Paul shook his head as he twisted on the hot water and rinsed off the drywall compound clinging to the blades of his tools. Talking to Nancy yesterday only made things worse. “You don’t understand.”
“I think you’re wrong.”
He set the scrapers into the dish rack on the counter beside the sink and turned to her. “I don’t care what you think.” Grabbing his keys off the counter, he headed to the front door. “I’ll come deal with the furnace later.”
There was nothing that could keep him in that house another second. Right now he didn’t care if the whole damn thing froze and he had to dig out every speck of compound and do it again. It would be better than having to explain himself to someone who couldn’t understand even if she tried.
He backed down the driveway and took off not really sure where he was headed. A beer sounded really good right now. Hell, sitting in the bar chatting with the daytime cronies sounded good. Anything besides sitting around thinking of the look on Nancy’s face yesterday.
He’d almost kissed her.
When he realized what he was about to do, he took off like a bat out of hell. Unfortunately he wasn’t fast enough to miss the way she looked at him.
She didn’t seem to realize it was for her own good.
As he drove through town, the heat of the sun warmed the interior of his truck pushing the temperature past a comfortable point. He cracked the window, letting the brisk air blow through the cab.
He felt like he was being shoved between a rock and a hard place. He really didn’t want to talk to Mina any more about Nancy. She had the best intentions, but it really wasn’t any of her business. Which led him to the hard place. He didn’t want to talk to Nancy either.
What he really wanted was for everything to go back the way it was. Unfortunately with Mina involved that probably wasn’t going to be an option. She wasn’t one to sit back and let things go. She ran head first into whatever problem she had and wrangled it into submission.
And she wasn’t his only problem. Nancy didn’t seem to be any more willing to let things go.
Paul looked in his rear view mirror and cut the wheel, spinning his truck in a u-turn.
In less than five minutes, his ass was parked on the barstool he’d occupied countless hours over the last thirty-some-odd years. It was like old times, sitting in the dim lighting, leaned against the wood top of the bar, squinting at the ancient box TV shoved into an alcove high on the wall.
“Hey buddy.” Ron the daytime bartender ambled his way. “Long time no see. Thirsty?”
Paul nodded.
A few seconds later, Ron set a tall glass of the usual on the bar in front of him. “You been all right man? You look like you lost some weight.”
“Just busy.” He wrapped his hand around the glass letting the coolness of the amber ale sink into his palm.
Ron nodded back. “Glad to see ya.” He slid down the bar to replace another regular’s empty bottle.
Paul stared at his beer. It had been months since he’d had a drop of anything other than water and the occasional cola.
For years, this is where he spent most of his Friday and Saturday nights but the visits got a little more frequent after he started working with Mina.
He knew she and Nancy were friends when he took the job, he just never expected Mina would become any more than a temporary employer for him. He also didn’t realize exactly how much that girl could talk. Specifically how much she would talk about Nancy.
Now he was stuck dealing with the two women he loved, and they were ganging up on him. Pushing him to talk about things that are better left alone.
“Hey Paulie.” One of his favorite bar flies wandered over and sat on the stool beside him, propping his cane against his leg after he was settled. “Where ya been?”
“Just workin’."
“Oh.” Old Saul nodded his head slowly before giving him a crinkly eyed wink. “Thought maybe you and Nancy finally figured it out.”
Son of a bitch. There was no escaping this shit.
“Nothing to figure out.” Paul held his glass up, staring though to the gold tinted scene behind it. He tipped it to his lips, taking a deep breath, pulling the hoppy smell deep into his lungs before taking a sip.
It wasn’t as good as he remembered.
The old man laughed beside him. “You’re still as big of a dumbass as you were in high school. Letting some pecker take your girl without a fight.”
Paul slammed the beer down, foam sloshing over the edge and running down to his hand where it clenched the glass.
“She wasn’t mine to take.”
“And whose fault is that?”
All the anger and rage came back like it was yesterday. Like he was that seventeen-year-old kid betrayed by his best friend all over again.
Paul wiped his wet hand down the leg of his jeans. It was fucking Sam’s fault. All of this was Sam’s fault. He was a shitty friend and an even shittier husband. He only asked Nancy out in the first place because he couldn’t stand for a woman to want Paul instead of him.
Now it was too late. The best chance Paul had with her was then, when he was young and strong and capable.
And Sam stole it. Made him her second best option, just for spite.
It was time to go.
Paul stood up and gave Saul a pat on the back. “Gotta head out. Good to see you.”
He’d only been in the bar a few minutes, but the bright light of the day stung his eyes and made his head hurt. He swiped at his eyes with the sleeve of his lined work shirt, the sour smell of spilled beer still lingering on his hand.
Kicking at the gravel lining the parking lot, his boot sent tiny rocks and dust scattering. He just wanted to be left the fuck alone. Why was it so hard for everyone to mind their own fucking business?
Paul got in his truck, slamming the door. He leaned his head back against the headrest and stared at the ceiling trying to swallow down years of frustration and anger.
He started the truck and pulled out of the lot, headed to the only place no one would give him shit. It looked like his world was about to get a whole lot smaller until this all died down.
