Chapter 10
Isla had been afraid to buy new furniture, and now she stood in front of her grandmother’s wall—technically her wall—with a sledgehammer. When she woke up, she never could have imagined the turn the day would take. First the geyser exploding from the wall, then Nolan standing in front of her with no shirt and glistening in sweat.
He looked sinfully good. And then she had a total meltdown, and in typical Nolan fashion, he comforted her. For a second, it felt like old times, but she had to remind herself it wasn’t. Three years had passed since that awful day — three years since she’d felt his touch and looked into those familiar eyes that grounded her so well.
“You ready to do this?” he asked.
She could lie and tell him, Sure! No problem! After all, didn’t everyone bust down walls on a Tuesday…? Even if she lied, her tone would rat her out, so she went with the truth. “No.” She turned and looked at him. “Who knows how long this wall has been here? How can I just take a sledgehammer to it? What if it stirs up spirits?”
“Spirits? What are you talking about?”
“Have you never watched those paranormal shows? People will have lived in a house for years with no issues, and the minute they start construction, suddenly all these crazy things start happening. Apparently spirits that have attachments to a house don’t like when you start changing things, and they get angry.”
“Do you think your grandmother is going to get angry at you?”
“Not my grandma. She would know that I had no choice, but what about the other spirits?”
“What other spirits? Your grandmother has lived in this house for fifty years.”
“But her parents before, and their parents before that.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand and with the other held it out like he could stop time. “Let me get this straight. You’re scared your great-great grandparents are going to get mad at you for knocking a hole in the wall to fix a pipe that will cause more damage to the house if left unfixed.”
“Yes!”
“You do realize how ridiculous that is, right?”
“Says the person who doesn’t have to sleep here tonight.” Her friends made fun of her for the outlandish thoughts that she had at times, but this one was completely justifiable. It’s not like she was insisting aliens were going to come out of the wall and take her back to the mothership. This thought came from a very good source. Reality TV.
His lip quirked, and he shook his head. “Tell you what… If you have any ghost visitors tonight, you give me a call. I’d love to meet them.”
“Don’t you know anything about ghosts? They won’t want to meet you. They’ll just torture me and try to scare me enough to get me to leave so they can continue living their afterlife within the familiar, untouched walls.”
“You’re stalling.”
“What?”
“You heard me. You’re stalling. You are so afraid to change anything in this house that you are stretching so far for an excuse that you’re going to pull a muscle.”
“I do yoga. I can stretch pretty far.”
“Still stalling.” He pointed to the wall. “Do it.”
“But what if I hit something important and make an even bigger problem?”
He inhaled deeply. “Isla, hit the damn wall.”
She lifted the sledgehammer and positioned herself in front of the yellow wall. It was bright and cheery and reminded her of summer sunshine. It was as if the wall was an embodiment of everything Grandma was. But just like Grandma, it might have looked good on the outside, but on the inside, it was breaking down.
She couldn’t save the woman who introduced her to Amelia Bedelia or who kissed her booboos when she was a child, but she could save her house.
With a deep breath, she swung. The sledgehammer made contact with the sheetrock and slammed a hole right through it. Debris billowed out around the hole as she drove the sledgehammer into the wall once again.
“I think that’ll do,” Nolan said and stepped forward just as she brought the sledgehammer around one more time.
“Geez!” He jumped out of the way as she made contact with the wall again. “Are you trying to kill me?”
She shrugged. “Sorry. I got a little carried away.”
“What would the spirits think?” Her eyes widened, and Nolan laughed. “I’m kidding.” He reached for the sledgehammer. “Here, give me that.” He placed it against the counter and shone his flashlight inside the wall. “Looks like this is the problem.” He pointed to a copper pipe and a small slit within the metal.
“How do we fix that?”
“We’re going to cut the broken pipe out and solder a new piece back in.”
“We? I’m not even sure I know what soldering is.”
“Time to learn.”
“Don’t we need, like, special equipment?”
“Yes, which is why we’re going to the store now.”
She appreciated that he was helping her out, but surely, he had better things to do. “I don’t want to keep you from anything.”
“You’re not keeping me from anything. Milo has a packed schedule today, Connor’s at the pub until tonight, so I’d just be finding ways to fill the time.”
“Why must you fill the time?” If she didn’t have anything to do, she’d go down to the beach and lie there until sunset.
“What else am I supposed to do?”
“Sit down and relax.”
“You know that’s never been something I’m capable of.”
Nolan had always been a busy and on-the-go type of person. He couldn’t sit still for two seconds, preferring to always find ways to occupy his mind. Even at the beach, he couldn’t just lay in the sun. He’d need to go for a walk, play frisbee, swim, or anything else other than just relax. “I know, but now you have the time. It might be worth trying.”
“Another day. Right now, we have to buy you a new pipe and a soldering gun. Let’s go. I’ll drive.”
“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to get your fancy car dirty or anything.”
“It’s just a car.”
“A car that’s worth more than I make a year at the flower shop.”
“If you prefer to ride on the roof, I’m sure I can figure something out.”
“Or I can drive.”
“Despite my current circumstances, I like my life and want to live another day.”
“Hey! I’m not a bad driver.”
