“That's exactly how I would describe you," Ruby said, suddenly getting choked up. She was so glad she'd be back in Fate Rock with her sister. It made her terrible relationship with her mom that much easier to bear.
“I'll call you later after I get settled, then."
"You better. I'm going to be worried about you every minute."
"Don't worry about me. I'm a big girl."
Ruby hung up the phone and continued down the freeway, thinking about her new life and how happy she was that it all had worked out. She arrived at the property just a few minutes before the truck pulled into the driveway and hurried to open the door for the movers. She had been in such a hurry to move that she hadn’t thought about how dusty and dirty the house was, but cleaning up would give her something to focus on after the movers had brought in all the furniture. They opened the back of the truck and hauled in the big brown leather couch and set it across from the stone fireplace in the parlor.
Then they brought in the dining room table, her bed and dresser and writing desk. She had decided to make one of the upstairs bedrooms into her office. There was a window overlooking the lake and she knew that it would be the perfect place to write from now on. She couldn't wait to sit down with her laptop and get to work. She hadn't been so excited to write in years.
After the movers left, she went to the kitchen and opened the back of cleaning supplies she’d bought before closing escrow. She'd had a housekeeper back in Manhattan and hadn't really done much housework for quite a few years. When she was a teenager, she'd worked her fingers to the bone for her mom, then worked as a house cleaner in college. She knew her way around a mop.
For the next three hours, Ruby scrubbed the house from top to bottom, floors, walls, glass, the whole shebang. The water was running strong and clear from the well and the electricity kept the whole place ablaze with light and heat. She went to the fridge and pulled out a frozen pizza, then turned on the stove and popped it in. So far everything seemed to be working. The problems with the house wouldn't keep her from living comfortably through the winter, she decided. Everything was going to be all right. But the oven didn’t turn on. She grumbled and cut it up into pieces that she popped into her new microwave.
She took her pizza, sat at the dining room table, and opened her laptop. Luckily, she had a Wi-Fi hotspot from her phone and wouldn't have to wait for the cable installer to arrive. She watched a movie on her computer while she ate her pizza, feeling the satisfied glow of personal achievement. After dinner, she went to the kitchen to clean off her plate and put it in the dish drain.
It was getting late and she was bone tired from cleaning up all day, so she went up to her room, put the new sheets and comforter on her bed, changed into her pajamas, and climbed under the covers. She was asleep within minutes of her head hitting the pillow. The wall-to-wall heating was pumping warm air into the room and the sound of the wind whistling through the trees lulled her to sleep.
She woke in the night, freezing cold. She reached to turn on the lamp beside her bed, but nothing happened. She clicked it two more times and it still didn't turn on. Climbing from her bed, she turned on her phone flashlight, slipped into her slippers, and started across the room to the light switch. She flipped it on, but that was little use. She was in the dark and cold. No electricity. She walked downstairs and opens the front door. A snow drift fell into on her feet and she shrieked, quickly closing the door. Outside, snow was whirling and falling in heavy sheets. At least eight inches had already accumulated.
She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. She used her phone’s flashlight to walk into the kitchen and find the emergency candles she’d purchased.
The house was freezing cold and she could see her breath blowing out in front of her. She lit several candles and hurried to the parlor. She had stacked firewood beside the hearth just in case she wanted to start a fire. She knelt in front of the fireplace, wadded up some newspaper, and stacked on kindling, then lit the fire with the flame from her candle. The kindling caught the flame and then she added on some firewood.
A few minutes later, she had a nice crackling fire. She pulled one of the chairs closer to the fireplace and sat in the cold, trying to warm up. She checked her electricity provider for power outages on her phone, and sure enough, it was already showing that her entire area was without power.
“Crap," she said, her teeth chattering.
She began to feel as if she'd made a mistake in coming out here, although she’d known it was going to be a challenge. And she'd accepted that challenge. Adversity was good for people; she’d learned that a long time ago. Her comfortable life with Chad had made her soft and complacent, and it was part of what had lulled her into accepting something she really didn't even want.
She was clicking off her phone when she looked up at the fireplace and saw a thick cloud of black smoke billowing from the chimney. She shrieked and shot up from her chair. She found the flue vent and quickly slid it to the other position. She thought that it would take care of the black smoke immediately, but as she waited, the smoke only increased.
"No, no!" she exclaimed. Of course the chimney was full of creosote and hadn't been cleaned out in who knew how long. She was going to asphyxiate if she didn't do something fast. All her new furniture would be ruined. She ran to the kitchen and filled a cup with water. She hurried back to the parlor and threw water on the flames. The fire went out with a loud hiss and more smoke. She coughed and gagged, backing out of the room. Now she was freezing and she couldn't breathe. She growled at herself, wondering if this was the stupidest mistake of her life.
But Ruby wasn't going to give up. She would do whatever it took to stay in her house. She wasn't a weakling — she’d been born and bred in Fate Rock, and she'd never been coddled in her life. She had worked her ass off to get to where she was. When she was determined to do something, she made it happen.
