Savannah’s milk chocolate brown eyes shot up again and her mouth formed an O as the blush spread up to her cheeks.
“You’re going to love all the improvements I can get done today. I’m pretty sure you’ll be so pleased with the way I fix the roof you’ll scream out my name and then you should see how I handle my hammer”—her blush turned a deeper shade of red and Ridge grinned—“to fix the porch.”
“P-p-porch, right,” Savannah smiled and gave a nervous laugh.
“What else would I do with my hammer?” Ridge asked innocently. “Now, do you want to show me the to-do list?” he asked, directing her back to business. He’d have fun teasing her, but he wanted to get this place fit to live in too. She’d done a good job putting lipstick on a pig, but it was still a pig. And a house falling apart was still a house falling apart, even with pretty curtains.
Savannah let out a breath and nodded. Stop thinking about his hammer. “I have a list on the kitchen table.” She turned to get it and when she turned back, Ridge was under her sink.
“You have a leak down here,” he said from under the counter. His legs stuck out and she had a very good view of his hammer. Savannah sighed with a happy little smile on her face. Oh the things a man with a hammer like that could do. Ridge scooted back out and stood up. “I can fix it pretty easily. I’m going to need a list of things from the hardware store, though. Why don’t you show me what else is on that list and I’ll run into town before getting to work. Then I can fly through some of these repairs.”
“Whatever you say. I’m just so grateful to have you here. Let me show you the living room.” Savannah led him into the living room where the bucket was catching the last of the runoff from the morning’s quick shower.
“I saw that from outside. Your chimney needs a lot of work. It would cost ten grand to fix, easily. Or do you want me to seal it and waterproof it now and fix it later?”
Ridge was in full professional mode now as he took in the fireplace, the roof, and the floors.
“You can seal it up so it won’t leak? I won’t use it. I don’t have the money to fix it right now,” Savannah admitted.
“No problem. I can do that when I fix the roof.” She watched as Ridge wrote something down on the pad. He looked up at the lights and wandered off, opening doors until he found the utility room. “I need to upgrade your electrical board to be in code. The wiring actually doesn’t look too bad, but I’ll test all of it to make sure. You don’t want a fire.”
“Thank you. That would be great. Does anything else down here need to be fixed?”
“Yeah,” Ridge said, but he didn’t say more. “Upstairs?”
And so they went, room to room, checking all the plumbing, the walls, the electricity, the flooring, and the roof. “Is there anything else?” Ridge asked and this time Savannah laughed for real.
“Anything else? I’m pretty sure you’re building me a new house.”
“I love these old houses. They’re built to last, that’s for sure. The floors are great. There are just a couple boards that need to be replaced because of the leak. When you have time they need to be sanded and refinished. Then they’ll look brand new.”
Savannah watched Ridge look over the house one more time before tucking his pencil into his back pocket. “I’ve got my list. I’m guessing it’ll be about three to four hundred dollars in supplies. Is that too much?”
“No. Can I write you a check when you get back?”
“Sure thing. If I hurry I can beat the rush at the hardware store and be back within the hour to get to work. With a little love, this house will be back to all its former glory.”
“Thank you, Ridge.” He nodded and then slipped out the screen door. Savannah looked up at the ceiling and smiled. “Yes, it’s getting fixed! Ridge is amazing!” she squealed with delight as she held out her arms and spun.
“I told you you’d be screaming my name,” Ridge called from the yard.
Savannah was so happy her house was getting fixed up that she wasn’t embarrassed. Instead she closed her eyes and laughed. Finally, something good was happening in her life.
2
Ridge didn’t know what to make of Savannah Ambrose. She’d obviously been through a lot with her divorce, but hearing her laugh as he walked around the house had made him smile. He was beginning to think there was a lot more to Savannah than what he originally believed.
Getting into his pickup, he smiled again and realized he hadn’t stopped smiling since leaving the house. Savannah had caught his eye the moment she’d bid on him. Now she’d done more than catch his eye. She had his full attention.
