Rocky Mountain Angels (3 page)

Ben downed his juice. “Forget it, Eli, you don’t have time. You heard Joe. He needs those blueprints by tomorrow, and since you goofed off yesterday with Raina, you’re going to barely make that deadline if you work solid all day long.”

Eli clouded over but sat, resigned. Then the corners of his lips quirked into some semblance of a smile. “Go ahead, Ben, give it your best shot. I doubt she’ll be interested, but at least you’ll know you tried.”

Ben glared then strode out of the kitchen.

***

Mari had really been appreciative of her brothers and friends in and around Oklahoma City who had brought boxes to her packing party and packed them and loaded them, but now that she was left to unload them on her own, she was realizing her strength limitations. She was just about to open them up in the back of the truck and carry the pieces of her life to the house one armload at a time, when Ben showed up rolling a dolly.

Mari smiled. “Ben, you are the man of the hour! I was beginning to wonder how I was ever going to do this. Thanks.”

She moved to take control of the moving equipment, but Ben held on. “I’m not just loaning you the dolly, Mari, I’m loaning you me. In fact, you should just go back in and stay warm. You can unpack the boxes and arrange things as I bring them in.”

Mari grinned.
Angel of mercy.
“Are you sure you don’t have something else you need to do? This wasn’t on your agenda.”

Ben grinned back. “I’m on winter break. I don’t have an agenda.”

Mari turned back to the truck. “Okay then, why don’t you start with the book cases, so I have someplace to put the books when you bring those in.”

Ben wheeled the dolly up the ramp. “Will do, boss.” He looked at her a moment then winked, almost as an afterthought.

Mari nearly laughed but quickly realized he wasn’t kidding. He was trying to charm her. She turned and scurried up her sidewalk.
Oh my.
She went in the house and paused before taking off her coat.
He has no idea how old I am.
She took a right into her bedroom and threw her coat on the bed.
Should I tell him?
She shook her head as she heard the door open.
No, that would be weird.

Heading back to the living room, she pointed Ben toward the opposite side of the room to put the bookcase beside a tall window; then he headed back out to get its mismatched companion. Mari considered the possibility that Ben might have a crush on her, and for just a second, she wondered where Eli was this morning. Dazzling Joe had given her a polite wave when he pulled out in his truck, but where was Eli?
He had seemed interested last night.
Ben opened the door again, and Mari snapped out of her musings to direct the placement of the second book case to the other side of the window.

“I’ll bring in the book boxes next,” Ben announced, leaving again.

Mari nodded. “Perfect.”

There was no doubt that Ben was good looking and sweet to boot. “I suppose I’m probably eight or ten years older than he is,” she mused aloud. “It’s not unheard of, and statistically speaking, we’d probably die at about the same time, but still...”

The door opened again, and Ben wheeled in two stacked boxes with a mangled green plastic thing on top. Ben held it up. “I guess this was a bird feeder? It didn’t make the move well.”

Mari sighed and took it from him. “Oh, well, it was a last minute item I remembered to throw in.” She set it aside. “I’ll have to get a new one.”

“Are you a bird watcher?”

“Yeah, I have a book for identifying them in one of these boxes.”

Ben wheeled them over to the shelves. Mari knew better than to try and assist. She could no more move those boxes than the house itself. Ben slid the two off the dolly, and Mari pulled the tape to open the top box. She pulled out a couple of books and tried to shift her thoughts to the titles in her hands. Or rather, the colors. Mari always arranged her books by color.

She had the first box about half unloaded when Ben came back in with two more marked “BOOKS.”

“You really like to read, huh?”

“I have a degree in literature.” She smiled. “So, yes, I like to read.”

He crossed his arms over the top of the dolly. “I like to read. I just got an e-reader for my birthday.” He slid his stocking cap up a bit and scratched his head. “So you’ve already got a degree. Why are you starting over with zoo studies?”

“Well, sometimes our first pick” —
or our second or third
— “isn’t the right pick. What’s your major?”