She also knew that her new SUV was most likely buried under a foot of new snow, so even if she wanted to escape back to town into the warmth of a luxury hotel room, she couldn’t. Instead, she trudged back upstairs, put on two extra pairs of wool socks and her winter jacket, pulled a fur-lined hat over her head, threw another blanket over her bed, and climbed under the covers. Luckily, she warmed up enough to fall back to sleep.
In the morning, she found the electricity was still off. The snow had accumulated against the front door despite the porch roof. It was a sharp wake up call for Ruby, no matter how much adversity she had been prepared for. In the kitchen, she attempted to start a fire in the old cookstove, and luckily, the chimney was clear. She was able to boil a pot of water and made herself some coffee.
She sat by the cookstove in her winter parka all morning, trying to work on her novel, but her hands kept getting too cold for her fingers to move. At about noon, the lights in the house came back on and relief flooded her system. She rose from the kitchen table and went to the thermostat to turn it on full blast. She waited, making herself another cup of tea. And waited. And waited. But nothing happened. Her heater never came on.
Chapter 8
After Jamison learned Ruby was a famous author, he’d purchased every one of her books in the local bookstore and started reading. He wanted to understand what she found romantic. But he couldn't seem to find a discernible pattern, at least one that made sense for his situation. He wasn't a billionaire CEO of a company on Wall Street, and he wasn't a rugged sea captain in Victorian England. He certainly wasn't an alien spaceship pirate. He was just Jamison. A real estate investor and military veteran. He supposed being a shifter and part of the Justice Squad was slightly exotic, but he really started to wonder if he could ever live up to the fantasy in her books. When he got to the first sexy scene, he sat up straight in his chair, wide-eyed and breathless, growing more and more aroused and intimidated as the pages flipped by. He set down the book and gulped. How was he ever going to live up to that?
He stood from his chair and looked out the window at the snow
on the backyard. It had dumped a lot last night. The storm the weather report had been warning about had finally hit and Fate Rock was covered in a blanket of white.
He picked up his phone and clicked over to mate.com, wondering how Ruby was doing in all this snow. She'd said she wanted to move into the property right away, even though he knew that the old house needed too much work to be lived in. He was suddenly incredibly worried about her. He gritted his teeth, not wanting to seem like he didn't think she could take care of herself. She clearly could. He swallowed his pride and opened the messenger.
"Hey, it's Jamison. I was just checking in to see how you were doing. If you closed on the house, congratulations."
He sent the message deciding to leave it at that. He didn't expect to receive a reply. But only a minute later, a new message buzzed on his phone.
"What do you know about heating systems?"
"I know a lot. I was an HVAC specialist before I started investing in properties. Why?"
"My heater seems to be broken. How much would it cost to replace it?"
"I wouldn't know until I saw the system."
"Could you recommend anyone in town?"
His heart leapt. "I could do it for you for free.”
"I wouldn't ask you to work on my house for free," she replied immediately.
"Then you could pay me the going rate. I could come out right away and take a look if you want."
"You would do that?"
"Of course I would. I would be happy to."
This could be his chance to show her that he was worthy of her attention. He didn't want to screw this up. Jamison was not a man who anyone would ever describe as insecure; he had a lifetime of experience and had seen and done things that would shock and boggle the mind of lesser men. But this woman was his mate, and her imagination, especially about men, seemed to be limitless.
"When do you think you could get out here?”
"Right away. I can be there in forty-five minutes tops."
"I don't want you to go out of your way.”
"I was headed that way anyway.” He wasn't.
He was sitting at home reading one of her sexy books, wondering what he could do to impress her. The only concern on his mind right now was helping her with whatever she needed. But he wasn’t going to tell her that. He didn’t want to seem desperate.
"Okay then. I'll see you in forty-five minutes."
Jamison fist pumped the air and let out a triumphant grunt. Then he looked down at his outfit — he was wearing one of his favorite ugly Christmas sweaters. He’d gotten it from Hawk last year. It had a reindeer with pom-poms stitched onto its antlers. He wondered if he should change, but he really didn't have time for that. Maybe she would think that it was charming. And, since she was his mate, he knew that being himself was more important than anything else.
"She's going to like you," he muttered to himself. "Eventually."
He grabbed the keys to his truck on the way out the door and slid on his jacket. On the way to Ruby's house, he began to feel nervous. But he was also excited he could finally do something to be close to her. He hated that she was in her house without heat, but he was also grateful for the turn of events that would allow him to do something to show her that he was worth her time. He wouldn't be down on one knee offering her a diamond ring anytime soon, but at least she would open the door for him.
He had to turn on the four-wheel-drive just to get down the road to her house and then parked in the driveway. He trudged up to her front door and knocked. She opened it a moment later and invited him inside.
"I bought some space heaters so that I wouldn't freeze to death," she said, “but it's still cold unless I have two of them blaring at me from both sides. And I think the chimney needs sweeping so I couldn't build a fire in the fireplace.”
Jamison walked through the house, noting some of the problems that he had seen on his first walk-through of the house. He had not been planning to keep the building. He would have just torn it all down. He respected her desire to repair the house, but he knew it was going to be a lot of work. And she really shouldn't live there until it was done.
