Not Until You (Hope Springs Book 3)

by Valerie M. Bodden

  When he came to it, he highlighted the row and hit delete.

  One less property wasn’t going to hurt Dad.

  He saved the file and sent it off. Then he locked up and headed for the one place he wanted to be right now.

  Home.

  Violet threw the tennis ball down the hill and watched Tony chase after it, his ears flopping as he ran.

  “Fetch it here, Tony.” She used her most commanding voice.

  But Tony apparently wasn’t buying it. He carried the ball a few feet up the hill, then dropped it and watched as it rolled back down.

  “Tony!” Violet bent in half and shook her head, then stood and ran after the ball herself. He’d done the same thing twelve times already, but she had been so sure that this time he would finally get it.

  Tony sniffed her as she bent to pick up the ball, and she gave him a quick rub behind the ears. “It’s okay, boy. You’ll figure it out next time.”

  She checked the time on her phone again. Hopefully Nate would be home soon. She was supposed to be at Dan’s in half an hour for dinner with her friends. She was dying to see Sophie and Spencer, who had finally gotten home late last night.

  Tony gave her a lick, and Violet wiped her cheek. “Come on, let’s try again.” She started to climb the hill.

  “Looks like he has you trained well.”

  She lifted her head, a smile already tugging her lips up at the sound of Nate’s voice. He stood at the top of the hill, hands in the pockets of his khakis, grinning down at them.

  “What are you talking about?” She grinned right back at him. “This is exactly what I taught him to do.” She covered the last few steps up the hill and stood in front of Nate. A light five o’clock shadow dusted his cheeks and chin, making him look rugged.

  His stance was relaxed, but she couldn’t help noticing the tension in his shoulders.

  “Rough day?”

  He looked away. “It was fine.”

  He seemed ready to say more. She waited, but then he seemed to change his mind. “Thanks for watching Tony.”

  “Of course. I think I enjoyed having him around as much as he enjoyed being around.”

  Nate squatted to give Tony a scratch behind the ears. “As long as you don’t teach him to like you more than he likes me.”

  “Oh, don’t worry.” She lowered herself to scratch Tony’s neck, and the dog stepped closer to her. “He already likes me better.”

  Nate gave her shoulder a playful shove. “Yeah. I can’t deny that. But then, you’re definitely the more likable of the two of us.”

  Violet’s eyes snapped to his, but he was gazing out toward the lake.

  She straightened. “I’d love to stay and play, but I have to get going. What’re you boys up to tonight?”

  “Oh, you know―” Nate stood, too. “We have big plans with a frozen dinner and some mindless TV.”

  “Sounds fun.” Violet had spent her share of nights the same way. “See you later.”

  With a last scratch of Tony’s ears, she headed for her apartment. She needed to grab her keys and the pasta salad she’d managed to wrangle together with one hand last night.

  But when she reached the door to the building, she couldn’t help looking over her shoulder.

  Nate had settled onto the grass, his knees up in front of him, his gaze directed toward the lake. She let herself wonder for a second what he was thinking about. Something almost haunted hovered behind his eyes most of the time, and she couldn’t help wanting to ease it. Whatever it was.

  But that wasn’t her place.

  She was his neighbor and maybe almost a friend.

  But nothing more.

  She slipped through the door and jogged up the steps. If she stood here wondering about her new neighbor any longer, she’d be late for dinner. And she was starving. The store had been so slammed today she hadn’t had time for lunch.

  Which had been a good problem to have for once.

  She opened the door to her apartment, her mouth already watering at the thought of Dan’s burgers. But she stopped inside the doorway as a strange sound hit her ears. It was like the constant rush of a waterfall.

  But there were no waterfalls in her apartment the last time she’d checked.

  Had she left a faucet on this morning? She’d done that once in the weeks right after Cade died. Fortunately, it had only been for a few minutes while she went downstairs to get the mail, and the overflow drain had kept up with the water flow.

