Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
“Evelina! Stop delaying. The list is on the counter. Did you hear me, m’ija?”
Grumbling, Evie shoved the vacuum cleaner into its corner in the storage room and came out into the main store.
Dropping a fist on her hip, she glared at her father. “There’s no reason to yell, Papi. My hearing is fine. I wish you’d stop calling me Evelina. It’s too old-fashioned and I hate it. Makes me sound like I’m fifty years old.”
Biting a thin leveling ruler, her father tucked a pencil behind his ear and moved down from a stepladder. “First of all, I was not yelling. And second, we named you Evelina after your grandmother, may she rest in peace, and it stays.”
“Urbano, don’t get excited,” her mother warned, standing by a display case. She’d opened a box of deliveries from Miami and had started the process of arranging items by name and price. “Remember your blood pressure.”
“No, querida,” he argued, one foot on the floor. “The name is pretty and has dignity. Not this ‘Evie’ nonsense she insists on.”
Evie gazed from one parent to another. Thirteen years ago, sick of the hustle and bustle of Miami life, Urbano Fuentes, who, at the time, had a full head of black hair, had pooled all his funds and bought the only grocery store in the town of Oakwood, Tennessee.
The store had gone up for sale after the last owner passed on without heirs or family.
One had to search a map with a magnifying glass to find the town, it was that small.
To the dismay of relatives and friends, he packed up Maritza and little Evelina and moved north to live his dream: to build a life in a small, quiet town.
He’d taken to the change from metropolis to country lifestyle like a duck to water.
He loved the serenity of long rolling hills, the changing seasons, the peaceful silence in the mornings, and the friendly residents, who’d accepted the Fuenteses without hesitation.
As his hair grew silver and sparse, he clung fiercely to some Cuban customs his parents had embedded in him.
The traditional Christmas Eve dinner, Nochebuena, with roast pork, rice with black beans, and yucca with garlic sauce, was served without fail—the delicious aromas floating in and around the town’s main street had elicited a flurry of requests for the recipe.
A pot full of tap water was tossed out the front door on New Year’s Eve to cleanse the house of the past year’s evil spirits.
And today, after years of immersion in a different culture, Urbano still insisted her name was Evelina. Period. Full stop.
“Mami, please,” she started her usual plea. Frowning, her mother shook her head. The silent message was clear: Let it go.
Huffing, she went past the counter, snatched the list, and stomped out.
“Get angry all you want,” Urbano shouted after her. “Your name is Evelina.”
She jumped into the truck and turned on the engine, drowning out her stubborn father’s voice. Less than five minutes later, she pulled up in front of Petey’s Hardware.
Evie checked the address again. She barely recognized the updated storefront and snazzy overhead sign. She’d spent the last six months taking an accounting course in Knoxville to help with the family’s growing business and had missed the remodeling.
List in hand, she jumped down and headed in.
The small bell above the door announcing visitors was still there.
Petey stopped writing and glanced up. “Morning, Evie.”
“Goodness, Petey. What did you do? I don’t recognize the store.
” Mouth open, she turned, staring from one end to the other.
Everything had changed. Dramatically, she might add.
The dusty, old hardware store where equipment, tools, and mismatched boxes in slight disarray, shoved anywhere a space could be found, didn’t exist anymore.
Neatly shelved rows, organized by product name and equipment, made uniform aisles up and down the room.
Wherever she glanced, she found tags, descriptions, and…
no dust. She almost missed the messy disorganization.
It used to have a charming air to it, as if the old room had witnessed events long past and could speak about people who no longer lived.
Petey folded his arms on the counter. “One good deed leads to another. I have a new assistant. My bones were getting kinda tired, and the store suffered because of it. But Jimmy came in with great ideas and helped me get organized. I like it. Don’t you?”
“Why, yeah.” She smiled. “Who’s this Jimmy?”
“He’ll be here momentarily.” He jutted his chin toward the door. “He went to your dad’s store for me. So what brings you?”
“Funny you mention him. My dad sent me.” She waved the list. “He’s installing new shelves. The holidays are around the corner. He’s had quite a few orders for specialty items. Gotta put them somewhere.”
“I know. Folks ’round here love the Christmas candies, the bars he sends for. I ordered a couple of boxes myself.”
She smiled. “Oh, you mean the turrón made with almonds and honey.”
“That’s the one.” He closed his ledgers. “Love the stuff, and I—” The phone on his desk rang, and he held up his hand. “I have to take this.”
“Sure,” Evie said and picked up a shopping basket. Yet another improvement in the store. The days of balancing items in one hand while piling up more with the other were over.
Holding her father’s note, she ambled down the first aisle, checking all the different items with the curiosity of a five-year-old.
She stared in bewilderment at a screw chart hanging at the front of this aisle.
