Twin Pines Page 2

  Mistress of Ceremonies! The words made her shudder. Just because part of her duties as supervisor of the activities department was to lead the group exercises, introduce speakers and such, the Board of Trustees decided that she was the perfect person to emcee the annual fund-raiser. Public speaking was not her forte. She'd spoken for groups, but she preferred surrounding herself in the audience--hiding.

  Nervous? Yes. She worried about making mistakes. And the way everything was going at work, a shower of rotten tomatoes might pelt her when she took the stage!

  Bella couldn't understand what was happening to her life. When she'd gone to the administrator with information about the resident's missing personal property and the degrading way a few of the staff members spoke to the elderly residents, most of them had begun to shun her. They were treating her as if she'd been the one abusing and stealing from the residents!

  A sharp knock at the front door erased the disturbing thoughts from her mind. Brushing her tangled hair from her eyes, she strolled to the door.

  "Hello--?" Bella's words seemed to stick in her constricted throat. Garrett Brooks stood at her door with Brandy snuggled in his muscular arms.

  "This little lady wandered to my door while you were out," he said in a rush. "She gave me the perfect opportunity to tell you I'm sorry."

  Bella stood there, her mouth agape. She struggled to find words. "Okay?"

  "So…can I come in?"

  She felt as tongue-tied as a teenager with her first crush. Finally, she gestured widely for him to enter.

  Garrett put the dog down on the blue braided rug that graced the wood floor in the small entry. Once freed, Brandy tore through the room, around the corner and into the kitchen. Bella shook her head back and forth in disbelief. "Brandy handles stress by eating," she said softly. "That's one weakness we have in common." Oh shoot! Why had she said that? She felt blood rush to her face.

  "Well, it sure doesn't show on you." He raised an eyebrow while assessing her feminine curves.

  "Thanks, you're too kind." She felt her face get hotter. Looking up at Garrett, she changed the subject saying, "How about a cup of coffee? I was just going to make some to warm up. And since you deserve a reward for saving Brandy…"

  "That sounds great. I haven't found my coffee or the machine, yet."

  "I'll be right back," she said and walked to the bedroom to get the bags of groceries from her bed where she'd dropped them.

  "What a strange place to keep your food."

  Bella whirled around to find Garrett smiling at her. "Oh! I didn't know you were behind me." She gaped at him.

  "I really like your apartment," he spoke absently, "it's laid out the same as mine, but yours looks much more homey…uh, inviting."

  Once out of the room, she pulled the door shut. It was much to unsettling to have Garrett in her bedroom. Taking a deep breath to relax her strained nerves, she realized she had her fists clenched. Shaking her hands, they walked across the living room and into the kitchen.

  "You have a flair for decorating."

  "I love it. Nothing here is expensive. Nearly everything came from yard sales and flea markets. I like doing that in the summer. It's the only way I can control my lust for extravagance and stay within my tap water budget." Bella laughed, keeping the anxiety from her voice and turned her attention to plugging the coffee maker into the electrical outlet. "You don't really think I keep groceries in the bedroom, do you?"

  "Bella, I know that." He smiled. "I was just teasing you."

  "Oh," she whispered softly. Teasing was something that hadn't happened to her in a long time. She didn't remember how to respond.

  The only sound in the room was the gurgling sputter from the coffeepot as it pumped hot water over the coffee grounds. Bella pulled out a gold colored tin and walked toward the table where Garrett sat. He made quite a scene in her dining room with his legs stretched out in front of him and his hands folded over his flat stomach.

  "Do you like chocolate chip cookies?" she asked, opening the lid and placing the container in the center of the table.

  Garrett pulled his legs under the chair and sat up quickly causing the chair legs to clatter against the tile. "I love them. Did you make these?" Something about him reminded her of a ten-year-old boy as he leaned forward, looking into the cookie can; his tan hand disappeared into its fragrant depths.

  "I sure did. I love to bake, but I don't need to eat the stuff." Bella walked back into the kitchen and began storing her groceries. Her nervousness had abated a little.