“Business management. It was Joe’s suggestion, so I could have a place in the family business.”

Mari continued to put books on the shelf. “And that is...”

“Construction,” Ben supplied. “Joe knows construction inside and out, so he’s the foreman. Eli has a degree in architecture, so he does the designs.”

Mari didn’t know why that surprised her so much. She didn’t know what she thought Eli would be doing, but something as serious as architecture seemed a stretch. She forced her attention back to Ben. “Joe’s suggestion... is it something you really want to do, or is Joe just pushing you into what he wants you to do?” Dazzling Joe was losing a bit of his shine.

Ben shrugged. “I’m not really sure what I want to do, so it’s as good as anything, I guess.” He turned the dolly back toward the door. “Well, I guess that truck isn’t going to unload itself.”

***

Eli was straining to see what Mari and Ben were doing. Ben had taken the second load of boxes in and stayed longer than he had before. Eli had discovered that from his drafting table in his second floor office, he had a good view right into the tall windows of Mari’s living room... if he stood up... and leaned. She had her hair pulled back today with a colorful hair gizmo, but some of her wavy curls had slipped out and were falling around her face as she worked. Eli was a sucker for curls.

She stood to put books on the top shelf, and Eli noted that she was wearing a bright, patterned, long-sleeved top over tight jeans tucked into those useless snow boots of hers, and in a flash, he was back in his front yard with Mari in his grip slipping every which way on the ice. He relived her hands on his forearms and the way her eyes seemed to reflect the stars.

Ben stepped out the door, and Eli shook his head in an attempt to focus on the blueprints he needed to finish. “I may as well be out there, for all the work I’m getting done in here.”

He drank another slug of his coffee and ran his hands through his hair. Eli spent a lot of time with women, but they didn’t usually captivate his thoughts when he wasn’t with them. And he’d never,
ever
been jealous of his little brother before.

He got up and turned his drafting table away from the window.

***

Joe was eating a turkey sandwich, staring out the window of his on-site trailer at the synagogue his construction company had been building since mid-summer in Denver. The timing had been perfect, and they had moved inside just a week before the first snowfall. It was nearly complete, and Joe was itching to move on to the next project—a ritzy, gated-community apartment complex being developed by Tony and Bud Marshall. He seriously hoped that Eli would have the plans ready for their approval by their 8 a.m. meeting with the two men.

The door opened as he tipped up his bag of chips to get the last of the crumbs, and in walked a tall, slender woman with short, blond hair in a long navy wool coat and a red beret hanging off the back of her head. Joe smiled, wadded up his lunch trash, and lobbed it into the trashcan before rising and coming around his desk to greet her with a kiss. “What brings you all the way out here?”

Beth Havland slid her hands around his neck and pulled him down for another. “I would think that would be obvious.”

Joe’s smile melted somewhat. “You didn’t drive all this way just for a kiss, did you? You know your gas budget—”

“I know, I know. My gas budget ‘won’t support needless driving.’”

“Beth, you were the one who wanted help getting out of debt. I’m only trying—”

“I know.” She pulled off her hat and leaned her head against him. “But I’ve had a hard morning, and I needed you, and you’re terrible about answering your phone. Believe me, I tried calling.”

He stroked her hair. “Hmm, I’m not sure I even picked it up off my night stand this morning.”

She leaned back to look at him. “I know. After three times, Eli finally picked it up.”

Joe looked contrite and leaned back to sit on the edge of his desk. Sliding his hands down her arms, he pulled her to stand between his legs. “What happened this morning?”

“Well, you know how Professor Linson gave me an extension on my big accounting project?”

“Yeah.”

“And you know I’ve been working on it every day.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I finished it last night.”

Joe grinned and gave her hands a squeeze. “Good job, I knew you could do it.”

Beth’s lip trembled. “And I lost it this morning.”

Joe shook his head in confusion. “You lost it? How could you lose it? It was pages and pages.”

She pulled out of his grasp and took a step back, crossing her arms. “I know it was pages and pages, Joe, but I’ve searched my house from top to bottom, and I can’t find it.”

