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She realized now she’d only made the situation worse by doing that. How could she have been so blind? “But you earned it.” And she wouldn’t have missed the money. She knew he’d needed it, though, to help support his mother and little sister. “How is your mother?”
Tobias rubbed a knuckle against his mouth. “She’s fine. She likes being a grandma again.”
“Good. That’s good.” She saw a clipboard lying nearby and picked it up to have something to do with her hands. “I’m glad things are going so well for you. All of you. Anyway, thank you. Again. You’ve done Garret and me a huge favor.”
His mouth pulled up in one of his smirking grins, one that lit his face and made his eyes crinkle at the corners, giving him a devilish quality. The expression emphasized the deep cleft in his chin. She hadn’t found those sexy since her crush on Tom Cruise, but on Tobias…Well, he had a certain quality. She’d have to give him more thought. Think of a female friend he might appeal to. Someone nice and down-to-earth. Heaven knew she owed him that.
Tobias turned away but paused. “Did you have to clean the pool?”
The question caught her by surprise, although it shouldn’t have. She laughed, remembering her father’s rage and her secret delight that someone had gotten even with him and his tyranny. “No. He called a service to do that. But they charged him three times what he owed you.”
A gruff chuckle erupted from his chest. “Served him right.”
“I agree.” He looked startled by her agreement and faced her with an expression she couldn’t quite decipher. The metal clip dug into her hand.
Tobias glanced around at the assortment of crates she needed to unpack, canvases she’d prepared for hanging, none of which could be done until the walls were painted. “You’re going to try to do all this yourself?”
“I, uh, hired someone who was supposed to have come today to help me. With the weather, we thought it best to cancel.”
“Would you like me to help?”
Was he serious? Or just being polite and making a peace offering after their talk? Probably the second, but did it matter? They seemed to have crossed a bridge in their relationship. Maybe he’d stop all the glaring and come to terms with her marrying his best friend.
“That would be great. You don’t have plans for the day?”
For the first time since she remembered meeting him, Tobias’s eyes warmed when he looked at her and shrugged. “Where do we start?”
WHILE GARRET SECLUDED himself in his home office to work and to call Nick about her car, Darcy took care of the breakfast dishes and picked up around the surprisingly clean bachelor pad. The two guys were neater than she ever hoped to be.
Shaking her head, she looked up, her gaze caught by the weather outside. Everything was buried beneath a ruler’s worth of snow and ice. All she’d needed was one more day of driving and she could’ve made it to her destination. At least close.Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
She rolled her eyes at the juvenile saying. The thick layer of snow made her wonder about her car. What if it was so covered that Nick couldn’t find it? Or worse, that some other driver hadn’t seen it and slid into it after hitting that same patch of ice she had? What shape was her poor car in? How much money would she need to repair it? Growing up dependent upon an ever-changing stream of “uncles” for food and rent had made her the stand-on-her-own-two-feet type, but the repairs and hospital stay could easily wipe out the majority of her nest egg. Living in Miami wasn’t cheap—yet another reason to go home to Indiana where a dollar stretched a little further.
Garret’s footfalls sounded on the hardwood floor outside the kitchen and she turned to see him looking as disgruntled as she felt. “Uh-oh, something wrong?”
His gaze swept over the stove and lingered on the now-spotless sink. “Yeah, but we’ll get to that in a minute. I got hold of Nick. He won’t be able to tow your car until the state of emergency is lifted, but he did say he’d make you a priority.”
Being made a priority was great, but the weight on her shoulders pressed heavier than ever. She hated feeling so helpless, so dependent.
Garret ran a hand over his short hair. “Look, Darcy, I didn’t bother calling the motels about vacancies. Right now, even if someone did check out and attempt to leave town, I wouldn’t want to take you out on the roads. It’s too dangerous, and you can’t risk another scare after what you went through last night.”
She felt like such a pain, but since it was the smart thing to do, she forced herself to nod. Waiting out the storm here might be best, but it didn’t make her conscience rest any easier.
“Are you okay with spending another night here?”
“If you don’t mind, I suppose that’s fine.” She hated imposing on Garret this way, hated feeling as if her life was racing out of control and she couldn’t stop the skid. At the same time, she was grateful for Garret’s gentlemanly behavior and the fact that she wasn’t stuck in some grimy hotel room she couldn’t afford. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your help, Garret. I keep saying it, but it’s true. I don’t know what I would have done without you. And I’m happy to pitch in while I’m here. It’s the least I can do.”
He gave her a smiling yet disapproving look and heat bloomed in her face. Scruffy had never looked so sexy on a guy.
“Yeah, about that. You’re supposed to be resting, not cleaning up the dishes.” Garret tilted his head to one side and crossed his arms over his chest. The move delineated the muscles beneath his long-sleeved T-shirt. “Didn’t I tell you to leave those?”
“You cooked. It was only fair.”
Garret had been gorgeous in his dark suit and overcoat last night, but this morning he looked even more so in worn running pants and a lightweight U of T shirt that had seen better days. Both molded his body, and his size gave her butterflies.No, definitely not a hardship.
“Quit worrying about imposing. You just follow the doctor’s orders about getting some rest. Take it easy, and pretend you’re in a messy hotel.”
He said that with a handsome grin, one that emphasized the deep creases bracketing his mouth. He worked hard, but he laughed hard, too. She liked that. And the way his hair stuck up at odd angles. Too cute. Just because she was pregnant didn’t mean she was blind.
