by Fiona Grace
She nodded. “Yeah… but now that I look at it, I think there are some things we didn’t discuss. I think I might need …”
She stopped when she noticed his face falling as he looked around the place. “You have not done much, have you?”
“Well, no. I mean, you just sent me the keys yesterday, so …”
She looked down and realized he was pointing to the rolled-up newspaper he’d just handed her. He grabbed it from her hands and opened it up, pointing to a large, half-page ad, with a bunch of Italian flags, confetti, and a picture of a cute little puppy. She smiled at it. “Nice. What does it say?”
“It’s um… for the grand opening of this establishment,” he explained.
“Oh. Advertising already?” she murmured, thinking, Well, that’s kind of premature, but whatever. Then her eyes fell on something in the ad.
It said, 18 Settembre.
September? Meaning, like, actually September?
She fumbled for her pocket, finding her phone, and looked at the calendar. “Wait. Are you saying you want this place open in… five days? And like, accepting patients and everything?”
Falco nodded. “I don’t just want it, Audrey. It has to happen.”
This had to be a joke. “Why has to?”
“Well, it turns out, the cats in this town are becoming a real menace. One of the council members seems to think we’d be better off euthanizing all the strays, and is pushing the council that way. I don’t know how long I can hold them off from seeing her point of view.”
“But …” She looked at Mason, who simply whistled.
Audrey’s jaw dropped to the floor. Okay, so forget about having everything under control.
CHAPTER TWO
Caught under the sink in the prep room, trying to install a simple shelving unit, Audrey tossed back her head and screamed, as loud as she could, up to the ceiling.
The ding of her phone had distracted her, and she’d dropped the shelf before she’d pulled her hand away. Right on her pointer finger.
She pulled her swollen finger out from between the plank of wood and the brace, where it had unwittingly gone when she’d tried to fit it in there. She stared at it. It was bright red and starting to get purplish under the fingernail. It pulsed with pain.
“What made me think I had this all under control?” she muttered to herself, wondering miserably if she was going to lose her nail.
It’d been three days since she’d first laid eyes on this place and made that statement. Since then, it’d been like a tennis match, constantly springing back and forth between her house and the vet center. She hadn’t slept more than four hours a night, usually falling into bed well after midnight, after putting out one fire or another.
She slid out from under the sink and rinsed the finger in cold water under the tap. As she did, she checked her phone. A text from Brina. More pictures of abs PLEASE.
Audrey sighed. Brina was a little obsessed. This morning, Audrey had sent her the one pic he’d taken a few days ago, and since then, Brina had been texting her non-stop, begging to make him a member of the family.
True to his word, “Abs” hadn’t been around much at all. He’d helped with a lot of the major framing that needed to be done, but she’d seriously had to tone down her wish list to fit both her budget and time frame. She couldn’t be angry at him, though. He’d done a lot of work, bought some lumber on his own dime, and hadn’t asked for payment.
But the place was nothing like she’d hoped she could create when she first walked in. Instead of the center with her name on the front and different rooms for all the animals, all she had was a back room, a waiting room, and a kennel area. And none of them was furnished. Falco had stopped by a few days ago, saying he knew of an office up the street that was closing, and maybe he could get the furniture at a reduced price, but he hadn’t been back since then.
It was okay. The animals weren’t picky. She kept telling herself she’d be okay. She didn’t have to have everything right away. Not that that helped much.
She got the feeling when Falco arrived that he’d expected her to have snapped her magic fingers and made the place a vet center. What did he think she was, Mary Poppins? All week long, it’d been pressure, pressure, pressure, to be ready for opening day. Now, though, she was more Zen about it. It was a work in progress. Everything would be okay.
Well, she had been more Zen about it, until she’d gone and squeezed her finger under a shelf.
She wrapped her finger in a paper towel and sighed as she slumped into a chair. It looked like another thumb, and the pain throbbed all the way up to her elbow. All the while, she kept spotting things that needed to be completed before opening day. Great. Now how was she going to finish things up?
