by Debby Mayne
Gigi broke into his thoughts. “I think those two ladies are single.”
Drew looked away from the women and at Gigi’s appraising scrutiny. He chuckled and lifted his chin toward her. “Good judgment, great hearing, and sharp eyes.”
“Well, I have to say, you have good taste.” She laced her arm through his and guided him out of the sanctuary, as if they might catch up to the women out in the fellowship hall. “I don’t know those young ladies personally, but I’ve seen them here for at least as long as we’ve been coming. The tall one, anyway. The shorter one showed up sometime this year. Sisters, you think? I have absolutely no qualms about meeting them at this very minute, if you’re so inclined.”
And then he remembered. The woman in the park. Running after her yappy dog. Yes, she had been a spunky one, he remembered that. And she was a Christian, apparently. That fact made him smile.
“Ah, you seem so inclined,” Gigi said. They had reached the fellowship hall, and she tugged him in the direction of the other set of doors.
“No, no, I don’t think so.” Drew didn’t feel prepared to meet her cold like this. He didn’t tend to shyness, but they hadn’t parted on the most impressive terms the first time they’d crossed paths. He preferred not coming across as a stuttering oaf the second time around. “If they’re regulars here, there will be other chances. I’d rather think about it first.”
“Gigi, unhand the poor guy.” Phillip gently pulled his wife away. “Sorry, man. My wife is the consummate romantic.”
“You betcha.” She clearly felt no need to apologize, and she patted her hand on her husband’s chest. “And don’t you love that about me? You know you do.” Still, she gave Drew an endearing smile. “I’m sure you can handle meeting them on your own if you decide to. You don’t need me. But you just let me know if you want me to act as your buffer, and I’ll be your gal. I’ve never met a stranger.”
“I can see that.” Drew returned her smile. “And I might actually take you up on your offer. See you all next week?”
Gigi nodded. “Same time, same station.”
“And I’ll see you at the site tomorrow,” Phillip said.
Drew gave him a quick handshake before he left the building. He couldn’t help himself, though, once he saw Phillip and Gigi turn away to talk with other congregants. He scanned the crowd inside and the people spilling out of the building with him. And there she was, walking with the taller woman, headed toward the other end of the parking lot. The taller woman said something and laughed and the smaller one shook her head, as if her sister’s comment were incorrigible. At least he assumed that was her sister. They were so similar, but his girl was definitely more…just more. He couldn’t place it, but there was something captivating about her.
His girl. What was he thinking? With that frame of thought, he was certain he would have made an awkward impression on her today. He was glad she hadn’t seen him.
Chapter Five
Nikki had seen him. She’d pretended otherwise. But Hannah hadn’t been fooled.
They arrived at church early enough that they were able to find seats fairly close to the front of the church, where Nikki preferred to sit. So she didn’t notice that Freddie’s owner had come into the church until they all slowly filed out of the sanctuary. She couldn’t believe she remembered the dog’s name, more than a week after he chased Riley into the park.
As she and Hannah walked toward the sanctuary’s exit, she looked away, heat running up her neck, the moment she spotted him and sensed he was about to look at her. She wasn’t completely sure why she reacted that way, but Hannah happened to look at her, ready to comment about something, and she noticed.
“What’s wrong?” Hannah frowned. “Did something just happen?”
“No.” Nikki heard an almost defensive tone to her quick reply. “Why would you say that? Nothing happened.”
“Because I know your nervous look.” Hannah pointed at Nikki’s face. “And that’s it.”
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous.” She straightened and lifted her chin.
Hannah gasped. “And that’s your pretty stance.”
“My what?”
“Your pretty stance. Come on, we both do it, so don’t even bother to deny it. It’s a guy.” Hannah immediately surveyed the crowd of people leaving the sanctuary.
“I hate it when you do that.” Nikki nudged her sister with her elbow. “Stop!”
Hannah laughed. “When I do what? Read you like a book? Where is he? Tell me, and I’ll stop looking for him.”
Nikki nearly dug her nails into Hannah’s arm. “All right. He’s on the other side, in the aisle, with that really big guy and his—”
“Ooh la la!” Hannah’s eyes widened.
“You said you’d stop looking for him!”
“Yes, but I’m not looking for him anymore. I’m looking at him. And I must say, hubba hubba.”
They had reached the doorway into the fellowship hall, and Nikki tutted at Hannah and tried to turn her away. “Really, Hannah. Who says stuff like that anymore? ‘Hubba hubba.’ ”
“I do. Grandma used to say that when she teased Grandpa, and I always thought it was adorable. And speaking of adorable, do you know that guy, or what? I’ve never seen you get all bothered like that about a stranger.”
Nikki met eyes with a friend from an old Bible study class and waved before answering. She sighed. “His dog chased Riley when Riley was chasing a squirrel a week or so ago. Yeah, it was last Saturday, because that’s the last time I walked Riley for Jackie.”
“If anything, I would think you’d walk the little stinker more often now. So you met over dogs. And?”
“And nothing. We didn’t really meet. I was a little snippy with him, and he was snippy back.” Although, when she really thought about it, he wasn’t snippy so much as saucy.
