Chapter Five Amanda
Chapter Five
Amanda
S he should have stopped at that first bottle of wine. Amanda had always been a lightweight, but when she got around Rosie and Nola, things tended to spiral out of control a bit. Those moms could hold their wine—no joke.
Amanda, on the other hand, found herself waking up the next morning after their dinner out wishing that she could completely shut off the pounding jackhammer that had taken up residence in her skull. She blinked slowly, trying to adjust herself to the sunlight that was streaming onto the duvet through her bedroom windows.
One entire wall of her bedroom was just floor-to-ceiling windows and a set of French doors that led out onto her large back porch with a view of the lake. And yes, there were sunflowers in the backyard, as well as in the design on her matching sham-and-bedspread set. And in the vase on her nightstand. And a few framed paintings of them on the bedroom wall as well.
When she’d finally mustered up enough energy to roll over toward her nightstand, she grasped around the surface until her palm landed on her cell phone. She pulled it closer and glanced at the screen to see three text messages in her group text chain with Rosie and Nola, and four missed matches from Hinge—a dating app.
Oh my God, I downloaded a dating app.
Amanda shot up quickly in bed but immediately regretted the decision as her stomach threatened to return its contents to her mattress. This wasn’t the moment to look through her dating options, or even acknowledge the fact that she’d made a commitment to put herself out there. Right now, she needed two things—ibuprofen and coffee.
She pushed herself up out of bed, sliding on her slippers—which she kept on the edge of the bed to avoid walking on the freezing cold wood floors—and fluffy robe from the bench at the end of her bed. It didn’t matter that it was summer up here in Michigan—the inside of her house was never allowed to be over sixty-nine degrees and she’d fight anyone who dared to touch her thermostat. Her life motto was that she could always put on more clothes and layers but could only take off so many before she was shit out of luck.
Not that she’d had that much experience with taking anything off.
When she reached the kitchen, she immediately regretted her bougie taste in coffee because there wasn’t a single instant coffee packet or coffee machine anywhere. Instead, she had a coffee bean grinder and a French press that she made the perfect cup of coffee with every morning—which, most days, was the best gift she could give herself.
But today, it just felt like torture.
She got to work on pouring the beans into the grinder and beginning the arduous process as she searched the nearby medicine cabinet for some painkillers. The ibuprofen was halfway down her throat, however, when she turned to look out on the lake behind her house and realized that her willow tree was no longer standing in its usual spot on the shared property line with her new neighbor.
It was completely down, and it had taken half her boat dock with it.
“What the hell?” She abandoned the coffee-making process to step outside, wrapping her robe a little tighter around her as she made her way to the tree in her slippers.
The closer she got, the worse the damage looked. The tree had completely split down the middle, leaving the stump in the ground but everything above it gone. Half the trunk had gone through the deck floor, and the railing was in splinters.
“Looks like last night’s storm took out our tree,” said a deep voice that broke her concentration from somewhere behind her.
Amanda jumped and turned around to see Dominic standing there—and, of course, he wasn’t wearing a robe or slippers. He was in a tight black T-shirt with dark jeans and a pair of sneakers, with a goddamn mug of—Amanda assumed—coffee in one hand.
She balked. “You have coffee?”
Dominic looked down at his mug, then back up at her. “Uh… yeah? It’s ten o’clock in the morning. I’m already on my second cup.”
“My French press takes forever,” she said with a groan, even though her focus was still on her fallen tree. “Can I get a cup of yours?”
“Uh… sure?” Nothing about him looked sure, but then he motioned to the downed willow tree. “But what do you want to do about the tree?”
Amanda’s brain was blank. “Coffee, then tree.”
Dominic grinned and motioned for her to follow him back to his house. “Come on. There’s still a half-full pot. I hope you like dark roast.”
She followed him dutifully. “The darker, the better. Just like my soul.”
He laughed as he ascended the steps to his back porch and slid open the door to his kitchen. He motioned for her to go inside, and she stepped past him into Carl Murphy’s kitchen.