She typed in: You’ll just have to wait, with her good hand.
But that picture? :O. My ovaries! How can you stand to be around him without wanting to jump that?
Jump that? It must’ve been happy hour and Brina’d had too much wine. She forced away the temptation to do such a thing and continued to make that mental list of uncompleted chores, still thinking of what he’d said about the “guest” he had coming. Quickly, she typed in: I think he has a girlfriend.
A second later, Brina replied: So what? Can’t be serious if he didn’t bring her with him.
As she was about to reply with, I think she’s visiting him next month, she heard the front door squeak open. “Hello?”
From the drawl, she knew it was Mason. “Back here,” she called.
Just her luck. She was always trying to prove how capable she was to him, and yet every time she saw him, it was right after making some major mistake. There was no way to hide her extra thumb.
He appeared, looking that same combination of scruffy and scrumptious. Truly, that photo hadn’t done him justice. The jerk.
“What happened there?” he asked immediately, zeroing in on her injury. “And why is your face all red?”
“Shelf one, Audrey zero,” she grumbled.
“Girl. You need to chill.”
“No time.” She showed him the finger. “You think I’ll lose the nail?”
He inspected it and shrugged. “You’ll have time when you drop dead from a heart attack. Which judging from the way you’re looking, ain’t long.”
True. How many times had he told her to calm down, because she’d been running around like a top wound too tight? The last few days, he’d stopped in during his lunch break for a few minutes, just to see how things were going before heading back to his place. Each day, she’d gotten more and more frantic.
“Okay, I’ll try.” She took a deep breath, let it out. “Better?”
This time, Audrey was surprised to see he had his toolbox with him. “Just sit there for a minute and catch your breath. I’d hate to have to haul your backside to the hospital,” he said, looking around. “What do you need help with? The shelf?”
She stared at him for a moment, shocked. No way was she going to refuse the offer for help, since she’d come up with a list of about twenty things that Mason could probably do in three minutes that would take her the better part of an hour. That shelf being one of them. “I was just trying to finish with the shelving in the console under the sink.”
He grabbed his drill and got to work immediately, setting it right. As she’d anticipated, it took him less than ten minutes.
As he wiggled underneath the counter, sure enough, his T-shirt rode up, exposing those legendary abs and the waistband of his boxers. He had an outie. Interesting. She found the heat returning to her cheeks, because it was simply impossible to look away. For a second, she wondered if it’d be too risky to snap a photo to satisfy Brina.
She finally managed to avert her eyes and said, “To what do I owe the pleasure? I thought you had a lot of work to do.”
At that, he let out a groan. “I do. But I ran into a little roadblock. I’m waiting on a freaking inspection, and who knows how long that’ll take.”
She blinke
d in surprise. She thought she’d cornered the market on roadblocks, that for everyone else’s renovations, it was smooth sailing. “Why?”
He exhaled. “Some woman came by my house yesterday and asked to see the renovations. I showed her all of it, including the new Jacuzzi tub and radiant heating I put in.”
“Jacuzzi tub? Where did you get the money for that?”
“Never said I was poor, Boston.”
She frowned. Gorgeous, handy, and rich? Wow, this guy definitely swam in the deep end of the gene pool. “You mean, you’ve got money? Like, what are you, a trust fund baby?”
He chuckled. “Something like that.”
Wow. She imagined him standing out in front of his mega-mansion, sipping a mint julep, like one of those old southern plantation owners. “What are you doing here, when you have all that at home?”
“It ain’t what you have. It’s what you do with it that counts.”
She stared at him. What a wise Buddha saying. She leaned forward, a little dazed, the pain in her finger forgotten. Then she realized she was in danger of drooling and straightened. “Oh, so. Yeah. What happened with this woman? She came to visit you? Who was she?”
He worked the drill for a second and then pushed out from under the sink, showing even more of his hard chest before his shirt fell into place. “Yeah, I thought that was her way of coming on to me. Little bit of a cougar, fine, but I don’t discriminate. After I give her the tour, she goes and tells me she’s a member of the council and I’m in violation of a bunch of laws I’d never heard of. So now I have to get an inspection to find out what needs to be fixed. It’s a whole load of bull.”
