Needs A Little TLC (Spinning Hills Romance 2)

by Ines Saint

  They locked gazes. So many things he wanted to say. But he never knew how to start these types of conversations. When it came to the important things, people heard and believed what they wanted to hear and believe. He swallowed hard, not sure he had any right to question her about anything. “You say I let you down just when you needed me most . . . but I was in the dark, Cass. Something was going on, but you wouldn’t let me in.”

  Cassie’s gaze flicked away. “You’re right. I didn’t let you in. We were both young and stupid, and I get that, Sam.” She shook her head and took a step back. “I also know I should be over everything that happened, and I think one day I will be, but I’ve learned I have to take care of my heart and it’s telling me I’m not there yet. I know the past will come up sometimes because, well, we’re here.” She swept her arm expansively and then settled her hand on her old bike. “But you need to stop bringing it up on purpose. It—it makes me feel as if I’m falling back instead of moving forward. What I need is to be part of the team that makes others see how magical this town can be, and what I want is to rise to the top in my chosen profession and niche. I’m lucky the two go hand in hand. It’s good to be back.”

  Sam wanted to say that it was good having her back, but that seemed like the sort of thing she was asking him not to do. He would stick to her rules, but there was one more thing he needed to know so he could move forward too. “Why did you stay away so long? Answer and I’ll let you be. No more personal remarks or questions.”

  Cassie drew in a sigh and nodded. “I didn’t mean to stay away this long.” Her eyes met his again. “But once I had this vision of what I really wanted to do, I had a burning desire to go out and just do it. My way. I could see it so clearly, I couldn’t stop, even though it’s been three steps forward, one step back most of the time. It’s been a fulfilling ride. One I needed.”

  Sam nodded slowly and stretched his arm out to shake her hand. Ten years was a long time, and at that moment it was hard to know how much of it mattered anymore. They’d cleared the air as much as they could and this time their deal felt real. This time, it felt as if she was really back.

  “See you tomorrow, bright and early,” she said, heading back inside.

  Sam left her office with a renewed sense of purpose. His burdens felt lighter. Dan and Johnny were his partners, too, but Cassie brought a different energy to the game. An energy that gave his plans a brighter glow. They were both out-of-the-box thinkers, but while Sam stood outside the box and carefully studied it from all angles on the ground, Cassie buzzed all around it and kept taking action until she got it right.

  Setbacks had always been a given with her, but so had huge leaps that took her above and beyond.

  His light mood lasted until he sat down in front of his computer and logged in to his bank account. It was the first of the month, and he was about to drain the account. He was one to two months behind on many properties, but the bank was working with him. It was a delicate juggling act, and his business was teetering on the edge.

  The houses had only recently come on to the market, but he would be closing on one of Lisa’s listings within the week. If he sold at least two more houses and closed before the beginning of the following month, he’d be back on track. If he sold at least three more the following month, he’d be ahead. If the momentum kept going, he’d eventually make a killing.

  He’d taken a huge, but calculated risk when he’d invested in his hometown and a load of its aging properties. He hadn’t counted on how much even an amicable divorce could cost. His estimates, which he’d researched and thought were on the high side, were wrong.

  Though Heather had a good job as the manager of a trendy women’s clothing store, his alimony and child support had been set according to his income from the year before, and he and Heather had only recently been able to get their house under contract. Sam had gone too modern when he’d improved it, wanting to please Heather because she’d already compromised by buying an old house. It’s why Heather had been the one to move out. She’d been living in her new, modern apartment for nearly a year and she loved it. But it had taken them that long to find a buyer who appreciated their old house.

  Thankfully, they’d be closing later that week and Sam would be moving into the upstairs apartment. With Johnny.

  But Sam was operating on a deep belief that his investments would pay off and he’d soon be able to settle into a smaller home, maybe even into one of his rehabs. Only lately had doubts crept in. Staring at an empty bank account did that to a person.

