By Proxy(33)

Paul thumped his forehead with the heel of his palm then nodded at her, smiling. “What would I do without you, Jen? I totally forgot that needed to be done.”

Jenny grinned, winking at him. “Can’t forget the Christmas Stroll booth!”

“Well, let me help you two get the basement unlocked and we’ll find those pieces.”

Paul rushed to the door and put his hand on the small of Jenny’s back, ushering her through the office and placing himself between her and Sam as they walked the short distance down the hall to the basement door where the booth was stored. Sam’s stomach churned, watching them walk along in front of him.

“Why aren’t the boys giving you a hand?” Paul asked, keeping his shoulder next to hers as they strolled down the hallway with Sam following behind.

“Sam said he’d help. Boys bartend ’til late anyway. May as well let them sleep. Sam and I can bring up the pieces and they can pick them up later and put them together.”

They descended the stairs and Paul led them to the caged room that held the twenty large, unwieldy, plywood pieces. Stepping up some concrete stairs on the opposite side of the sloped basement, he unlocked an exterior door that opened with a view of the bison still grazing on the football field.

Sam turned to Jenny, ignoring Paul. “So we’ll just bring them out here? Stack them against the wall?”

She nodded. “Perfect.”

“Can I help you two?” Paul stood tense beside Jenny, watching Sam with cool, irritated eyes.

No thanks, chum. You scurry back upstairs to your office and leave us alone now.

Sam shook his head, smirking. “I think I can handle it from here.”

“Sam!” Paul clapped him on the back. “That is so terrific, because I could sure use Jenny’s help in my office collating the newsletters in time for tonight.”

Jenny flicked her glance to Sam. “Oh, well…I feel like I should stay and help Sam. Are you sure you’ve got it covered?”

“Sure he does!” Paul chirped, putting his hand on the small of her back again and shepherding her toward the stairs.

***

When Jenny looked back Sam was staring at her with intense eyes without any trace of his usual teasing smile. He didn’t seem like himself at all. “It’s fine, Jen.”

She didn’t sense it was fine, but what else could she do? When your boss needed help, you helped; that was all there was to it. Regretfully, she left him and headed back upstairs.

The countertop in the main office was covered with ten piles of paper that needed to be collated and stapled. About fifty newsletters had been put together, so she got started collating the next 150. She walked down the length of the counter grabbing one of each sheet and then handed them to Paul in neat piles. He sat at the end of the counter ready to staple.

“So,” he started. “Sam.”

Jenny nodded and smiled. “He’s nice to help, isn’t he?”

Paul sort of did this soft snicker/snort combination. “‘Nice.’ Mmm. Now, how is it that he’s visiting you again, Jenny?”

“Oh, he’s not really visiting me. We’re doing some—er—legal work for Kristian and Ingrid.”

“I thought you said Ingrid was getting married. What kind of legal work?”

Jenny flicked her glance at him without stopping her workflow. She really wasn’t sure what to say. She hadn’t anticipated having to tell anyone about taking vows on Ingrid’s behalf, so she didn’t have some smooth way to explain. The less said, the better.

She stopped what she was doing and gave him a direct look. “It’s complicated, Paul. Personal.”

He held her eyes for a moment. “Okay.”

Anxious to change the subject, Jenny asked, “Are you and Lars fishing on Sunday?”

Paul was the best friend of Jenny’s middle brother, Lars. In fact, Paul looked so much like Lars, it was almost impossible to tell the two apart from a distance. Many folks in Gardiner called Principal Paul the “Fourth Lindstrom” because he was tall, blond and ice-blue-eyed like her brothers. The only real difference was that Paul wore glasses and none of Jenny’s brothers did. It was comforting to Jenny that he looked so much like her brothers. It made him seem familial to her and eliminated the uneasiness she generally felt around young, single men.

“Good question,” Paul said. “Lower Slide already had six inches of ice last weekend. I heard folks had already gotten started.”

Lower Slide Lake was about twenty minutes from Gardiner and a popular spot for ice fishing. Paul and Lars headed down there almost every Sunday afternoon or evening from December to February.