Julie Ortolon - Almost Perfect

"Rick does fabulous abstracts," Juanita explained.

"I'd love to see some," Maddy said with genuine interest. Rarely had she felt such an instant affinity for anyone.

"I know!" Rick said, lighting up. "We'll have a show for you. Then you can come to Taos and stay with us. We'll introduce you around."

"An excellent idea," Dale agreed. "We haven't closed the resort for a party in ages."

"Resort?" Maddy cocked her head.

"Rick and Dale own a wonderful resort and health spa in the mountains," Juanita put in.

"Well, the resort is more Dale's area," Rick added. "It keeps him from going crazy now that he's retired. So, you'll come, then? Spend a few days?"

"She'd love to," Juanita answered for her. "As for the show, give me a call so we can discuss which originals to send."

"Fabulous." Rick shook Juanita's hand, then kissed both of Maddy's cheeks. "You, dear, are a doll. I can't wait for everyone to meet you."

"Thank you," Maddy said, feeling a bit dazed.

"A true pleasure." Dale kissed her hand, making her blush. "We'll be in touch."

When they were out of earshot, Juanita grabbed her arm. "Oh my God! Rick and Dale are throwing you a show and a party!"

Maddy frowned. "Who were those two?"

"You don't know?" Juanita laughed. "I forget you're new around here. Dale's a former movie executive. He and Rick have been together forever and know lots of people in Hollywood. Their parties are famous. Once or twice a year, they close the whole resort for a few days so that actors and artists and musicians can play in private. I can't believe you got invited."

"Me either." Maddy raised a brow.

As soon as Juanita moved away, she dismissed the whole interlude. She may have been instantly taken with both men, but people said things at art shows all the time that never happened, like, "Darling, we simply must do lunch. I'll call you next week." Add Hollywood to the equation, and the party invitation definitely fell into the not-gonna-happen category.

Joe came through the door and headed toward her. "Okay," he said, "I couldn't get Morn to answer her phone, but that's not surprising. She's always forgetting to turn it on or charge the battery. Plus, she could be out of a service area. So I called Harold. He's going to call me back as soon as Mom gets there so I'll know she made it."

"Unless…" She bit her lip. "Would you like to leave now? Maybe we can catch her, and you can drive her the rest of the way."

He considered the idea, then shook his head. "No. You need to stay here, and she's probably fine. The one saving grace is she's such a bad driver, people see her coming and get out of the way."

"Are you sure?" She touched his arm.

"Sort of." He chuckled dryly and squeezed her hand. "I'll be better once Harold calls back, but I'm okay."

The next hour passed with Joe pacing the gallery, checking his watch every few minutes. When the show finally wound down to a few of the rowdier guests hanging around the food and wine table, Maddy joined him. He was standing by Juanita's desk, staring out the front windows. "Still no word?"

"None. And she definitely should be there by now."

"Maybe you should call Harold again."

He checked his watch. "You're right." He pulled his phone out and dialed. "Sarg, any sign of my mother?" He listened for a minute, then his eyes bugged out. "What do you mean she's been there fifteen minutes? Why didn't you call?" He listened some more. "No, I told you to call me when she got there. Not if she didn't." He rolled his eyes. "I'm not biting your head off." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, fine. Thank you for keeping an eye out. I appreciate it."

Signing off, he sat back against the desk and looked heavenward as if begging for strength. "What is it with old people these days? They're so sensitive about everything!"

"Mama's all right?"

"Oh, she's fine. My heart may not recover, but she's dandy. Am I asking too much, though, for a little consideration? Do she and Harold have no clue how much I worry? No. They accuse me of being overprotective, when a simple phone call would have given me peace of mind. Is a phone call too much to ask?"

Maddy burst out laughing.

"What?" His eyes sharpened.

"You." She grinned and patted his upper arm. "You sound like a parent with a teenager."

"Oh God, you're right." A comical look of shock came over his face. "I'm turning into my mother."

"Look at it this way-there are worse mothers to be like." Like mine, she thought.

"True."

"It's odd, though, isn't it? Being the one to worry?"

"Yeah." He checked his watch. "It's getting late. We need to get back to the camp ourselves."

"I'll tell Sylvia and Juanita we're leaving."

"Good. Curfew's in forty-five minutes, and Harold's in enough of a snit to lock the gate just so he can lecture me."

Maddy had never considered her car to be small, but with Joe in the passenger seat the space shrank to minuscule. His silence, even more than his body, filled the space.

What was he thinking? He'd barely spoken two words since they left the gallery. Although neither had she. Here at last was the moment she'd planned for days, and all the well-rehearsed words vanished from her brain. Where did she begin?

"I, um… I'm glad you made it to the show even if you didn't get to enjoy much of it."

"I'm glad I made it too." He glanced her way briefly, almost nervously, it seemed.

What next? She racked her brain.

"So, um…" He shifted in his seat, as if trying to get his big body comfortable. "How'd you do?"

"Very well. We sold three of my originals and had a lot of people ask to be notified when prints of Sunrise Canyon become available."

"Great." He nodded, and silence returned.

Come on, Maddy, she ordered herself. She needed to get a conversation going. Then ease into telling him she was sorry for pushing for more than he was comfortable sharing, but that she'd like the relationship to move to the next level.

Next level. There, that sounded good. No scary words like "love" or "long-term commitment." Now she just needed to open her mouth and say it. As soon as she figured out how to build up to it.