  “Sam?” His mom’s voice came from the door.

  Sam looked up, glad to have a reason to shut his laptop down. “Hey, Ma.”

  “Is Dan around?” Sam stifled a sigh. She could clearly see his brother wasn’t there.

  “Nope. Not here.”

  “Oh good. It’s not that I don’t want to see him,” she assured him with an earnest look in her eyes. “It’s that I know I make him uncomfortable.”

  Sam studied his mom, wondering how she could be such a good mom to him and Johnny, yet such a terrible stepmom to Dan. It had always troubled him deeply, not having an answer to that. It was as if she kept allowing spite and pettiness to take nips and bites out of her mostly good heart. He resented the fact that she refused to control it.

  “What brings you by?” he asked, pasting a smile on his face. It was no use calling her on anything that had to do with Dan. It had always made things worse and had taught him to just shut the hell up.

  “I heard Cassie’s back. I stopped by to see her this morning, but she wasn’t in and it looked like she’s still setting up and not ready for visitors. Have you seen her?” She knew very well he’d seen her, argued with her, signed a contract with her, and nearly killed her, all in two days’ time.

  “I’ve seen her.”

  “I know you’re not one to share much, but I was wondering how you’re feeling about it all. You never forget your first love, after all.”

  Sam chuckled despite himself. His mom had always loved Cassie. A huge part of that had been due to the fact that she was Senator McGillicuddy’s daughter. “I’m not sure I had a first love, Ma. I’ve had good friends.”

  “Well, whatever you two were, you were inseparable. I know her parents never liked you much, but look at everything you’ve achieved. When you finish your projects, your properties will be valued at millions of dollars. And you’re just getting started. I’ve been running the numbers, and they’re nothing to turn your nose up at.”

  Running her mouth off to other people was probably what she’d been doing. She was technically right, but she was confusing value with profit and wasn’t thinking about the fact that he was currently holding too many illiquid assets. But he didn’t have the heart to set her straight. In her head, she was selling her son to Cassie and the McGillicuddys.

  “You’re a good father,” she continued her sales pitch, “and you employ your brothers—”

  “Hold up,” Sam said, his amusement gone. “I don’t employ my brothers. Please don’t go around saying that. Dan’s a successful lawyer, and you know better than anyone that Johnny will soon earn his PhD. They’re helping me out. They’re partners. They’re not my employees.”

  Marianne Amador’s face hardened ever so slightly. “Daniel stands to make a lot of money from those properties, probably more than he makes as a lawyer. It’s not like he has an office or even a job.”

  Sam clenched his jaw and tried to keep his voice even. “He makes a great living doing research and writing up legal opinions. He works from home. You know that.”

  “Right,” she said, with an even tone but a conceited look.

  A look and an attitude that would never go away. No matter what Sam and Johnny said. If Sam pushed the topic, she’d go and tell the first person who’d listen that Dan had Sam brainwashed. That she was only trying to protect Sam and Johnny. That years of trying hard by Dan had taught her the truth.

  And that would be a real disservice to Dan
. So Sam shut up and, eventually, his mom left.

  It was still early enough to get some work done and make up for the time he’d spent on Cassie’s bike, and he no longer had a family to go home to weekday nights, so Sam drove over to Grandma Maddie’s old house.

  Tons of ideas flooded in as he walked through it. It would be one of the easier rehabs, and he wondered why he hadn’t worked on it before. The place looked, as Cassie had said, as if it was in tatters, but nearly everything it needed was cosmetic.

  If his brothers knew the colors and materials he was thinking about using, they wouldn’t understand. But as he studied the house from all angles, intuition took over, and he knew it would all work. The house would be the way he remembered Maddie being, unprepossessing and warm, but full of charm and boundless energy. Except it wasn’t an image of Maddie that kept intruding into his thoughts.

  Tomorrow would be his and Cassie’s first official meeting as business partners, and he looked forward to letting her know she would not be calling all the shots.