"Where is your heating system?" he asked.
"I have no idea. The basement maybe? I haven't even been down there yet. I think the door is in the kitchen.”
Jamison set his toolbox on the kitchen counter and retrieved his flashlight. She went to the small door in the kitchen and fiddled with the lock before trying to open it. It seemed stuck closed, so she yanked on the doorknob several times. With a loud grunt from Ruby, it finally cracked open. The basement was pitch black and cobwebs hung over the stairs. He walked forward and shined his light into the dark depths. The stairs looked questionable.
"I don't know if those stairs are safe," he said. “You should stay up here, and I'll go down and take a look.”
She gave him a slightly annoyed glance and then flipped her hand into the air. "Fine. I have work to do anyway.”
She had her laptop set up on the kitchen table next to the wood burning stove with a space heater right next to her legs. He nodded and then turned back towards the doorway. He took the first step and the stairs creaked and shook under his weight. He was worried that they might give out any second, but he got to the bottom of the stairs without breaking his neck and looked around the basement. It was an ancient, dark hole in the ground. He looked up at the subflooring, questioning how safe the floor even was. He shook his head. He did not want his mate in a death trap, in the dead of winter, in a snowstorm. All he could do was try to help her in whatever way he could. And since he owned a real estate investment company and employed contractors, electricians, tile setters, roofers, and plumbers, he could easily help her remodel her house. The question was whether she would let him.
He found the heating system, and immediately saw that it was ancient. He was surprised that it had worked at all. The whole thing would need to be replaced, but to get a new heater down there, the stairs would have to be replaced first. It was a huge project, and he wondered if she'd even had the place inspected before the purchase. Any lender would have seen this, and she would have known the risks. He gingerly made his way back up the stairs and sat down across from her at the table.
"Did you have the house inspected before you bought the property?”
"No. I paid in cash. Whatever needs to be done, I'm willing to do it."
"You’re gonna need a new heater, but those stairs need to be replaced first. And your subflooring's not in the best shape."
"Crap," she said, seeming to suddenly crumble.
"It can all be fixed. I hope you have the money, though, because it's not going to be cheap."
"Money is not a problem."
"Then I would suggest you go stay somewhere else until the work can be completed. It's not going to be comfortable to stay here."
"No. This is my home. And this is where I'm going to stay."
"Well if that's what you want to do, that’s up to you. I could help you with the restoration. I have all the contacts and equipment necessary to do the job. That's what I do. So, if you'd like my help, I am available.”
She gritted her teeth, looking conflicted. Then she finally sighed, her shoulders slumping.
"I would insist on paying you the going rate. I'm not asking for charity or special favors because we were matched on a dating website. And this isn't me saying that I'm going to date you or anything. Like I said when we met, there's no way I'm ready to start dating again. I just got out of a six-year relationship and was left at the altar. I can't handle relationships right now. You have to understand that or I'm not going to be able to work with you."
"I understand. I'm here, you need help, and this is what I do. It seems like a no-brainer. Besides, I need a project. I let my last property go to an extremely beautiful and convincing woman, so now I don't have anything else to do with my time."
She tutted and rolled her eyes. But then smiled. "Okay then. If this isn't about us being in a relationshi
p or dating, then I would be happy to hire you. Give me your bid and we can get started.”
"I am gonna call one of my contacts, who’s an inspector, to have him come out here so we can get an idea of what's going on. He should be able to take a look by tomorrow. And once this first snowfall of the season melts off by the end of the week, it should be a lot easier to start working. Like I said, I'd suggest that you stay somewhere else. But if you insist on staying here, then I'm sure we can work around you."
"I would appreciate that."
"I'm happy to help.”
He looked at her across the table, seeing how tired she was, and unable to believe how resilient she was. Just a few days ago she’d had her heart broken. But here she was now, a brand-new home owner, resolutely staying in the uncomfortable house, working on her next novel. She was a strong and determined woman, and he couldn't believe how lucky he was to not only have been matched with her but to have met her in the first place.
He went out to his truck and made some phone calls, leaving Ruby in the privacy of her kitchen. When he came back to the house, he let her know that the inspector would be there tomorrow. He and one of his carpenters would replace the stairs to the basement in the morning so the inspector could get down there. She thanked him wholeheartedly. He could see a tear forming in the corner of her eye, but she wiped it away, pretending like it was dust.
As he drove away from Ruby's house, crunching over the packed snow, he was hopeful for the first time since they'd met that he could be the man that she needed.
Chapter 9
A week and a half later, the snow had melted, and Jamison and his crew had not only replaced the stairs to the basement, the heater, the heating system, and part of the subflooring, they had also patched a hole in the roof and fixed some of the problems with the plumbing. The inspector had told her she'd need to replace the roof completely that spring, but it could be put off with a few patches to get by. She was contentedly sitting at her desk in her office, looking out over the lake. For the first time since Jamison’s crew started working, she wasn’t bombarded with constant banging in her house.
Builder Bear (Justice Squad Book 6) Page 5