Page 25 of Daddy Bear Picnic

I could’ve probably guessed half of the list, including Leo and the town mayor. And he was next up on our list of people to see, although he could’ve been asking for me for any number of reasons.

Malcolm had a smile nothing could wipe away, and I’d never want to try to. We got back in the van and drove to the town hall a street over. Oliver was already standing outside, instructing a man with planks of wood into the building.

“Ah, you’re here,” he said, clapping his hands. “I’m in need of your services.”

“Me?” I asked, looking to Malcolm incase he was mistaken. “Your husband is a handyman, I don’t know what I can do that he can’t.”

Oliver rolled his eyes. “Well, why don’t you come inside. To my office, you too, Malcolm, you can see some of my Sublime teddy collection.”

We walked inside passed two men as they carried planks of wood inside and planted them down in the hallway. I looked at them concerned and up to Oliver who laughed it off.

“Renovations?” I asked. Although the place had a cream-white to it that made it seem freshly painted. “Ok, what is it you need? I’m a little confused.”

Once we were in the office, Malcolm let out a small squawk and a gasp, grabbing my hand. I turned and on the wall. There was a red and pink painting in a similar style to the art I’d seen on Malcolm’s canvases.

“That’s mine,” he whispered.

“It’s mine,” Oliver said. “I’m not a thief.” He stepped toward it, almost in front of it.

“No, I mean. I painted that.”

“No way.”

“Yes way.” Malcolm pointed to the lefthand corner of the canvas. “Look. It’s my signature, artist’s signature. It’s a teddy bear head with an M on the face.”

We all stared at the canvas for a moment longer, head tilting as we made out the bear face and the M he’d painted within it. “Whoa,” was all I could muster to it. I wondered if Malcolm had known someone in town had one of his paintings, but from his reaction, it was somewhat obvious he didn’t.

“During Christmas I went to New York with my husband and I was transfixed by it in a gallery exhibit,” Oliver said. “It’s a gorgeous piece. I nearly bought the entire collection, but I didn’t want to be greedy.”

“I remember this one,” he said. “It was—a time of passion in my life, and I’d already been dating someone during the summer, last summer, not—” His big eyes glanced at me. “Anyway, I’m glad it’s found a home.”

I wondered what he would draw from our time together. I hoped it would have passion in it as well, and I hoped it wouldn’t have an expiration date either. I didn’t want what was happening between us to end. “So, what is it you needed from me?” I changed the topic.

“Right,” Oliver clapped his hands together. “It’s Mason’s birthday next week and I had ordered him one of those miniature town building sets, but some of the pieces didn’t arrive, and it would take too long for them to get here, so I really need someone,you,who has power tools and whatnots to cut me out some wooden shapes to complete the set. I have—” he walked around his desk and dipped beneath it to grab a box. “I don’t know anything about wood, so if you could help me, that would be great.”

“A miniature town?” Malcolm said, looking at the things Oliver presented.

“He likes building them, I like playing with them,” he said.

It should’ve been obvious to my little by now that Oliver had similar interests, especially being part of the same group chat. He let out a little giggle and I tried to decide whether or not that was something he was interested in from me, because I was an excellent woodworker, I could do anything I put my mind to.

“Is that what the wood out there is for?” I asked.

“Oh god no, that’s for some shelves. Mason is coming by to put them up, apparently, the shelves I had weren’t sturdy enough and since we just won the town pride award, he said we needed something stronger to support it on.”

Malcolm was still looking at the box and the pictures of what a completed town would look like around the outside of the wrapping. “Do you paint them?”

“Me?” he laughed. “Absolutely not, I once tried to paint my office in rainbows but ended up getting a chemical burn on my hand and almost passing out from inhaling paint fumes.”

He snorted. “That’s not good, but this place would look good with rainbows.”

Oliver shrugged. “It was for a while, but it was all a bit too much. The rainbows are better suited to flags and the community center. Or covering graffiti, which we haven’t had to do in a while. Touch wood.” He tapped the side of his desk.

Looking at the pieces, I noticed the wood was a standard birch plywood. I had a bunch of that lying around. It was thin stuff, used in a pinch for different projects like the bases of the bird houses. “Let me know what you need and I can cut them out. It shouldn’t take long either.”

“It’s his birthday next Sunday during the Pineberry peach tea and tartlet fair.”

“You really weren’t kidding about how many fairs and festivals they have,” Malcolm chuckled. “I do like peach tea though.”

---