Awakening Beauty

Diana blew out a short breath and waved at the stations positioned all over the theater. “Pick a job,” Diana said, then scanned her notes on a clipboard.

“Put me where I’m needed most,” she told the woman.

“We don’t have costumes even remotely finished.” Diana’s voice held a little bit of plea.

Costumes? A long-buried corner of Lane’s heart leaped to life. Sewing. Maybe some designing. It wouldn’t be couture, but she could design clothing again. Even if it was for a children’s play. She tried to disguise the eagerness in her voice when she said, “Say no more. I’m on it.”

Lane headed to the orchestra pit where a large table was set up with a sewing machine at each end, manned by two young women. Yards of bright felt, fabric and trims were scattered over the table and nearby chairs. A half-dozen children raced around the aisles, while two little girls sat in the middle of the floor, their heads together, oblivious to everything but the dolls they played with. Between stitching and cutting, the moms hollered for the kids to calm down. Lane introduced herself to the two women, Suzanne and Marcy.

“Why don’t you both take a break and let me handle the sewing?” Lane said.

“You sure?” Suzanne clipped a thread as Marcy spotted a small child climbing onto the stage, where men were wielding dangerous saws and drills. Lane nodded and both women shot after the children.

Costumes were something Lane could do without thinking. She quickly organized the mess at the long table, checking fabric length and yardage against necessary colors and trims. After a quick glance through the patterns, she slid into the chair at the machine. The noise of hammers and kids, of adult chatter and the whine of drills didn’t penetrate her concentration.

When she looked up to call for Anna, the pageant’s fairy princess, Tyler was staring down at her from the stage. He had his hand on his hip, the other twirling a hammer like a six-shooter.

Her heart sped up, and she felt herself blush like a teenager. Then her stomach clenched in a tight knot. Oh, the man had power, she thought. It didn’t hurt that he was wearing a blue cable sweater that made his eyes look deeper, and jeans that molded to every feature from the waist down.

“I was wondering if you were coming up for air.”

Lane glanced at her watch and realized she’d been at this for an hour already.

“You were not.”

His smile faded a bit and his gaze narrowed. “I never lie, Lane.”

He looked angry all of a sudden, she thought, and her own lies struck her like the hammer he held. She had good reasons for hiding, she reasoned. For lying.

“I’ll remember that.” And remember that he wouldn’t tolerate that she was lying to him, she thought, reaffirming her decision to keep her distance.

“Will you be my date for the Winter Ball?”

She blinked at the abrupt shift in the conversation and couldn’t help but notice that a couple of people stopped what they were doing and stared.

“The what?” She’d heard him. She was just stalling. Needed time to think.

“The Winter Ball is the last event of the festival. Big bash, catered, at the country club.”

“I see.” She took a deep breath and ignored the piece of her that wanted to say yes. Instead, she simply said, “No, thank you.”

He let out a sigh. Clearly he’d expected that reaction. “Then I’ll settle for you having dinner with me.” He squatted at the edge of the stage, looming over her.

“No, thank you again.” She tore her gaze from him and called to Anna. The girl raced over and Lane took her hand, then looked at Tyler. “Excuse us, the princess has a fitting.”

“You have to eat,” he called.

“Not with you.”

His short laugh flowed down from the stage. He went back to his job, and Lane had to drag her attention to the girl. Once she did, she got caught up in little Anna’s excitement. The girl was already wearing her tiara and she stood perfectly still as Lane pinned the flowing tulle skirt to the satin bodice. Kids were so easy to please, she thought. The kids were so different from the prima donna models she’d worked with at her fashion shows. Or the women she’d designed outfits for, who didn’t think twice about having her tear the entire design apart and remake it because they suddenly wanted something better than so-and-so had last week. This little fairy princess was delighted with Lane’s work.

She helped the girl take off the costume, easing it over her head.

“What do you think?”

“It’s beautiful, Miss Douglas,” Anna said, awed as a six-year-old could get. She raced off to tell her friends, and Lane noticed that the kids were getting wild and the mothers were looking plum worn-out. She did a quick measure of the children and their costume needs, then told Suzanne she could take care of the lot without the children being here to try them on. Suzanne was so grateful to be able to put her kids to bed, she promised a batch of homemade cookies for Lane’s bookstore customers. Lane knew she could whip the costumes up in no time and saw no reason for mothers to chase children on sugar rushes this late at night.

Two hours later she heard, “Hey, I think you can stop now.”

Just the sound of Tyler’s voice set her blood humming. When she lifted her gaze, he was standing close, smelling like sawdust and aftershave, looking so rugged she nearly melted right out of the chair. She was in big trouble. She hadn’t reacted to a man like this in…well, never.

Tyler caught the little flash in her eyes. “Man, when you agree to work, you work.”

“I was in the zone,” she said, trying to shrug off the nearly electrical zing popping through her blood.

Tyler’s gaze moved over the costumes that were finished and hanging on a movable rack. He’d watched her off and on for the past two hours. She hadn’t stopped for a moment, and she was fast, locked in a world of her own until he spoke to her.

“They’re simple patterns,” she said, brushing off his compliment.

“Sure, but you’re nearly finished. And you did a great job.”

“I still have trims and the fake buttons for the uniforms to do.”

“There’s always tomorrow.”

“True,” she said, leaning back in her chair with a tired sigh.

“Have dinner with me.” She’d probably say no, he thought, but he had to give it a shot while her defenses were low.

She lifted her gaze to his. “We really are going to have trouble if you keep asking me the same question all the time, Tyler.”

“Three times a charm…have dinner with me.”

“No, thank you.”

She looked as if she wanted to say yes, but for whatever reason, she wasn’t giving in. “You’re a stubborn cuss,” he said.

“And talking to you is impossible.”

He grinned. “It’s only dinner.”

“Nothing is open at this hour.” One thing she’d learned about this town was that, aside from a few select restaurants and a pizza joint, the streets rolled up at nine.

“Says who?” He stepped back and showed her the display of subs, chips and sodas on a table. The teenagers and other men were already chowing down in different areas of the stage.

She looked at him and smiled reluctantly. “Okay, I can’t argue now.”

Tyler hooked his thumbs in his jeans to keep from touching her and inclined his head to a spot on the far edge of the stage. She sat, her feet dangling over the edge, and he brought her a sandwich and a can of soda.