10. Doug The Dick
Doug The Dick
Cara
He may be nice to look at, but he is ridiculously infuriating. Part of being as risk-averse as I am is avoiding confrontation, but he pissed me off with his high and mighty attitude. I have never in my whole life been pushed so far as to snap at someone the way I just did. I’m very much a rollover and accept defeat kind of girl, but this man, this bloody man, apparently, brings something else out in me.
We walk through the house, room by room. Some of it’s worse than I thought, some better than I expected. Doug talks me through what he can save, what will need repairs, and what is going to have to be ripped out and replaced. I listen to him talk, confident in his ability and experience, and his smooth southern drawl lulls me into a weird headspace. This is my house. This might be the place where I grow old. This is the house where my mum grew up.
I stop dead still at the realization, and reach up my hand to my throat, the lump there too big to swallow.
‘You okay?’
Doug touches my arm softly to get my attention, and I raise my gaze up to meet his.
‘Yeah,’ I breathe. ‘I just can’t believe this is really mine.’
‘It’s a beautiful house. Even in the state it’s in now, you’re very lucky to call this place home.’
I know. I know I am, but it’s more than the five bedrooms, the two bathrooms, and the huge potential for the massive space downstairs. It’s not just the fireplaces in every room, complete with the original mantels. It’s not just the beautiful wraparound porch or the balcony to the front on the first floor overlooking the beautiful view. It’s so much more than the heart pine construction and original metal shingles that Doug credits for keeping the house in better shape than it should be. This house is not just part of the history of this town—it’s part of my history.
It's where my mum was born and raised, where she learned to be the wonderful mum I treasured. Where she learned to cook up a storm and where she met and fell in love with my dad while he worked here. Without this old house, I wouldn’t be here, and for the first time in my whole life, I feel safe in my surroundings. I belong here. I don’t know how when I’ve only been here a day, but I know this is where I’m supposed to be.
‘Can we go upstairs?’ I ask quietly, trying so hard not to cry in front of this man who already thinks I’m an idiot.
‘Of course.’ He nods toward the main hallway and steps onto the bottom step.
‘Oh, wait. Are they, I mean, can we go up them?’
‘Of course, we can.’ He steps up another one, and I hesitate. ‘Look, I’ll go first.’
‘Yeah, but you’re a big guy. What’s to say you’re not going to be the stick that breaks the camel’s back?’
‘Jesus Christ.’ He looks up to the heavens and then back to me. ‘Cara, they’re safe, I swear. I wouldn’t put you in danger.’
He holds out a hand to me, and for some reason, a reason I cannot fathom, no matter how hard I search, I trust that he’s telling the truth. Nobody, not a single person in my life, not my parents, not Jamie, has ever been able to completely convince me that I’m safe, but his strong arms, his big hands, the sincerity in his voice and his eyes, and maybe the fact that I know he doesn’t like me, so he has no reason to lie, all makes me believe him, it makes me trust him, and without another thought, I place my hand in his and take the first safe step of my life.
Stepping out of my house, I see the sun starting to lower over the town I’m hoping to call home. I inhale deeply and release it as a sigh.
The house is perfect. All I saw amongst the cobwebs and broken floorboards was perfection. I saw a bedroom that I knew was my mum’s. I felt her there—her silliness, her huge heart. It all came from here, from this town, this house. That woman I knew so well, this is where her story began.
‘I was conceived here,’ I say softly before dropping to sit on the sturdier-than-expected porch steps. Doug takes a moment, I assume to process my confession, then sits next to me. ‘I didn’t just pluck Forest Falls from thin air, and I didn’t stumble on this old house and decide it was the one. I inherited it from my grandmother.’
I feel him staring at me. In my peripheral vision, I see his mouth fall open a little in shock, but I keep looking straight ahead.
‘Roberta Reynolds was my grandmother. I never met her, but she left me the house anyway.’
‘Charlotte…’
‘You can’t have known her.’ I turn to look at him. ‘You’re too young.’
‘I didn’t, but small town…’ He blows out a breath.
I nod and turn away again. ‘Yep, Charlotte was my mum. And now I’m here trying to get a fresh start. Trying to be positive and optimistic while the house Roberta left me is falling down, and until I get a quote from a willing contractor and then get to the bank on Monday, I don’t even know if I can afford to save it. Not to mention, all I want to do is make friends here, and you, the first person I actually saw in this town, seem to think I’m here bringing the plague or something.’
‘I am willing, Cara. I apologize for making you feel like that. I have my own shit to deal with. I tried to buy this place, you know.’
I widen my eyes in shock, and he nods, resting his elbows on his knees, and I turn my body to face him.
‘I drove out there to see Roberta and asked her to sell me the house so that I could save it. She said she had no interest in selling, and I was so pissed.’ He chuckles. A deep, rich sound that vibrates through me. ‘I didn’t understand why she’d rather leave the house sitting empty than make some money and let me take it. Now I understand.’
‘Wow.’ I swallow hard and look away from him. ‘I didn’t know. I never met her. Never even had a conversation with her. Then I get a phone call to say she died and an email from her telling me the house is mine.’
‘You look tired.’ His words surprise me, and I turn to see concerned eyes trained on me.
‘I am. My mum grew up here. It’s a lot on top of jetlag. I am so…’
‘Knackered.’
I laugh at his accent wrapping around that word. ‘Yeah, I’m knackered.’
‘Come on then.’ He stands and holds out a hand to me as I gaze up at him. ‘I’ll take you back to your cabin.’
I take his hand, and he leads us over to his truck, not releasing me until I climb inside, and I do everything I can to ignore the flutters in my stomach and below. He’s my contractor, that’s all.
‘Cara,’ the soft voice wakes me, and I open my eyes to see Doug smiling at me.
‘Oh, my god, I fell asleep.’ I straighten as much as I can with a seatbelt on.
‘You did.’
He grins, and I can’t help but do the same. I unbuckle my belt and reach for the handle.
‘Thank you for the lift and for this afternoon.’
He nods and offers the smallest of smiles, and I start to open the door.
‘Cara,’ I turn back to look at him. ‘Sorry, I was a dick.’
I laugh loudly, surprised by the apology.
‘Doug the dick has a nice ring to it.’ I think that’s the first time I’ve ever said that word, and I did it with a smile. Go, Cara!
He narrows his gaze at me, and I like it.
‘You're going to be trouble, aren’t you?’ Oh, I liked that even more.
‘Maybe I am.’ I wink. Me… winking .
Doug grins and shakes his head. ‘Get out of my truck.’
So, I do and head into my cabin with more bounce in my step than I’ve ever had.