It only took five minutes before he was parked in front of the hardware store. Savannah lived behind a row of tall azalea bushes off Palmetto Drive about a quarter mile down the road from Ridge’s cousin Gavin, and just a short drive to town.
The parking lot outside the hardware store was lined with pickups. Some were new, some were old, but they all had tools and a cooler of beer in their truck beds. Half of the owners were inside sitting on old, worn stools at the nail counter sipping coffee and telling tales.
Ridge opened the door and the cowbell overhead rang. “Gentlemen,” he said to the usual suspects of older men talking with Squirrel, the owner of the store. Squirrel wasn’t his real name, but everyone called him that on account of his squirrel hunting and eating hobby. In fact, Ridge didn’t know his real name.
“Howdy, Ridge. Junior’s in the back if you need any help,” Squirrel said, looking up from where he was hanging out with his buddies. The group of six men were all in their late fifties and sixties who were fixin’ something at the house and just had to go to the hardware store every morning. They sat at the nail counter in case their wives stopped by, and then they would innocently look up and declare the project could only be completed with a certain nail that they were having trouble finding. The nail counter consisted of old coffee cans filled with a mix of nails from over the years. It was the perfect excuse.
“Thanks, Squirrel,” Ridge called out as he waved at the men and headed to say good morning to Squirrel’s son, Junior. He’d never really thought about it, but he didn’t know if Junior was his real name or a nickname. Maybe it was Squirrel, Jr. “Hey, Junior.” Ridge watched as the shorter man tried to hang a hammer on the top peg of a wall full of tools.
“Good morning. What can I do you for?” Junior asked, finally jumping slightly to get the hammer in place.
“I have a list for the old Benson cottage,” Ridge said, holding it out for Junior.
“Who’s the pretty lady living there now?” Junior asked as he and Ridge began to gather the smaller supplies.
“Savannah Ambrose.” Ridge’s lips tilted up into a smile at the thought of her.
“Not Benson?”
Ridge shook his head and then tucked a piece of hair behind his ear. “She was married to a Benson, but got the cottage in the divorce.”
“That’s a shame for her. It’s in rough shape.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Ridge replied, knowing instantly this was going to be a lot more than a single charity date kind of relationship. He’d make sure the house was safe and secure for Savannah just to hear her laugh again. And gosh, being a proper gentleman, he’d better take care of it himself instead of sending his construction crew to fix the house. Sure, it would take longer, but then he’d get to see more of the sexy redhead.
Junior snickered. “Sure you will. Pull your truck out back where we can load the shingles.”
Thirty minutes after leaving Savannah’s house, Ridge was back and unloading his full truck.
“That was fast.” Ridge turned to see Savannah leaning against the doorframe of her now open front door. “Do you need any help unloading things?”
“I’ve got it, thank you.” Ridge paused as he dropped the large pack of shingles to the ground. “I do think this will take me two days. Do you mind if I come back tomorrow to finish up?”
“But I didn’t pay for two
dates,” Savannah said suddenly, sounding nervous.
“It’ll be part two of our one date.”
“Well, then I insist on feeding you while you’re here. I want to thank you for helping me fix this place up.” Savannah walked down the steps and Ridge saw her carefully avoid the stair with the cracked step. She reached into his truck and pulled out two cans of white paint. “What’s this?”
“To paint your deck after I replace the rotted sections.”
“I can do that,” Savannah said, suddenly excited. “Can I do that?”
“Of course,” Ridge said. Her excitement was contagious.
“What do I do first?” Savannah asked as Ridge leapt into the bed of his truck.
“Ever use a pressure washer?”
Savannah’s brown eyes widened and Ridge thought she’d renege on her offer to help, but instead she helped him lower it down to the driveway. “Can I use it? Will you show me how?”
“I’ll show you anything you want,” Ridge promised and had a feeling he wasn’t just talking about how to fix things. There was something about Savannah’s smile and wide eyes that made him want to show her everything about him—his work, his dreams, his fears. And that was dangerous. Ridge let out a deep breath. He wasn’t his cousin Wade. Wade had wanted nothing more than to marry. Ridge had nothing against marriage in general but wasn’t about to rush into anything. “I’ll show you how to pressure wash and you can do that while I’m fixing the plumbing.”
