Chapter 5
Sid stared for a long time at Grace. Emotion clogged his throat, and he wasn”t sure if sound would come out if he said anything in response to her. He felt damaged. He came home from the Army damaged. His ex-wife couldn”t deal with him and left. He”d kicked around trying to ”find” himself as the younger generation said. He”d made money over that time. He was absolutely kick-ass when it came to fixing things. But the garages in the larger cities were all about time and money. ”We billed this job out as two-hours. Don”t go over.” Meaning, he had to do a half-assed job on it because the garage wanted another car in that spot in two hours. He hated it.
Then, he”d move to another place. It always seemed to be more of the same.
Grace”s lips parted in a soft smile, and she cocked her head. ”You”re not damaged, Sid. You”re dealing with something many don”t have to deal with or even understand. That doesn”t make you damaged.”
He swallowed. ”What does it make me then?”
”Unique. Different in how you handle things and do things. But, then again, aren”t we all different?”
Sid chuckled. ”I suppose we are.”
Chiefy stood up and shook. Sand and water flew through the air. Sid jumped up and laughed. Grace backed away laughing.
”I”m sorry she got you all dirty.” Grace chuckled.
He looked at her clothing and saw she”d been working today. ”She got you too.”
Grace shook her head. ”I was already dirty. Today was a tiling day.”
”Tiling. What are you tiling?”
”One of the bathrooms. I only have one wall finished. I”ll finish one of the other two tonight and the other one tomorrow. Then, on to another task.”
”Are you doing all the work on your own?”
She nodded. ”As much as I can do. Of course, plumbing and electrical will need to be done by professionals.”
”Do you have a lot of that work to do?”
”Not too much. Mostly, I”m hoping to only have to do cosmetic stuff. Painting, flooring, tiling the walls in the bathroom and back splash in the kitchen. Stuff like that. I can hang new light fixtures and so far, I haven”t had to have wiring or plumbing work done. Fingers crossed it stays that way.”
Sid watched Grace as she explained her work. Her cheeks turned pink and her hands moved faster. She was worried or embarrassed.
”What”s your story, Grace Murphy?”
She stopped talking and stared at him. ”What?”
”Why are you here. Alone. Working on these little bungalows on your own?”
Her fingers tucked her hair behind her ears and she swallowed. ”I”m divorced. I came here to get completely away from a man who beat me down verbally throughout our marriage. He told me I couldn”t do anything on my own. He told me I”d never make it without him. So, I”m here to prove him wrong. I”ve always known I could do this. Own a business. Manage rentals. Live on my own.”
She ended her sentence with a nod and a swallow as if to punctuate her determination.
He smiled at her. ”You”ll do a terrific job.”
”What makes you think so?”
He chuckled. ”Determination. The way you take care of Chiefy shows me you have your heart in the right place. I don”t think you can go wrong with all that.”
He smiled at her, his eyes stared into hers. Her lips parted slightly and her tongue jutted out and swiped along her bottom lip. She pursed her lips together and inhaled a deep breath. ”Thank you.”
”Does that make you nervous?”
She chuckled. ”I umm...” She sucked in a deep breath. ”I”m not used to a man complimenting me. I”m not sure what I should do.”
He leaned forward so their eyes were level. He smiled and softly replied. ”Say thank you.”
Her cheeks turned an adorable pink. ”Thank you.”
”There. That”s all settled.” He glanced down at Chiefy who had decided their conversation was boring and laid down on her side. He laughed. ”I think we”ve bored her.”
Grace laughed and it was adorable. She had the cutest little dimples. And, that smile of hers was like the sun shining high in the sky. His heartbeat thumped in his chest.
”She”s tired from all the diving and garbage cleanup.” She held up the garbage bag. ”She dives in and comes up with random stuff.”
He laughed as he looked at Chiefy”s tail. It thumped a few times as if she knew they were talking about her.
Moving his gaze to Grace he sucked in a deep breath. ”I think we”re a lot alike, Grace. We”ve both been through a lot in our life. We”re both trying to move on from that. We”re both new in town.”
Grace”s lips turned up in a soft smile. ”I guess we are.”
”Well, I better go clean up. Thanks again for helping me today. I do appreciate it. I”ll be at the garage working on that bike for a couple of weeks. Please feel free to stop by if you see me while you”re out walking.”
”Thank you. We”ll stop in and say hi. Chiefy would love that.”
Sid grinned. ”I”d love it too.”
Her cheeks turned a rosy pink, her eyes locked on his and they stared at each other. Chiefy whined, and Grace nodded once, then addressed her pup. ”Let”s go girl.”
She clipped Chiefy”s leash onto her collar and as they began walking toward the road, Grace looked back once. The beguiling smile on her face was the memory he”d have with him all night. Likely many nights. And there was nothing wrong with that.