Hammering Hearts (Pine Point Fixer-Uppers #1)

1. Chapter 1

Chapter one

Jake

Skidding down a hallway was not exactly standard behavior in a big, fancy office building in downtown Manhattan, but Jake Rasmussen was already twenty minutes late, so he hardly cared as he skidded along the tiled floor, cracking his funny bone against the corner on his way to the meeting of a lifetime.

Multiple lifetimes, if he understood what was happening correctly.

When he saw meeting rooms—all glass-walled with views out over the cityscape of Manhattan—he slowed to a jog and wiped his forehead. Thank God there were no mirrors, so he couldn’t actually see how much of a mess he’d made of himself just getting there. And all so I could bring donuts. He had the box tucked under his arm and hoped like hell everyone still liked the same shit. It had been a couple years since the gang was all together, so maybe tastes had changed.

Meeting Room Three was brightly lit through the walls, the door ajar. Jake slicked his hair back out of his face with his free hand, stretched to crack his back, and marched inside. “I’m sorry, I know I’m late. I brought donuts.” He scanned the room for reactions…and saw the white paperboard box sitting open in the center of the table before he took in any of the actual faces. Whatever bakery they’d gone to, it was a hell of a lot nicer than his six-dollar dozen. Lots of flaky shit and intriguing, bright colors in the mix. “Great minds. Or something.” He gingerly set the box down next to the provided pastries.

“About time.” A clipped tenor hit his ears and Jake finally started to look around at the actual people. His eyes landed on a wiry white guy with dark hair buzzed short. He fixed a bland, unblinking gaze right on Jake. That, at least, hadn’t much changed.

“Ozzy. Sorry.” Jake shrugged and grinned, then inclined his head toward the box. “Donuts. You still like crullers?”

“I only eat processed sugar on Sundays.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” Jake grinned and swiped his hair back and considered what it would feel like if the floor just opened up beneath him and swallowed him whole.

“Lay off, Ozzy.” A burly Black woman rose from her seat, hair in a puffy bun, and waved him over to the seat next to her. “How you doing, doll?”

“Bunny.” Jake happily went to her and gave her a hug. “How’s Marv?”

“He’s fine. Got him through potty-training a month ago. Next time I see a diaper will be when I have grandkids if everything goes well.” She pulled back from the hug and grinned at him, then shot a thumb over her shoulder to Ozzy. “Don’t let him get you down. That’s the kind of attitude you get when you go off sugar.”

Jake nodded, avoiding looking Ozzy’s way for any reaction, then turned to the others. Taking in the old crew was like stepping into an alternate universe, almost. Everything familiar, but just slightly off. He hadn’t seen most of the Pine Point Fixer Upper guys in about three years, with the exception of Bunny and a couple rounds of drinks with Mason right after they all split.

Mason, at least, was largely the same. Sun-kissed skin, a coif of brassy hair, and a round, jolly face. He nodded as soon as Jake made eye contact. “Good to see you. And relax. You’re not even the last one here.”

“We’re still two short. Somehow.” Aras had his arms folded across his chest, and a glare cut into his handsome, angular face. He shook his head, seemingly at no one. “Evander hasn’t deigned to make an appearance. Oh and, who was the other one? Right. The bigwig we’re all supposedly here to meet with. I’m sure that won’t cause any problems though.”

“Worst case scenario, we all got to see each other again.” Robinson had been soft-spoken as long as Jake could remember, and that hadn’t changed. In fact, more than anyone else, Robinson seemed to be identical to how Jake remembered him: muscular, blond buzz cut, deep blue eyes, and a general hanging dourness. Not enough to make him off-putting, but enough that Jake always wanted to give him a hug.

Then again, I am a hugger.

“Figures Evander wouldn’t show.” Ozzy snorted. “After we fly our asses all the way across the country, he couldn’t even be bothered to tell us not to make the effort.”

“I’m not going to listen to you bitch about your ex all day.” Aras brought the full force of his glare online and fixed it on Ozzy. “If he doesn’t show, I’ll moan about him then. Otherwise, we all need to keep friendly if we’re going to make this work.” Then he stood and reached across the table, pulling out one of the turnovers from the fancy box of pastries. “Eat the rich people’s food.”

“I don’t. Eat. Processed. Sugar.”

Aras said nothing, just took a big bite while staring directly at him.

Jake leaned in close to Bunny, hoping he could stay quiet enough not to make this conversation public. “How bad is it?”

“Rough edges. Shit’s not going to hit the fan until Evander shows up. If Evander shows up.” She subtly shifted her eyes toward Ozzy. “First time they’ll be together since the breakup.”

