Chapter Four
At the end of the day, Penny plopped heavily into a seat at her desk in the back room, and she emitted a heartfelt sigh. “Gosh, I’m tired,” she mumbled to Abbey. Del and Larry, the district manager, had left hours before, but despite Del’s departure, the store had remained extremely busy all day. “I’ve been on my feet without a break since nine o’clock.”
Abbey grinned. “Yeah, but your feet about slid out from under you once you figured out the true identity of our guest.”
Cheeks heating at Abbey’s comment, Penny stared across the table. “You swear you had no idea of the man behind Dale McLintock either?”
Abbey shook her head. “When our store got selected, I asked what the magic bullet had been. They said the artist had handpicked us, for some reason. So, I figured one of two things—either corporate had chosen us because we were so close to their headquarters, or the artist must be friends with one of us. But I had no idea we were about to entertain dear Delbert, your grade-school crush.”
Penny jumped to her tired feet again and began pacing. “So we were both floored.”
“And see what your connection to him has done for our bottom line!” Abbey waved a handful of dollars in the air. “The best day in the history of our store! Every boxed set and almost all his line of individual cards sold out today, plus all the extras Larry had stashed in his car. And someone even paid for one of the over-sized cards in the window, as long as Del autographed his work. Huzzah!”
Penny’s pacing ramped up a notch. “Okay, so I admit, having him here worked to our advantage. We sold a boatload of merchandise today, and not only Del’s cards. I’ll worry about replenishing everything in the morning. All I’m interested in now is going home to wind down, put on my bunny slippers, and sit with Dixie in my recliner.”
Abbey grinned with her tongue firmly planted in one cheek. “You’ll have to wait a bit longer to spend quality time with your little doggie, my dear, since we offered to take our guest to dinner. He has graciously accepted.”
“We did what?” Penny’s butterflies returned. But this time they weren’t gentle, tiny ones doing a lovely dance. They were prehistoric monsters.
“Oh, come on.” Abbey finished the bank deposit and placed the day’s earnings and the deposit slip in the pouch, which she zipped close. “Don’t tell me you’re not curious about what Del’s been up to since third grade. You never had any dealings with each other after then. Do I have the details right?”
Penny stopped pacing and fell into her chair again. “I don’t dispute any of what you are saying. Except for the ‘not seeing him’ part. We did run into each other at the Senior Prom and at a couple of football games. But he was with someone else and I had my own date, so we didn’t do more than say hello. Do you have any more info?”
Abbey threw her an appraising glance. “So, you admit you’re curious?”
“Yes, of course.” Penny rolled her eyes and took a deep breath. “Did you see him? He’s one hot specimen. Spill.” More than hot. The little boy with his military-style crew cut had turned into a man who made her insides spark like she had a live electric wire inside her every time he glanced her way.
Remaining silent, Abbey carefully placed the bank bag and the cash drawer in the safe and spun the lock.
Penny drummed her fingers on the table. “Quit dragging this out, Abbey. I didn’t see a ring on his finger, but guys are more cavalier about wearing one than women. Did you find out if he’s married?”
“My, my, cutting right to the chase, aren’t we?” Abbey’s lips curled into a smile. “So you checked his hand for a ring? And you didn’t ask for more info when you perused a naked finger? You were the one who helicoptered over him the entire time.”
“Heli…helicoptered?” Penny stumbled over the word. “You assigned me the task of getting him settled.”
Abbey’s eyes lowered, and she dipped her chin as she clasped her hands together. “I’d say you did a fine job, too. He dragged his feet leaving, which is why I invited him to dinner. And then, after he left, I did a quick Internet search. Does the name Sandra Shockey ring a bell?”
As if she’d been slapped across the face, Penny recoiled. “You mean, double-D by age fifteen Sandra Shockey? The head cheerleader and homecoming queen without a brain in her head?”
“The very same.” Abbey’s head bobbed up and down.
Penny glanced uneasily at her sister. Her fingers curled around the edge of the metal desk. “Please don’t tell me he’s married to her. Don’t destroy what little faith I have left in the male population.”
Abbey bounced the eraser of a pencil against her cheek as she reviewed her web search findings. “Evidently, the eighteen-year-old version of Del Madison became quite impressed with her double-Ds. They married right out of high school and divorced six months later.”
Penny let out the breath she’d been holding since Sandra’s name came up. “So that’s when he started art school?”
Abbey nodded. “Yep. And being married to Sandra for even six months must have scared him away from trying again. He’s been single ever since. After school, he relocated to New York, worked for an advertising agency for a while, then started showing his work in small galleries under his alter ego, Dale McLintock, and developed a huge cult following. Here, feast your eyes on some of these brochures I printed.” She slid several glossy invitations across the table.