He rose and came to her, sliding his palm down her cheek. “I’ll help you look after work. I know what a mess your place can be sometimes.” Beth bristled at that remark, and Joe gave her a half smile. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that like it sounded.” He gave her a gentle kiss. “We’ll find it.”

***

Ben was unpacking the last box of dishes and putting them in Mari’s cupboards. He was frankly surprised that she had let him do this task; he thought most women were pretty fussy about their kitchens. At least he knew his mom certainly was. But he supposed kitchen stuff was less personal than other things she was probably unpacking in her bedroom. He couldn’t keep his mind from wandering that direction.

He had assembled her bed the night before and knew she liked out of the ordinary things. She had told him that the black pipes that formed sort of a cube over her bed were there to support fabric. Ben wanted to see it after she had it all put together but didn’t think he should ask.
Maybe I can sneak a peek.

The more time he spent with her, the more he liked her. She had a sense of humor, and her eyes sparkled when she laughed. And when she looked at the mountains, she was like a little kid at the fair. He had driven her up to a particularly good look-out point in the city after they had taken the U-Haul back, and she had made him pull over so she could just look. He had to admit, it had been a long time since he had taken the time to “just look,” and Pikes Peak all covered in snow was breath-taking.

He chuckled thinking about some of the other things he was learning about her—some of which were kind of quirky. He’d never seen anyone arrange their books and dvds by color before, even breaking up a series for the sake of the design.
Joe would have a fit.

Then she’d arranged her furniture by some weird method that didn’t make any sense to him at all.
Why have a TV if the seating doesn’t face it?
And he didn’t think the seating she had could support a snail—a small wicker bench that looked darned uncomfortable.
Maybe that’s why she didn’t bother turning it toward the TV. If anyone actually sat on it, it would collapse.

She hadn’t hung any pictures yet, but he had looked through the open box. The woman certainly loved color. Ben set the last bright yellow bowl in a stack sporting every color in the rainbow and closed up the cupboard. The glass doors showcased the pottery like an art gallery.

He broke down the boxes he’d emptied and thought about Mari’s announcement that she already had one degree.
So she’s a couple years older than me.
He threw another flattened box on the pile.
What of it? Mom is a year older than Dad. It’s really no big deal.
He knew he couldn’t ask her outright, but if they actually started dating, he was sure it would come up sometime.

He sent another box to the pile and had a disquieting thought.
She’s only here for school; what if she has a boyfriend back in Oklahoma?
Ben’s heart squeezed, but he knew there was no point worrying about it. He just needed to ask her out and see what she says. He took a deep breath and went to find her.

***

Turning his drafting table away from the window hadn’t really helped Eli focus on his work. He kept picturing himself in Mari’s little house helping her with all the heavy stuff—being the one “earning points” instead of Ben.

They had left around noon to return the rental truck and had been gone awhile, so Eli assumed they’d gone to lunch. And later when he needed to stretch his legs and just happened to do it in front of his window, he saw that they were no longer working in the living room, and that’s when Eli really lost all concentration.

He knew there was nothing personal or in any way intimate going on between Mari and his brother—they were just unpacking—but it nearly drove him to distraction anyway. And the fact that he was driven to distraction, distracted him all the more, because he didn’t know why. He kept telling himself that he had a lot of phone numbers of pretty women—even women with curls—and this one wasn’t all that special, but somehow he knew that was a lie.

The women he usually spent time with were glammed up and looking for a good time. Everything that came out of their mouths was flirtation and innuendo. Things like “I’m going to be a zoo keeper” never comes out of their mouths. He smiled unconsciously, remembering the fire in her eyes when he had laughed at that announcement.
She’s different, all right
.

Turning his attention once again back to his designs, that smile slid.
Maybe if I can just spend a little bit of time with her, my curiosity will be satisfied, and I’ll be able to concentrate.
He looked at his watch. At the rate he was going, he knew he could be up late, so he really should take a break.
Maybe I can take her out for a quick bite
.