“Hmm. He doesn’t look like the snippy type.”
Nikki realized Hannah had found him again in the crowd. “Please stop, Hannah. He’ll know I told you about him if he sees you checking him out like that.”
Hannah looked back at her. “And what would be so horrible about it if he knew you talked about him? You’re single. It looks like he might be single. He’s not with a woman. It’s not as if you’d have to do a lot of reshuffling on the old dating calendar to make room for him. I believe you have copious openings, no?”
“Thanks so much for that word of encouragement.”
“All I’m saying is, you need to get out of that old man’s house once in a while and join the land of the living. I can’t believe you’re too shy to go say hi to the guy. It’s like you’ve forgotten how to talk with people who weren’t around during the Depression.”
“Don’t talk about Harvey that way. He’s a sweetheart, and he’s never required me to spend as much time at his home as I do.”
“Fine, then. For whatever reason, you’ve become all about the job and not at all about your personal life. Let’s get over there before Mr. Snippy leaves.” Hannah grabbed her and pulled her along. “Come on! Look, he’s leaving!”
Despite a subtle physical struggle, Nikki was unable to bring Hannah to a total stop, not without making a scene. “You are insane!” But she did manage to force her to leave the church through the doors on the other end of the fellowship hall, putting distance between them and “Mr. Snippy.”
“That’s enough now!” She spoke through tight lips, and Hannah stopped with her on the sidewalk outside. “Hannah, I made a bad impression the first time, if you must know.”
“But you can fix that. If he sees you here, he’ll probably cut you some slack, since you’re a good Christian girl.”
“A pushy Christian girl is more like it.”
“No, I’m the pushy one. You’re a sweetie pie. Please?” Hannah tilted her head and made a beseeching face that made Nikki laugh.
“Okay, look. If he’s here next Sunday, I’ll approach him and introduce myself. How about that?”
“Why wait a week?”
After a pause, Hannah sighed in resignation. “All right.”
The two of them headed toward Hannah’s car, and Hannah made one last comment.
“But, personally, I think you’re at your most charming when you’re a smart-mouth.”
Nikki gave her a sideways glance, which made her laugh.
Even though Nikki shook her head about her sister, she loved that Hannah cared that much about her romantic happiness. It was simply easier for Hannah to get out there and date around. She had always been the one who invested less emotion in every nuance of a relationship. She flitted from one boyfriend to the next without either party getting too ruffled at the relationship’s end.
Nikki had dated very little, but she took each experience seriously. Just as she did her job. And maybe every other aspect of her life. She wondered if that might be her problem.
Chapter Six
The following weekend Drew jogged down the sidewalk without having to make way for anyone. Freddie ran beside him, his tongue lolling to one side. For a Saturday morning, the shopping area was rather quiet. Drew had expected the early spring weather to bring people outdoors, especially after the rainy week they’d just experienced. Without breaking his stride he checked his watch and frowned. This was exactly the time he and Freddie came through here two weeks ago—when he nearly ran down that noisy little dog and his pretty owner. Maybe he should feel embarrassed for deliberately retracing his path…but he didn’t.
He planned to attend church again the next day, but it would certainly be more comfortable to strike up a conversation out here in the open than among all those people in the fellowship hall of Cary Community Church. So he circled back around when he and Freddie reached the end of the shopping vicinity, and they retraced their steps again.
By the time they repeated the process a second time, he started to see faces he’d seen his first two times around. Now he did feel a little embarrassed, especially after one café owner, who had been setting up tables for outdoor dining, laughed and called out to him.
“If you’re waiting for the shops to open, they’re already open. Come have some breakfast!”
He smiled and waved. “No thanks. Just jogging through.”
So now he had to actually jog through to avoid seeming a bit stalker-like. The tempting smell of bacon and something baked wafted outside from the café, but Drew hadn’t brought money with him. He’d wait until he got home.
“Okay, Freddie, let’s move on. I guess it’s not happening today.”
They ran past the shops and into the residential area. Everywhere Drew looked, he noticed new growth sprouting from the manicured landscapes. His spirits rose over the cheery freshness of the lush colors. He wasn’t a huge fan of winter just yet. He had enjoyed the look of the perfect white snow covering everything, but not the necessary navigation of it. Still, if not for North Carolina’s winter, he might not appreciate the spring renewal as much as he did this morning. He didn’t experience this feeling so much in San Diego. He decided he would like living with the change of seasons.
The garden apartments gave way to town houses, and the town houses eventually gave way to lovely old single-family homes mixed with some more contemporary houses.
As an engineer, Drew had explored plenty of modern structures, but he didn’t have a lot of experience with older buildings. He loved the unique style the older homes showed, each different from the other.
Eventually he passed one that seemed to call out to him. He studied it as he ran by, and then he kept thinking of it as he got farther away. He turned around and gave Freddie’s collar a gentle tug.
“Come on, boy, let’s head on back.”
He approached the house from a different angle and noticed that there was a lot more house than had been obvious from the front. It looked as if new sections had been added over time to extend the depth in back. Sometimes that kind of addition was a nightmare, aesthetically, but this was tastefully done.