“Did you or did you not drive over an island in the middle of a parking lot?”
“It should have had a marker on in.”
“Because the tree sticking it out of wasn’t enough.”
“At least I didn’t hit the tree. And besides, it was dark and that parking lot was poorly lit.”
“Okay, what about the time you drove down the one-way street or backed into the wall of McConnell’s Market?”
The street was poorly marked and the wall incident… Well, she hit a wall there wasn’t much arguing there. “A driver is only as good as their teacher.” Her eyebrow arched in his direction. After all, he was the one who taught her.
He held his hands up in front of him, causing his biceps to flex tight against his t-shirt. “If the student doesn’t listen, it’s hard to teach them.”
She planted her hand on her hip and rolled her shoulders back. “I listened.” Or so she tried, and he had been so patient with her. Both her parents had tried and failed to teach her. Even Grandma had given a good old-fashioned go at it, but after one lesson they all had thrown in the towel, swearing they’d never get in the car with her again. Nolan, on the other hand, never slammed his foot into the passenger side floor like her mother, screamed and pointed at every passing object like her father, or signed the cross and prayed for a miracle like Grandma.
He flicked his gaze to hers, and she nearly melted when those blue eyes locked with hers. The playfulness she always loved about him, came to the surface, and heat unraveled in her chest, spreading around her heart.
She motioned her hand toward the sports car. “Is everything even going to fit in your car. It’s kind of… small.”
“At least I’m not trying to overcompensate with something large.”
“I was thinking more like showing off your wealth.”
The playful look faded, and his eyes turned serious. “I worked hard for this car. Sacrificed a lot.” His gaze penetrated hers with an intensity that had her taking a step back.
“I know.” Her voice was a breathy whisper, and she swallowed down the sudden uncomfortable lump in her throat. “Okay, we’ll take your car.” Before he could acknowledge her with a response, she opened the passenger side and plopped in the seat.
When she shut the door, she exhaled and inhaled deeply, taking a moment to gather herself. But when she inhaled, his familiar scent filled her senses. A combination of the juicy crispness of a bergamot and the woodsy aroma of Amberwood.
Memories of being in his arms, her nose pressed against the crook of his neck raced through her mind. The scent used to be one of comfort, and now it was another reminder of the life they no longer shared.
He got in his side and closed the door. The car was small, but with his big frame inside, the doors closed on either side; it seemed impossibly small.
“You ready?” he asked, and afraid to trust her voice, she nodded. “Then let’s do this.” He put the car in drive and headed toward the local hardware store.
The silence was deafening as he stopped at each stop sign along the street. Silence had never been an issue with them before, but that was then and this was… well, she wasn’t even quite sure what this was. He was helping her when he had no obligation to.
She had been so determined to show him that during the time they’d been apart, she’d become an independent woman who no longer needed him. Boy, that lasted long. One burst pipe and here he was, rescuing her again, just like he always had.
“Thank you for helping,” she finally said, mainly to fill the silence, but also because she didn’t want him to think she expected his help.
“It’s no problem. Like I told you, it’s giving me something to do.”
“Because you’re not working.”
“Exactly.”
“Why aren’t you working?” It was a personal question, and none of her business, but she’d been curious. “I know you said you didn’t want to talk about it…” She shrugged. “I just thought that maybe talking about it would help or something.”
His eyes drifted to hers, and a smile quirked the corner of his mouth. “You’re just being nosy.”
“Maybe I am, but it’s been three years since you left, and then one day you’re just back, moved into your parents’ old house. Anybody would be curious. And since I’m your neighbor, I just want to make sure you’re not running from trouble.”
He laughed. “Running from what?” He laughed harder. “What kind of trouble do you think I’d be running from?”
“I don’t know. Maybe you had some bad investments, and you skipped out, and a mobster that was in charge of collecting your debt is trying to find you.”
He pulled into the hardware store and put the car in park before turning to face her. “Do you honestly think I spiraled into a life of mayhem after I left?”
“One can never be too sure.”
“Isla, you know me, I would never.”
She smiled, but it was half-hearted at best. “I used to, but a lot can happen in three years.”
He turned the ignition off and pocketed his keys. “I’ll give you that, but I assure you, I’m not on the run from mobsters or any sort of trouble for that matter. I just needed to come home.” His voice softened on home, and Isla reached across the console and squeezed his hand. She didn’t care that they weren’t together or how many years had gone by, not when he sounded like he could use a little comfort.
He looked down at their entwined hands, then at her. The sunlight danced in the blue of his eyes, reminding her of sunny days at the ocean. “I know you don’t want to talk about it, but if you ever do. I’m only next door.”
“I know you wanted to prove that you’re not the same girl anymore, but this right here?” He picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles. The brush of his lips against her skin shot heat to her core. “This is the girl I remember, and I’m happy she’s still here.”
“You are? Because I thought…”
“Your heart is the best thing about you. It’s why I fell in love with you in the first place. To have lost that would have been a travesty.” He kissed her knuckles one last time and loosened his grip.
Slowly, she brought her arm back to her side of the car. She didn’t want to make it awkward and linger, so she smiled at him, then got out of the car.
She had a pipe to fix.