Miracle Pie (4 page)

At least he’d be paid for the pilot. As he
told her, he was expensive. He doubted she’d be able to afford a
second time.

He’d been so sure this would be
it
—the project to pull him out of his slump, to bring back
his mojo. He’d been wrong, but he didn’t allow himself to feel
regret. Coming here was still a good thing. Since Africa, he’d been
skating through an empty life with a smile. His eyes wide open but
not really seeing.

And then his uncle had sent him the picture
and something about it had stunned him. Woken him. Made him want to
jump back into life.

He’d thought this project was his fate, but
apparently it was just his catalyst.

“You still want to start tomorrow?” Rosa
asked.

“Tomorrow’s good.”

A sound came from Katie’s throat, and he
turned his attention to her.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Fine.” Her voice was too high and too thin.
“What time are you coming? I have pies to make and deliver in the
morning.”

“What time do you want us to start?” He kept
his gaze on her face. Watching her wasn’t hard to do. The hard part
was holding back the charm. Because he wanted to charm her. Hell,
he already wanted to do more. His mind knew she was wrong for him,
but his body disagreed.

He’d just come out of a situation where he’d
mixed business and pleasure. A mistake he didn’t want to repeat. He
was a man who loved life and women, and most of all he loved making
them feel good. Feel
very
good. But this woman was hands
off. At least until the pilot was completed.

“I usually finish delivering by seven in the
morning,” Katie said. “Later in the day, I prep for the next day.”
She made a face and pushed her hair back from her forehead. “I’m
probably the last person who should do the show.”

“Don’t worry,” Gabe said. “The camera will
love you. My first thought when I saw you was that you’re a
natural.” He lied. That had been his second thought. His first
thought had been that he was going to enjoy this gig.

They talked about what they planned to do
the next day. He wasn’t surprised by Rosa’s choice of meatball and
home-made tomato sauce. “The basics of great Italian cooking,” she
said, then turned to Katie who had the mouse-trapped-by-a-cat
look.

“Apple pie is a basic,” Katie said. “Or
pumpkin. I could do either.”

“Katie’s apple pies are the best I’ve eaten.
So are her apple pies.” Rosa sat straight, looking inward, her lips
curving up, her actions telling Gabe more than her words.

“I use my gram’s recipes,” Katie said. “She
got them from her grandmother.”

“You’ll share that,” he said.

She nodded, still looking cautious, as if
there were a snake in the room and it was him.

“It’s just going to be me tomorrow.” He
softened his voice and smiled at her, playing the avuncular uncle
instead of the Big Bad Wolf. “And Taz, my sound guy. No audience.
Nothing to make you nervous.”

“I’m not nervous.” Her voice pitched even
higher.

“You’ll be fine.” Rosa leaned toward Katie,
her firm tone compelling Katie to be fine.

“I’m sure I will be.” Katie gave a jerky
nod, and Gabe silently moaned. Rosa wasn’t helping. A firm hand
wasn’t needed here, just a light one.

But he wasn’t telling Rosa that. This was a
one-shot deal for him. He’d film the pilot for her, take the money,
and then he was out of Miracle.

He’d thought the magic might be here, but he
was wrong. His uncle had told him about Rosa’s cheating husband,
sounding a bit disgruntled that just as she was free of “the jerk”
he was moving to Miami to join a his friend’s fish business just as
she’d be free.

Gabe would have to call him and tell him
he’d made the right choice. Rosa’s distrust of his gender was too
new and too powerful right now for either of them to get what they
wanted from her. In another few months she might listen to Gabe but
by that time he’d have moved on.

If the miracle struck him again, it wouldn’t
be in the village of Miracle.

Chapter Six

Taz, Gabe’s sound guy, was like an exotic
flower in Katie’s kitchen, thin and tall with soulful, chocolate
pudding eyes and skin the color of caramel. She guessed he was a
couple years younger than her, and he kept shooting her flirtatious
glances that made her stifle giggles and Rosa roll her eyes and
then laugh. Gabe gave him the kind of look that Katie’s dad had
given Pastor Jerry ever since Katie’s cousin Becky had caught him
getting a blow job by one of his parishioners.