She tightened her grip on the steering wheel, watching the dark silhouettes of trees slip by the car. The moon's glow turned everything to shades of blue-until a colorful mass appeared in her headlights on the side of the road.

"What was that?" she asked as she drove past it.

"I don't know." Joe turned in his seat to look over his shoulder. "A wad of clothes maybe."

"Wait, here comes more." She leaned forward, peering at the colorful mound in the middle of the road.

"Don't hit it."

"I won't." She swerved around the object. "Could you make out what it was?"

"It looked like a pile of trash."

"From what, a colored-paper factory?"

Red taillights became visible up ahead. As she closed the gap, the dark shape of a delivery truck took form. Something bounced off the back and exploded against the pavement. Her headlights caught a burst of candy flying into the air.

"Oh my God!" She laughed as the candy hit her windshield like brightly colored hail.

"Was that a pinata?" Joe sounded equally incredulous.

"I think so." As she slowed to the same speed as the truck, she saw that the rolling door at the back hadn't been latched. Each time the truck hit a bump, the door bounced up, then down, revealing a load of pinatas.

"Watch out!" Joe shouted as the truck hit another bump. This time several pinatas flew out.

She fishtailed in an effort to maneuver around them. When the car steadied, she sped up and honked her horn.-

"What are you doing?" Joe asked. "Slow down."

"Someone needs to tell him his door isn't latched." She honked again, but the truck kept bouncing along, spilling a menagerie of donkeys, rabbits, and pigs.

"Try going around him," Joe suggested.

"On this road? Are you crazy?"

"There's a fairly straight stretch up ahead. Can you see anyone coming?"

She leaned to the side. "I don't think so. Roll down your window and wave the guy over as I go past."

"You worry about driving. Leave the truck to me."

"Okay, here goes." She hit the accelerator and pulled into the other lane. Headlights appeared up ahead, coming too fast for comfort. "Oh shoot!" She jerked back into her lane just as a giant pink elephant flew out of the truck and exploded against her windshield. She screamed in surprise as her car slid on the candy, then went into a spin, spiraling toward the right shoulder. They left the road and came to jarring stop.

When the noise settled, she blinked a few times, then glanced over at Joe. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine." Since he obviously was too, she burst out laughing. "This is so my life! One dramatic wreck after another."

"Hey, we survived." He glanced around. "Although we seem to be slanting."

She peered into the darkness beyond the windows. "Looks like I slid into a ditch. Should I try to back up?"

"Let me check things out first. You wait here."

"Gladly," she said, not sure her shaky knees would support her at the moment.

He got out and went to the front of the car, checking out both tires, then came around to the driver's side and waited for her to roll the window down.

"One of the tires dropped into a hole. I want you to back up gently while I push."

"Okay." She waited while he got into position, then put the car into reverse. When she depressed the accelerator, the tires spun in place.

"Turn it off," he called over the whine of the engine, then came back to her window. "You're really stuck."

"Do we need to call a tow truck?"

"We'll never get a signal in this valley."

"What are we going to do?"

"Do you have a jack?"

"It's in the trunk." She climbed out of the car to get it.

"I'll need a flashlight too, if you have one."

"Somewhere." They spent the next half hour with her holding the light while he wedged rocks and other debris under the tire. "Are you sure this will work?"

"We'll find out." He removed the jack. "All right, get back in and hit the gas on my signal."

She climbed behind the wheel as Joe braced his hands on the hood.

"Are you ready?" he called.

"Whenever you are."

"Okay, go!"

She pressed on the gas. The engine whined and the tires spun. Just when she thought it wasn't going to work, the car sprang free. She hit the brake to keep from snooting all the way across the road into the opposite ditch. "Woo-hoo! We did it!"

After putting the jack away, Joe came around to her side and opened the door. "Scoot over. I'm driving."

"What, I have one little accident, and now you don't trust me to drive?" Even as she complained, she moved over to the passenger seat.

"It's not that." He climbed in and put the car in gear. "We've busted curfew, so Harold's already locked the gate."

"Don't you have a key?"

"Of course. But he sleeps right there in the guardhouse. Trust me, the man's itching to "dress me down."

"Joe, that's silly. He works for you."

The dashboard lights cast his face into sharp relief as he looked at her. "You clearly don't know Harold. He's a retired drill sergeant with a bruised ego about growing old. This is just the sort of thing he likes to jump on to prove the lion still has his roar."

"So, explain what happened."

He shook his head, chuckling. "There is absolutely no way I'm going to drive through that gate past curfew with a woman sitting beside me and claim we're late because we had a wreck with a pink elephant. That's even lamer than saying we ran out of gas."

"Well, it's true."

"Care to guess how fast this story will spread to the other coordinators? Then on to the counselors, who have to answer to me when they bust curfew? I'll have an insurrection on my hands. Total rebellion."

"And a lot of teasing."

"That too." His teeth flashed in the darkness.

"So what are we going to do?"

"You'll see." The eager note in his voice had her brows arching in curiosity. And concern.

They continued on toward the camp, following the colorful, candy-strewn trail. Joe slowed as they neared the last curve in the road before the gate would come into view. Turning off the headlights, he steered onto a private drive to a stable. A bridge took them over the river, where he pulled the car behind a bank of scruffy cedar. Quiet descended when he killed the engine.