3. Arlo
3
ARLO
What was the guy’s name?
On the piece of paper my cousin had given me, I’d listed him as “Handyman.” What was I thinking? Either I hadn’t remembered the name or my cousin hadn’t mentioned it. Maybe he didn’t know his name either, which was silly.
Hmmm, I wondered how far we’d get without me mentioning his name? It’d be easy, I figured. No one conducted a conversation with me and added “Arlo” at the beginning and end of each sentence. I could do this.
I slogged through the mud. Ewww. There was a smell after teeming rain, even if technically there hadn’t been flooding. A deep dirty stink that smelled of churned-up earth and whatever had been caught up with the swirling water. I hated to think what I’d discover when the ground dried up.
“Hi.” I held out my hand. “Arlo, I’m Stephen’s cousin.”
A scent pushed away the watery smell and invaded my nostrils. Was it the guy? Odd that a handyman would arrive at a job site laden with cologne, but I wasn’t one, so what did I know? Perhaps that was his schtick for keeping the stench away.
But it gave me seconds to appreciate this tall drink of water, from the freckles scattered across his nose and cheeks, to the tawny almost rusty color of his beard and hair, to what I imagined was a chiseled chest under his shirt and jacket.
I’d expected a smile or a nod at least and an outstretched hand, mirroring my own. But the color bleached from his cheeks, and he clutched at his belly. Was he going to be sick? I instinctively took a step back, not wanting to be covered in puke.
But he recovered and arranged his face in a smile. “That’s—” He cleared his throat. “That’s nice.” His voice was an octave lower.
Huh? Was he jerking me around with the first sentence out of his mouth, and did his swoon-worthy looks mask an immature personality? Damn! I’d save my energy and just enjoy his good looks.
“Kalen’s the name, and sorry, but I don’t know any Stephen, though I’m very pleased to meet his cousin.”
What a mouthful. My mind scrambled to interpret what he’d said. It zoomed past his name and that he’d never met my cousin and instead concentrated on the compliment he paid me. Maybe my first impression hadn’t been wrong.
But it was kinda urgent he fixed my roof, so I put aside how sexy he was and those adorable freckles.
“Sorry, what? But you’re here.” That didn’t get us any closer to him looking at the damage and giving me a quote.
“I am. You called, and I came.”
At least we’d established that I’d called him and he wasn’t some random guy turning up for whatever reason.
“Thank you. I need help.”
His gaze lowered from my face to my midsection and to my crotch. What kind of handyman was he? If it had been any other random dude, I would have told him I’d made a mistake and I already had a guy inside inspecting the damage.
But Kalen didn’t give off bad creepy-dude vibes. Hoping I wasn’t making the worst mistake of my life, I opened the gate, and he sloshed in.
“Ummm, so did my cousin’s handyman call you to help me out?”
“No, as I said, you phoned me.” He took out his phone and showed me the call history. That was my number, and he replayed the message. Definitely my voice.
I’d misdialed. Getting out my phone, I checked the number, and there was a one-digit difference. How lucky was I, making a mistake and getting Kalen as my reward?
“So, are you a handyman?” Please say yes because I want you to hang around .
He held up his hands. “I’m handy. Used to help my dad out growing up.” He peered up at the tree.
When the tree fell, I was upset it had damaged the house and sad the tree was no more. But perhaps this was the flip side to that. Meeting Kalen brightened my mood.
“I’m surprised you made it here.” I was trying to make conversation, hoping he wouldn’t leave, saying he had better things to do.
He shrugged. “I don’t live far, and you sounded desperate.”
Oh, I was. Desperate to get to know him more.
“Mmmm. There are puddles in my main room, and my favorite tree was responsible.”
He studied the tree lying at an angle and draped over part of my roof. “Condolences. I love silver maples.”
We had something in common other than me lusting over the guy.
“Yeah, me too.”
Kalen jerked his head toward my belly. “But looks as though you have a little one in the making.”
For a second my brain couldn’t comprehend what he was saying. A little one sounded like a baby. But I was cradling the cutting against me. “Hope so.”
“As it grows, you can tell the little one the story of their parent and how grand they were.”
Tears filled my eyes, and I glanced at the house while blinking them away. “I like that. Will need to remember it.”
Kalen had said he was good with his hands, and an image popped up in my head of his fingers sliding along my shaft. Had the temperature suddenly risen? There was still a stiff breeze, and it wasn’t the only thing that was stiff. Thank gods I was wearing a jacket and an oversized shirt.
But he hadn’t told me he would fix the roof.
“Can you do something about this?” I waved my free hand toward the house.
“I’m sure I can.”
How weird was it that the wrong number I’d dialed had not only brought this gorgeous man into my life—or my garden—but he also had the skill to do the repair work. Or so he said. He could be a conman and charge me an exorbitant fee for doing little. My bank balance would be deleted and my heart crushed. But I decided to take a chance.
Maybe a foolhardy one, but I sensed Kalen was a good guy.
“Repaired many roofs, have you?” I had to at least find out if he had clamored on top of a house. Helping out his dad could mean he hefted bags of cement or unloaded steel beams.
“I have, and I understand the physics of it all.” Okay, that was more than I did. I’d flunked physics. “Can’t have you living in a house that’s not watertight.”
We agreed we’d need to call a tree-removal company to remove the silver maple, and again I got emotional thinking of saying goodbye to my favorite tree. But it had to be done. Kalen couldn’t assess the damage until the tree was out of the way. I’d arrange to keep some of it to burn in the fireplace. Being warm and toasty would be my tree’s last goodbye.
“They’ll be busy with the damage the storm caused.”
But Kalen had a friend, and he took his phone from his back pocket. “Don’t dial the wrong number,” I quipped.
He caught my eye, and there was a flicker of movement. “I’ll try not to, but if it works out like yours did, I’ll chance it.”
He turned away as the person on the other end answered while I tried to interpret whether what he’d said referred to meeting me or that he needed a job, or that I was in need and he had the skills to help out.
If the tree people couldn’t come today, I might have to move out. But that would create more water damage, as I wouldn’t be here to empty buckets. The water level would be rising in the containers in the minutes Kalen and I had been talking, so I’d have to get back to the house soon.
“They’re on their way.”
Was this magic? That the company happened to be free on what might be their busiest day of the year. I sniffed the air, but other than the scent of crushed leaves and bark intermingling with Karen’s scent and the whiff of mud, I didn’t detect anything unusual. But how would I know what magic smelled like?
“That’s amazing. Thanks.” He relayed the estimate, though they couldn’t give me a definite figure until they arrived.
Now what? Did I offer him a cold drink while we waited?
“Got any potting mixture in that shed?”
Kalen wanting to do gardening in this weather was a little surprising, and my brain couldn’t form an answer. “Ummm, yeah. Did you want to borrow some?”
“Nah, not for me but that little guy you’re holding.”
“Oh, the cutting. Good thinking.”
We skirted the tree, and I patted the trunk, told the tree they could rest now and the little shoot would make him proud. I lifted the cutting so its leaves brushed against his parent, saying a final goodbye.
Gulping back more tears, I got a pot from the shed and we emptied soil into it. After putting the cutting into the soil, I gave it a little water.
“Here’s to new life,” Kalen said.