Audrey’s eyes widened. “You mean you might have to take the tub and the radiant heating out?”
He nodded. “Might. Don’t know. If so, I’ll be out thousands. Thanks to Mimi Catalano, town councilwoman from hell. Word of advice—if a witchy woman with dark hair and red lipstick ever comes your way looking for a tour? Pretend you ain’t home.”
“I can’t believe she did that!” Audrey exclaimed, indignant. “That’s really snaky of her, to come in all sweet and after you do her a favor, giving her a tour, she drops that bomb on you? I mean, what gives her the right?”
“Besides being town councilwoman?”
Audrey frowned. Maybe she could talk to Orlando Falco about it. He was president of the council and he did like her. She wondered if she could soften the blow. “But really! Why? This town was dying, which was why they had the one-dollar house offer to begin with. They’re begging for people to come in and remodel their houses so that they can breathe new life into the town. You’d think they’d go easy on us.”
“Apparently not.” He placed his drill back into his toolbox and looked around. “The good news—for you, anyway—is that I can help out around here as much as you need me. Can’t do a thing in my house until this is resolved.”
Audrey smiled. It was a little like winning the handyman lottery. “That is good news. But …” Her face fell. “What about your… guest?”
He shook his head, clearly pained. “They’re gonna be SOL, I guess.”
“So, who’s coming? A girlfriend?” she asked nonchalantly.
That amused smirk appeared on his face. “What are you, jealous, Boston? I know. I’m like marmalade. It’s a shame there ain’t more of me to spread around.” He winked at her. “So what do you got? Anything?”
Noting with some annoyance that he still hadn’t answered her question, she filed through her mental list of tasks that had to be completed prior to opening, trying to decide on the most Mason-worthy; that is, so complicated she wasn’t sure she could succeed on her own. She said, “I have a few new lighting fixtures that need to go in?”
“Lead the way.”
She started to, but hesitated. “I should probably tell you now… I spent all two thousand euros on stuff for the renovation. You were right. It didn’t go very far. And Falco said they didn’t have anything left in the budget to give me more just yet.”
He simply winked. “I figured. You’ll just have to pay me some other way.”
Where usually she blushed, this time, she simply said, “Ha ha, in your dreams,” and led him to the boxes of light fixtures without much thought. Was it possible his effect was wearing off on her? She hadn’t really giggled maniacally around him—her normal reaction around good-looking men—in a long time.
As he got to work, Audrey went to the front of the building to do some work, painting the walls of the waiting area. She’d chosen a pretty pale yellow, the same sunny color she hoped to paint the living room in her house when the time came. She’d just begun to pour out the paint when the door opened and G, her handsome Sicilian chef friend, walked in. “Ciao, I thought I could find you here.”
He was definitely bigger in stature and rougher around the edges compared to Mason, with tattoos up his arms and a short buzz cut, but he had a boyish smile that made Audrey’s stomach flip-flop, not to mention how nice he sounded whenever he spoke Italian to her. Plus, his ciambotta was to die for.
He had yet another bowl in front of him. She could smell it from here, and her mouth watered. “I brought lunch for you, principessa.”
Did he just call her princess?
Now she found herself giggling maniacally. She eyed the bowl. “Is that what I think it is?”
“Actually, it is a new spin on an old recipe. I just invent today. I thought I would let you try it, first one, si?”
She nodded eagerly, enchanted by the scent, her stomach rumbling on cue. “Yes, please.” He set it down on the reception counter and pulled off the wax paper lid to reveal several small balls with a deep-fried crust. “What is it?”
“Arancini di riso. A specialty of the island, but I made it different. I add a little of this, a little of that. You try. You like.”