  She moved into the kitchen. The sink was off, and the dishwasher wasn’t running.

  So then where . . .

  Water sloshed over her sandals as she stepped into the hallway, and she yanked her foot back in alarm.

  The hallway had turned into a stream, flowing from the laundry room toward the bedroom. She followed it toward the source.

  When she got to the laundry room, she stopped dead, her good hand over her mouth. The utility sink was on the floor, and water was spraying from a broken-off pipe jutting out of the wall.

  “What did― How?” She dropped to her knees alongside the sink, ignoring the spray of water against her right arm as she groped behind the washer for a shut-off valve. There had to be one, didn’t there?

  Finally, her hand landed on what felt like the spigot of an outdoor faucet.

  But when she tried to turn it, nothing happened.

  “Come on.” She twisted harder. But her fingers simply slipped against the metal.

  Now what? She couldn’t sit here letting her apartment become a lake.

  But by the time a plumber got here, that’s exactly what would happen.

  She didn’t stop to think about it. Just jumped up and ran as quickly as she could without falling through the wet hallway, down the stairs, and out the door.

  “Nate!”

  He wasn’t in his spot at the top of the hill anymore, and she jogged across the parking lot, scanning the hillside.

  There.

  On the beach, watching Tony splash in the waves.

  She hesitated. She’d worked so hard not to go down there. But if she didn’t now, she might as well bring the lake indoors.

  She set off at a run down the hill, calling Nate’s name every few seconds. She was halfway to the bottom when he turned around. Even from here, she could make out the smile that took over his face the moment he noticed her.

  But she didn’t have time to dwell on it.

  She drew to a stop and waved him toward her. “I need your help!”

  In under three seconds, he’d called Tony out of the water and was running up the beach toward her.

  She waited, trying to catch her breath.

  “What’s going on? What’s wrong?” Concern tightened his voice as he reached her.

  “A pipe broke. There’s water everywhere.”

  “Where?” Nate started up the hill at a jog, and Violet ran to match the pace of his longer legs.

  “Everywhere,” she repeated.

  “I mean, where in the building?”

  Oh, that made more sense. “My apartment. The laundry room. The sink fell off the wall. I tried to turn the shutoff valve, but it was stuck.”

  He nodded and opened the door, waiting for her to pass through.

  She ran up the stairs. Tony’s claws clicked on the steps behind her.

  “I just put a load of laundry in maybe twenty minutes ago. Right before I took Tony outside―” She looked over her shoulder, but Nate wasn’t there anymore.

  She swiveled. How had he disappeared?

  The door to her store was closed and locked, and he hadn’t passed her on the stairs.

  “Nate?”

  There was no answer. On the step below her, Tony cocked his head, ears perked.

  “Nate?” She called louder this time.

  A clanging resounded through the entryway. She looked down. She was pretty sure it had come from under the stairs.

  She retraced her steps, more than a little baffled. A narrow hallway ran alongside the st
airs, separating them from her store, but as far as she knew, there was nothing there but an old storage closet.

  But the door to the closet was open, and a light was on inside. She jumped as the banging began again.

  “There we go.” Nate’s voice carried from the closet, and she moved closer.

  She was just outside the door when he emerged, almost plowing into her. “Whoa. Sorry about that.” He took a quick step back, and so did she.

  She peered over his shoulder. Apparently it wasn’t a storage closet after all. A large furnace took up most of the room.

  “What’d you do?”

  “I turned off the building’s main water supply. Just until we can get the shutoff valve upstairs working or replaced.” He set down the wrench he’d been holding and flipped off the light. “Let’s go check it out.”

  Violet wanted to tell him he didn’t have to do that. That she could take it from here. But the truth was, she appreciated the offer too much to turn it down.

  She led the way up the stairs.

  Nate stopped at the landing. “Let me put Tony in my apartment. Don’t want him to get your place all wet.”

  She gave him an incredulous look, and he burst out laughing. The sound was so unexpected, she couldn’t help joining him. It was the first time she’d heard him really laugh. It sounded good on him.

