AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Please let it be someone I know...
“Y-yes. He’s local.” Tani’s gaze went around the cubicle—anywhere but in Andrea’s direction. “It’s Zayne Rutledge.”
“Zayne?”Andrea almost laughed, which was her first clue she was on the edge of genuine panic. “You’re telling me Zayne Rutledge, the bad boy of afamilyof bad boys, came up with the cash to buy Cliff Thompson’s farm? Wasn’t he living in a trailer somewhere?”
“Careful, Andrea. You’re sounding like your mother.”
Well, that wouldn’t do. She had a lot to prove—one of those things was that she wasnother mother. She cleared her throat.
“Sorry. It’s just...Zayne?Really?”
“Zayne’s got his own business now—he does custom woodwork for old homes. He made all the gingerbread trim on the Three Sisters houses.” The Three Sisters were three nearly identical smaller, but very fancy, Victorian homes near the Taggart Inn. Tani slid off the desk and onto her feet. “He’s still a bit of an introvert, but who can blame him after the rough start he had in life?”
Andrea cringed inside. She may have played a small part in that rough start he’d had. Correction—she’ddefinitelyplayed a part in their senior year. She and Zayne had been friends until...they weren’t. Her mind spun, looking for ways to approach this new development.
“The good news,” she started,reallylooking for good news, “is Zayne is local. He knows about the festivals—” even if she’d never seen him at one “—and he won’t want to ruin one of the town’s biggest events.”
Tani started to respond, then hesitated. “Like I said, Zayne’s still...um...not the most social guy in the world.”
“Meaning he’s still a wild-haired hermit with no-trespassing signs all over his property?” She remembered going up to the Rutledge family home with Tani and Tani’s aunt, Lena Fox, ten years ago to deliver one of the annual community Christmas baskets. Zayne had been the only one living there at the time, and the place had been an overgrown, run-down mess. If he was living like that on Cliff’s old farm, the maze might actually be doomed.
Tani laughed. “Not quite that bad. He’s still got a mountain-man vibe, but not in a scary way. It kinda works on him, to be honest.”
Andrea chewed her lip again. This was...not ideal. But since she didn’t believe in problems anymore, it had to be an opportunity.
She couldn’t help thinking it might just be an opportunity to fail.
CHAPTER TWO
ZAYNERUTLEDGETRIEDto shake off his irritation as he walked out of the house and down to the woodworking shop. He knew when he bought Cliff Thompson’s place that it would need upkeep—the Victorian house and barn were nearly a hundred and fifty years old. What he hadn’t known was that Cliff had been cobbling half-assed repairs together on the property with bubble gum and baling twine for years. He’d agreed to the direct sale from Cliff to him with no real estate agent to save money for everyone. Part of the deal was no home inspection.
He needed a place where he’d be able to keep up with the ever-increasing volume of work he was getting, and Cliff had a great workshop next to the barn. It was originally the milk house, back in the old days when this was a dairy farm. The long cinder-block building was perfect for Zayne’s growing woodworking business.
He just didn’t expect to be spending so much time tracking down where the house roof was leaking and why the kitchen sink didn’t have hot water and why the window in the upstairs bathroom refused to open. Meanwhile, woodworking orders were pouring in on his website, and everyone wanted everythingnow. He was unlocking the door to the shop when he heard tires on the gravel driveway.
Shit.He didn’t have any client appointments today and he definitely didnothave time to handle a walk-in client. He turned as the dark blue compact parked near the shop. The driver’s door opened and a petite redhead got out, looking at him across the roof of the car. She rested her arm there and pushed her large sunglasses up onto her head.
Oh, double shit.Andrea Wentworth. What the hell wasshedoing here?
She flashed him a wide smile, as if they were dear old friends instead of sworn enemies. At least, that was what they’d been their senior year—enemies, pure and simple. After being the best of friends growing up.
“Zayne Rutledge!” she cried. “Look at you! And look at this place! It’s wonderful!”
Her voice was all singsong-y and sugar sweet. Yup, this was the Andrea he remembered—as if a smile from her should be received with gratitude that she’d deigned to notice your very existence.
He tried to keep his voice level, thinking of his business and not what he wanted to tell her personally. High school was a long time ago and...Ah, screw it.He didn’t need to impress her. He turned his back, opening the door to the shop.
“It’s Sunday. If you need work done, set up an appointment on my website. I don’t do walk-ins and I’m busy.”
“Oh! Um...” He thought he detected a bit of hurt in her voice, but that was impossible. You needed a heart to feel pain, and he knew she didn’t have one. Seeing her put him right back in the crowded high school hallways, avoiding the other kids’ taunting. Andrea coughed, and her voice cracked a little. “I understand you’re busy, but I really need to speak with you.”
He stood in the doorway, refusing to look back at her. He didn’t want to remember those days or the finger-pointing. The times Andrea stood there in icy silence as he was calledanother Rutledge loserand worse. His shoulders felt tight.
“I’m not bumping anyone ahead of the line, even if their nameisWentworth. Go to the website, Andrea. Or better yet...go away.”
“Mature as ever, I see.” There was a familiar whip-sharp edge to each word.There she was.This was the Andrea he knew. “I don’t need carpentry work. I need to talk about the agreement we had with Cliff Thompson about the corn maze.”
He turned slowly now, his interest piqued against his better judgment.