  Chapter 6

  Sam headed to the Tudor on Manor Row. He planned on arriving there a full half hour before Cassie. When he pulled up, a ’74 Mustang was parked out front and Cassie was sitting on the front steps, a camera around her neck. He should’ve known she’d beat him to the punch. Once Cassie had ants in her pants, she couldn’t wait to get going.

  A warm breeze signaled winter’s definitive end in a way a calendar and mere dates couldn’t, and he walked up to her with renewed hope.

  Cassie hopped up and clapped her hands together. “Let’s get started. I can’t wait to see all the properties.” She was wearing the tight, athletic-type pants and zipped hoodie that were apparently trending in suburbia USA and that he usually hated. But the constantly-on-the-move look was a good fit for her. So good, he struggled to keep his eyes from traveling up and down her new-to-him curves.

  Her hair was in a dratted pigtail, though. Did she ever wear it down anymore? It was nonsensical, but he longed to see it in all its fiery, crowning glory.

  Sam shook the thought off and walked past her, pausing at the door while he looked for the right key number on the large ring where he kept thirty-four identical keys.

  “Wow,” Cassie said as she stepped through the door and took in the spacious foyer and cascading double staircase. “Can you believe I’ve never been in any of these?”

  “I’ve been in all of them.” He grinned back at her. “I’ve had to break in a few times.”

  Cassie shot him a mischievous, conspiratorial look, but the moment their eyes met, she looked away and became serious. “You said you were turning it into four condos. It looks complicated. Do you have blueprints yet?”

  “Not yet, no. This will be the last project in this round, and Dan, Johnny, and I want to work on this one together.” What he didn’t say was that if the other properties didn’t start selling soon, he might never get to it, much less to a second round.

  Cassie nodded, her attention focused on the elaborate wrought-iron rails and mahogany handrail. She ran her hands over it. “It’s so beautiful.”

  Sam watched her soft-looking hands running over the rugged, weathered wood. Her nails were uneven. He found that oddly endearing. Not wanting her to see how pleased he was with her enthusiasm and not wanting his eyes to stray, he shifted into business mode. “I’ll show you around, but we’ll have to make it quick. We have six properties to visit, discuss, and take pictures of, and I need to pick up Jake from school.”

  “Six? I want to see all twelve. I understand about Jake, but I can be here again tomorrow. I booked my go-to stagers for six houses last night—I just need to choose which houses they’ll be.”

  “I already let Lisa and Craig, the other two Realtors, choose the three they’d each get early this morning.”

  “You what?” She turned, hands fisted, eyes blazing.

  He folded his arms. “Didn’t you read the addendum on the contract I sent over before you signed?”

  “I haven’t yet signed.” She folded her arms, too.

  Sam ran a hand through his hair. He didn’t have time for this, and normally, that would be exactly what he’d say. But he was impressed with the fact that she’d already booked stagers. His respect for her as a professional grew. She was on it, and that was exactly what he needed.

  “I need to be fair, Cass. They’re good people. I wouldn’t have hired them if they weren’t. They understood I was giving you the bigger share because you have ties to this town. Also, you’re new enough to this market that you don’t have any other properties in town and you’ll be able to devote more of your time. They each already have a few other properties here. But I need you to understand, too.”

  She dropped her arms. “Okay, that makes sense, no need to get all huffy. I’m not unreasonable,” she said, as if she hadn’t just shot daggers at him with her eyes. “We’ll be working together, after all, showing each other’s listings to potential clients, meeting at closings, and splitting commissions. I don’t want to get started with them on the wrong foot. I was just overreaching, but I know when to pull back.”

  Sam bit back a smile and she caught it. “I’ve changed,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “And we agreed not to talk about the past.”

  Sam held his hands up. “I didn’t say a thing.”

  After a more thorough and far more enjoyable tour of the mansion than he had time for, Cassie took a seat on the bottom step, pulled a small laptop out of its sleeve, and began typing.