And now he knew why the house stood out in his mind, besides the fact that it was, in his opinion, absolutely inviting. There was a FOR SALE sign out front. The moment he spotted the sign, he got a rush of goose bumps—not something he was prone to.
He slowed down, and the moment he stopped, Freddie heeled at his side. The two of them studied the house together.
Drew loved the large, three-windowed dormer in the center of the roof, as well as the repeated dormer on the side. Black shutters accented the white house beautifully, and Drew suddenly imagined sitting in a comfortable rocking chair on that wraparound front porch, enjoying a balmy evening with his loved ones. Of course, he didn’t have any loved ones—not here in Cary—but that could happen, in time.
He didn’t want to bother the current residents, but he hoped to get at least a slightly better look, so he walked up the driveway. The closer he got, the more obvious it was that no one lived in the house at present. So he peered in through the windows. He couldn’t get a strong feel for the conditions inside, but he could see a broad, open staircase and spacious rooms.
“Yep, Freddie. This one has my interest piqued.”
For his part, Freddie had already spread out comfortably on the porch, as if he were meant to be there all along. Drew’s chuckle made him raise and tilt his head, ready for further instructions.
They walked back to the FOR SALE sign, but Drew had nothing to write on or with. They backtracked to see the name of the cross street. He would get a Realtor to look into the place and get him the specifics. He hadn’t consciously yearned for a home here in Cary, except for the fact that his rental apartment was especially cramped for Freddie. But now the idea of a home was enticing enough to distract him from a certain young lady for the duration of his run.
* * * * *
And the distraction continued into the week, which was fortunate, considering the fact that the sisters either skipped church the next day or went to a different service.
By Tuesday Drew’s coworker Phillip had set him up with his Realtor, a brassy woman named Jolene. She met with Drew in her perfume-clouded office the day after he gave her the address.
“Okay, here’s the story.” She leaned back in her desk chair. “The house is eighty-five years old.”
A short, breathy whistle escaped from Drew’s lips before he spoke. “It sure doesn’t look that old. I realize that not all eighty-five-year-old houses fall into disarray. Still…is it structurally sound?”
She nodded. “Built the way they used to, frankly, before they started with all the prefab and slapdash construction that goes on today. A tornado wouldn’t take the place down.”
“That’s promising.”
“But it needs work inside. There hasn’t been a tenant for well over a year, because the entire thing really ought to be gutted and rebuilt. Or maybe not gutted, but definitely remodeled a lot. The market wants new, no fuss–no muss these days.”
“Even that cool staircase? That has to come down? That’s all I could really make out from the window—hey, can we go check it out?”
“Sure. Maybe the staircase is salvageable.” She shrugged. “I’d want to have it looked at closely before letting you make an offer.”
“What are they asking?”
“Three hundred thousand, but I think we can get it for far less, considering that there haven’t been any offers at this price and there’s so much work to be done inside.” She tilted her head. “And that might be something you’ll want to consider.”
“Remodeling costs, you mean?”
“Yeah. Sometimes it is easier to just pay up front and get everything new.”
He chuckled. “Didn’t you just criticize the quality of the newer buildings?” She knew he was in Cary to engineer the construction of an office-building complex himself. His own building project was of the finest quality.
Jolene tapped the key
board of her computer. “I wasn’t talking about all the construction in the area. Just some. By the time you factor in the cost of remodeling this old beauty, you could have bought yourself something new and well-built.”
Why did that not interest him?
“There’s something about that particular house, though. As you said, it’s an old beauty. When can we see it?”
She pushed away from her desk and grabbed her cell phone. “Let’s go.”
* * * * *
It was perfect. He knew it the moment he walked in. The staircase was even more stunning than he remembered, and it was plenty sturdy.
“Maybe it’s already been replaced sometime in the past eighty-five years,” Jolene said.
They slowly walked through the rooms on the main floor. In a flash, Drew could envision the house’s potential. He pictured warm family gatherings, plenty of kids running around—with Freddie, of course—and dinners being served in the spacious dining room. At least, he assumed this was the dining room, since it had the wiring for a chandelier in the center of the ceiling and the kitchen was the next room over.
“Dining room.” Jolene’s announcement confirmed it. “Nice and big. Must have been built for a big family.”
“Or an optimistic couple.” Drew smiled at Jolene.
She laughed. “Could be.”
“I see what you mean about the need for remodeling.” He ran his hand over a mottled wall that would need to be replaced or taken down altogether. “I wonder if this is a support wall—I don’t think it is. This room could be opened up even more.” He walked deeper into the house. He nodded when he stepped into the kitchen. “Yeah, this would definitely have to be redone. I’m not much of a chef, but I’d want to update the layout and upgrade the appliances.”
“We’re talking about a considerable outlay of cash above and beyond the purchase price.” Jolene spoke as she walked beyond the kitchen. The house was deep, as Drew had noticed on his jog. “But that fact will give us some good leverage when we negotiate with the seller.”
Drew walked into the living room, the windows of which let in plenty of light. The entire house was positioned well, as far as that was concerned. He missed the California lightness of his old home. His rental apartment here was often depressingly dark. So the sunlight in this house added another mark in the “purchase” column.