She hadn’t been in this kitchen for several years, and Carl had clearly done a remodel. The backsplash was brand-new, and the counters were absolutely gorgeous. That absolute asshole. They’d been neighbors for years, but clearly Carl had gone with someone else to redesign his kitchen. She didn’t remember any of this design coming across Clayton’s desk, either.
“That fucking bastard,” she said out loud before she could catch herself.
Dominic paused on his way to the coffee maker sitting on the edge of his kitchen island. “Uh… what?”
“Carl.” Amanda waved around his kitchen as she made a lap around the entire thing. “He remodeled the whole kitchen!”
“Okay?” Dominic seemed confused, but he pulled a mug out of the kitchen cabinet and began pouring her a cup of coffee. “I mean, I think he wanted to up the price when he planned to sell it.”
“Obviously,” she agreed, taking the mug from him as he extended it to her. She took a deep whiff of the delicious brew and then took a fast gulp that absolutely burned her tongue. “But he didn’t hire me to do it.”
The poor man seemed more confused. “You work in construction?”
Amanda shook her head. “Design. And I would have done a stellar job on this place. Nothing is even in the right spot.”
Dominic looked around the kitchen. “What do you mean? It seems fine to me.”
“It’s not.” Amanda pointed to the fridge. “I bet when you open the fridge, it completely blocks that entryway. The handles are on the wrong side. The island is too wide for this space, so the walkway looks smaller than it could be. And do you see the grout on the backsplash?”
“Yeah,” he replied.
“It doesn’t even match the tile,” she continued. “It stands out way too much—and not in a cool, edgy way, but just in a stupid way.”
“Well, damn.” Dominic offered a strained laugh. “Why don’t you tell me what you really think about the place I just sunk seven hundred thousand dollars into?”
She grimaced, suddenly remembering that people didn’t often enjoy unsolicited design opinions about their spaces. “Sorry. That’s my bad. I should shut up and just drink my coffee now.”
“No, please,” Dominic continued. “I’m fine with the feedback. Sounds like I should invest in a remodel at some point and make sure to hire you.”
Amanda felt a flutter in her stomach at the idea of working together. What was happening? She never felt that way. It must have been the excitement about a job all on her own. “That’s not going to happen as long as I’m still working at Clayton’s firm. He is in charge of all the designs, and I’m lucky to get a word in edgewise.”
Dominic didn’t respond immediately but nodded his head as if he understood. “Working under someone else always has its drawbacks. Like you get smashed in the face and they fire you.”
She gulped down more coffee and then cleared her throat. “You were fired?”
He shrugged, sipping on his coffee as well. “I mean, not in so many words. I wasn’t medically cleared to return, and it was strongly recommended I consider another path in life. Another injury could be the difference between my current situation and losing my sight entirely.”
There was no mistaking the look of anguish and pain that passed over his expression, but Amanda wasn’t about to point it out.
“And so, you moved to Heart Lake,” Amanda added, a sarcastic lilt to her tone. “As all ex–major leaguers do.”
He chuckled. “I have a lot of memories here.”
“Oh God, don’t tell me you’re a summer tourist,” she replied, trying to keep her tone light to avoid addressing the trauma he’d sprinkled into their conversation. “Because I know you never lived here. This is a small town, and everyone knows each other—except the flood of tourists we get every summer for water sports and Airbnbs.”
“Guilty as charged.” He finished his coffee and placed the mug back on the counter. “My mother and grandfather and I would spend two weeks every summer here. In fact, I learned last night that my grandfather might have spent more time here than I thought.”
Amanda’s eyes widened. “Oh, my God. You got a visit from the Heart Lake Welcoming Committee.”
Dominic tossed his hands up in the air. “Okay, so am I the one losing it or is it this place? Or do you guys actually send a wild woman to every newcomer’s door?”
“To be fair,” Amanda started, “Marvel’s cookies are delicious and one of the best things this town has to offer.”
“They are delicious,” he agreed. “But that’s still a low bar. All cookies are delicious.”
“You clearly haven’t tried my cookies,” she countered, still working toward finishing the rest of her mug of coffee. “If there’s one thing I can’t do, it’s bake. Cooking—I got that down. My flavor profiles would knock you out of this world. Baking, though? That’s science, and I was always a B student in science, at best. So believe me when I say—Marvel’s cookies are the best. Hands down.”
