Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Nut and Bolts did pretty good business, for an independently owned hardware store in a smallish town. But Garrett had to admit, as he pulled his truck into the parking lot on Tuesday morning, it was the first time he’d seen someone waiting for him before the shop even opened.
He jumped down from his truck and made his unhurried way toward the front door, reusable coffee mug in one hand, keys jangling in the other.
The waiting person was writing feverishly in a little notebook on her lap.
It was only when he got closer and she looked up that he realized it was Eleanor, the woman he kept finding himself insulting.
Do not say anything rude to this woman again, he told himself sternly.
“Uh, hey,” came out instead.
Inwardly, Garrett rolled his eyes. He wasn’t sure that was better.
Eleanor drew in a deep breath and blinked up at him, almost as though part of her was surprised to find him here, in front of his own store, during business hours. She shook her head, like she was clearing away cobwebs.
“Sorry,” she said. “Late night. Hi.”
Now that she mentioned it, she did look a little tired, although not necessarily weary. No, she looked energized, like she’d been awake over something good, something exciting.
And Garrett needed to stop thinking about this woman’s sleeping habits, or indeed about any kind of habits of hers, right now.
She waited while he unlocked the front door and switched on the lights. He wouldn’t have said she waited patiently, as there was irrepressible energy about her, even as she was just standing there. It made him curious, darn it. He did not want to be curious.
Still, professional curiosity was okay, right? It wasn’t getting involved if he just asked why she was in his shop, was it? That was just good customer service.
Garrett decided not to think about how he had never cared about customer service a day in his life.
“So, what brings you in?” he asked as casually as he knew how.
Eleanor’s smile was blindingly bright. Garrett cursed himself. This was not information that was helpful to him. He did not need to see her look so pretty and shiny with excitement.
“Well,” she said, her voice almost shy, the tone at odds with the way she looked like she was practically vibrating with whatever had gotten her so hopped up. “You’re going to think I’m crazy.”
“Hoo boy,” he said, shocked to hear his own voice coming out almost teasing.
She made the most adorable little face at him. Garrett was just furious with himself for noticing.
“Okay, so you remember my house?”
“You mean the place where you beaned me with a shelf? Yeah, you didn’t hit me hard enough to affect my memory.”
Goodness gracious, he was teasing her. Teasing her. That was only a step or two away from flirting! Garrett did not flirt. Absolutely not.
This time, she scowled, and, alas, it was also adorable.
“Ha ha, you’re so funny,” she deadpanned. “I already said I was sorry about that. Anyway, I’m going to… turn the bottom floor into a bookshop.”
She said it with such sweet earnestness, like she was seeking his approval.
And Garrett supposed it wasn’t necessarily a bad idea.
He had pretty much read his way through the spy thriller section at the library, and now, when they got new ones, he had to wait for about a million years while people who were faster at getting their names on the hold list got through it.
He wouldn’t mind being able to get his hands on his favorite genre a little bit faster.
But thinking about the woman who had fumbled with putting a shelf in correctly deciding to undertake a massive renovation on her own? That part, he was not so sure about.
“I wouldn’t say I think you’re crazy,” he said, trying for diplomacy. “But, uh, you remember the sink, right?”
Her scowl grew more ferocious. Like a kitten.
“Yes, I remember the sink, you big jerk,” she said without any real heat. “This is not going to be like that.”
“Because you’re planning to hire professionals?” he put in hopefully.
“For… some of it?” she added in an unconvincing way that did not particularly inspire confidence.
“Eleanor,” Garrett sighed, before realizing this was the first time he’d ever said her name out loud.
He liked the feel of it when he strung the syllables together.
“I have to say again: do you remember the sink? Because I don’t know if you deciding to undertake a major conversion to turn a residential building into a commercial one is… the best idea…”
He trailed off as she gave him a determined look. Garrett, despite himself, was impressed by that look.
“I’m going to do it,” she said, and he wondered if she was trying to convince herself as much as him. “I’m going to make it work. I know that I won’t be able to do everything by myself. I’m not a professional contractor. I do know that. But some things? I can do some things. I can learn.”
