Page 46 of Where Dreams Begin

Dave took a step toward her. “I sure do. It has three stories, it’s right across the street, and Toby’s eager to do it.”

“Too eager,” Luke interjected.

“He moved in about a year ago, after some relative died and left him the place,” Dave said. “He makes huge metal creatures out in his garage, and I believe he’s even sold a few. If he were inclined to hit on the girls, he would have done it a long time ago. It’ll take some effort to rig scaffolding, but it’ll be worth it.”

Luke appeared decidedly skeptical. “Let me think about it a while longer. In the meantime, keep looking.”

“Fine, but what do you say to starting the art contest? That way, when a site is chosen, we’ll be all set to begin.”

Luke glanced from Dave to Catherine. “As long as all you request are preliminary sketches. I don’t want the kids disappointed if we can’t pull this off.”

“We’ll find a way,” Catherine insisted.

“Do you have any idea how to paint a mural?” Luke shot back at her.

She wondered if he was being curt for Dave’s benefit, but she didn’t appreciate his tone. “As a matter of fact, I do. We just need to work out our design on a grid and then enlarge the grid on the building. Then the drawing is transferred to the larger grid and painted in.”

While Luke didn’t appear reassured, he gave in. “All right, I’ll make an announcement at noon. We have plenty of white paper, but you probably ought to walk down to the Ninety-Nine Cent Store for some colored pencils.”

“Will do,” she replied. “We want angels, but we could have as many different kinds as there are kids who care to submit a design.”

Dave moved toward the door. “If we go with Toby’s house, then he ought to be on our committee too.”

Luke raised his hand. “Didn’t I just tell you to keep looking?”

“That you did, and I’ll be on my way just as soon as I finish my chores. See you at noon, Cathy?”

“Yes, see you then.” Catherine waited for Dave to leave and then carefully closed the office door behind him.

She could appreciate Luke’s concerns, but that didn’t mean she would accept his surly attitude. She lowered her voice to a near whisper to avoid being overheard. “I didn’t argue when you said we had to keep what happens between us outside the center a secret, but you needn’t bark at me to keep Dave from becoming suspicious.”

“I didn’t bark,” Luke complained too loudly.

“All right, then you’re tired and forgot to eat, whatever the cause of your foul mood, you still need to be nice to me. Pretend I’m one of the other volunteers, like Alice Waggoner and Betty Murray who help Mabel. I’ve seen them here often.”

Exasperated, Luke shoved his fingers through his hair. “I didn’t mean to be rude. I was just hoping Dave would come up with a viable alternative rather than provide another vote for Toby’s house.”

She wished he weren’t so dead set against it. “I really do like the Victorian.”

“Well, I don’t. I don’t think much of Toby, and three stories of scaffolding will make accidents, and serious ones, inevitable. I’ll grant you the mural might be spectacular, but I don’t want to lose any of the kids in the process.”

“Neither do I. I want to go take another look at the house. Maybe we can lean out the windows to paint rather than use scaffolding.”

“Do you plan to paint, yourself?”

He appeared incredulous, and she much preferred the warmth passion lent his gaze. “No more than a brushstroke here and there. We want this to be the kids’ project, remember?”

“Only too well.”

She walked over to the window. Dave had trimmed the weeds creeping up through the asphalt, but it was still a desolate sight. “Is something else bothering you? I know I had a great weekend, and I’m sorry it didn’t leave you happier.”

Luke circled his desk and came up behind her. He slid his arms around her waist to pull her back against his chest and nuzzled her nape. “I had a wonderful weekend too, but this morning a letter arrived from my ex-wife’s attorney. They’re going back to court to ask for more money.”

She turned slowly in his arms. “Marsha’s actually done that?”

He nodded. “The judge will probably review our initial settlement and laugh in her face, but still, it’s another problem I don’t need.”

“No, of course not.” Catherine longed to kiss him, but waited for him to make the first move. When he did, the first brush of his lips was tender but so incredibly enticing that she could barely contain the enthusiasm of her response.

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