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“Yup. I’ll pick you up around one.”
“Okay then.” Elizabeth went inside John’s house.
“She has no idea about the party,” Wren whispered. “Thank you for taking her with you—and for this. Is there a way we can keep you around longer?”
“You’ve got me around a couple more weeks until the trial. I won’t disappear forever after that.” Not if he could help it. He had another five months until he headed to Florida. He tightened the lug nuts with an eye on Elizabeth as she exited Hope Harbor and headed back home.
Every time he watched her go, it got harder to see her walk away.
ChapterThirty
YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME – Bon Jovi
Wren gaveJohn a thumbs up when he came outside. “Make sure you keep her away for at least an hour, but we need you back by two-thirty. I know how men can be when shopping in a home improvement store.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He acknowledged the order rather than give her a hard time.
He stopped his truck in front of Elizabeth’s house. She didn’t come out right away, so after a minute he went to the front door. “Ready to go?” he asked when she appeared.
“Are you sure you need me?”
Crap. He could not fail at this mission. “You don’t have to come. I might not pick out the railings you would, but I don’t have to fight you over who’s paying.”
She grumbled a sigh. “I’ll get my purse.”
Who said reverse psychology didn’t work on those with a degree in the field?
“It won’t take long, and I do appreciate you coming with me,” he said as he drove away from her property. “I want this to appeal to the ladies. I could use someone with an eye for design.”
When they got to the store, he tasked her with looking at the railing options while he went to lumber for the decking.
“That looks like a lot of wood.” She studied the cart when he joined her. “You know what you’re doing, right?”
“It’s best to get extra in case I make a bad cut. What did you decide?”
“I want your opinion.” She showed him the two railings she’d picked.
“Both will work just fine. The composite is lower maintenance, and I think the white will look best with the white trim on Hope Harbor.”
“I agree on the white, and I like low maintenance.”
“It’s decided then. Now, which post caps? I recommend ones with solar lights.” He pulled out three white ones. Once she’d decided, he slipped in a reject with two of the ones she picked.
After loading the railings, he calculated how much time he needed to kill while selecting tools.
“I’m paying for the tools since I’ll be using them in the future,” he said when he caught Elizabeth eyeing prices on the circular and jig saws. “They’ll get a lot of use when I move back in to fix up my place. Building the deck is practice.”
He selected what he needed and reviewed the list of supplies Nate had sent him. Once he had everything, John pushed the cart to checkout. He got in line behind a woman whose cart was filled with pots and flats of flowers. Elizabeth reached into her purse and palmed her credit card. He put the two saws, the drill, and the hammer on the conveyor.
“Dang. I got one of the wrong post caps.” He handed it to Elizabeth. “Can you run back and swap it out for the right one?”
She eyed him with a hint of suspicion before taking it and hustling off.
“Can you ring up the railing and lumber first?” he asked the cashier. After she scanned the first item, he stuck his credit card in the machine and signed his signature before Elizabeth returned. “Thanks.” He added the cap post to the cart.
Elizabeth slid her credit card into the chip reader and stared at the screen.
“I rang up one of the caps twice, and he already paid,” the middle-aged cashier said cheerfully.