Katie imagined Wegner’s was busy today,
Linda Wegner’s whispers hissing down the aisles of groceries and
pharmacies and whatnots. She was probably in gossip heaven. Katie
had only told her father about the filming, and he wasn’t the gabby
type. But Rosa most likely told her three sons, so Katie was pretty
sure the news was out.

Amber, pregnant with Mike’s baby, was
probably using this as an excuse for her affair with Mike—even
though that didn’t make sense. But Katie had gone to school with
Amber since they were six, and she could testify that
sense
and
Amber
didn’t belong in the same sentence any more than
non-fat whipped topping belonged in Katie’s refrigerator.

Katie wished Trish were here to share the
filming with her. The last time she’d talked to Trish was two weeks
ago. Not hearing from her best friend was like a pinch in her
heart.

She turned her attention back to the scene
in front of her. The smell of tomatoes, basil and olive oil was
making Katie’s mouth water. If she let herself, she’d be drooling.
That along with her drooping eyelids would look as attractive on TV
as a dead rat. The viewers would think she was the village pie
idiot. They could call her “the pie savant.”

She leaned back on the kitchen chair and
wished she were in her bed, softly snoring along with Happy the
Beagle.

“That’s it,” Gabe said in his velvety voice,
and Katie’s breaths slowed as her spine curved into the chair, her
head as light as her body was heavy. As if her brain floated inside
a fluffy cloud.

“You mean you’re done?” Rosa said.

“That’s what I said.” His voice had a laugh
in it, and Katie smiled. That’s why she liked him. Because he
laughed silently at life.

She laughed at life a lot, but she did most
of it when she was alone.

“Next time I’ll say ‘it’s a wrap,’” Gabe
said. “Will that make you feel better?”

“Very funny,” Rosa said.

Katie’s eyes closed, and she smiled again as
she let the clouds in her mind take her away. Flying, she was
flying. No worries about Rosa. No worries about Trish. What a
wonderful feeling.

“Hey, wake up.” A hand touched her shoulder,
and she jerked her chin and her eyelids up. “Didn’t you sleep well
last night?”

Staring into Gabe’s eyes, so close to hers,
she felt herself drowning in his bright blue gaze. She started to
raise her hand to his face, but it was too much effort. In her
head, words formed.
Are you an angel?

“How did you know?” she asked instead, the
words slow and kind of slurred as she talked around her tongue that
felt too big for her mouth.

The soft pad of his thumb brushed her cheek.
He laughed softly. “Because you were sleeping. We’re taking a
break. Why don’t you take a nap?”

Another thought drifted into her mind.
I’ll take a nap with you.

“Katie?” Rosa’s voice colored with
concern.

Katie blinked, the cloud disappeared and she
thumped down to earth. Rosa stepped next to Gabe, a frown worrying
her forehead.

“I’m awake.” Katie straightened her spine.
“I’m fine. I don’t need a nap.”

Gabe smiled, as if he’d read her thoughts.
“Take all the time you need. I won’t rush you.”

Delicious. He was pure deliciousness.

“You’re very comforting,” she said. “I
suppose you have a girlfriend or wife.”

His smile deepened, the blue in his eyes
shining brighter. “Not anymore.”

A choked laugh came from Taz, and Katie
stood, her face heating. She told them she’d be back in a moment
then stepped over her snoring Beagle to hurry to the bathroom.
Luckily her hair didn’t need much more than a fluffing and her
makeup was still intact. When her cheeks cooled, she took a deep
breath and headed back to the kitchen.

She’d made up her mind.

He didn’t have a girlfriend. He was planning
to stick around for at least another day to make a rough edit for
Rosa before leaving.

Why not take advantage of it? Why not have a
fling? A one-night stand? He hadn’t said anything to show he was
attracted to her, but she’d noticed the way his gaze lingered on
her, the heat in his eyes and the caress in his voice.

She didn’t normally do flings, but why not
now? He seemed...safe. And he for sure was seductive. The next day
he would leave, and her life with her pies and her kitchen, with
her dad and her friends nearby wouldn’t change.

And she would have something wonderful to
remember. The way people told her they remembered her pies. As if
her pies made their lives happier.

