Chapter Three
CHAPTER THREE
After meeting Sean to drop off the kids—which was never without scathing looks or some kind of whispered quip about how much this was hurting his children—Natalie shook it off and drove over to Hazel and Linc’s house.
“I have wine, sangria, and beer,” Hazel said as she let her in, the dogs happily greeting Natalie with whimpers and wagging tails.
“Hi, pups,” Natalie said, so used to them now that she bent down and gave them all some pats and ear rubs. “Sangria sounds great.”
Natalie—and the dogs—followed Hazel into the kitchen. Hazel pulled the bottle out of the fridge and opened it, pouring two glasses.
“Where’s Linc?” she asked.
“In the shower,” Hazel said, sliding a glass over to her. “His work day was long today. He should be down shortly.”
“You’re both working so hard lately. Him on renovating houses and you with your job at the restaurant.”
Hazel led her to the table and they both sat. “I know, but we love it. We’re working toward our future, Nat. And working hard is how we do it.”
“Except that Linc already has money.”
“Right,” Hazel said, taking a sip of her drink. “His money. And I need to feel like I’m on at least somewhat equal footing. He respects that, so we’re taking things slowly.”
“I suppose I can understand that. After living off of Sean’s income for so long, it’s nice to be earning my own for a change. Even though he pays child support and temporary alimony, I can appreciate not having to ask for money from a man.”
Hazel nodded. “Exactly. And the only reason you didn’t have a career before was because he demanded you be the stay-at-home mom.”
Natalie swirled the liquid around in her glass. “I could have argued. I didn’t.”
“But you’re free now.”
She let out a soft laugh. “Better late than never, I guess?”
“First, it’s not late. And, second, give yourself some credit, Nat. A lot of women would have stayed in that type of relationship until it swallowed them up. Until they were left with nothing. You didn’t. And you fought for what you and the kids deserved.”
Leave it to her sister to build her up. “Thanks. But I’ve still got a ways to go.”
“One step at a time, sis.”
“Yeah.” She took a longer swallow of her drink this time. “Anyway, how was your day?”
“It was good. Yours?”
“Pretty excellent, actually.” She told Hazel about her client appointment and how that went.
“You’re doing so well with your job, Nat. Your boss must be so pleased.”
“She is. Which motivates me to keep doing what I’m doing.”
“Hey, everyone. Linc told me to let myself in.”
Natalie blinked, then looked over at Hazel, who didn’t meet her gaze. Instead, she got up to give Eugene a hug. “I’m so glad you could make it. What can I get you to drink?”
“A beer would be great, thanks.”
Eugene came over and pulled out a chair next to Natalie. “Hey, Natalie.”
“Eugene. I didn’t know you’d be joining us.”
“Well, I’m nothing if not an excellent surprise.”
Hazel snorted a laugh in the kitchen. Natalie rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh. “Yes, that’s you all right.”
Linc came into the kitchen. “Hey, y’all.”
“Hi, Linc,” Natalie said. “Long day?”
“Very. But good day. Wrapping up the house I’ve been renovating. We’ll be staging next week and putting it on the market.”
Hazel came in and handed beers to Linc and to Eugene. “That’s awesome, babe.”
“Yeah…babe.” Eugene smirked and took a swallow of his beer. “Perfect timing, too, because I think I found a house.”
“Really?” Hazel asked. “When?”
“Toured the house today. I think it might be the one.”
“That’s great,” Linc said. “Where is it?”
Linc gave them the address and Natalie coughed.
“That’s like a block over from where Nat lives,” Hazel said. “How cool is that?”
“Just so cool.” Natalie tried to smile, but she was certain it came out like a grimace. That was all she needed was Eugene dropping by to…well, she didn’t actually know why he would want to come to her house. It was probably all in her imagination because the two of them had nothing—
“Yeah?” He looked over at Natalie, his expression revealing nothing. “So, we’ll be neighbors. I can come over and borrow sugar. Or something.”
She resisted rolling her eyes. “Uh-huh.”
He gave her a lopsided grin, then turned his attention over to Linc. “Anyway, it needs some renovations. And serious design work.”
“The reno I can do,” Linc said, then motioned with his head over to Natalie. “Nat’s who you need for help with the design stuff.”
Oh no. She absolutely would not, could not, get involved with Eugene in that way. Or any way.
“Oh, Nat, how much fun would that be?” Hazel asked.
“Uh…” Not one who was ever at a loss for words, Natalie found herself unable to answer Hazel’s question. Because the idea of working with Eugene did not seem fun at all.
“Can you both come by the house and take a look at it? I wouldn’t want to put an offer on it until you look at it, Linc. And it definitely needs to be modernized, design-wise. I’d really like your opinion, Natalie.”
She couldn’t very well say no to that since it was her job.
Linc nodded. “Tell me your schedule and we’ll make it happen.”
Linc and Eugene settled on tomorrow morning.
“I have a client meeting then,” Natalie said. “I can do late afternoon.”
“I’m meeting with the real estate agent then, so that won’t work for me,” Linc said.
“That’s okay,” Eugene said. “I’ll free up my day and make both happen.”
“Awesome.” Hazel got up. “Let me get the shrimp ready and then we can eat.”
“I’m excited for you, bruh,” Linc said. “Buying a house is a big step. I know you’ve looked around a lot.”
“Yeah. I’m relieved to have found one that’ll work for me.” He looked over at Linc, then at Natalie. “Thanks to both of you for agreeing to help me out.”
Natalie hadn’t agreed to anything yet, but she couldn’t help but note the sincerity in his voice. “It’s my job, so I’m happy to see if I can assist you.”
Again, that smile of his. Enigmatic. Sexy as hell.
Was she reading signals wrong? That was entirely possible. She’d been out of the game a long time. For all she knew, he was simply being friendly, and she didn’t have a clue.
She’d look at his house, and if it was something that required her expertise, she’d do her job.
But that was all she’d do.