She reached in and took one between her fingers. It was still warm. When she bit into it, a long string of cheese trailed behind. She’d had many a mozzarella stick before, and loved them, but whatever this was blew them out of the water. A light sauce dribbled on her tongue as the flavors melded in her mouth—the fontina cheese, pine nuts, and rice, along with the crispy crust. She let out a sigh of pure delight.
“Oh oh oh these are so good,” she said, wondering if it’d be impolite to inhale the rest of them. She wanted to. Badly.
“What happened to your finger, cara?” G said, his voice turning concerned.
She looked at it. It was now a dark, angry purple. Blood was pooling under the fingernail. She wondered again if she’d lose it. “Oh. Little mishap with a shelf.”
He suddenly grabbed her hand and held it up for his inspection. “Aw.” He made a tutting noise, like she was a child. Then he kissed her knuckle, very gently, just brushing his lips over it, his goatee tickling her skin. Goosebumps popped from her arms. “Can I help you?”
“Hey.”
She and G whirled in unison toward Mason. Somehow, Audrey couldn’t get it out of her head that whenever the two men got together, they were sizing each other up, like competitors. For her. Which was obviously ridiculous, considering Audrey had trouble getting any guy to notice her, much less two gorgeous ones. Still, an icy chill settled in.
Audrey dropped her hand and did her best to chip away at it. “Hey, Mason. G just brought some of these incredible cheesy rice balls. You have to try one.”
G didn’t seem as eager to offer them to Mason, but he still held the dish out. “Si. Have one.”
“Cheesy rice balls?” Mason lifted a corner of his mouth in disgust, as if she’d just said fried monkey brains. “Nah. I’m good.”
Audrey would’ve argued, but she really wanted the rest of them to herself. She took another in her hand and prepared to bite into it, as the two men stared silently at one another. “Oh, uh, G. Mason already fixed the shelf for me, so I’m good. Now he’s looking at some lighting.”
“That is very handy of you,” G remarked, reaching for her hand again.
&nbs
p; Audrey snatched it away and said, “Um, Mason, did you finish already?”
“No. I had to ask you. That lighting fixture in the exam room, which switch do you want it to hook up to?”
“Oh. I’ll be right there to check it out.” Mason shrugged sullenly and went into the back as she looked at G. “Mason’s helping me get things together. We’re opening in a couple days. I can’t believe it.”
G looked around. “Ah. A couple days? You’ll be ready for that?”
She followed his eyes and winced. The place was a wreck. The drywall hadn’t been painted, the flooring hadn’t been installed, not to mention that the exam room and surgeries were completely empty, save for the shelving unit Mason had just installed. She nodded. “Sure. Of course. At least, I hope. It’s cutting it close, but the town council really needs the help. So if it’s not all perfect, it’s fine. It’ll get there.”
“You’re a busy lady, Dottore Smart.” He smiled at her, and once again, she blushed. “I’ve been trying to get you to go out on the town with me for ages, and you’re too busy for me. When will you be free? You must have pity on me soon.”
She laughed at his expressive way of talking. He spoke loudly and with great gusto, and he gesticulated wildly with those arms of his. He may have looked tough, but he was a teddy bear. And Brina was right—she should’ve been able to go on a date with him. A real date. He was a catch, after all. Not only was he handsome and funny and sweet, he could cook.
But now was not the time.
“I’d love to,” she said, finishing off the last of the rice balls. “But I really can’t yet.”
He frowned, but his eyes twinkled. “You’re not—how you say—playing games with me?”
“No.” The thought that she could do that was hilarious. When it came to men, she never played. She always wound up the playee. “I’m so busy. Maybe when I have this place up and running, I’ll have the time. Rain check?”
He gripped his heart dramatically. “You kill me, principessa. But yes, promise me?”
“I promise. Thank you for lunch.”
He leaned over and gave her a very hearty kiss on both cheeks. Then he took his empty bowl and waltzed out the door. For a large man, he was surprisingly graceful on his feet. She peered out the door, watching him go, embracing or waving hellos to everyone he passed. He had such a crowd of admirers, and no wonder. He spread sunshine wherever he went.