  But as she opened the door to her apartment, their laughter cut off.

  A trickle of water had worked its way from the hallway into the living room.

  “Well that’s not good.” Nate stepped past her and followed the water to the laundry room. She walked slowly behind him, thinking about how long this was going to take to clean up. She ducked into the bathroom to grab every last towel out of the linen closet.

  “Uh, do you need this stuff in the boxes?” Nate called.

  “Oh no.” She dropped the towels. In her panic to get the water turned off, she hadn’t thought about the boxes of Cade’s stuff still sitting on the laundry room floor.

  She dashed into the room and squeezed past Nate in the small space. The bottoms of the boxes had transformed into an ugly dark brown as water seeped into them.

  “Let’s get them out of here.” Nate held out his arms, and she passed him a box. Then she grabbed one of her own, grateful he didn’t ask what was in them. She choked down the sobs threatening to escape. For some reason, the thought of Cade’s things being destroyed hurt more than the thought of giving them away.

  They deposited the boxes on the kitchen counter, then went back for more.

  When they’d moved them all, Violet started pulling items out as Nate disappeared from the room. She was grateful for the moment of privacy as she spread Cade’s stuff across the dining table and chairs, the couch, anywhere there was a dry space.

  Fortunately, the only thing that seemed to be damaged was the corsage Cade had worn to their senior prom. She laughed as she rubbed its flaking petals.

  “At least you still have your sense of humor.” Nate stopped at the entrance to the kitchen, glancing around the room.

  Violet gestured toward the corsage. “Cade hated wearing that thing. Kept saying it was poking him all night. It’s why none of the guys in our wedding wore a corsage.”

  Nate gave her a gentle smile. “I got the shutoff valve turned off. I’ll go turn the main water supply on, then I’ll help you clean up this flood.

  “Oh, you don’t have to―”

  But Nate cut her off. “I know I don’t have to. I want to. That’s what neighbors are for, remember?”

  Thirty minutes later, the floor was finally dry. Violet pushed onto her heels and shoved her hair out of her eyes.

  “I think that’s good.”

  Nate looked up from where he was crouched by the washer. “Yeah, I think we got it all.” He rocked his head from side to side. She knew the feeling. They’d been on their hands and knees way too long sopping up the water. She couldn't imagine how much longer it would have taken without his help.

  “Thank you. I really had no idea who to ask for help.”

  “Well, I’m always right next door.” Nate stood, reaching to massage his back. Violet had a sudden flash of rubbing Cade’s back after he’d installed the washer years ago. Did Nate have the same firm muscles? Violet shoved the thought aside and pushed past Nate toward the kitchen.

  She started sorting through Cade’s stuff.

  After a minute, Nate’s footsteps shuffled behind her, but they stopped at the doorway.

  “Thanks for helping me save all this. I should have taken it to the thrift store a long time ago, but―” She didn’t trust herself to continue.

  “You’re welcome.” Nate’s voice was soft, and she risked a look over her shoulder, letting their eyes meet. Neither looked away for a heartbeat.

  “Anyway.” Nate cleared his throat. “It shouldn’t be too big of a deal to replace that pipe and get you a new sink. I could do it tomorrow if you’d like.”

  Violet couldn’t seem to get a read on this guy. How could the same person be so aloof and yet so open at the same time? She followed him to the laundry room to examine the broken pipe. Not that she had any idea what to look for.

  Nate stepped out of her way and bent to scoop up the pile of wet towels.

  “Oh, don’t, you’re going to get all―”

  But it was too late. Nate had already hugged the mass to his body.

  “Wet,” she finished anyway, around a laugh.

  “I don’t think either of us can really get any wetter at this point.” Nate gestured at her own sopping shorts.

  “Yeah. Guess I’d better change before I head out for dinner at my friend’s house.” She passed him a laundry basket, and he dropped the towels into it.

