Page 39 of Meet Me in Ivy Falls

‘Yeah, it’s a gift,’ she said with more attitude than a nine-year-old should have.

I picked up her hand and twirled her in a circle. The first time I met Lou, Manny and I had just agreed to work on a project together. When she walked into the house with an empty front room she twirled from the door all the way to the far wall. Now it was tradition for her to do her little ballerina moves in each of our empty houses.

‘Where’s your pop?’ I asked.

‘Outside talking to that man. He was telling him he was carrying the carpet wrong.’

While I could be assertive, Manny was outright tough. At a worksite a few months ago, he fired a subcontractor after he tried to convince Manny he should sell the old cabinets instead of donating them to the Ivy Falls Community Church that was renovating its kitchen.

I steered Lou out the door. Beck appeared at the top of the stairs, blinked, glanced down the hall and blinked again. ‘Isn’t she a little young to be a squatter?’

Lou jutted out her lower lip. ‘I’m not a squatter!’

‘Well, you’re too big to be a mouse,’ he teased. ‘Exactly what are you then? A panda bear?’ He tapped his chin. ‘No.’ He glanced at her pink shoes. ‘I’ve got it. You’re definitely a rabbit.’

‘No, I’m a girl,’ she giggled.

I loved the way Beck got her to smile. How she scrunched up her little cheeks.

‘I know lots about animals,’ Lou said. ‘We’ve got a doggie named Fergus at my house. Plus, a ferret and a parrot.’ She lowered her voice. ‘My daddy rescued Mr Peepers from a man who taught him the F-word.’

Beck trained an amused look on me, and I pressed a hand to my lips to keep from laughing. But Lou was right, that bird was a handful.

‘Louisa Marie Parks!’ Manny’s voice carried up the stairs. ‘You know better than to sneak onto a job site without my permission.’

Lou squeezed her little fingers against mine. I loved when she did this – acted like I was the only one who could protect her from her dad who was all bark and no bite.

‘I kept an eye on her, Manny,’ I said as he stopped at the top step.

‘Lou Lou, you know better.’ He tapped his foot like he was irritated, but the way he arched his brow said he knew she was in good hands with me.

‘She’s definitely your daughter,’ I said. ‘I walked the entire second bedroom after we pulled up the carpet. Didn’t find a single problem with the floor. But this one…’ I cocked my head in Lou’s direction. ‘She’s inside for ten seconds and finds a spot that needs a T-nail.’

‘See,’ Lou huffed. ‘Told you it was important to bring me.’

Manny gave her a reluctant smile. ‘All right, it’s true. You do have a knack for these things, but it was still wrong for you to come inside without an adult. There’s glass and a broken ceiling which makes this a dangerous place.’ His gaze swung to Beck, who refused to wilt under Manny’s sharp stare. ‘I’m going to walk the rest of the house and start my notes. You plan on being here all the time?’

‘When I can,’ Beck answered. ‘I have to work in Nashville during the week, but you can definitely count on me on weekends.’

‘We only have a crew on Saturday. Sunday’s a rest day.’

Manny glanced at me and his eyes narrowed on my neck. Shit. Could he see the red marks caused by Beck’s stubble?

‘Well, Sunday is a rest day for most people,’ he grumbled, his eyes still lingering on me too long.

‘Hey.’ I nudged his shoulder trying to ignore his steady gaze. ‘You’re here too.’

Manny said something under his breath about ‘work ethic and sanity’.

Early on in our partnership we’d agreed not to work Sundays. Being home with Lou was important to him. When we first became partners, he’d made it clear his daughter was his first priority. That one statement told me all I needed to know about him.

‘Pop, are you gonna tell Miss Torran about the lady outside?’

Manny tugged off his baseball cap and scratched at his dark hair. ‘I was getting to that.’ I didn’t like the way his entire body tensed. ‘Lou, go into the bedroom and do not move. Tor, we need to talk privately.’

Beck got the hint and followed Lou into the bedroom as she lectured him about new flooring.

Manny took a few steps back down the hall and stopped before hitting the stairs. He refused to meet my eye and goosebumps flooded my skin. Crap. He’d figured it out about Beck and me.