Well, okay then.
He might have been compelled by her fire, but he didn’t necessarily want her to be able to tell that he was so compelled. It was bad enough that he knew it.
He turned toward the front counter, placing down the coffee cup he was still holding. He hadn’t even made it properly past the front door before he’d gotten caught up in Eleanor’s whirlwind.
“Right,” he said firmly, leaving his back to her. That was rude, even for him, but he was stretching his limits trying to stay out of her business. What was it about this woman that poked at his defenses like this? It wasn’t like he’d never seen a beautiful woman before.
“What’s your first project?” he asked. “I’ve got most of the usual equipment here, but for anything specialty, I’ll have to order it for you.
Stuff usually arrives in… oh, three or four days, depending on what you’re looking for.
Maybe a little longer if it’s backordered, but that doesn’t come up too much, to tell you the truth. ”
“Well, I have another sink to fix, and then I’m going to do some electrical work—”
“What?” Alarmed, he whirled around. Plumbing and electrical? She was going to end up getting herself killed!
“Eleanor you—” He spotted the gleam of humor in her eye. “Woman, are you teasing me?” he demanded. He sounded more entertained than annoyed.
Her innocent expression collapsed into a flurry of laughter.
“Sorry, I couldn’t resist,” she said. “No, I’m not doing electrical work. That much I know is for the professionals. I’m just going to redo the roof…”
“You can’t trick me twice, Eleanor,” he said tartly.
She was not repentant in the least. “Okay, okay, fine. You got me. I’m just going to hang a door.
I need one with a decent lock, because it’ll separate my living space from the business space.
I looked it up, and the internet said that I’d need hinges, a drill to make the holes, and all the hardware that goes in the doorknob.
I thought I’d add a chain lock for extra nighttime security. Does that sound about right to you?”
Part of Garrett, the part that had earned the reputation as a local grouch, was annoyed with how reasonable the plan was.
“Yes, that sounds like you know what you need,” he said begrudgingly. “Anything else?”
“I want to replace the paned windows in the downstairs bedroom with picture windows,” she said, this time sounding a bit less confident. “But I’m a little nervous about the glass, if I’m telling the truth. What do you think?”
“Replacing a window isn’t too bad,” he said. “But with an old house like yours, you’re likely to find that the casing isn’t a standard size. You don’t have pictures of the window frame and all that, do you?”
“No, but I have measurements,” she said. “Will those help?”
She tilted the notebook and showed him neat columns of numbers and sketches of dimensions above the more hectic scrawl of the notes she’d been jotting as he’d walked up. She’d taken detailed measurements, he admitted, and her art was pretty good.
“Oh, yeah, I can work with that. I’ll have to order it. I don’t keep big glass in stock, since it doesn’t sell often enough to be worth the shelf space. I can have it delivered to your place. I don’t charge for local deliveries above a certain cost threshold, and the window will pass it.”
She grinned. “That would be amazing. The door stuff you have here, though?”
He nodded. “I should. I guess if you don’t like any of the doors we have in stock, you could order a different one, but we have a few options…
” He moved through the store with the ease of many years’ practice, grabbing the things she’d need.
When he finally rung up her purchases, she had a big bag full of things, and a door, which he helped her strap securely onto the top of her car.
She’d asked several smart questions about installing the door, ones that had made him think that she’d have better luck with this project, and potentially any ones after, than she’d experienced with the sink.
The thought was bittersweet, he found. As he bid her farewell, he almost smiled after her. Her energy was infectious. Her excitement almost became his excitement. He wanted the project to go well for her. It would be good for Eleanor, and it would be good for Magnolia Shore.
But part of him couldn’t help but hope that she would have just a few more problems. Because maybe then he’d arrive to find her on his doorstep again, seeking help or advice.
Maybe she’d even ask him to come by and show her how to fix something up.
It wasn’t like he hadn’t done that for half the town already.
It wouldn’t be that unusual or anything.
Even if it would, he had to admit, he wanted to help out. If only because he hoped to see another one of those bright, sunshine smiles.