Sawdust and Mistletoe

by Michelle Pennington

  Since she was up on a ladder, Ava could only see the soles of her boots. Olivia leaned over, holding her straight blond hair out of her face. “That? You mean the handyman? You bet I do. Everything about that guy is certifiably for real. You two would look so cute together.”

  Panic rose up inside her. “Olivia, stop. You’re putting ridiculous ideas in my head.”

  “Girl, I’m not putting them there. That six-foot-plus tower of brawny muscles and blue eyes put them there. Now, go put on some lip gloss before he gets back.”

  “No way. That’s a stupid idea.”

  “If you say so, but if I wasn’t already in love with Chris, I wouldn’t give you a chance at him.”

  Ava laughed. “Oh yeah? Who says I want a chance with him?”

  “The way your cheeks are red says it loud and clear. You’re all buzzy feeling aren’t you?”

  “Sometimes I wish I could fire you.”

  “Sorry. Only Marcia can fire me. Start your own design firm and I’ll come work for you just so you can.”

  “Deal,” Ava said before hurrying back inside.

  For the next 30 minutes, she concentrated very hard on finishing the giant tree in the great room, but she felt unsettled and jittery waiting for Hunter to get back. She seriously needed to get a grip. Not only was the guy working with her, but he didn’t even live in Arkansas. And he wasn’t her type.

  Well, maybe he was exactly her type physically. Standing next to him made her feel dainty and feminine. But if he couldn’t even hold down a steady job or stay in one place very long, that was a major red flag. Her dad was the same way and she was not going to take a chance on going through what her mom had suffered. Hunter might be easy on the eyes, and she wouldn’t mind flirting with him, but she wasn’t interested in anything more.

  With that decided, she stepped back from the tree with her head tilted to one side. She looked it over, checking for bare spots with no ornaments, or overcrowded branches, or uneven color distribution.

  “It looks great,” a deep voice said beside her.

  She turned quickly to look at Hunter. He stood behind her, staring at the tree. He held several bags from the local hardware store in one hand and cash in the other.

  “Do you really think so?” she asked. “It’s hard to get everything even on such a big tree.”

  He nodded, still looking at the tree. “I mean, it’s not my style, but it certainly looks fancy.”

  She smiled. He was wearing a red and black plaid shirt, a well-used tool belt, and weathered work boots. “You mean you’re not into gold and glitter?”

  “More like, I’m not into designer trees. I like homemade garland and ornaments that mean something. But, I’m sure your client will like this.”

  “Well, let’s hope so.”

  “Oh, here’s your change.” As he spoke, Hunter held out his fist full of money. Ava opened her hand for it and his fingers brushed against her open palm. She nearly jumped at the jolt of sensation, and he looked… intrigued.

  Ava swallowed and her throat felt tight. “Well… let’s get to work, shall we? I have another tree to decorate, and curtains to hang before lunch.”

  Hunter followed her into the sitting room where he needed to patch the hole. The rust spotted, dark green toolbox near the wall must belong to him. He squatted in front of it to find the tools he needed, and Ava realized with dismay that she was staring at him.

  “So, looks like you’re ready to go,” she said, trying to cover up her awkwardness.

  “Yep.”

  “Great.” she turned and tried to organize her thoughts. The tree, right.

  All of the decorations Ava had carefully chosen for this tree were waiting in a box on a nearby chair. She’d decided to go with an ice and berries theme. All of the ornaments were either clear or frosted glass and she had a pile of silk greenery with red berries to tuck into the branches.

  As she worked, carefully arranging the ornaments in a diamond pattern to make sure they were evenly spaced, Ava watched Hunter out of the corner of her eye. It was clear that he knew what he was doing. With confident hands, he cleaned out the debris, smoothed the edges of the broken drywall, and cut a piece of wire mesh to fit the hole. It wasn’t long before he had it all spackled and drying.

  He stood back to look at it, and Ava smiled at how similar their stances were when checking their work. Completely aside from his good looks, she was glad he’d been the one sent by the temp agency. Anyone who cared about the quality of their work as he obviously did was someone she wanted to work with.

  “Looks good,” she said. “When can we paint over it?”

  “You should give it at least until tomorrow.”

  “No problem. Want to move on to curtains? It’s not really your skill set, but Olivia is still outside and it would save me a few trips up and down the ladder.”

  “Sure. I’m here to do whatever you want.”