“Expect fireworks. Got it.” Jake shifted his gaze over to Mason. “So, anything more you can tell us about this whole thing?”

“Not really. I CC’d all of you into the email chain. This Eliza Kaplan wants to talk about an opportunity with Homescapes TV. Threw some big numbers around. Some actual backing.”

“And she wants all of us, and Evander isn’t here.” Ozzy threw his arms up. “So how’s this all going to work out? Not likely he’s going to be later than Jake. No one ever is.”

Jake didn’t look at him, just smiled and grabbed the nearest pastry to stuff into his mouth. Some flaky, buttery thing. Do I really want to commit to being back with him all the time?

“So sorry, everyone.” A light, sharp voice came from the door into the meeting room and all heads turned. A markedly thin woman in a black suit stepped in, carrying a cardboard carafe of coffee in one hand and a bottle of creamer in the other. She was already pale, and her waves of black hair and her black suit only amplified the pallor. She set the coffee and creamer down on the table, then nodded.

But she didn’t get any words out before another figure followed behind, carrying cups and straws and an armful of paperwork, as well as a messenger bag hanging around his neck. He had deeply bronzed skin and a very angular face, with brassy waves of hair sweeping back from his face, topped with large, round sunglasses. Evander changed his look up every few months, so that, at least, wasn’t a surprise.

“How kind of you to grace us with your presence.” Ozzy didn’t blink at all, just stared straight through his ex. “Trying to set up some special deal with Ms. Kaplan while we’re all where we’re supposed to be?”

“Oswald. How…necessary to see you.” He set everything down on the table, then took the only other remaining chair at the round table, right between Mason and Robinson. “I didn’t even know this was the same person we were supposed to be meeting. I just saved some of her paperwork while she was juggling everything, trying to get upstairs. Then, since we were both going to the same place, I offered to take some of it over for her.”

Ozzy’s mouth tightened down to almost nothing, but he offered no retort. He’d never appreciated having his full name used, and Evander seemed to take every chance presented to needle him about it. Even when they were still a couple.

“I really am so sorry about this.” Eliza clasped her hands in front of herself and nodded, wide brown eyes raking around the room. “They didn’t apparently remember that I’d pre-ordered coffee for us. Usually, we would just make it in-house, but…sorry. You don’t need to know everything about the office right now. Not until you sign the contracts.” She laughed, a high, tight sound, and her already bulging eyes somehow got even larger.

“You seem nervous.” Bunny smiled at her. “You don’t have a chair?”

“Like you said, nervous. If I sit, I can’t pace around.” Eliza closed her eyes and took a couple deep breaths. “All right. I guess I should just get out of the way that I’m a fan. I love Pine Point Fixer Uppers. When I was in college, that’s what I would put on when I was studying. And to go to sleep. And when I couldn’t afford actual streaming services, which was basically all of my time in college. Even got my roommate hooked on it.” Another little chuckle and she wrung her hands over and over at her waist. “My fiancé and I bought a place and it needed some serious work. I got him hooked on you guys, too, and we’ve been renovating ourselves.”

“Because of our little VideoHead channel?” Mason laughed, smiling wide. Looking around, even Aras and Ozzy, the resident sourpusses, looked at least a bit softened to hear Eliza’s story. At the very least, Ozzy had focused a placid expression on her instead of trying to light Evander on fire with his brain, and Aras has his arms at his sides.

“I wouldn’t call your channel little.” Eliza thumbed through the papers on the table in front of her, then passed around a stack of them. “When the higher-ups decided they wanted to dip their toes into streaming, and they needed some flagship shows to convince people to buy in, I thought of you. But before I could make that pitch, I had to prove that you all did decent numbers. Enough to be considered. It would be my first time taking such an active role with production.”

When the stack came around, Jacob took a sheet. He hadn’t looked at the channel in a long time. It brought up too many sore memories. So seeing the numbers this many years down the line took him aback more than a little. Over two-hundred-million lifetime views, and still half a million subscribers. At their peak, they’d been creeping up on three-quarters of a million. They were also still bringing in tens of thousands of views a month, in spite of completely abandoning the channel years previously. All Jake knew was that Mason dispensed small payments to them each month. Nothing crazy, but enough to not have to worry if he wanted to stop for a fancy coffee sometimes.

Bunny whistled low and long. “That channel did this?”

Mason nodded sharply. “I’m a little concerned that you got these without me involved in the process, but yeah. These seem right.”