Savannah’s smile slipped and she bit her lower lip just slightly. “But, I want to see how you do that too. When I’m out here on my own and something breaks, I want to know how to fix it.”
There wasn’t anything sexier she could have said to Ridge than that. “Is there anything you want me to fix without you?”
“The electrical. I think that would be pretty boring and too great a risk for me to mess up, but if you could show me what to do if the electricity gets tripped, that would great.”
“Right this way then. We’ll start with plumbing.”
Savannah was sure she was having a hot flash—a real back-of-the-hand-to-her-forehead, fall-down-in-a-case-of-the-vapors hot flash. Right in front of her, Ridge was bent over, hooking the hose into the pressure washer. It had been two years since she’d been with someone in any capacity. After she’d found Penn in bed with Ginger and Pepper, she had thought about revenge sex with some hot guy, but honestly, she’d bailed on the idea after getting to the bar. The idea of getting close to anyone right then didn’t sit well with her.
And what she thought would be only a couple weeks turned into a couple of months and now a couple of years. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t trust anyone enough to open up to him—body or soul.
Looking at Ridge’s butt filling out his pair of jeans, though . . . yup, she was in the middle of a full-blown case of the vapors. The vapors had been building, too. First he taught her how to turn off the water. Then he’d had her crawl under the sink with him to see how he fixed the pipes. Their shoulders were pressed against each other, their hips touched, and Ridge had been so close she could smell him. And he smelled so good she almost swooned under the sink and, well, that would’ve been embarrassing. Savannah had pulled it together and learned all types of things, but this was too much.
She took a step closer. Her eyes never left his perfect rear end. And his back! The way his muscles moved under his shirt had her reaching to touch him. But then Ridge stood and turned around to face her.
Savannah yanked her hand back and pretended she hadn’t been caught ogling him. “Ready for me?”
“Yup,” Ridge said, his voice deeper than normal as his eyes trailed down her body. Maybe she wasn’t the only one affected. Water sprayed out of the wand, soaking Savannah as she let out a yelp of surprise. “Sorry!”
Savannah looked down at her soaked shorts and shrugged. Well, that chased the moment away. “It’s okay. I guess I’m going to be wet anyway.”
Ridge dropped the wand. “Crap,” he cursed as he picked it up and handed it to her. “Just press the trigger and spray. Sweep side to side and get as much of the dirt and chipped paint off as you can.”
“Like this?” Savannah pushed the trigger and water hit the porch and splashed onto her, further drenching her.
Ridge swallowed hard, nodded, and walked inside.
When Savannah looked down to see the area she cleaned, she saw that her white shirt was now see-through. Could Ridge really be as affected by her as she was of him?
Ridge made his way through the electrical and started on the roof. The physical labor of ripping up the rotted shingles and nailing in new ones helped calm him after seeing Savannah in a clinging wet T-shirt. Her breasts were perfectly shaped and sized for his hands. And he wanted to slowly pull up that wet tank top to trace his lips over her stomach.
Wham!
Ridge shot a nail into the newly replaced row of shingles. He had at least another three hours on the roof fixing the leaks, but then Savannah would be safe and dry until she could afford to replace the whole roof.
Savannah’s arms shook and her back ached, but her porch was clean. She turned off the water and leaned the pressure washer wand against the house. It had taken her three hours but the porch was clean, along with her walkway. And she’d done it herself.
Taking a deep breath and smiling, she looked at what she’d accomplished. Savannah was filled with pride at the brand-new-looking walk and the large verandah ready for paint. Ridge might think she was silly, but she did a little celebratory dance. In her mind, she saw what it would look like tomorrow with a coat of paint and fixed boards. It would be beautiful. Maybe Ridge would teach her how to hammer the boards in place. Maybe he’d even show her how to use a power saw!