  Ava couldn’t help it. She raised her eyebrows at him and tried not to laugh.

  He chuckled. “You know what I mean.”

  Ava walked back into the other room to get the ladder. “You should be careful throwing offers around like that. Someone might take you up on it.”

  “I’ll carry it for you,” Hunter said. He didn’t wait for her to reply before taking the ladder. “Where to?”

  “Uh, thanks. Put it by the windows.

  With Hunter’s help, she soon had all six curtain panels up but needed to distribute them evenly along the rods. She had to stand on the second step from the top of the ladder and lean way out over the tree to reach the curtains.

  “Careful,” Hunter cautioned.

  “I know. I should have done the curtains before the tree so we could put the ladder in the middle. Too late now though. Can you hold it steady for me?”

  With one hand on the wall above the window frame, she was able to reach out far enough to get the curtains positioned the way she needed. It was only when she finished that she realized she wasn’t going to be able to right herself again easily. Inch by inch, she’d stretched too far. “I think I’m stuck.”

  “I can tell. Don’t worry, I’ll catch you if you start to fall.”

  “How will you reach me? I’m right over the tree.”

  “You need to push off backward from the wall. If you fall too far, I’m right behind you.”

  “What is this? One of those crazy trust exercises? I don’t even know you.”

  “Tell you what, I’m coming up there.”

  Ava felt the vibrations of him stepping up the ladder, but didn’t dare crane around to see what he was doing. Then she felt a strong, sturdy hand touch her waist.

  “Now, straighten up, and I’ll help steady you.”

  Taking a deep breath, Ava pushed off from the wall and began to lean back towards the ladder. Without the support of his hand pulling her back though, she wouldn’t have been able to make it.

  She gripped the top of the ladder, letting her heart rate slow down a little while Hunter moved down a couple of steps until his head was level with her shoulder.

  “Are you steady now?” he asked.

  Feeling awkward and clumsy, she turned so she was angled towards him and said, “Yes, I’m fine. I promise I don’t usually have any problems on ladders. Today has been weird.”

  He smiled. “I’m glad I was here.”

  “Me too.”

  Until he moved, she was stuck, pressed between him and the ladder. He didn’t seem to be in a hurry to get down.

  “It’s a nice view from up here,” he said, looking around.

  She laughed. “Are you planning to stay up here all day?”

  “There are worse things I could be doing.”

  Before she could say anything, the sharp, staccato sound of heels on hardwood floors, caught her attention. “Someone’s here,” Ava said. “It’s probably my boss. Shoot. Get down. Get down.”

  Hunter raised an eyebrow but did as she asked. Ava followed him down, still facing forward, but
was in such a hurry that she put her foot down on top of his before he could move it off the bottom rung. It threw her off balance and she fell into Hunter. He stepped back and tripped over his toolbox, and they both went down, with her landing on top of him.

  When her boss, Marcia, came in, she found Ava sprawled on top of Hunter with his arms around her and their legs tangled together. When Ava looked up, Marcia was frozen in the doorway with her mouth hanging open.

  “What in the world?” she said.

  Ava didn’t even try to explain. She dropped her head down on Hunter’s chest and closed her eyes. This was not happening.

  Chapter Three

  If anyone had told him this morning that he would find himself on the floor with a gorgeous blonde locked in his arms before lunchtime, Hunter would have been more enthusiastic about going to work. Even though he could tell she was not as thrilled about their current predicament, he didn’t do anything to help her untangle herself and get up. She managed it anyway.

  “Come on, Marcia,” Ava said. “We just fell getting off the ladder. You know me better than that.”

  As Hunter got up and adjusted his shirt, he felt the woman’s eyes on him. He looked up to find her eyes sweeping him over with slow, curious thoroughness. He raised an eyebrow and stared back.

  “I’ve never known you to be so clumsy around Harold,” the Marcia lady said. Her meaning was clear and Hunter could tell from the blush on Ava’s cheeks that she didn’t miss it either.

  “Can I help you with something?” Ava asked her.

  Marcia strolled into the sitting room and dropped her coat over the back of the couch as she looked around the room with a critical eye. She was dressed in a pants suit, and heavy gold earrings glinted in her ears. Hunter judged her to be in her late thirties, but since she wore so much makeup, it was hard to tell for sure.

  Marcia’s lips pursed a second before she said, “I came to check on your progress. You know I like to keep tabs on things when you’re working with one of my biggest clients.”

