the center. Despite spending more than forty hours there during the week, he showed up every Saturday to help with the ongoing effort to restore the building to its former glory. She looped her arm through his. “We should get at least half of the gym painted today. One of the new volunteers has almost finished repairing the last two walls. I’m hoping to convince him to come back again. He seems to really know what he’s doing.”
“That’s good, girl. You’re going to have this place shining soon.”
“I hope so. I know having all our stuff underfoot makes your job harder.”
He smiled. “Now, you don’t go worrying about that. I don’t mind one bit, and it’s only temporary, anyway.”
That was true, but it seemed to take forever to make any real progress. She had to remind herself that the faded paint and outdated furnishings were slowly disappearing.
“There’s so much more we could be doing for the people in this area once we get the building back up to code and the new computer lab finished.”
Clarence patted her arm. “I love the way you look at this old gal and see all the possibilities. Most people only saw how run-down she’d gotten and wanted to tear her down to bring in a bunch of fancy stores or something else just as useless. Folks around here need a place to gather. You know, to come together as a community. Outsiders don’t understand that and should just stay out of our business.”
He wasn’t saying anything he hadn’t told her half a dozen times before. Once again, Natalie didn’t point out that she had been an outsider the first time she’d visited the building or that it was outsider money pulling his beloved community center back from the brink. Besides, she agreed with him. The people who lived in the immediate area should have the biggest say in how things got done.
They were about to pass the door to the ladies’ room. “I’d better stop in here and clean up a bit before I serve lunch. I’ll save you a couple of those brownies you like so much.”
“You spoil me, missy.” He smiled down at her and winked. “Not that I’m complaining, mind you. Let me know if you need me to set up any more tables or anything.”
“I will.”
She headed into the restroom. One look in the mirror had her wanting to bang her head on the wall. “Well, aren’t you just lovely?”
Not only did she still have the remnants of the paint streak smeared across her cheek, but her hair was an unruly mess. She looked as if she’d just rolled out of bed and hadn’t even bothered to brush her hair before leaving home. Sigh. And here she thought Tino’s smile had been flirtatious. Now she suspected he’d been having a hard time holding back his laughter. All things considered, she couldn’t even bring herself to blame him.
After soaking a paper towel with water and soap, she scrubbed the rest of the paint off her face. It was tempting to put on a bit of makeup, but she settled for just a touch of lipstick. Next, she tackled her hair, dragging a brush through it before quickly braiding it. As usual, a few strands still escaped to frame her face with soft curls. She’d spent years trying without success to tame her hair. It was as good as it was going to get.
