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“I’m glad too,” I said. “Although I was enjoying your music.”
“Yeah, it’s a good playlist.” He tapped his hammer against his thigh. “I’m Max, by the way.”
“Eve.”
I leaned forward and shook his proffered hand. My eyes rounded at the zing that radiated up my arm but instead of letting go like I should have, I held on longer than is socially acceptable.
“So, you’re Winnie’s niece.”
He raised his voice slightly on the last word turning his sentence into a question. I dropped his hand and took a big step back.
“Yes, I’m here visiting for the summer.” I shifted my eyes toward the two new steps then back at Max. “I thought Henry was the only handyman in town.”
“He is. I mean, we work together. Well, I work for him. He’s my grandfather.”
I nodded, mesmerized by his eyes. There’s also something else, a connection. I feel like I know him from somewhere. Shaking my head to clear that thought, I cleared my throat.
“Well I uh–I better let you get back to work.”
Our eyes held as I backed up and stepped over the threshold. Before I closed the door, Max said, “I’ll see you around, Eve.”
It’s been a long time, but I know when I’m being flirted with. I just don’t remember how to respond. So instead of saying anything, I let out a small squeak, slammed the door, and ran up to my room.
* * *
Max
I staredat the closed door for an embarrassingly long time after Eve went back inside. Realizing what I was doing, I shook my head and got back to work. I really want to finish before Pop shows up. I can’t waste time daydreaming about the woman I just met. There’ll be time for that later.
These steps are going to be the easy part of this job. The window will be the challenge. The building Winnie uses as her studio is an old carriage barn that was built before levels, rulers, or right angles were used. I helped Pop replace the front door a few years ago and it was a bitch. I’m expecting nothing less with the window.
I set the next step and hammered it into place, then did the same with the remaining two. With that done, I headed back to my truck for a drink. I grabbed a bottle of water out of the cooler then leaned against the tailgate and downed half its contents with one long chug.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something in the second-floor window and looked up. A blur of pink was all I saw before the curtain fell back into place. I kept my eyes trained on that spot as I finished the rest of the water, but Eve never appeared again. Still, it’s nice to think that maybe she was watching me.
I crushed the water bottle and tossed it back in the cooler. Grabbing my Bluetooth speaker and tools, I headed across the yard to the studio to get to work. I’d just finished removing putty and inside vertical strips from the window when I heard Winnie pulling up the driveway. I waved just as she stepped out of the car.
“Hi Max,” she said as she opened the trunk, which was full of bags.
“Let me help you with those,” I said as I walked toward her.
“Thank you.” She picked up two bags and stepped aside. “I haven’t had a grocery order this big in a long time, but my niece is visiting.”
Grabbing the rest of the bags, I followed Winnie to the porch.
“Yeah, Eve and I met.”
She glanced over her shoulder and smiled. I thought she was going to say something about Eve, but instead she complimented the steps.
“They look wonderful.”
“Thank you.” I followed her inside and set the bags down on the kitchen table. “Pop didn’t say anything about staining them. Did you want that done, too?”
“I’d like the whole porch stained, but that can wait until you’re less busy. The important thing is that the steps are fixed. I’ve been putting it off for a while and they were getting bad.” She put milk and eggs in the refrigerator then turned to face me. “So you met Eve?”
It took me a second to catch up with the change of conversation, but once I did, I nodded.
“She’s staying for the summer.”
“Yeah, she mentioned that.”
“She hasn’t visited here in years. Maybe you can show her around sometime.”
If I’m reading the room right, Winnie is playing matchmaker. Normally I hate that kind of thing, but I have to say, I’m not opposed.
Last night, Dex said he thinks I’m in a rut. I don’t think my life is in such a sad shape, but it’s definitely become routine over the past couple years. Maybe the woman whose touch made my palm tingle is just the person to shake things up a bit.
