Almost Heaven

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“Oh, Daddy,” she protested and blushed beneath her tan, but Grant could tell she was pleased.

“And finally,” Jim continued, “but definitely not least, to the love of my life.”

From the adoring look Jim gave Cat as he toasted her and judging by her beaming response, Grant had no doubt of the bond between the couple. As dinner progressed, they were so obviously in tune with each other, they sometimes finished one another’s sentences.

After the meal, Cat shooed Grant and Merrilee out of the dining room. “Jim and I will clean up. I’m sure you two have lots of catching up to do. There’s a nice breeze on the porch.”

Grant checked for signs of matchmaking in Cat’s expression, but his partner’s wife gave no indication of guile or intrigue. Apparently, she was simply being a good hostess.

He followed Merrilee to the wicker swing on the front porch and sat beside her.

“What now?” she asked.

He blinked in astonishment at her bluntness, wondering what she was expecting.

Even in the dim twilight of the late summer evening, he could see her blush as she qualified her question. “I mean, what are your plans? Will you move back in with your parents?”

Grant shook his head. “Going home is hard after living on my own so many years. I’m looking for my own place. What about you?”

“I still have a year of college left.”

“And after that, are you coming back to Pleasant Valley?”

Merrilee looked at him as if he’d grown two heads. “What would I do here?”

“Teach, like your mom. Isn’t that what you’d always planned, if I recall Jodie’s incessant chatter correctly?”

She smoothed her skirt with long, slender fingers, the kind a man liked to lace his own through. Her expression turned thoughtful, almost introspective. “I had planned to teach before I realized there’s a world out there. I feel sometimes as if I’ve spent the first eighteen years of my life in isolation.”

“Aw, c’mon.” He felt mildly offended by her put-down of their hometown. “Pleasant Valley’s a great place. You make it sound like the end of the earth.”

Merrilee extended her toes to give the swing a push and the faint rush of air caused her honeysuckle scent to swirl around him, mixing with the fragrances from Cat’s perennial borders. The effect was intoxicating and he had to make an effort to concentrate on her words.

“The people here are terrific, but life’s so…so predictable.”

“And that’s bad?” Her scent stirred his blood and accelerated his pulse, but somehow he managed to keep the conversation moving in spite of the distraction.

“Not if you like small town country living.”

“And you don’t?”

She shook her head. “I can’t wait to leave after college. I intend to rent an apartment in New York, probably downtown, where all the artists and musicians live.”

“Are you going to be a writer?”

“What makes you think that?”

“I thought you were majoring in English, like your mom.”

“I’d planned to, but I switched my sophomore year to Fine Arts. I’m a photographer.”

“You can take pictures in Pleasant Valley.”

He couldn’t understand why Merrilee, with her wonderful parents and a town filled with family and friends, would want to pack up and leave. Then he recalled how anxious he’d been to get away from Pleasant Valley his freshman year in college. He’d done a lot of traveling and, after several years away, he’d learned to appreciate home. In fact he’d reached the conclusion that Pleasant Valley was about as close to heaven as a man could get.

“I tell you what.” He wanted to spare her the same learning curve. “Spend some time with me this summer and I’ll show you all kinds of things to photograph.”

The thought of sharing his spare time with the suddenly grown up and alluring Merrilee appealed to him on several levels.

She cocked a feathery eyebrow, her gaze skeptical. “I love animals, but—”

“I promise to vary the subject matter. And I bet I can show you at least two dozen good reasons not to leave Pleasant Valley.”

Her skepticism didn’t dim. “I’m not changing my mind.”

“But you’re afraid you might?”

A slow smile lifted her delectably rosy lips. “Not a bit. In fact, I’ll bet I can win you over to my point of view.”

“Not a chance.”

“I love a challenge.” Her grin widened. “When’s your first day off?”

“I don’t start work until next week. How about tomorrow?”

She lowered her lashes before casting him a flirtatious glance. “You don’t waste any time, do you?”

He shook his head. “By the end of the summer, Merrilee June, I promise, you’ll hate going back to California.”

She angled her chin in defiance. “By the end of the summer, my dad will be looking for a new partner.”

Alarm jolted him. “My intentions are honorable.”

She giggled, a pleasant sound like a creek bubbling over stones. “I’m sure they are. I meant that when I get through with you, Grant Nathan, you’ll find Pleasant Valley as boring as I do. You’ll be ready to move on.”

Anxious to prove her wrong, he picked her up at ten the next morning. In shorts, T-shirt and sneakers, and with her blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, she looked for an instant like the child he remembered. But closer scrutiny revealed the womanly curves beneath her casual clothes, the maturity in the attractive angles of her heart-shaped face and the intelligence in her bright blue eyes.

He opened the passenger door of the pickup for her to climb inside. His vantage point provided a clear view of her long, tanned legs, crossed demurely at the ankles, and caused heat to curl below his stomach.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“It’s a surprise.” He closed the door and took a deep breath of morning air to cool his thoughts as he circled the truck and slid onto the driver’s seat.

“I like surprises. That’s one reason I want to move. Nothing ever surprises me in Pleasant Valley.”

“I’ve found something that will.” He started the engine, pulled away from the curb and headed downtown. He ignored her dubious expression.

After a few short blocks he turned into a diagonal parking space on Piedmont Avenue, the main drag.

“Not the hardware store,” she said with obvious disappointment. “Your dad’s owned this place my entire life. No surprises here.”

“We’re not going to the hardware store.” He felt a rush of satisfaction, knowing that Merrilee would be not merely surprised, but amazed. He hadn’t learned this tidbit of information himself until yesterday.

On the sidewalk he grasped her elbow and guided her toward the small storefront to the left of the hardware store. The windows were smudged with grime and a fading sign hung at an angle above the door.

“Here we are,” he announced with a flourish.

Merrilee’s jaw dropped. “Mr. Weatherstone’s old fix-it shop? It’s been empty for years.”

“Hard to maintain a business repairing typewriters and small appliances in today’s market,” Grant agreed.

He stepped to the glass front door, so grimy it obscured the shop’s interior, and gave three sharp knocks. “You should have brought your camera.”

“Yeah, right.” She grimaced in distaste. “So I can shoot a fascinating montage of dust motes, dead spiders and cobwebs—”

The door swung inward and an excited squeal interrupted her midsentence. “Merrilee! You’re back!”

Jodie Nathan barreled through the doorway and enveloped Merrilee in a bear hug. Merrilee returned her embrace with a dazed expression.

“Jodie, what are you doing here?” Merrilee asked.

Jodie beamed at Grant and contentment flooded him. He hadn’t seen his sister this happy in a long time. Her hazel eyes sparkled beneath the light brown curls that had escaped from the blue bandanna tying back her hair. Even with a smudge of dirt across one cheek, she looked radiant.