Each contained a piece of Del’s art on the front, with details inside about the show and the artist’s sketchy bio. Penny felt immediately drawn to one of the paintings. Dark swirls of color with highlights running through the swath of brown framed the outside of the painting. The picture reminded her of a woman’s hair after a costly professional treatment. Two large circles of clear blue appeared in the middle, with sparklers of silver emanating from the blue. Never a fan of abstract art, she begrudgingly admitted this particular painting captivated her. She fingered the glossy piece as she sat quietly, reminiscing about the man who created such beauty.
Abbey picked up all the printed information on Del. She pried the invitation out of Penny’s hands and stood, replacing the file folder in the cabinet. “So, you’re both single and unencumbered. Run home and let your little dog out for a potty break. Then suck it up, Buttercup, and change into something pretty. We’re meeting Del in twenty minutes at Maggie’s Diner. I’m sure dinner will be a blast.”
****
Del had to be pried out of the Beedle sisters’ card shop today. He would have preferred to spend the entire day there, helping to charm the ladies and the occasional men who were in the store out of their shopping dollars. And to charm Penny Beedle, his real reason for being there in the first place.
The sisters put together an interesting assortment of merchandise. From his seat in the back of the store, he saw metal and wood figurines, small stuffed animals, beautiful journals and recipe card notebooks, designer handbags, some nautical merchandise expected in a coastal tourist town, and a whole lot more. The greeting cards were the main reason for the store’s existence, but the other merchandise showed the creativity and personality of the two sisters. Even those gaudy, six-foot-tall plastic nutcrackers flanking the entrance were fun.
However, Baxter Greetings wanted him back at their massive headquarters in Portland for a photo shoot. Even though the timing was too late to change things for the Valentine’s Day merchandise, now that his persona had been publicly unveiled, the company needed to use his headshot when they put together the signage for the Mother’s and Father’s Day series of cards also under contract. So, he suffered through hair and makeup first, and then had to face the bright lights of the camera.
At least he didn’t have to talk or engage with others while all this activity buzzed around him. Even though he had enjoyed the banter with Larry during the drive from Portland to Lobster Cove and back again, he wanted to be alone and think about his day. He now savored his time spent with Penny that morning, mentally reliving each little detail, how she’d hovered over him, making certain he had everything he needed, seeing to his comfort. She’d filled out since their gawky high-school days and now had a nice, shapely body. He caught a glimpse of her cute bottom when she bent over to get more boxes of cards to autograph. His heartbeat sped, a reaction he’d not had for any woman in quite some time.
When she leaned over the desk where he sat to put more merchandise close, he had caught a whiff of her scent—a mix of floral with a hint of musk. The smell reminded him of a sea rose, the kind his mother had tended during his formative years, and he inhaled deeply. The scent conjured memories of comfort, stability, fresh bread cooling on the windowsill—all the things he hoped to recapture by buying his parents’ old home and putting his own stamp on the aging Victorian. He hoped the hardy roses were still in the yard. And he hoped Penny could be part of his future.
Larry waved his hand over his head, motioning to Del. “Hey, we’re done. Come and take a gander at these shots.”
Del shook his head to clear his mind, although the scent of roses still hung in the air. Larry had been his chaperone all day and had done so without complaint. Right now, he could strangle the man, though, for interrupting his thoughts. He moved out from under the spotlights and glanced where Larry pointed at a nearby computer screen.
“I think you nailed it with your pensive attitude in these particular shots, don’t you?” Larry cackled. “Just what we were going for. I’ll send these to our art department, and they’ll get right on things. Even though Christmas is not yet over, we’re already planning six months down the road.”
Del sucked in a breath. “Then things worked out extremely well today. How convenient, having your headquarters so close to the location I chose for the big reveal.”
“Yeah.” Larry slapped him on the back. “Although I don’t think you had the location of our headquarters in mind when you selected the store. You really gave those sisters a day they won’t forget. They blew through a ton of your cards today, along with a whole lot more of their other merchandise.” He gave Del a sidelong glance. “Any truth to the rumor you and that Penny girl were childhood sweethearts?”
Del rolled his shoulders. “Not exactly sweethearts. I relocated to Bar Harbor after third grade. I’ll admit I had a raging crush then, but my knowledge of love at that time could be put into a thimble. So, no, I’d not ever say we were sweethearts, even innocent ones.”
Larry shook his head. “We’re done here for the day. I’ll get the car to take you back to the hotel, if you want.”
“That would be great, Larry.” Del grinned at Larry’s obvious disappointment in not getting a juicy story. “I need to get all this makeup off my face. Then, I need to check out of the hotel here, hop into my car, and drive back to Lobster Cove. If I hurry, I can get there in time. I’ve got a hot date tonight with a girl from the third grade.”