Chapter One #2
They stared at each other. Despite her embarrassment and a sizable dose of chagrin, she found herself noticing that he had really attractive eyes.
Not just the unusual gray coloring but the shape.
They suited his face and, well, the rest of him.
Without wanting to, she remembered the interesting scars on his torso.
Not that she’d been looking—he was the one who had chosen to mow his lawn shirtless the previous summer.
She had no idea where the scars had come from. If she had to guess, she would say he’d been in more than one knife fight, but that wasn’t possible. The man was a police officer in Happily Inc. Guys who did that didn’t fight with knives.
She put the rest of the cookies onto cooling racks, poured two glasses of milk, took the stool on the other end of the island and then reached for a cookie.
“Hello,” she said. “I’m Wynn Beauchene, your neighbor. We don’t usually say much more than hi and talk about the weather.”
Garrick smiled. “Hey, Wynn. I’m Garrick McCabe.
I grew up here in Happily Inc and had my daughter when I was seventeen.
I moved to Phoenix when I started college, mostly because Joylyn and her mom were there.
I got on the Phoenix police force. When Joylyn went off to college a few years back, I returned to Happily Inc.
Last year I bought the house next door.”
“We all appreciate having your patrol car parked in the driveway.”
“I’m glad.” He grabbed another cookie. “My adult daughter is married to a deployed Marine. Her mom has three boys at home, and it’s getting to be a bit much for Joylyn, who’s due in about eight weeks, so right around Christmas.
Alisha, Joylyn’s mother, thought it would be a good idea for Joylyn to stay with me until Christmas or until Chandler, Joylyn’s husband, comes home, whichever happens first.”
“I’m glad she’s going to be with family during the holidays.”
“Me, too.” The smile faded. “Joylyn and I went through a rough patch when she was about fifteen. We used to be close, and then one day she didn’t want her dad around.
I’m hoping to use her time with me to reconnect.
” One shoulder rose and lowered. “To that end, I want the house to be comfortable for her.”
“Cozy?” she asked, her voice teasing.
His smile returned, which made her unexpectedly happy.
“That would be it. I don’t know anything about decorating or, you know, plants, and I don’t cook.
Her being pregnant adds stakes to the game for sure.
That’s why I want your help. I’ve seen your graphic work around town, and it’s always exactly right for whatever business it is.
The colors, the tone, all of it. You’re a real professional.
You have excellent taste and style, and I was hoping to get your advice about what I should have around.
” He waved his hand. “Maybe some more dishes and throw pillows and stuff.”
That was a lot of information to process, she thought, slightly off balance from the unexpected compliment.
She always worked hard to please her clients, and she was happy to know her work was appreciated, but it was strange to consider that Garrick would look at a sign in a window and think of her.
Did he think of her in other ways or was that her hoping a little too much?
Regardless, she liked that he cared about his kid and that he wanted to make his house nice for her. She also felt bad about assuming the worst about him, so even if she hadn’t been inclined to help—which she was—that would have pushed her over the edge.
“I’ll give you whatever advice you’d like,” she told him. “But my style might not be hers. That could be a problem.”
“No, you and Joylyn have a lot in common design-wise. You have a good eye for space and color, and she would like what you do.”
His words made her feel a little floaty, which was silly. She was in some serious trouble here—she hadn’t been this flaky even in high school. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to start flipping her hair and saying “like” in every sentence.
“If you’re all right with me adding fringe to every surface in your house, then I’m in,” she told him.
He chuckled. “Fringe would be a look.”
“But not a good one?” she teased.
“I’m not a fringe kind of guy.”
“Good to know. Tell me about Joylyn.”
Something sad flashed through his eyes. “I don’t see her much anymore. In fact, I haven’t seen her since the wedding. Like I said, we used to be tight.” One corner of his mouth turned up. “She was my best girl.”
“I’m sorry that changed.”
“Me, too.” He was silent for a second, then drew in a breath.
“As I said, she’s married to Chandler, who is currently deployed.
Alisha says he’ll be back before the baby’s born because first babies are always late.
” He shook his head. “I can’t believe my little girl is going to be a mother. It all happened so fast.”
