She had fallen for his charm, his smooth talk, and in no time, seven of her best pieces of work had been taken and sold. She had trusted him to return. Trusted him to give her the money.
She hadn’t seen a penny from Henri. Nor had she seen Henri again.
At that low point in her life, Cora came up with the brain wave of moving to Alberta.
Sandra had fought the move. Anywhere in Alberta was too close to Calgary and home. But the thought of staying alone was even more depressing.
So she gamely packed up her little car with the few things she and Cora owned. They worked their way through the Fraser Valley, then across Alberta to Medicine Hat. There they found an ad for a small furnished house for rent in the town of Elkwater. It had an extra room for Sandra to set up a studio of sorts. Sandra sold a few pieces, and through that got the order for the lamps.
Now Cora was gone, with a promise that as soon as she returned, they would head south to California. But the longer Cora stayed away, the less sure Sandra was of leaving. In fact, it seemed that in the past six months, Sandra’s dissatisfaction with her life had grown.
She missed belonging somewhere. And whether she wanted to admit it or not, she missed belonging to someone.
She glanced out the window. A movement at the church made Sandra pay closer attention. The doors opened and a few people walked out.
She wasn’t going to watch, she thought.
But she couldn’t stop herself from looking. Bethany and Brittany bounced out of the church, their facial expressions exaggerated as they chatted with each other. Sandra smiled and kept looking, wondering.
And there he was. Behind them, hands in the pockets of his eternal khaki pants, came their uncle Logan.
He was smiling, looking relaxed, at peace.
Sandra felt a mixture of envy and a lift of pleasure as she watched him. He was good-looking, she had to concede. He had the potential to be a lot of fun, if only he’d drop the fussy, protective-uncle shtick he insisted on maintaining.
He paused, looking back to say something to a young woman who caught up to him. She wore a beige shift. Neat. Elegant. Uptight, Sandra thought a bit cattily.
Logan’s smile grew as he spoke to the woman. He lifted his hand and touched her shoulder lightly. It was almost avuncular, but for the first time in many years, Sandra felt a distinct dig of jealousy at the gesture. Around Sandra, Logan was either uptight, thinking she might lead his nieces astray, or he was scowling, thinking she might lead his nieces astray.
He was worse than some of the parents she had met while student teaching.
Yet she couldn’t keep her eyes off him as he talked to the woman.
She wondered who she was. Friend? Girlfriend who had come up for a visit?
Sandra took a deep breath, as if cleansing away the coil of strange emotions, and concentrated on tracing exactly twelve petals on the glass. She made a mistake and rubbed it out with a tissue then glanced out the window again.
But Logan, the woman and the girls were gone.
She felt momentarily bereft. Left out. She didn’t belong to that little group. She was here in her rented house. They were out there, heading to Logan’s spacious cabin.
This was enough, she told herself.
She capped her pen, dropped it on her worktable and headed to the beach, open spaces and other people.
“I’d love to go for a walk.” As Karen stood, she addressed the girls, who were laying on the floor, playing a board game. “Are you coming, Brittany and Bethany?”
Logan saw them exchange a quick look, and it wasn’t kind. He knew they would say no. They had never really liked Karen.
“We’d love to,” Brittany said, getting up. “Wouldn’t we Bethany?”
Bethany nodded, smiling at her uncle, who looked at both his nieces, his eyes narrowed. Why the sudden change of heart?
“We’ll clean the game up after, Uncle Logan,” Brittany said, smiling at him.
They were up to something. He knew it. He angled his body away from Karen. He shot them both a warning look that he knew Karen wouldn’t see.
They quickly glanced down, and he knew the message was sent and understood. Behave.
He turned to Karen with a forced smile. “Shall we go?”
The afternoon sun warmed Logan’s shoulders as they walked in silence to the lake.
Logan was still trying to absorb the shock he had felt when Karen showed up unexpectedly on his doorstep this morning.
She had been passing through, she had said. Stayed overnight in Medicine Hat. Logan’s partner told her where he was. She thought, since she was in the neighborhood, maybe she would stop in and see how Logan and the girls were doing.
Brittany and Bethany stayed close by as they walked, as if unwilling to give Karen and Logan the space they always gave him and Sandra.
“Your partner, Ian, tells me that you’ve got an important project due,” Karen said, breaking the silence.
Logan nodded. “I’m submitting it on spec. A few other architects are submitting plans, as well. If the client likes what I’ve done, we have a good chance at more work.” He bit his lip, thinking of the project that just wouldn’t obey. He’d never had this hard a time coming up with ideas. Nor had so much been riding on one project, he reminded himself.
“I heard it was the Jonserads that you might be doing this work for.” Karen angled him a questioning glance. “They’re a pretty big company. Family business.”
Logan nodded. He didn’t need the reminder.
“My parents know the Jonserads,” she added coyly. “If you want, I could put in a good word for you.”
Logan stiffened at the suggestion. All his life he had worked for everything he had. Nothing had come easily. He had managed without anyone’s help, and he was proud of that.
“Thanks for that, Karen. But I would just as soon earn the job based on my own merit.” He smiled at her to ease the harshness of his words. But he could tell from the suddenly brittle smile that she was hurt.
“The girls seem to be settling down,” Karen said with forced brightness as she wrapped her sweater around herself.
Thankfully Brittany and Bethany had gone a little ahead, talking and laughing.
“It’s taken a bit of doing, but it’s coming along.” Logan slipped his hands in his pockets, squinting against the glare of the sun off the lake. He wondered again why Karen had come.
They arrived at the boardwalk that led partway around the lake. Karen’s steps slowed. She was letting the girls get even farther ahead.
“I know my coming here is a surprise,” she said quietly, looking straight ahead. “I’m sure you thought, after I broke up with you, that you’d never see me again.”
Logan said nothing, letting her do all the talking. Their break had caused him a measure of pain, but in retrospect, he realized that his pride had hurt more than his feelings.
“This is a little awkward for me.” She sighed and stopped, turning to face him, lifting her exquisite face to his. Her short blond hair framed her features perfectly, emphasizing her delicate cheekbones, the fine line of her chin. Logan recognized her beauty almost as an afterthought. Which surprised him, considering that at one time he’d been attracted to her.
“I realized how much I missed you, Logan,” she continued, her soft green eyes holding his. “When the girls came, I made a rash decision.