With an extra pep in her step, Savannah went inside to change. Inside, the leak in the living room was no more. The electrical was up to code. And when she went into her bathroom, there were no dripping faucets or pipes. On top of that, Ridge had even shown her how to fix a toilet and unclog a drain. She was Woman and she was ready to roar!
Savannah pulled off her wet clothes and hung them on the shower bar to dry. She noticed that the sunlight coming into her room was dimming. She looked at her bedside clock and cringed. It was after eight and Ridge was still working hard. The least she could do was feed him. And if that meant he stayed with her a little longer, it wasn’t anything but good Southern hospitality.
Savannah ran to the shower and jumped in while it was still cold to wash off the dirt from the porch that had sprayed onto her. She hurried out, dried off, and put her wet hair in a bun before pulling on a spaghetti strap sundress and covering it with a sheer, lacy sweater. The nights in South Carolina were still warm, close to seventy degrees in September, but with the breeze from the river it could be a little chilly.
She slipped her feet into some sandals and skipped down the stairs and into the kitchen. Savannah’s phone still lay on the counter where she’d left it when she’d heard Ridge pull up to the front after the hardware store. A whole day without her connection to the world and it had been more fun than she’d had in years.
3
Ridge’s body strummed from physical exertion. It had been years since he’d repaired a roof. Now, as the owner and lead architect of his own company, he no longer climbed on rooftops. When he was in high school and college, he did plenty of construction-related jobs. As he nailed in the last shingle, he sat back on his heels and dusted his hands on his jeans. The roof was fixed.
When Ridge made his way down to the ground, he heard music drifting through the open screen door around back. Then he heard something else. An animal in pain? A toddler in a meltdown? Either way it wasn’t good. Ridge tossed his equipment into the back of his truck and hurried to the back porch door and froze.
Inside, Savannah was wiggling her hips as she sang along to the music—badly. Very, very badly. However, the excellent smell coming from whatever she was torturing with her singing made it better.
<
br /> Savannah’s little skirt swung as she twirled toward the counter on her right. Mid-twirl she caught sight of him, screamed in surprise, and tripped.
By the time Ridge got to her, she was on her bottom with her head tossed back and laughing. It was a much better sound than her singing.
“Are you okay?” Ridge asked as he offered his hand for her to take.
“I am, thanks.” Savannah reached up and took his hand. Ridge pulled her up and didn’t stop pulling until she was in his arms once again. He remembered every inch of her body from the one dance they shared just days ago.
“Whatever you’re baking smells wonderful.” But not as wonderful as you.
Savannah grinned up at him, and if he hadn’t overheard her with her ex, Ridge would have sworn she was a carefree, happy woman whose whole life had been easy. But she wasn’t. She knew pain. She was just choosing joy instead.
“I have a little goodie basket for you. These are my famous peanut butter brownies that I used to make for charity events.” The happiness in her voice trailed off as her eyes unfocused. Ridge could tell she was thinking of times gone by.
“They smell very good. You lived in Atlanta?” Ridge asked.
Savannah turned to reach for the basket she’d mentioned and nodded. “Mostly Atlanta, but also Charleston. I knew of this house, vaguely, but when Penn offered it in the divorce settlement, the idea of being in a small town was very appealing to me. I love being around good people.”
“Did you work in Atlanta?” Ridge asked as she placed the brownies into the basket.
Her shoulders tensed and then slumped. Her body language answered the question for him. “I was two classes shy of graduating from college when Penn, who was two years older, landed a good job in Atlanta. We met in Charleston where we both went to school.” Savannah shook her head at the memory. “I was so naïve. I should have realized then that if he loved me he would have supported my dream of graduating. But he gave me an ultimatum. If I loved him, I would go with him. If I didn’t go with him, I didn’t love him and we needed to break up. I stupidly dropped out of college my last semester and followed him. I became the perfect stay-at-home wife, just like my mom had been before she and my dad passed away. I was trying to make her proud when I should have been making myself proud.” Savannah shook her head and took a deep breath. “But that’s all in the past. I’m looking at finishing my last classes to get my degree.”
Lasting Shadows: Shadows Landing #3 Page 2