took the pencil from her hand and got to work. Adele stared at him, mouth half open in indignation. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“What does it look like?”
“All you had to do was ask for the pencil, you know.”
He looked at her and smiled. “Who has the engineering degree?”
“That doesn’t mean you’re a better artist than I am!”
“No, but it does mean I can draw a straight line better.” He laughed and returned to his work.
Adele tossed her hand in the air and stalked back to the house. He had no idea if she was coming back – ideally not – but kept on working.
After a few minutes she emerged with two glasses in her hands. “Lemonade?”
He stopped drawing and took the glass she offered. “Thanks. I’m surprised you still have some lemons.”
“Mother had Great-Aunt Irene order them special from California. But these are the last for a while.”
He raised his glass. “Thank you for sharing.”
She held up her glass and clinked it against his. “To the last of the lemons.”
He laughed and took a sip. It was cool and tasted wonderful. As soon as he drank his down, Adele took his glass and disappeared into the house again, returning a minute later with a plate of cookies. “We have sugar and molasses.”
He smiled. “If this keeps up, I expect to stay for supper.”
She peeked at the letters he’d drawn so far. “You’re right, you can draw straight lines.”
He grinned. “And it only took me four years to learn.”
She laughed and took a sugar cookie herself. “Imagine what you could do with another four years of schooling. You might be able to draw circles by then.”
He burst out laughing. “If you don’t stop talking to me, who knows what I’ll end up drawing.” He took a bite of cookie and set it aside. “So long as we paint within these lines the signs will look good. As soon as I get done with these letters, you can start painting and I’ll work on another one. There’s enough room on these planks for two strips of sheets.”
“All right.” She took a bite of cookie and continued to watch him. For some reason it made him nervous. He had no idea why. All he was doing was drawing letters. But a tiny part of him wanted to make sure he did a good job for her.
Liam took another bite of his cookie and continued his work. Maybe being stuck with Adele for the afternoon wasn’t so bad. So far.
Chapter Six
Adele was so busy bantering with Liam, she didn’t pay attention to what he was writing on the banner until later. “‘Welcome To Clear Creek’s End Of Summer Dance’,” she read. “Hmm, isn’t that too much?”
“Have you seen how many sheets we have? We can make others shorter – like ‘welcome to the dance’.”
She nodded as she chewed another cookie. “So catchy. So original.”
“So boring, I know. Maybe we should say something a little more exciting?”
She glanced at the house and back, then smiled. “What did you have in mind?”
He smiled back. “Let me finish this one, then I’ll start on the next and you’ll see. Better fetch the paint.”
Adele grinned mischievously, put the plate of cookies on the planks and ran to the house. She hadn’t bothered to bring the paint out because she wasn’t sure how long the drawing would take. Liam was not only proficient but quick. At this rate they could make all kinds of banners, but she still had to cut out and reinforce holes at their corners. That shouldn’t take too long, not if she had help.
Too bad Savannah had gone to help Cutty and Imogene with their latest C.I. Sayer book. On the one hand, regaling them with tales of the Weavers got her cousin out of sharing Adele and Liam’s task. But if Savannah was here, would they need Liam at all? She was surprised she was enjoying her time with him, but it couldn’t last.
Adele brought out the paint, set it down and ran next door to Aunt Sadie’s. “Honoria,” Adele said as she entered the kitchen. “Can you help me with something?”
Honoria looked at her children. Eleven-year-old Duncan was shoving a cookie into his mouth while his younger sister Maida was spreading jam on a piece of bread. Honoria had Lucy’s baby Cody in her lap. “What did you need?”
“Could you help me make the loopholes in the banners?”
“If Mother will watch the children, sure. She’s upstairs if you want to ask