Her father had never told her that so many different sizes and styles of screws existed.
His note said screws. Nothing more. How was she supposed to choose?
Evie glanced at the front of the store, but Petey was still busy on the phone.
One size in the middle of the chart seemed reasonable to her. But the box sat on the top shelf. Standing on her tiptoes, she reached for the box…
Shit. Shit. Shit.
She cursed in her mind, watching the damned box fall in slow motion. With a loud pinging, screws hit the tile floor and rolled everywhere.
She scrambled to pick them up. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a pair of work boots stop next to her.
“Please, stand up. I’ll handle that.”
Startled, Evie glanced from the offered open palm up to the handsome, smiling stranger with glittering green eyes. Mouth slightly open, she held on to his warm, calloused hand, and a tingling sensation rippled through her. Keeping her eyes glued to his chiseled features, she slowly stood.
“I’m Jimmy.” His deep voice had a silky quality as it swept around her. She had the strange sensation of being embraced, or caressed, or something…
She blinked. “Um. I’m Evie Fuentes.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Good heavens. He smiled, blinding her momentarily with sparkling white teeth.
She knew right away he couldn’t be from around here.
First, there was his accent. She’d guess he was from somewhere in the northeast. And most of the residents in town didn’t have the resources to properly take care of their teeth, which was a pity.
The blinding effect ended when he dropped to one knee to pick up the screws she’d dropped.
“Is everything all right?” Petey asked behind her.
“Sorry,” she said. “I made a mess of your boxes. I didn’t know which size screw to choose.”
“Don’t worry your pretty little head. Jimmy has it under control,” Petey said.
“Better than I do, that’s for sure.”
“What do you need them for?” Jimmy asked, rising to his feet.
She stared into his deep and seemingly endless green eyes, and her mind got lost.
Huh? Right. Screws. What screws? Oh, the shelves. My father.
“Yeah. Um,” Evie stammered.
“Is that the list?” Petey asked.
“Yes. It is.” She glanced at the script as if her father had written the note in Chinese characters. What was the matter with her? This kind of reaction to a strange man surprised her. Then again, no guy she’d ever met was such a hottie.
“Let me.” Petey took the sheet of paper from her fingers, saving her from further embarrassment and passing the note to Jimmy.
“Her father sent this. Why don’t you get what she needs?
I’m afraid Evie doesn’t know the first thing about putting up shelves.
Let’s go for the standard size to anchor a ten-by-twelve shelf.
” Smiling, he turned to her. “Come on, darling, let’s go to the front.
While Jimmy gets your items, you can tell me where you’ve been the last six months. ”
“Okay.” Before she followed Petey to the front of the store, she sent another glance toward the handsome male specimen.
His backside was just as gorgeous as his front. If they hadn’t already, the girls in town were going to eat him up. She frowned at the unexpected possessive twinge in her chest.
Evie Fuentes. Wow.
Her name rolling in his mind, he turned halfway to watch the stunning brunette go off with Petey.
He’d entered the store, and his breath caught when he saw her.
She’d ambled down the fastener aisle, searching and reading the tags and boxes, with pouting full lips and a bewildered expression on her face.
His heart lurched as he took her in.
The black leather pants did amazing things for her curvy figure, and the long-sleeve blue knit top contrasted with her tumbling mass of dark hair.
This girl had generous curves a man could dig his fingers into and hold on while he drove her to ecstasy.
All of her was made to order in heaven for Jimmy with no last name.
He growled at the blank spot in his mind.
His injury had messed up his memories, but his libido functioned without any difficulty. It sent him wild images of this dark-haired beauty in his arms. Oh, the things he could show her…
Exactly what things? What the hell did he remember? Shaving and brushing his teeth came to him mechanically, but the rest? Months had passed, and he was still stuck in limbo.
Today more than ever, he hated his stubborn brain for hiding his true identity and nature from him.
Was he a pervert or a decent man? Did he have a career, a business, a wife and family?
A quick glance at his unmarked ring finger told him there was no wife.
His only clue to a possible past had come during the first few days working with Petey to rearrange his store.
His calloused skin had managed the job with no problem.
Meaning, he worked with his hands, either in construction, on a farm, or he lifted weights in a gym, or maybe even collected debts for the Mafia with his fists. He shook his head at the last option.
Jimmy wanted to see this firecracker of a girl again. Take her out, get to know her. Intimately. The passion simmering in her dark eyes fascinated and tempted him. The moment her gaze connected with his, she’d spoken to him in so many silent ways.
But what can you offer her?
Not a damned thing. His future hinged on his mind. Dr. Moore was optimistic. He promised it would clear up. Eventually. Jimmy, or whatever his real name was, could only hope it happened sooner rather than later.