“Good idea.” He glanced at the tumbler in his hand. “Nice glasses.” He walked over to the table and sat down, then started drumming his fingers against the vinyl flowered tablecloth Mimi must have dug out from the depths of her linen closet.
“Is this a bad time?” Riley crossed her arms over her chest.Be pleasant.“We can reschedule if you’re too busy.” Her tone had successfully tempered.
His fingers stilled, hovering over one of the large red poppies printed on the tablecloth. Then his shoulders slumped. “Sorry. Tonight’s fine. I just have a lot on my mind.” He picked up a lemon cookie and set it on a small white dessert plate but didn’t take a bite. Instead, he lifted his gaze and met hers, a determined look in his eyes. “Ready to get Erma’s house shipshape?”
His words steered her back to the topic at hand, and she sat across from him at the four-person table and picked up a small notepad she’d found in her bedroom. Correction—herformerbedroom. This wasn’t her home anymore, and she needed to remember that.
Before she could say anything, he started talking. “I checked around the house before I knocked. You’re right, this place needs some work.” He started listing everything that needed to be done—making several front porch repairs; power washing the siding; and stripping, sanding, and staining the back deck, along with some smaller jobs.
Most of those she had already thought of. “That’s not too bad,” she said, trying to convince herself.
“Oh, there’s more. Let’s talk about the roof.” He sat back in his chair.
“What about the roof?”
“It needs replacing.”
“That sounds expensive.” She wrote it down on her list.
“It is. Very expensive.” He folded his hands and placed them on the table. “What’s your budget?”
Riley paused, her enthusiasm sinking. “Slim.”
Hayden frowned. “How slim?”
“Shoestring slim.” When she told him how much she had to spend, he shook his head.
“That will cover the deck. Maybe.” His expression turned troubled. “I didn’t realize Erma was having financial difficulties.”
“She’s not.” Riley looked down at the table, staring at the seventies-style flowers covering the cloth. She’d have to tell him the truth if she was going to get anything done with the house. “I wanted to surprise Mimi and cover the expenses myself.” Technically Mimi would be paying for the repairs, since Riley was using the money she was earning at Knots and Tangles, but Hayden didn’t have to know that.
He didn’t say anything for a long moment. “I think I can make your money stretch a little more. I’ll give you the deepest discount I can on anything we need from Dad’s store, so that will help. Of course the labor will be free, and that will save you quite a bit right there.”
“I can’t let you do that—”
“I’m doing this for Erma.”
She blinked. A dogged look shone in his eyes that she hadn’t seen before, along with something else. Hardness. Gone was the charming glint that had seemed to be a permanent fixture in his gorgeous eyes.
“Right,” she said tightly. “This isn’t about me.”
Hayden sighed. “I didn’t mean it that way, Riley.” He leaned back again, this time keeping his gaze on her. Finally he asked, “What do you think about Maple Falls?”
Talk about a loaded question. She had a lot of thoughts about Maple Falls, almost all of them negative. “Why are you asking?”
“Have you noticed anything off about Main Street since you’ve been back?”
She shook her head. “I tend to stick with Knots and Tangles.”
“Oh.” He rubbed his eyebrow with his index finger. “I was hoping to get your perspective on something, just to make sure I’m not losing my mind.”
His words intrigued her. “What do you mean?”
She listened as he described the downhill slide of the business district and the worn-out appearance of buildings that were almost a hundred years old.
“I don’t think I ever took the time to pay attention to downtown before,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’ve mainly been focused on helping Dad and nudging him toward updating the store. He’s not too open about that.”
Riley could relate. “Have you seen Knots and Tangles recently?”
