“Cal! Have you gone crazy?”
“Pretty much.” Grabbing her arm, he pulled her inside. What was he doing?
He manacled her wrist with his fingers and drew her past lawn chairs and lighting fixtures to the paint section. The alarm continued its disconcerting wail. “The police are going to come!” she exclaimed.
“Don’t you worry about the police; Odell Hatcher and I have been friends for years. You just worry about whether or not we can find the right wallpaper for that kitchen of ours.”
“Wallpaper? You brought me here to pick out wallpaper?”
He looked at her as if she were dull-witted. “How else am I supposed to prove my feelings for you?”
“But . . .”
“Here we are.” He settled her, not ungently, onto one of the stools that lined the counter in the wallpaper department, then turned to regard the shelves, which were stocked with dozens of wallpaper books. “Damn, I didn’t know it was going to be this complicated.” He began reading off the shelf labels. “Bathrooms. Dining rooms. Vinyls. Flocks. What the hell is a flock? Don’t they have something with—I don’t know—horses or something? Do you see a horse category?”
“Horses?”
For the first time, a shadow of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, as if he were beginning to realize just how ridiculous this was. “You could help out a little bit here instead of just saying things back to me.”
The wail of a police siren joined the security alarm, and tires screeched in front of the store. “Stay right here,” he ordered. “I’ll take care of this. On second thought, maybe you’d better crouch down behind the counter just in case Odell has his gun out.”
“Gun! I swear, Calvin Bonner . . . when this is over, I’m going to—”
Her threat died on her lips as he pulled her from the stool and pushed her to her knees on the carpet behind the counter.
“Odell, it’s me!” he called out. “Cal Bonner.”
“Get out of the way, Cal!” a rough voice replied. “We got a robbery goin’ on here. Don’t tell me they took you hostage!”
“There’s no robbery. I kicked in the door because I have to pick out some wallpaper. My wife’s here, too, so if you’ve got any ideas about firing that gun you’ve got in your hand, forget it. Tell Harley I’ll settle up with him tomorrow. And help me turn off this damned alarm.”
It took Cal a good fifteen minutes, along with the appearance of Harley Crisp, the hardware store owner, before the alarm was turned off and things set straight.
While Cal was talking his way out of a breaking and entering charge, Jane got up from behind the counter and sat on the stool so she could ponder how, in Cal’s mind, picking out wallpaper constituted proof of his love. She couldn’t see even the smallest link. He’d been angry with her for stripping off the wallpaper, but what did replacing it have to do with love? There was certainly a link in his mind, however, and if she forced him to explain his logic, he’d give her that incredulous look that called into question the results of all the IQ tests she’d ever taken.
As confusing as this was, she did understand one thing. To Cal’s way of thinking, this late-night shopping expedition proved his love, and that was that. A traitorous warmth began to sneak through her.
Harley Crisp finally closed the door behind him, taking along a sizable chunk of Cal’s cash. They were left alone in the store.
Cal looked down at her with an expression that was suddenly uncertain. “You don’t think all this is stupid, do you? You do understand about the wallpaper?”
She didn’t have a clue, but nothing would make her admit it, not while he was gazing at her with his heart in his eyes and a forever kind of love softening his voice.
“What I really wanted to do for you, sweetheart, was win a football game,” he said huskily. “Dan Calebow did that for Phoebe once, and I wanted to do it for you, except the season hasn’t started yet, and winning a game wouldn’t count with you. Besides, compared to this, that’d be so easy it wouldn’t prove anything. I wanted to do something hard. Really hard.” He waited, an expectant look on his face.
“Pick out wallpaper?” she offered tentatively.
His eyes came alive, as if she’d just given him the keys to the universe. “You do understand.” With a groan, he pulled her off the stool and into his arms. “I was scared to death you wouldn’t. I promise I’ll figure out the work thing just as soon as I can.”
“Oh, Cal . . .” Her words caught on a happy sob. She didn’t have the faintest idea how he’d sorted all this out in his mind. She didn’t understand about breaking into the hardware store or picking out wallpaper, but she knew this was real. Cal’s feelings for her weren’t about the challenge she presented to him. He was giving her his warrior’s heart, and she wouldn’t let those old wounds from her childhood keep her from taking it.