Chapter 4
Eve
I driftedin that space between sleep and wakefulness, “Wonderwall” by Oasis playing in my head. Refusing to open my eyes, I burrowed down into the covers and smiled as “Rain King” by Counting Crows started to play. It’s one of my favorite songs and I haven’t heard it in forever.
Floating in and out of semi-consciousness, I snuggled into the comfortable bed and enjoyed my mental playlist. It’s been a long time since I allowed myself to sleep in, but yesterday was a long day and I’m in no hurry to fully wake. I took in a long deep breath and slowly let it out as I was serenaded back to sleep by U2.
A high-pitched whining broke my peaceful slumber and I put the pillow over my head to tune it out. It stopped, then sounded again in short bursts a few more times. Then the banging started. I grasped my head with both hands and moaned, then sat up and whipped the covers off.
Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I cringed when the noise started again. There’s no way I’m going to get back to sleep so I stood and headed to the bathroom. After taking care of business, I studied my reflection in the mirror while I brushed my teeth. It’s not good.
Some people travel well. I am not one of those people. I usually look like crap after flying and this time is no different. The circles under my eyes look even darker on my paler-than-usual face and it’s going to take me forever to detangle my hair.
I rinsed and spit, grateful that at least my mouth feels better. The only thing that will fix my hair is a good washing with tons of conditioner, so I ran a brush through it to get some of the knots out and pulled it into a messy bun. It’s not great, but what does it matter? Like Alexis Rose says in Schitt’s Creek, “No one cares, David.”
I peeked out the bathroom window before heading downstairs. Aunt Winnie’s car isn’t in the driveway, so I guess it’s only me here. Well, me and whoever is making all the racket outside.
The noise got louder as I made my way downstairs. In fact, it sounded like it was right outside the kitchen door. A peek through the curtains explained why that was so. It was right outside the kitchen door. Without thinking, I pulled the door open and stepped onto the porch.
“What are you doing?”
The hammering stopped and my heart followed suit when the person responsible for the noise looked up. Chocolate brown eyes met mine and after its initial stall, my heart pounded at an alarming rate.
Holy shit.
I took long, slow breaths in an effort to control my heartbeat. Talk about an inopportune time for my libido to come to life.
His eyes took a lazy tour of my body. It was then I realized I was only dressed in a pink nightshirt that stopped at mid-thigh. To cover my embarrassment, I lashed out.
“Do you know what time it is?”
The man lifted his left hand and glanced at his watch.
“Eight thirty.”
“It’s Saturday morning.”
The corner of his mouth kicked up into an adorable smile as he dragged his fingers through his thick black hair.
“That it is.”
“What are you doing?” I asked again, then felt silly because it’s pretty obvious. Still, he played along and answered anyway.
“Replacing the steps. Once I’m done here, I’ll change out that window in Winnie’s studio.”
He pointed across the yard to the item in question.
“This early?”
He chuckled.
“I guess your nightie doesn’t lie.”
I glanced down at my nightshirt and its picture of Grumpy proclaiming, “I Don’t Do Mornings” and crossed my arms over my chest.
“I’m sorry, I had a hellish travel day yesterday. Aunt Winnie didn’t tell me someone was going to be hammering outside my bedroom window this morning.”
“Then I’m glad I overslept and didn’t get here at six like I’d originally planned.”
“I’m glad too,” I said. “Although I was enjoying your music.”
“Yeah, it’s a good playlist.” He tapped his hammer against his thigh. “I’m Max, by the way.”
“Eve.”
I leaned forward and shook his proffered hand. My eyes rounded at the zing that radiated up my arm but instead of letting go like I should have, I held on longer than is socially acceptable.
“So, you’re Winnie’s niece.”
He raised his voice slightly on the last word turning his sentence into a question. I dropped his hand and took a big step back.
“Yes, I’m here visiting for the summer.” I shifted my eyes toward the two new steps then back at Max. “I thought Henry was the only handyman in town.”
“He is. I mean, we work together. Well, I work for him. He’s my grandfather.”
I nodded, mesmerized by his eyes. There’s also something else, a connection. I feel like I know him from somewhere. Shaking my head to rid it of that thought, I cleared my throat.
“Well I uh–I better let you get back to work.”
Our eyes held as I backed up and stepped over the threshold. Before I closed the door, Max said, “I’ll see you around, Eve.”
It’s been a long time, but I know when I’m being flirted with. I just don’t remember how to respond. So instead of saying anything, I let out a small squeak, slammed the door, and ran up to my room.
Max
I staredat the closed door for an embarrassingly long time after Eve went back inside. Realizing what I was doing, I shook my head and got back to work. I really want to finish before Pop shows up. I can’t waste time daydreaming about the woman I just met. There’ll be time for that later.
These steps are going to be the easy part of this job. The window will be the challenge. The building Winnie uses as her studio is an old carriage barn that was built before levels, rulers, or right angles were used. I helped Pop replace the front door a few years ago and it was a bitch. I’m expecting nothing less with the window.
I set the next step and hammered it into place, then did the same with the remaining two. With that done, I headed back to my truck for a drink. I grabbed a bottle of water out of the cooler then leaned against the tailgate and downed half its contents with one long chug.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something in the second-floor window and looked up. A blur of pink was all I saw before the curtain fell back into place. I kept my eyes trained on that spot as I finished the rest of the water, but Eve never appeared again. Still, it’s nice to think that maybe she was watching me.
I crushed the water bottle and tossed it back in the cooler. Grabbing my Bluetooth speaker and tools, I headed across the yard to the studio to get to work. I’d just finished removing putty and inside vertical strips from the window when I heard Winnie pulling up the driveway. I waved just as she stepped out of the car.
“Hi Max,” she said as she opened the trunk, which was full of bags.
“Let me help you with those,” I said as I walked toward her.
“Thank you.” She picked up two bags and stepped aside. “I haven’t had a grocery order this big in a long time, but my niece is visiting.”
Grabbing the rest of the bags, I followed Winnie to the porch.
“Yeah, Eve and I met.”
She glanced over her shoulder and smiled. I thought she was going to say something about Eve, but instead she complimented the steps.
“They look wonderful.”
“Thank you.” I followed her inside and set the bags down on the kitchen table. “Pop didn’t say anything about staining them. Did you want that done, too?”
“I’d like the whole porch stained, but that can wait until you’re less busy. The important thing is that the steps are fixed. I’ve been putting it off for a while and they were getting pretty bad.” She put milk and eggs in the refrigerator then turned to face me. “So you met Eve?”
It took me a second to catch up with the change of topic, but once I did, I nodded.
“She’s staying for the summer.”
“Yeah, she mentioned that.”
“She hasn’t visited here in years. Maybe you can show her around sometime.”
If I’m reading the room right, Winnie is playing matchmaker. Normally I hate that kind of thing, but I have to say, I’m not opposed.
Last night, Dex said he thinks I’m in a rut. I don’t think my life is in such a sad shape, but it’s definitely become routine over the past couple years. Maybe the woman whose touch made my palm tingle is just the person to shake things up a bit.