Page 20 of Love, Lies and Sleigh Rides
He was a strange mixture of gruffness and generosity. It softened her a bit, especially after the near-clash they’d had earlier about the sleigh. Fallon had a feeling that conversation wasn’t over yet, but when they revisited it, she promised herself to go a little easier on him.
ChapterSix
Outside, Kade heaved the barn’s sliding doors apart on the overhead track while the wind pushed at his back. The doors squeaked and clambered on the metal housing as he made a mental note to find an oilcan and lubricate them when this snow quit.
Inside the barn, it was dark and still, a sharp contrast to the storm swirling outside. A shaft of light cut across the space in front of him from the small window to his right. Dust particles danced then slowly drifted back to their resting spots. He looked up at the crossbeams in the shadows high over his head. He remembered hoisting boards up there by way of a sturdy wood ladder with his dad, laying them across the beams for a makeshift storage space. The ladder was missing, and the only evidence it was there in the first place was a two-by-four still secured to the edge of the loft, the final step.
It had been a decade at least since he’d been in this barn. It was set behind the main barn and used mostly as a catchall for broken equipment, things his father or grandfather meant to repair but never quite got around to. There was a McCormick double bottom plow, missing a disc and rusted with age. The hulking rototiller that his father used to wrestle all over the garden when Kade was small. Then came the lighter, rechargeable tiller that even his mother could use, but it had been relegated to the equipment graveyard too. Tucked in the corner two broken augers from an old hay baler lay side by side like oversized boomerangs.
Kade walked farther into the building, noting the nesting boxes for the chickens built onto the wall inside the wired coop. His parents didn’t keep chickens anymore, so the boxes had been swept clean and used to store old shearing tools.
Beyond the coop and in the darkened corner, a tarp covered a hulking shape.
There you are. Let’s see how bad it is.
One of the runners poked out from underneath the dirty canvas shroud. Kade lifted the heavy material, but with the lack of lighting, it didn’t reveal much of what was underneath. He gave it a yank, which sent a plume of dust into the air. Kade turned his head, but the cloud was everywhere. A coughing fit doubled him over and it took a minute before he could see again.
He circled the sleigh and knelt next to the runner on the opposite side.
Ouch.
A deep crack cut through the runner's red paint and wove its way up the nearest stanchion. The stanchion itself had disconnected from the runner, its end resting on the dirt floor. Kade ran his hand along the smooth hickory runner. This would take more than a little work to repair.
He sat back on his heels, his mind returning to the conversation with his mother and Fallon. Fallon had left in a hurry earlier, her annoyance plain to see.
On one hand, he understood. She’d been recruited to revive the festival. According to his mother, she’d been at it for months. Then he blows into town, a stranger, and sticks his nose in her business, questioning her methods.
Yeah, I’d be ticked too.
He looked at the cracked runner and frowned.
Some of the best memories he had were of restoring this sleigh beside Pops. They’d labored for an entire summer and fall, sanding, painting, reupholstering the threadbare seat with a plush red velvet, and then hiring someone else to do the detailed trim work with gold flourishes.
Was it his last best memory of his childhood before he turned into a terror? Yes, it could very well be. Tanking grades, skipping classes, getting caught in the boys’ locker room in high school with cans of spray paint. It only got worse before it got better.
Kade breathed deeply as he ran his fingers over the ornate gold trim work. Funny how being back in Hendricks kicked all this baggage to the forefront of his mind. He’d buried it in the dark corners of his brain while he lived elsewhere. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say. He had a lot to make up for.
He eyed the sleigh. It needed to be fixed, no question about it. But it wouldn’t happen in two weeks.
Maybe he could suggest a different ride for Santa and Mrs. Claus, something other than an ordinary pickup truck. Another sleigh, maybe? But did he know anyone on the North Shore with a sleigh? Nope. Still, he couldn’t let go of the idea of an old-fashioned ride for his parents.
Outside, a car door slammed. He caught the blaze of color from Fallon’s rental car when he looked through the dirt-streaked window near the door. She must have seen him because she started toward the house, froze, then turned on her heels and headed toward the barn.
He brushed his hands on his pants and the cobwebs from his hair then gathered the tarp he’d thrown to the floor and pulled it over the sleigh once again. No sense in letting her see what sorry shape it was in. It would only shine a spotlight on how sentimental yet out of touch he really was.
Hopefully she wasn’t still upset about this morning.
I suppose I’ll find out soon enough.
ChapterSeven
Fallon blew the air from her cheeks as she turned off the car engine. Now there were even more vehicles parked next to the house than when she left. Her earlier spot had been taken by a red pickup truck and a small tan SUV, both parked at odd angles because of the snow mounded into small mountains by Fred’s plow. She dreaded walking into the full house.
She glanced around the property when she closed her car door. A silly thought took hold:Maybe I can hide out in Elaine’s shop until they all leave.
That couch was cozy enough. She’d brought her laptop with her so she could put her feet up, maybe make more of that hot cider, and get some work done since she was so far behind.
You’re right. That is a silly idea. Even she wasn’t that antisocial.