Eliza waved the concern away like a gnat. “No worries. Part of our job is keeping an eye on different sorts of media. So we have tools and connections the public won’t.” She splayed her hands out on the table and leaned forward. “The point is, you guys have excellent numbers, and I can give you the breakdown on your overall analytics across the web, but you’ve maintained a cult following in spite of the channel going on hiatus for so long.”

The word ‘hiatus’ hung in the air as everyone quickly glanced to each other, but not too long. All of them knew that was nothing but dressed-up language they’d used in their farewell video. It wasn’t a hiatus. It was the end of Pine Point Fixer Uppers.

At least, that had been the plan until Eliza emailed.

“Can we get down to brass tacks, Ms. Kaplan?” Aras folded his hands on the table and the light gleamed off his hair, cast stark shadows on olive skin. “The email chain gave us all some details, but not enough for any of us to make an informed decision.”

For the first time in years, the entire Pine Point Fixer Uppers crew agreed, nodding and waiting for an answer.

Eliza dug into her pocket and pulled out a slim remote. One tap and the TV behind her came on. Another and it flicked to a series of charts and graphs and numbers. “You’re welcome to look into the specifics of this, but the numbers that are relevant to you are here.” Another tap and most of the information grayed out, leaving only a few pieces of data intact and visible. “We would start with a single season run, eight episodes. The talent budget breaks down to seventy-five-hundred dollars each per episode.”

The room stilled, other than Evander pulling out his phone and tapping away at some numbers. After a few seconds, his eyes widened. “You’re talking sixty-grand apiece for this season?”

Eliza nodded. “I know it’s on the low end for talent, but I don’t intend to give you all the runaround on this. It’s the most we can do. Plus, of course, all the travel expenses, wardrobe, publicity. For what that’s worth.”

No one else said anything until Mason finally cleared his throat. “Eliza. Ms. Kaplan. Would it be all right if we had the room for a few minutes to discuss this?”

“Of course. And please. It’s Eliza. No need for formality.” She headed out the door, letting it close behind her.

And still, no one said a word for a long time. Jake just kept staring up at the screen, then back to the others, then to the screen. Sixty-grand could do a lot for him. Even if they only ended up with one season, that was…well, life-changing. Not enough to retire on, obviously. But with nothing but a high school diploma and a failed VideoHead channel behind him, Jake wasn’t exactly in high demand for good work. In part because of the channel. They’d fixed up Pine Point enough that demand for a carpenter plummeted, and he didn’t have the money to move somewhere with better work.

“You’re all going to stare slack-jawed at the TV?” Bunny shook her head. “I’ll say it now: I’m in. I could put that money to good use.”

“That’s before taxes.” Ozzy drummed his fingers on the table, still looking at the screen. “But back of the napkin math, I think taxes would only be about ten-grand.”

“Probably five if you handle your deductions the right way.” In a shock, Evander and Ozzy weren’t even fighting, just actually communicating. Miracles do exist.

Bunny tutted her tongue a few times. “I know we need everyone on board for this. So, shouldn’t we just vote and get it out of the way?”

“Hard to turn down for me,” said Ozzy.

Jake nodded. “Yeah. I know we axed the channel for a lot of reasons. But I don’t think I can walk away from this kind of offer.”

“Same,” said Mason, and Evander and Aras both nodded.

All eyes turned toward Robinson. He’d been almost silent the entire time, and Jake didn’t want to pressure him…well, not much. Out of everyone, Robinson probably made the most money. Ozzy’s family was rich, but he’d already agreed to it. Robinson…well, plumbers got good paychecks for a reason.

He looked to Mason, then to Bunny and Jake, brows furrowing. “Did you think I was going to say no or something?” He reached across, past the fancy pastries, and opened up Jake’s donuts, pulling out a maple bar and taking a hefty bite. “I miss all of you. And it’s not like people are champing at the bit to hire a felon.”

Jake cringed at that characterization, even though it was true. People didn’t mind when he was part of a big spectacle and fixing their busted toilets, but once the cameras were off, the good folks of Pine Point suddenly took issue with Robinson’s ‘checkered past.’ There wasn’t a gentler soul in the world than Robinson, as far as Jake was concerned.

Mason sighed. “Okay. Then we’re in agreement?”

Nods all around, and Jake grabbed his box of donuts, grabbing out a jelly-filled for himself. It squirted out onto his face when he bit down, and he wiped it away as Mason got up. Just getting that ‘yes’ out of everyone did a hell of a lot for Jake’s mood. Whatever their relationship looked like now, they were all a part of his life. Even if they had a messy breakup and a lot of distance and some rough edges between them.

A lot easier to bridge those gaps if they were in close proximity.

Sixty-grand apiece wouldn’t hurt, either.