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Bryson watched as Hadley knelt on the floor and quickly cared for the woman’s injury with practiced expertise.“You’re pretty good at that,” he said.
“Two kids,” Hadley said, her lips quirking up at the corners in a smile.“Max tended to be the clumsiest.Nan always said it was because he was a boy who hadn’t grown into his feet, but I tended more scraped knees and palms than I care to remember.”
Bryson smiled at the thought, well able to see Hadley as a mom.She had that look about her.Loving and kind but not a total pushover.
“There.All done,” Hadley said.“And the bleeding stopped.”
“Thank you, sweetheart.I’ll get that cleaned up and—”
“You don’t move,” he said to the woman.“I’ve got it.”
He didn’t ask for directions, because he knew the lower part of the house fairly well.The broom was tucked on the first step inside the screened-in back porch, where he and Georgia had sat in the evenings sometimes playing cards, and paper towels were beneath the upper kitchen cabinets—in front of the hard liquor Georgia hid for special occasions.
Bryson used the towels to soak up the tea and then swept up the shards, disposing of them by putting them into an empty coffee can retrieved from the recycle bin on the back porch to keep the shards from splitting the trash bag or someone else getting hurt.
Once he finished, he went back inside to rejoin the ladies only to find Hadley at the door waving goodbye.“She left?”
“Yes.Poor thing.She’s so upset about breaking the china even though Nan had enough to serve tea to an army.Thanks for cleaning that up, by the way.”
“You’re welcome.”He took in the photo albums scattered about the floor, chairs, and even the couch and surmised that was the reason for her tears earlier.It made sense considering she was there because of her grandmother’s passing.“Hadley, Georgia and I got to be close in the last eight months while I’ve worked next door.If you need help with anything…”
Hadley nodded her thanks and swept out a fragile-looking hand to indicate the mess.
“Thanks, but right now that’s my focus and you can’t help with those.I’ll box them up and put them somewhere for safekeeping.”
Shot down, he struggled to think of a way to try again.“Hadley, look, I don’t think there will ever be a good time to say this but…”
“Say what?”A frown pinched her eyebrows together over her nose.
“Well, I just wanted to tell you that if you decide to sell the house for some reason, I’d like to request a chance to make the first offer.They don’t build them like this anymore.”
“Oh,” she said, sounding more than a little surprised.“You do realize the house isn’t as sound as it looks.”
“What do you mean?”
She ran down a list of issues, including the water leak upstairs.
“Mind if I take a look at it?”
“Now?Shouldn’t you get back to the job you’re already working on?”
“In a bit.Show me the leak.”
Hadley led the way upstairs, and he couldn’t help but notice the gentle sway of her hips in those shorts.She wasn’t a twenty- or thirtysomething but a woman full-grown, and he appreciated the sight.
“There.That’s the room.”
Drawn from his thoughts, he slid by Hadley in the narrow hallway and entered the small bedroom.The bay window overlooking the boardwalk below had a window seat, but apparently the angled roof outside had suffered some damage.“Doesn’t look too bad, but there’s no way of knowing until I get up there to take a look.”
“You’d…do that?”
“It is what I do for a living.”
“Yeah, but…I’m sure my neighbors won’t appreciate it if they’ve hired you do a job and you’re over here working instead.”
He stiffened at her words and then reminded himself life was full of surprises.Maybe it was time Hadley and her family got one.“I’m sure no one would mind me helping out a neighbor.”
“Oh, well, that’s very nice of you,” she said.“Maybe this evening?After you finish over there?”