NINE
Nancy walked into the dark house.
The dark and cold house.
“Shit.” She fished her cell out of the pocket of her sweater and used the flashlight on it to find the light switch just inside the door. Flipping it on, she went in search of the thermostat.
Forty-five degrees.
That was bad news. She turned off the beam of light emitting from her cell, then dialed Thomas’ number.
“Hello?” He practically yelled into the phone and even then the shouts of the crowd around him threatened to drown him out.
“I think it’s totally out.” Nancy squinted at the dial to make sure it was set properly. For some stupid reason she tapped on the face of the temperature gauge. Like that was going to do anything. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to tell it was freaking cold in here.
Yesterday it seemed like the warm weather was finally coming, but once again Mother Nature proved herself to be a tease and her ill temperament was about to make a big mess for Mina.
And Paul.
“I was afraid of that.” She heard the rumble of Thomas’ voice as he spoke away from the phone speaker. He, Mina and Charlie were watching Maddie finish out the club volleyball season. Nancy was too, until Mina told her they were having problems with the furnace and would have to go past the house after the game to make sure it was warm enough to dry the mud on the walls.
“Thanks for checking. I guess we’ll head over there and set up space heaters after we’re done here.”
“Why can’t I just do that now? I’m already here.” That was the whole reason she left Maddie’s game, so they didn’t have to drag around two tired, hungry kids at nine o’clock on a school night.
“The heaters aren’t there.”
Nancy was fishing her keys out of her pocket and walking back out the front door.
“Where are they? I’ll just go get them.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I’m already in the car, are they in the garage?” She backed down the driveway, intent on heading to Mina’s house.
“They’re at Paul’s.”
****
The doorbell rang, interrupting the fly fishing show he’d switched on before whipping up his gourmet dinner. Less than two minutes ago he’d parked his ass on the leather reclining couch, a plate full of bologna sandwich and Cheetos perched on his lap. After a morning of fighting the furnace into submission and an afternoon of mudding, he was ready to relax.
And now someone was at his door and they were ringing the bell. Again.
Dropping the paper plate on the dark cherry end table at his elbow, he wrestled the footrest down and heaved himself up. Unless it was a uniformed little girl offering cookies, whoever was on the other side of that door was about to be real sorry they were screwing with his night.
He yanked open the door, not even taking the time to peek and see who it was. Hopefully he’d scare the shit out of him and they’d take off running before his show was back from the commercial break.
He glared through the open door for half a second before realization set in, dragging a healthy dose of shock along with it.
Unfortunately, his late night visitor didn’t look the least bit scared of him.
Nancy raised an eyebrow. “Is this how you greet all your guests?” A smile quirked the edge of her lips. “Or just your friends?”
He swallowed and tried to find words to say. Never in a million years would he have expected this. Her, showing up unannounced, a smile on her face, as if she knew what she was doing to him.
And liked it.
The fear that accompanied that possibility left him in an embarrassing state. One in which he simply stood in his sock feet, mouth agape, staring at the woman interrupting his fishing show.
Hell, she was interrupting his whole damn life.
And damned if she didn’t look good while she did it. She wore jeans that clung to every curve of her body and a white low-cut shirt tucked into the waistband. All that protected her from the chill of the night was a long, loose black and white sweater.
He blinked trying to break the spell she had on him. Finally he found his voice. “What are you doing here?”
Her eyebrows drew together. “Mina said she texted you.”
He had no idea where his phone was. It wasn’t unusual. He never knew where he left the damn thing once he got home and took off the clip that held it to his waistband while he worked. Drop one in a bucket of cement once and you figure out a way to avoid doing it again.
“The furnace is out at the house. They’re at Maddie’s game so I told them I would take the heaters over and set them up.” Nancy’s eyes wandered around the gap between his body and the doorframe, looking into the house behind him. “Can I come in? It’s really cold.”
He needed to be slapped. He was an ass. What in the hell was wrong with him?
“Yeah.” He stepped to one side. “Come in. I’m sorry. I was just a little surprised.”
Her hands rubbed up and down her arms as she stepped past him into the foyer. “I’m sorry. I thought you would be expecting me.” Only a couple steps in, she stopped and stood silently as her eyes roamed what she could see of the house.
“It’s beautiful Paul.” She gently touched the woodwork framing the doorway into the vaulted great room. “How long have you lived here?”
He rubbed one hand across the back of his neck, a little uncomfortable with her praise of his house and a lot uncomfortable with her being in it. “Almost two years now.”
She stepped further into his home, her head tipping back to take in the beams of the soaring ceiling. “What did it look like when you bought it?”
“It was pretty bad, but…”
Nancy looked back at him from where she stopped to study a watercolor painting hanging on the wall, her fingers gently tracing the heavy wood frame. “But what?”
Paul swallowed. This was much harder than he expected it to be. He loved talking about his house, the way he fixed it up, but it was a struggle to make words come out. The sight of her, in his house. In his life.
It was what he’d wanted, what he’d dreamed of for years and now that it was happening, he wanted it to stop.