  Garrett bit into the flat, soft cookie and rolled his eyes. "Mmm, they taste wonderful. My grandmother made me cookies when I was a child. When I came home from boarding school for the summer, she had a summer's worth stored in the freezer. All I had to do was ask for a specific kind." He turned in the chair, giving her a wide smile. "Sometimes we didn't wait for the cookies to thaw!"

  Bella laughed along with him. The picture of Garrett and his grandmother warmed her heart. It reminded her of her childhood, except she had no idea about boarding school. Bella had attended all twelve years of school right here in Evergreen.

  "Boarding school? Was it exciting?" she asked.

  Garrett shook his head and the smile in his eyes died. "No. I really hated it. I harassed my father to let me attend public school. And he finally gave in…the summer before I began high school." Taking another cookie out of the can he continued, "I think father enjoyed it as much as I did, though. He came to all my basketball games."

  "Did you live in a large city?" The coffee maker gave a final bubbling groan and fell silent.

  "Phoenix, Arizona."

  "Wow, you must have been really good to make the team in a city." She returned the short distance to the dining room with two mugs and the coffee carafe.

  "Not really," he reached out and touched her arm as she poured the black liquid. "My school was small, and my father was rich and influential. All it took was a donation on his part and I could do most anything I wanted."

  Garrett used his touch to emphasize his words, and as they talked, shivers of desire ran along Bella's spine. Her body responded with jolting awareness to his caressing gesture. She had to calm her breathing to a slow, steady pace. She was practically salivating with desire.

  "I played basketball in high school, too." Bella offered as she sat down in the chair beside him. "It was my favorite pastime. I think my hoop is still hanging over the garage door."

  Garrett raised his head and looked directly into her eyes. "You did?"

  "Sure. That's a big thing around here in the winter. You probably haven't noticed yet, but there's very little to do in Evergreen. High school sports are a big deal."

  "You want to go one-on-one when the weather clears?" His eyebrows rose in question.

  Bella's heart jumped. One-on-one. She swallowed the hot coffee with a gulp, scalding her tight throat. "Uh, you bet. My brothers won't challenge me so, I'm a little rusty." She lowered her eyes and stared at Garrett's legs--his jeans fit his muscular thighs just right: snug enough to outline the muscle separation, and loose enough to appear comfortable.

  Bella returned her attention to the coffee, and stirred a heaping teaspoon of sugar into the steaming liquid. She wondered if her body looked vaporous to Garrett, because she felt herself reach the boiling point. Surely, she was visibly steaming. What the heck was the matter with her? She was acting like a sex-starved teenager. Well, that really was the problem. She was hungry for sex.

  Trying to return her concentration to their conversation she asked, "How's your project coming along?"

  "P-Project?" His black eyebrows rose. "What do you mean?" Suddenly, he smiled and reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "Oh! You mean the moving. It's going quite well, really. I only have a few boxes left to unpack, nothing too time consuming."

  Her shoulder tingled from his touch. "You seemed taken aback by my question--worried. Are you keeping a secret?" Bella frowned with feigned suspicion, then laughed. She swallowed her
surprise when a blush crept up Garrett's neck and broke over his sculpted cheekbones. Had she hit upon something?

  Garrett sat up straighter, but kept his eyes aimed at the cookie tin in the middle of the antique oak table. Reaching for another cookie, he said, "Yes. My secret is this, I'm terrible at moving, witness my destruction of the landing!"

  "Garrett, it's all right," Bella interrupted. "It was an awkward situation for both of us. I should apologize to you for acting so--so rude! You were in an awful situation and I didn't help you at all. I guess I'm a bit…grouchy in the morning." She grinned shyly. "We were both wrong," she said, pouring them each another cup of coffee. She felt awkward and clumsy with Garrett sitting at her table, looking at her as if she was one of the cookies. This was a new experience.

  After sugaring her coffee, she reached for a cookie. Only one remained.

