Finding Home #SYTYCW15 #SpecialEdition

Finding Home Part 6

Chapter Five

Andie stood in the alley behind the building with Mr. Davis, the art restorer they'd hired to clean the mural. Conner had set up this meeting after they'd found the mural behind the wallpaper. Of course that had been before the failed picnic.

Andie checked her watch. The sun had risen awhile ago and it was going on seven thirty now. She'd have to leave soon to open her shop. The cool morning air slid down her neck, making Andie shiver as she wrapped her cranberry-red cardigan a little tighter around herself.

The sound of shoes scraping the pavement filled her with relief.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Davis," Conner said in a voice as cool as frost. "I had some unavoidable business this morning." He unlocked the padlock, then slipped the key ring into his pocket before flipping the light switch. "Let me go first. I'm still not sure how safe the floor is in some areas."

"Of course," Mr. Davis said. His voice was soft and warm and went well with his studious, professor-like air.

Andie hesitated a moment at the doorway. Conner hadn't even acknowledged her presence. She might have been invisible, a ghost, for all the attention he paid her. She shivered again as a streak of uneasiness curled into her chest. What if she'd damaged their friendship? She'd wanted to help, but clearly, she'd hurt him deeply.

Andie pulled her shoulders back and told herself it didn't matter what he thought of her. They hadn't been friends in a long while, it didn't matter if she lost him now. What mattered was reuniting him with his father. He was so alone; he and his father were both so alone. They needed someone to show them that, to guide them back to a relationship together.

Andie listened to the murmur of their voices drifting out of the building. Hadn't she been cleaning this place like a maniac for the last couple of weeks? She'd put in as much time as Conner. She'd sweated and pulled muscles and suffered bruises and cuts. She had as much right to hear what Mr. Davis said as Conner did. Andie jammed her fists into the pockets of her cardigan and stalked into the building and straight to the old courtroom.

"-can't be sure until we remove more of the wallpaper, until we can see what we're dealing with here, but this looks very promising." Mr. Davis's voice wasn't quiet now; it was laced with a barely restrained excitement. "If it's fine with you, I'd like to run down to my office and get some supplies and get started right away."

"Sure. That's what you're here for."

"Wonderful, Mr. Morgan! I'll be back in fifteen minutes."

Andie watched Conner's lip curl up in distaste. "Call me Conner," he yelled after Mr. Davis.

His voice echoed in the large room, making Andie all too aware of how alone they were. Andie took a side step toward the door and then another. Maybe she could sneak out and he wouldn't notice.

Conner scowled at her. "Where are you going? You and me, we're going to talk."

"Um." Andie smoothed back her loose curl. "Of course." She leaned back against the doorframe, needing the support. Conner was a good guy, but even good guys have their limits. She'd walked all over the line he'd drawn and she knew it.

Conner stalked toward her, but Andie held up a hand to stop him.

"Before you start," she said, "I want to apologize for springing that meeting on you. That was wrong and I'm sorry, but-"

Conner growled as he closed the rest of the distance between them. "But you knew I would never show up if you had told me beforehand. Shouldn't that have been a clue, Andie?"