It was too good. Too perfect. Too easy. Being with her in the quiet of his house instead of sitting alone pretending to watch television. It felt real.
He started to sweat.
“Paul? Are you okay?” Her brows came together as she watched him closely. “You got really pale.”
He shook his head. “I’m fine.” It was time to take back his night. Maybe it would be the first step to regaining his life. “You go home. I’ll handle the heaters.”
Nancy didn’t seem to hear him. She was moving through his house, touching the walls, the furniture. Even the countertops in his kitchen. “I can’t believe how gorgeous this place is.” Her voice was filled with awe and a touch of shock which hurt what little ego he had left. If he was good at anything it was fixing houses.
“You imagined me living like a desolate bachelor?” He padded through the great room and to the dining area where he grabbed his coat off the back of a chair.
Nancy nodded to his forgotten supper. “You eat like one.”
He looked at the pale white bread and neon colored curls beside it. “Fair enough.” He nodded to the door. “I mean it. You go home. No reason for you to be freezing.” He glanced back at her extremely complimentary but also ill-considered outfit. “Why are you even out in this weather without a coat?”
Nancy looked down and wrapped her sweater across her front like it would make it look warmer. “I didn’t realize what all the evening would entail.”
“All the more reason for you to go home.” He stepped toward her, hoping it would push her closer to the front of the house and closer to the door.
Much to his dismay, she held firm, crossing her arms and shaking her head. “No. I’m going with you.”
Holy hell this woman was stubborn. “You’ll freeze.”
She gave him a sly smile. “Not if you give me a coat to wear.”
They stared at each other, Nancy still smiling, him trying to at least feel like he put up some sort of fight even though he knew what was going to happen. He was going to give her what she wanted. Mostly because that’s all he’d ever wanted to do.
Give the woman everything she wanted and everything she deserved. At one point in his life maybe he could have. Not now.
But that didn’t stop him from wanting.
He held the coat in his hand out to her. “Come on.”
The space heaters were in the garage. He grabbed another coat from the closet, sliding it on as he opened the door into the heated space where he kept his baby.
“Holy cow.” Nancy stepped in behind him, zipping his Carhart up to her chin.
He tried not to notice the feeling of possession chewing on his brain at the sight of her in his coat. He also chose to ignore the satisfaction he felt deep inside knowing that he was the one to take care of her tonight.
“This is as nice as the house.” She pointed to a small room framed into one corner. “Is that a bathroom?” She laughed. The sound bounced off the walls around him, making him smother a smile. “This place is fantastic.”
Opening a set of bi-fold doors, he started lining up heaters. There was no time to waste. Nancy needed to go home so he could try to find his way back to reality. The one where she isn’t standing in his house, wrapped in his coat, praising the skills he’s most proud of, making him think impossible thoughts.
The worst part was they didn’t seem so impossible right now. And that was why he needed to hurry this up. Before he completely lost his mind and started thinking he could have her. That he could make her completely happy in spite of—
The sound of the garage door opening startled him. His head flipped aroun
d to find Nancy walking away from the button and grabbing a heater. She straightened and walked past him to the now open door.
“We’re putting these in your truck right?”
He grabbed two and followed behind her. “Yeah.”
He dropped his into the bed of the truck and opened the driver’s door to start the engine and crank up the heat. “Get in. I’ll load the rest.”
She was already on her way back to the garage, but paused. “Okay.” She walked to the passenger side and opened the door, chewing her lip as she went then slowly turned and looked right at him, her eyes soft. “Thank you.”
Ten minutes later they were pulling up in front of the other house. It was a short ride, but long enough to have his nerves frayed. The blower of the heater rolled the sweet smell of her through the cab of his truck, making her presence hard to ignore no matter how hard he tried.
Stepping into the cold night was a welcome relief. A deep, cleansing, breath of frigid air that smelled of dead leaves and freezing dew, and he was ready to tackle the rest of this whole…
He didn’t even know what the hell to call this night.
Nancy swept past him, her keys out and jingling in her hand. “I’ll open the house up and get the lights on.” She didn’t wait for an answer, not that he was planning on giving one.
He grabbed two of the six heaters and went inside. She was right. The furnace was out and the high efficiency unit he special ordered wasn’t set to come in for a few more days.
“If this doesn’t work what will happen?” Nancy flipped on the hall light and continued toward the bedrooms.
He followed behind her. The bedrooms needed the heat most. If they didn’t warm up, the mud could crack, setting them back a week. A week they didn’t have. The excavation crew was set to start on Thomas’ house in two weeks and he would need every bit of that to be finished here and ready to be on site.
“I’ll have a lot of work to do.” He set the first two space heaters in the back bedroom and plugged them in on opposite sides before flipping them on to the highest setting. He checked the seams for any signs the cold was already doing damage.
So far so good, but the house was cold and only getting colder. He quickly unloaded the last four heaters and set them up in the rest of the rooms that needed heat most. Before heading out, he turned off the water at the main and opened the faucets. The only thing worse than redoing the mud would be redoing a flooded house.
Regret (Never Waste a Second Chance Book 2) Page 8