  Garrett shrugged. "I'm addicted to good food. I told you I had a weakness for cookies. As I remember it, Grandmother had a problem keeping cookies in the house, too. Besides, this is a great way to spend a cold winter day."

  "Do you see your grandmother very often?"

  "No," he said, shaking his head in response. "I've been too busy working to enjoy the nicer things in life." Breaking off a piece of cookie, he popped it in his mouth.

  Bella put her elbows on the table and leaned her head on her hands as she watched him. "What do you do?" She asked softly.

  "Uh, I suppose you'd say I'm in management. Yeah, management." He straightened his legs under the table, grimacing with pain.

  "What's the matter?" Bella cried.

  "I-I'm fine…it's…just a spasm." He stood, placing pressure on the muscle and hobbled toward the glass door. "You know…I-I really hate moving. I'd rather paint the house and let the movers do all that kind of work."

  Bella rushed to his side as another spasm struck, and taking him by the arm, led him back to the table. "Here, sit down and I'll massage it. Just talk to me. It'll keep your mind off the pain." Garrett raised his foot and she pulled his leg across her thighs. "Why do you hate moving so much?" When she began squeezing the muscle, he gritted his teeth from the torture.

  "Because my father…owww. Don't be so rough."

  "Sorry," She muttered, easing her grip.

  "Making me go away for school.... He thought I would adjust. I would come home for the summer, make friends, and then it was time for me to go back."

  He didn't say anything else and Bella didn't want to pry so she rubbed his leg for a few more minutes until she felt the muscle relax.

  Just being with this man made her realize how isolated her life had been these last years. The tight, lonely feeling in her chest eased in much the same manner as Garrett's calf relaxed.

  Garrett glanced at the clock. "It's getting late and I have more unpacking to get done," he spoke quietly and took the last sip of his coffee and walked into the living room. The waning light of the day reflected off his expensive wristwatch. "It'll be dark soon."

  Bella remembered the way he'd looked at her earlier that morning when he was sitting on the floor. He made her feel vulnerable--and oh, so feminine. She longed for the feelings he evoked in her. She looked away from him and shivered. "Night comes so early this time of the year. It makes me cold." Crossing her slender fingers over her bulky green sweater, Bella rubbed her arms as she tried to warm herself.

  "I enjoyed the cookies and coffee."

  Bella smiled and leaned against the arm of the couch. One of the ruffled pillows tumbled away from the others in the grouping, catching Garrett's attention. She picked up the pillow and clutched it to her chest.

  "Hey, did you make all this stuff in the living room?"

  "Yeah. That's the life of an activity director. I know how to make stuff," she said jokingly and tossed the pillow at him. It bounced off his chest. If anyone besides Garrett had called her treasured, handcrafted pillow stuff, they would feel the full force of her temper.

  His brows knitted together, "Activities director?"

  Bella snickered, "It's a complicated job, but--sit down. I can tell you're not ready to go back to work yet."

  "You're right." He smiled as he dropped into the overstuffed chair.

  "It's a gratifying occupation. I feel the biggest responsibility I have is being a friend to the residents at Twin Pines. That's the local nursing home."

  Garrett nodded thoughtfully. "I know. I--"

  "I plan group and individual activities," Bella interrupted. "I try to encourage the residents to pursue activities in the community." Then, with a wide wave of her hand, said, "I've made everything in this room--except for the furniture. I've learned many crafts from the residents themselves."

  "All this stuff sure gives your apartment a homey feel. Mine is filled with boxes! Truthfully, I really do have more than just a few to empty. It's more like a few emptied." Garrett laughed as he absentmindedly scratched at a small piece of chocolate chip that had fallen onto his shirt and melted into the fabric. "It sounds like fun. You have a happy life, don't you?"

  Bella took a deep breath. Her job had been fun until last year when the administrator of the facility gave her another responsibility--social services director. He told her that the facility needed her to help the residents pay bills, buy personal items and such. Since she'd established an exceptional rapport with the residents, she was the perfect candidate. Bella wished that she had the courage and the ability to say no. But she never had, and the administrator, Mr. VanHorn had used her restrained posture against her.