“Children grow up even when we don’t want them to. I’m figuring that out with Hunter.”
“He’s a good kid.”
“Thanks. I like to think so.” She wrapped her hands around her glass of milk. “I’m happy to help with whatever you need, and I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions.”
“Thank you for the offer. As for the rest of it, I can see why you’d think what you did. In my own defense, I’ll admit it never occurred to me you wouldn’t know about my daughter, what with Happily Inc being a small town and all.”
“This might shock you, Garrick, but we don’t spend a lot of time talking about you.”
He stared at her in mock surprise. “Now you’re just being mean.”
She laughed. “We have our own lives we discuss.”
“But hey, it’s me.”
They smiled at each other. Wynn wondered if there was a way to ask about any other women that might be in his life, but figured she shouldn’t press her luck.
She was going to help her neighbor, and in the helping, she might get a chance to probe into his personal life.
If he was single, she would try to find a way to suggest they go out to dinner and get to know each other.
Of course the more likely scenario was that they spent some time together, and then she discovered he was annoying.
Because that seemed to happen a lot. Her friends said she was too picky, while she thought of herself as careful.
“When is she going to move in with you?” she asked.
“Next Saturday.”
“Then we should probably take a look at your house and make a plan.”
“When’s a good time?” he asked.
“I’m free now.”
“Me, too,” Garrick said, coming to his feet.
Wynn rose and smiled. “Let’s go.”
She picked up her cell phone from the counter and tucked it in the back pocket of her jeans, then led the way to the front door.
He followed, trying to keep his gaze in the neutral position, which was tough.
He kept finding himself checking out her long legs and her butt.
She had a great butt—all curves with a little bounce.
It was a butt a man could grab hold of for all kinds of reasons.
Down, boy , he told himself. Yes, Wynn had the requisite parts, and she was one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen, but there was no way he was going to do anything about it.
He didn’t do commitments anymore and doubted Wynn was the kind of woman who wanted anything else.
In the year they’d been neighbors, he’d never seen her bring a man home.
He had a feeling some of that was about her standards, and a lot of it was about being a single mom.
She took her responsibilities to her son seriously.
Thinking about Hunter made him think about Joylyn.
He was glad she was going to come stay with him, even for a few weeks.
All these years later, he still didn’t know what had gone sideways between them when she’d been a teenager, but whatever it was, he wanted to make it right. She was his daughter and he missed her.
They crossed her lawn and driveway before walking up to his porch. He stepped around Wynn and opened his unlocked front door.
“This is me.”
She went into the house.
Their neighborhood in Happily Inc was older, with family homes on good-sized lots. The trees were mature, the streets wide and the houses all around two thousand square feet.
Wynn paused in his living room and looked at the black leather sectional, and the seventy-five-inch TV mounted on the wall.
“That is a very large television,” she murmured.
He suspected she didn’t mean the comment as a compliment, but he was good with that. “I like sports. Bigger is better.”
“With the players practically life-size?”
He grinned, unrepentant. “It’s a guy thing.”
“No wonder Hunter is always begging me to let him come over and watch the game with you.”
“You should say yes. I’m good with kids.
” He always had been. The skill probably came from having a child when he’d still been in high school.
He’d been forced to learn fast. He’d spent much of his after-school hours during his senior year studying while looking after Joylyn.
He’d learned how to manage feedings, diapers and colic.
He might have been a kid himself, but he’d done his best to be a good dad.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” She pointed to the walls. “You don’t have any artwork.”
“Should I?” He studied the bare space. “Doesn’t it look clean just plain?”
“There’s clean and then there’s sterile. A few inexpensive prints would add a little color. Maybe distract from the continent-size television.”
He grinned. “But why would you want to do that?”
“There is something strange about your gender.”
“I’ve heard that.”
She smiled as she walked around the room.
“Ignoring the black leather sofa, to which I would ask, ‘what were you thinking,’ the space is good. I like the end tables.”
He glanced at the wood-and-glass cubes. They were more modern than he usually liked, but they were well made and the wood was mahogany inlaid with ebony.