That’s how she imagined a night with him
would make her feel, though she was probably delusional. He might
turn out to be selfish in bed. More concerned with his own pleasure
instead of hers.

In the kitchen again, Katie took out her
pre-measured little bowls of ingredients and set them on the
counter as Gabe checked the lighting, peering through a camera on a
tripod. Taz angled a boom microphone over her head and asked her to
speak for a sound check.

Setting a pumpkin on the counter, Katie
said, “My father grows apples and pumpkins on his farm, so apple
and pumpkin pies have been a staple on our farm every fall. This
year, we’ve had a good—” Her mouth still open, she stepped back,
her skin prickling, staring at the
thing
crawling up the
cupboard.

“What is it?” Gabe asked. “You forget
something?”

“A bug.” She pointed. It wasn’t just any
bug. It was a big, juicy, hairy thing that looked as if it had
crawled out of an evil scientist’s lab.

Both men stayed with their equipment as Rosa
hurried over to her.

“Whack it,” Taz said.

Gabe watched her with a close-mouthed smile,
waiting to see what she would do.

“It’s a monster bug,” Rosa said. “I’ve never
seen one like that.”

Still hanging back, Katie nodded. If she had
to, she would take care of it. But she didn’t want to get closer to
it. It gave her the creeps.

“Which one of you is going to kill it?” Rosa
gave them the same stare she gave her sons. The one that made them
jump before she opened her mouth and said, “Jump.”

“That’s not in my job description,” Taz
said. “Just ’cause I’m a guy doesn’t mean I have to kill bugs.”

Rosa sniffed as if she smelled something
bad. “Women need men for only two things. The second thing is
killing bugs.”

“If I don’t kill the bug,” Gabe said, “I
forfeit my manliness?”

Rosa raised her eyebrows. “Your manliness is
leaking out of you by the second, pretty boy.”

Gabe laughed. “What’s the first thing men
are good for?”

Katie laughed and his gaze shifted to her.
“If you have to ask...”

His gaze grew more intense. Katie wanted to
look away but couldn’t. As if she couldn’t move until he released
her.

“Are either of you going to kill this
abomination?” Rosa snapped.

“Gabe, you do it,” Taz said. “I’m better at
the first thing.”

A corner of his mouth kicking up, Gabe
blinked. So did Katie, backing up a step, her legs wobbly. He left
his camera on the tripod and headed around the counter where Katie
handed him a paper towel. Bending forward, he nudged the bug onto
the paper towel. Holding it as if it were a precious egg, he strode
to the back hall. They heard the door clang and a second later, he
returned with an empty paper towel.

Rosa and Katie clapped. Katie felt a grin
stretch across her face. “My hero,” Rosa said. Katie blew him a
kiss. He laughed and turned to Taz who was watching with an
I’m
too cool to kill a bug
sneer.

“Just for future reference,” Gabe said, “a
guy who won’t do the second thing isn’t going to be good at the
first.” Then he shifted his gaze to Katie, as if giving her the
message that he was very good at the first thing.

Her legs felt weak again and she sucked in a
gulp of air, unable to look away from him. Her breath stopped until
he turned back to his camera. She exhaled shakily. Stepping up to
the counter, she frantically tried to gather her brains and
remember what she was supposed to do first.

Introduce herself. She’d forgotten to do
that the last time. She needed to say her name without sounding
like the village idiot.

Gabe and Taz weren’t ready yet, so she
mentally went over the steps to make the pumpkin pie, though she
normally made the pie without even thinking about what she needed
to do. It had been a long time since she looked at the recipe in
her grandmother’s faded handwriting with the round loops. But she
looked now, and the memories grounded her, made her feel loved and
cared for.

Her dad was great, but it was her
grandmother who’d healed her when her mother dropped her off and
said she couldn’t do this anymore. Katie had a hard time
remembering the first five years with her mother. Just scraps of
memories of being scared and alone and often hungry. Her mother
passed out. Sometimes there was a man snoring in her mother’s bed.
The next time there would be a different man.

And sometimes Katie dreamed she was a child
and other children were making fun of her. Except for a boy with
blond curls...

Like Gabe’s hair, though his was wavy
instead of curly.

“Ready?” Gabe asked Taz.

Taz leered at Katie. “I’m always ready.”