  A sudden thought struck her, but the words stuck in her throat. She knew her friends wouldn’t mind. But she also knew they’d read way too much into it.

  Still, Nate had saved her home. She owed him dinner at least. “Actually, why don’t you come with me? As a thank you.” She carefully avoided his eyes.

  “That’s okay. I was going to―”

  “Eat a frozen dinner and watch TV with Tony,” she finished for him. “Come on. My friend Dan makes these amazing burgers.”

  His eyes brightened, and she could tell he was wavering.

  “Plus, Peyton usually brings something from the bakery.”

  He raised his arms in surrender. “When you put it that way, how can I resist?”

  “That’s what I thought.” Violet grinned in triumph. “Change into something dry and meet me here in twenty minutes.”

  She led him to the door and leaned on it for a second after he left. Thank goodness he’d moved in. Eighty-year-old Mrs. D’Angelo would have been absolutely no help in a situation like this, bless her.

  Violet pushed off the door and grabbed her phone on her way to change.

  Dan answered on the first ring. “The burgers are almost ready. Where are you?”

  Violet pulled a flower print skirt and a white sleeveless blouse out of her closet as she talked. “Sorry. Plumbing emergency.”

  “Oh no. Do you need help?”

  Violet laughed. “Like you know anything about plumbing.”

  “I knew I never should have used my plumbing failure as a sermon illustration.” Dan groaned. “I’m never going to hear the end of that, am I?”

  “Not likely. But don’t worry, your willingness to make a fool of yourself is what people love about you.”

  “Great.” But Dan was laughing, too. “Anyway, I could have provided moral support.”

  “Thanks. I’m sure moral support would have stopped the water gushing all over my laundry room floor.” Violet opened her makeup bag and started putting on a light layer. Normally, she wouldn’t care about wearing makeup when she was just having dinner with her friends, but tonight felt different. “Don’t worry about it. My new neighbor saved the day.”

  “The same new neighbor who rescued you when you fell? The guy’s turning out to b
e a real hero.” Dan’s voice was half teasing.

  “Yeah. I know.” Violet tried to ignore the implication. “Anyway, I invited him to come tonight. You know, as a thank you. I get the feeling he doesn’t get many home-cooked meals.”

  She broke off. What was she thinking, bringing a man who wasn’t Cade to meet her friends? Even though she wasn’t bringing him as a man. It was just as a thank you. But that wasn’t how her friends would see it.

  “Actually, you know what, forget it. I don’t want to inconvenience you or―” She dropped her makeup brush into the bag.

  “Violet, relax.” Dan’s gentle voice calmed her frayed nerves. “Of course he’s welcome.”

  Violet let out a long exhale. “Okay.” She wasn’t sure that was what she wanted anymore. But there was really no way to uninvite him now.

  Chapter 12

  Nate dug through the half dozen t-shirts he’d bought at the discount store the day after he’d moved in. None of them seemed right for meeting Violet’s friends. He wasn’t usually a polo shirt type of guy, but he’d bought one for the office. Maybe that would work.

  He dragged a hand through his hair.

  Why was he standing here wondering what to wear? It was just dinner with a bunch of strangers.

  “Ah, Tony, what have I gotten myself into?” He grabbed the polo shirt off the hanger and pulled it over his head.

  He wasn’t sure why he’d agreed to go in the first place. He hadn’t made new friends in years, and the thought of being around others was daunting.

  But the thought of staying home with the dog to eat yet another frozen dinner was worse.

  “Alright, boy, wish me luck.” Nate put Tony in his kennel and passed him a treat. At the dog’s mournful look, he passed him another. “I won’t be gone long.”

  He ducked out of his apartment and knocked on Violet’s door.

  “Come in.”

  He had to take a calming breath before he opened the door, and he scolded himself. He was acting like a teenager on his first date, not a grown man going to have dinner with his neighbor and her friends.

  He glanced around the apartment. Aside from her late husband’s things scattered around the open surfaces, you’d never know the place had been a disaster twenty minutes ago.