  "Oh, I don't know if I'm all that happy. There have been some problems around there and I've gotten into a bit of trouble lately."

  "Really?"

  Bella nodded thoughtfully. "I've reported a few incidents to the administrator. Occurrences of theft and abuse. Now, I'm being punished by my co-workers for doing this."

  "Well, they should be happy you're concerned!" Garrett's eyes darkened with anger and the muscles in his jaw twitched. "That really sounds unfair!" The veins at the side of his neck protruded and his eyes narrowed.

  Her confession seemed to upset him more than it did her. Bella shrugged, saying, "Everyone pretty much avoids me now. I just wish Mr. VanHorn would do something to get to the bottom of the problem. I can handle the accusations, but the residents are much too vulnerable. They're the ones losing property, but I can't see things changing until the administrator acts."

  Garrett shook his head in wonder. "Well, it sounds as if his side-stepping is increasing the problem."

  "It is, and I'll do what I can to find who's behind all this. I'm hoping to vindicate myself, but every time I feel I've found a clue, I'm the one who ends up in trouble."

  Garrett bent down to pick up the pillow she knocked off the couch. Beside it lay a small bag. He peaked inside the sack. Looking at the item concealed by the pink plastic; he whistled softly. "Whew! I'd love to see you wear this. It's even better than the sleep shirt you wore this morning." His crooked grin widened as he held up an emerald-colored, lace teddy by its thin straps.

  Bella snatched the garment from his hands. "Where did you get that?"

  "I-I found it lying on the floor. Hey! You aren't embarrassed, are you?"

  She turned her back toward him so he wouldn't see her face flushing. Embarrassed? She was dying!

  He touched her elbow and turned her around to face him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fluster you. It's all right. I have seen a few of these before."

  Bella caught her lower lip between her teeth and let it slip slowly from their grasp. "I guess I'm being oversensitive."

  Garrett placed his arm around her shoulders and walked with her to the door. "Don't worry about it, I just like to tease. I won't do that anymore if it bothers you."

  Secreting her shy tendency she said, "No, it's fine, I'm just not accustomed to it." Changing the subject she offered, "I have an idea. Would you like to have a late lunch with me tomorrow at the sports bar? A few of us from Twin Pines get together every Sunday to watch the Denver
Bronco's football game?"

  He nodded, and then reached out to move a strand of her hair caught in her lashes. "Well, sure. I'd enjoy that." He opened the door and stepped out onto the landing. His eyes took in the ripped vinyl. "I'll have the floor fixed as soon as I can. I'm really sorry."

  "Get a hold of Ned. He'll tell you where to buy the vinyl that matches it."

  Garrett nodded then raised his brows in question. "Why is your brother's last name Storm and yours Mann?"

  Bella cringed. "I was married."

  "Oh, I see." Garrett said. "Was?"

  Nodding, she offered, "Yes, I'm a widow. Scott, m-my husband, died in an auto accident three years ago."

  "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to open old wounds."

  Her mouth curved into a smile that pushed away the gloomy topic. "At least I got a more appealing last name."

  Garrett's eyes narrowed as he asked, "I don't understand?"

  "The kids in school teased me unmercifully when I was a teenager," she confessed. "Bella Storm! In my senior yearbook, I was nominated 'One most likely to become an exotic dancer.'"

  Garrett threw back his head and roared with laughter.

  The ringing telephone split the air and dropped the jovial atmosphere in the room. "Can you wait a moment?"

  "Sure. Go ahead with your call."

  It was the director of nursing. There was a crisis at the nursing home and she wanted Bella to handle the problem. Immediately. Gladys Fortney, a resident, threatened to walk out the door because someone had stolen a ring. Her treasured Mother's ring.

  Bella hung up after assuring the nurse she would be there as soon as she could.

  Garrett gave her a long look. "Is there a problem?"

  She glanced at him as she rounded the couch and felt the power his intent look cast over her. "Yes, there's an emergency at work. One of the residents is threatening to leave this very minute. I need to get over there."