Dominic just shook his head, and a small grimace appeared on his face. “I’m pretty sure she had sex with my grandfather, so I don’t think her cookies will ever taste the same to me now.”
Amanda barked out a laugh. “Well, she is the welcoming committee, Dominic.”
“Yes, and now I know why my grandfather always felt so welcome here,” he groaned. He lifted his hand to the back of his neck and rubbed at his spine. “But enough about that mental image. Let’s talk about your dock.”
She glanced out the window at the fallen tree. “I’ll call someone to cut up the tree and remove it sometime today. I’m sure Tanner will help if he’s not on a job right now.”
“Who’s Tanner?” Dominic’s voice went an octave deeper, and if she wasn’t mistaken, he sounded irritated. “Is that your boyfriend?”
Amanda lifted one brow as she stared at him over the edge of her coffee mug. She didn’t hurry up and finish her gulp, but rather took her time swallowing the hot liquid. “Would that be a problem?”
He stood up straighter and lifted his chin. “I didn’t say that.”
She let the tension sit for a moment longer, and she wasn’t even sure why. Something about this moment, this connection, felt enticing and exciting and she didn’t want to squash it.
But finally, she cleared her throat. “Tanner is the husband of my cousin and best friend, and my other best friend’s brother.”
Now it was Dominic’s turn to raise one eyebrow.
“It’s a small town,” she added, her smile returning. “No blood relation between them, I promise. But Tanner runs a construction business, so I’m sure he could help.”
“I can help, too,” Dominic volunteered as both of them walked toward the back door and headed out onto the porch. “I can go grab some tools in town and rebuild the dock for you after the tree has been removed. Consider it my gift as your new neighbor.”
That was unexpected. “They teach carpentry in the major leagues now?”
He seemed to puff out his chest as they reached the broken dock and stood over the wreckage. “I was an Eagle Scout growing up. It’s like riding a bike.”
“No, it’s like building a dock,” she replied. “And if it’s not done correctly, it can be dangerous.”
“You can have your friend inspect it when I’m done if you’re worried about that, but I guarantee you he’ll give a glowing report.” Dominic smacked his hand against the horizontal trunk of the willow tree. “This sucker did some damage, but the framework is still there. It won’t be hard to rebuild.”
She wasn’t so sure, but she also wasn’t about to turn down free labor. “The Heart Lake Boat Parade is in a month, and the dock would need to be rebuilt by then. Would you be able to have it done by July third?”
He waved his hand like it was the easiest thing in the world. “Absolutely. I’ll have it done by July first, actually. Maybe even sooner.”
“Okay…” Amanda was still skeptical. He sounded way too confident and had way too few calluses to prove his construction skills. “I’ll get the tree taken away today, and if you want to start on the rebuild tomorrow… I guess that will be okay. Thank you.”
He grinned like he’d just won a prize. “Don’t mention it. It’ll be good to have something to distract me. I can use the work.”
Aside from the free labor part, she wasn’t sure why she’d agreed to let him do it. He clearly hadn’t done anything like this before, but there was something about him that seemed so eager to do it. It was like she didn’t want to burst his bubble. Plus, it was kind of cute that he even wanted to do it.
Cute? Who even was she? She never thought like that in the past, but she couldn’t help herself now.
“Well…” She pulled her robe closed a little tighter. “Thanks for the coffee. I’ve got to get to work to finish some staging on a house for sale off Lakewood Drive. I’m already an hour late.”
“Alcohol will do that to you,” he said with a grin.
She rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t that drunk last night.”
“That’s not what I saw,” he teased, then pulled his cell phone out of his pocket as it began to ring. “Sorry, this is my manager. I’ve got to take this.”
Normally, she’d want to curl up in a ball and die at being caught in a position like that, but there wasn’t anything shaming about the way he was saying it. Instead, she just said goodbye and flounced back to her cottage feeling like she was high on something she couldn’t pinpoint.
What the heck was happening to her?