of clothing were heavy, and even with sturdy wall construction, he wanted to be sure he anchored the racks into solid support beams. The rustic tone he selected complemented the antiquated building, the classic decor he’d labored over when Jasmine had divorced him. Working in the cold, long days of that first winter had been his personal therapy, just him, some tools and a propane heater for long, silent days.
He’d been stupid and foolish, he saw that now. All in the name of love, regardless of his mother’s misgivings, and Jenny Campbell never discouraged casually. Despite that, he wouldn’t regret the time he’d had with Tori. Like that old Garth Brooks tune, if he hadn’t opened himself up for the pain, he might have never gotten the opportunity to be Tori’s dad, to be a father. His heart ached, wondering where she was. What she was doing. And because Jasmine had never allowed him to adopt the girl, he had no legal right to know.
That reality bit hard.
He contemplated grabbing takeout from the diner, but a glance at his watch refuted that thought. He and trooper Zach Harrison were assigned to oversee security and traffic flow for the yearlong bicentennial celebration the town had kicked off in late October. Using both departments, they would coordinate security efforts to cover back-to-back lakeshore activities, and tonight’s planning meeting was important. He put his stomach on hold, grabbed two coffees at the café and headed to the town hall. Zach’s SUV was parked to the right of the building. Seth walked in, saw Zach, strode forward and handed him a fresh cup of coffee, then turned when he heard a familiar laugh.
Gianna and Carmen sat side by side in the third row, center aisle. The wind-driven snow hadn’t kept attendance down tonight. Even with the crowded conditions, the two newcomers stood out like tropical birds in a sparrow’s tree. Nothing about the Italian women said low-key, and speculative brows and whispers crossed the full room. The two seamstresses seemed oblivious, heads bent over a legal-size pad of paper on Gianna’s lap, her pencil moving in swift, bold strokes.
“Zach, Seth, you’re both here, good.” Tess Okrepcki made a note on the pad in front of her before she faced the room full of volunteers and vendors. “And because Zach is on duty tonight, I suggest that we move the security portion of our meeting to the first item on the agenda so he can get back to work. Any objections?” Nods of assent said the people agreed. “Then a show of hands, all in favor?”
Hands shot up all over the room and Seth’s stomach did a happy dance of celebration. If he and Zach could get out of the meeting quickly, he’d find food that much sooner. And a nice big burger might take his mind off the pretty woman seated in the middle of the room. For ten minutes anyway. Until he saw her lights blink on across the street from his home in the middle of the night. Either they were both nocturnal, or she didn’t sleep any better at night than he did. And that made him wonder why she’d have trouble sleeping.
He turned as Tess rambled something about historically correct attire, determined not to think about Gianna Costanza. His resolve lasted about six seconds.
“And I’m thrilled to announce we have two new expert seamstresses in town. Carmen Bianchi and Gianna Costanza have offered their services to help make costumes for our bicentennial volunteers. Carmen is a long-established seamstress from Hamilton County in the Adirondack region of New York State, and her granddaughter Gianna worked on Broadway as a costume maker for six years before moving back to her hometown in the mountains. Gianna and Carmen, would you stand up so everyone can see you?”
See them?
The two well-dressed women had been the topic of room-wide speculation for the past ten minutes, but Tess pretended oblivion.
Carmen and Gianna stood, smiled and waved to the crowd, then sat back down amid a smattering of applause.
“Law enforcement, can you give us your report?”
Seth stepped forward as Gianna turned. Her eyes went wide, seeing him. Her mouth opened slightly, as if his presence affected her. One hand clenched the other. The gesture said he made her nervous.
Welcome to the club. He smiled at Carmen, gave Gianna a polite nod, then delivered his report in quick, crisp terms.
“Wonderful!” Tess scanned the committee members before she moved on. “Questions, anyone?”
“Will the mounted patrol be available for any of our summer activities?” one woman wondered. “They always add a special element to our gatherings.”
“They’re scheduled to help with the Fourth of July festival and the Labor Day waterside celebration,” Seth explained. “But they’re patrolling the park and forest preserve the rest of the summer, and we have to be careful not to short our fellow officers during their busiest time of the year.”
“We’re grateful to have them here in Kirkwood for those two events,” declared Tess. “Zach, Seth, thank you so much for your attention to detail, and please extend our thanks to your departments. We’ve got approval from your captains to allow you out-of-uniform status for several bicentennial functions, so if you could both make appointments with either Carmen or Gianna, they’ve agreed to create historically correct uniforms for you.”
“Say what?” Seth stared at Tess, then switched his gaze. Gianna looked just as surprised as he did.
Carmen didn’t look surprised at all. She stood, waved to Tess and didn’t seem to care about meeting protocol, another reason to love the aged woman. “I’ll set up a time with our officers so they can be on their way. You go right ahead with the meeting,” she advised Tess, as if the committee chair needed permission. “Gianna can offer advice while I’m gone.”
She stepped into the hallway, whipped out a smartphone and flipped to her calendar app with greater speed than Seth had ever been able to muster, then arched a look to Zach. “Would you prefer to come to the shop together?”
“Less scary that way,” Zach muttered. “Do we really have to do this, ma’am?”
“Carmen,” she told him firmly. “And yes, I guess you do. If the captains say do it, the officer does it. At least that’s how my late husband saw it, and he had the promotions to prove he knew how to handle the work and politics of policing a community.”
“Can’t argue that,” Zach replied. “Together’s fine. Then we can complain in unison.”
“I’ll have pizzelles and Italian cookies for you,” Carmen promised. “If the mouth is full, complaints become a nonissue.”
Zach laughed. “I like how you think. Okay, how’s this Saturday? Does that work for you, Seth?”
“I’ll be there working on installing the rack hardware, so yes. But I thought you were planning to be gone on Saturday?” He met Carmen’s gaze straight on. “I distinctly remember you saying that you and your granddaughter were attending an all-day function in Clearwater.”
“When the opportunity to help the town came up, we decided this was more important,” Carmen replied. “Helping with the bicentennial costuming gives us the chance to show off our versatility without spending advertising dollars, and you know how pricey that is for start-up businesses.”
Her reply made perfect sense, but Seth wasn’t a wet-behind-the-ears beginner on the force. He saw the old woman’s ruse and couldn’t fault how she wrapped her matchmaking in a shroud of community outreach. Clever and admirable. And he’d make sure to never underestimate her in the future, which was good since they were neighbors.
“Ten o’clock okay?”
“Fine with me.” Carmen tapped a number into the calendar as the next person filed out of the room to set up a fitting time. “Officers, we’ll see you Saturday morning.” She turned and aimed her bright-eyed smile at the next victim as Zach and Seth left the building.
“Did we just get railroaded into wearing some kind of Dudley Do-Right costume to become laughingstocks of the entire community and thousands of tourists?”
“Yes.” Seth sighed, stared out at the snow, then shoved open the door. “Worse,