Eleven
Caleb
It took a few days for Emma to accept my quote, but she did.
The pricing was solid—I made sure of that. With some room to move on the pricing, I gave her free labour, and a hefty discount on the materials to make sure I secured the job.
The way I flustered her when I showed up at her place, I thought she’d say yes straight away.
Instead, she kept me waiting.
I’ve never been so relieved when she emailed me back and said yes.
And now I’m in her back yard—demolishing the old deck. I’ve got one of my guys coming to take away the old wood this afternoon.
It’s been a while since I’ve done anything this physical, but the sun bathes this back yard in warm light, and the weather is set to continue this way for the foreseeable future.
Despite my eagerness to spend time with Emma, I’ve barely seen her this morning. Once I arrived, she ducked back inside the house and apart from a couple of times she’s come back into the kitchen, I’ve not laid eyes on her.
I’m still not sure how I feel about all of this. I’m a grown man in my forties, and I feel like a teenager with a crush all over again.
Emma was always the prettiest girl in our year, and I felt like the luckiest guy to score the hot, blue-eyed blonde. No one else knew just how strict her father was.
Seeing her again has caused a rush of feeling to hit me in a way it hasn’t in years.
She’s still just as gorgeous. Her features have matured, just as mine have, but she has that dewy skin and blue eyes that I can’t look away from—when I get to lay eyes on her.
I tug at a piece of rotten wood. Most of the deck is still okay enough to walk on, but if left it’ll all go the way this corner has. I’m not sure what set the rot off, but by the time I’m finished, this’ll be safe for Emma and her children to use.
Her children are another part of the equation I didn’t really count on.
I’m curious about them, but not enough to disrespect the boundary she set on the hours I spend here. I’ll just have to make the most of my time here to get closer to her and maybe one day she’ll trust me enough to meet them.
“Ahem.”
Emma stands in the doorway, clearing her throat.
“Do you want a coffee? You’ve been at it for a while now.”
I grin. “I’d love one.”
This is good. She still seems so unsure of herself, but it seems she’s not completely uncomfortable around me.
It’s been a productive morning. Some of the timber was so bad it took barely any effort at all to pull it away from the deck. From this afternoon it’ll get tougher, but I should have it all cleared by the day after tomorrow with the day being shortened for me.
But I’m not complaining.
At this point, the longer it takes, the better.
I kick off my books by the back door.
“I’ll just go and clean up.”
Emma smiles. “Be my guest. You know where the bathroom is.”
She flicks on the jug as I walk past.
By the time I’ve washed my hands, she’s got two steaming mugs of coffee and a plate of chocolate biscuits on the kitchen table.