  He looked at his watch. “What are you doing?”

  “Typing.”

  “I can see that, but we have six more properties to visit.”

  “I know, but before we do, I want to better understand your mission. I’m not just going to be selling your houses, Sam. I’m going to be selling the town and your vision. My clients find me because they don’t want to just buy a house, they want to find a home by becoming part of a community. These houses and this town aren’t for everyone, you know.”

  With a relief he hadn’t felt in ages, Sam sat down, set his hands gently on her shoulders, and looked down into her startled eyes. “That’s it, Cass.”

  “What’s it?” she asked, staring back.

  Sam knew he should let go of her shoulders, but he couldn’t. He needed her on his side, needed to make her see. The words stumbled out clumsily. “I’ve read your blog. You get the heart and soul of each community. Do that here. Help me keep Spinning Hills’ character intact. I don’t want the crazies to turn it into one of their trendy up-and-coming bubbles.”

  Cassie bit her lip and smiled up at him. “Care to elaborate on that just a little bit more?”

  Her sweet gaze was back. He let out a low, breathy laugh and shook his head. “Jake calls some of these suburban parents the crazies.” He looked into her eyes again, studying her reaction, needing to convey how strongly he felt about it all. “Do you know who built the gazebo and who painted the bridges?” When Cassie shook her head, he continued. “We did. Town residents. And we had a hell of a good time doing it. We didn’t put a levy on a ballot to raise property taxes and hire others to do it—we came together and did what needed to be done.”

  Cassie’s smile lit up her face, and, unable to look at her without feeling close to her again, Sam stood up. “The moment our school district was rated excellent, people started buying up houses, and some became involved by trying to turn the town into something it’s not. They wanted to pass ordinances on landscaping, put up trendier signs, and ban certain colors on houses. Mr. Evans painted his house purple in protest. And that’s part of what Spinning Hills is, you know? A purple bungalow on a hill. An overgrown lawn here and there. I want to keep the crazies out, Cass. Right now, they’re trying to get our chamber of commerce to attract a major sandwich chain and a major coffee shop chain. They’d take business away from our local ones, and we’ve always been about incubating small, independent businesses, even if some fail and we end up with a few more vacancies than ot
her towns.”

  Cassie was quiet and he looked down to see her studying him. “I think that’s the longest speech I’ve ever heard from you, Samuel Amador.”

  “Yeah, well, I think it’s important,” he said, gazing down at her again, taking in her lopsided smile, stamping it in his memory. It hinted at understanding and amusement. Somehow, he knew she’d try to reason with him, like everyone else who thought him unreasonable, but it didn’t matter. The understanding mattered.

  “I think it’s important, too, Sam, but you can’t keep everyone like that out. That’s not the way it works and we both know you know it.” She shook her head at him, her smile in place, and turned to stare out the front window. Her foot began to tap. Her smile disappeared into a thoughtful pout. Moments later, she shot up and began to pace. “But . . . if we emphasize the things about the town that everyone who lives here loves, it may just attract the kind of people who’ll want to preserve its current charm and character.”

  She stopped in front of him, her eyes unfocused and faraway. “If every Realtor in town with listings or clients who are looking at houses here works together, we could do something like an open town instead of an open house.” She looked at him then, her expression bright. “That’s it! We can call it an Open Town. We can plan a tour that highlights the town’s gypsy history, shows off its haunted houses and their stories. Businesses can set out samples or offer discounts for the day. We’ll be able to share everything that makes the town special, like the things that you just said about working together. It should turn away people who are looking for the latest trend and attract those who are looking for something more authentic. Right now, there are over twenty houses on the market . . . we can do this.”

  Sam’s heart began to thump faster and the weight on his shoulders lifted, ever so slightly. It was a good idea . . . in fact, it was pretty great. “When?”

  “I’ll work on a plan this weekend. If I can get enough people on board early next week, we can do this two weeks from this Sunday.”