  Sensing the tension between them, Hunter turned his back and began cleaning up his tools and trash. He wanted to go stand behind Ava so she knew she had backup, but he was the new guy here. Still, he kept his ear tuned in to their conversation.

  “Naturally,” Ava said. “I’m on schedule to complete this job by Thursday, the day before their Christmas party.”

  “You still have two days left on this one? Ava, you know I have the Trundell account scheduled for this week too.”

  “I plan to be able to work both jobs on Thursday. I’ll only have some finishing touches to do here, and I can spend most of my time at the Trundell’s. They’ve already approved my design and almost everything I’ll need is already in their garage.”

  Ava’s voice was all business, with none of the teasing warmth he’d heard in it before. He was impressed by her crisp response, but apparently, Marcia wasn’t.

  “See, this is why you aren’t ready to take on your own clients yet. You simply do not have the organizational skills to run a business. This job should have only taken you three days.”

  “It didn’t have anything to do with my organization,” Ava said. Her voice was tight now. “It is hardly my fault that Mr. Garland trashed the big tree in a drunken rage and smashed a hole in the wall.”

  Hunter was running out of things to do, so he stood up and turned to watch. If they wanted him to leave, they were going to have to say something.

  Marcia was looking at Hunter again. “Our clients’ private lives are not open for discussion in front of people.”

  Ava waved a hand towards him. “Marcia, this is Hunter Newman. The temp agency sent him over. He’s the one who’s been patching up the evidence. It’s kind of hard to keep it from him.”

  Stepping towards him, Marcia held out her long, bony hand. “Thanks for coming over, Mr. Newman. I’m Marcia McBrady, owner of McBrady Design Associates.”

  “Happy to be here,” Hunter said, glancing back at Ava. He could have sworn she rolled her eyes behind her boss’s back, but in a flash, she was back to her professional self.

  Standing unnaturally straight, Ava said, “I really need to get back to work, Marcia. Is there anything you need from me, or do you just want to look around?”

  “I’ll look around for a minute and text you any notes I have. You do need to clean up the workspace. What if Mrs. Garland was to walk in right now?”

  “She’s not due home from her trip until tomorrow.”

  “Well, don’t get sloppy,” Marcia said, before walking off.

  When she was out of the room, Ava looked at him. Her shoulders were high and her posture stiff. If he could have thought of anything to say to make her relax, he would have. Instead, he winked to let her know he was in her corner.

  She sighed and shook her head as she stepped close to him. She leaned in and whispered, “Remind me to kick your butt later.”

  “For what?”

  “For being so good looking. If that had happened with Harold, it wouldn’t have been nearly so embarrassing.”

  “Or nearly as much fun,” he pointed out.

  ***

  That evening, as he got back to his brother’s small house, Hunter got the best greeting in the world. His three-year-old niece yelled at the top of her lungs, “Unco Unter! Mommy, he’s back.” When she ran and jumped up and down with her arms in the air, he handed Krista the grocery bag with the ground beef he’d promised, then picked Molly up under her arms and swung her high above his head. “Hey, Molly. How’s my girl?”

  She shrieked with laughter, then said, “That’s fun. Again.”

  As he obliged her, Krista looked on and smiled. “I’m glad you’re back. Molly’s been dying to see you. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that you promised her a treat.”

  Hunter sat Molly down and smiled at her. “Did I say I’d bring you a treat?”

  She nodded and bounced on her tiptoes. “Yes. Where is it? In your pocket?” As she asked, she pulled on his pocket, trying to climb his leg to see inside.

  He laughed and pulled out a cherry sucker.

  She grabbed it and hopped over to her mom. “Will you open it for me, please?”

  Krista opened it and handed it over. “Remember to say thank you.”

  “Thank you,” she said obediently before popping it in her mouth. She pulled it out a second later to ask, “Will you play with me?”

  “Absolutely. Let me go wash up first.”

  She followed Hunter into the bathroom and watched from the open door as he grabbed for the soap and turned on the water. “Get the tops too,” she told him.

  He laughed and made a big production of following her instructions, while she watched him with her sucker in her mouth. It was clear she’d been well trained on proper hand washing technique.

  “Where’s the towel?” he asked, pretending like he didn’t see it.

  “Right there!” She pointed at the hand towel hanging by the sink and giggled when he acted surprised to see it.

  “How’d I do?” Hunter held out his hands for inspection.

  Her little fingers grabbed his and pulled them closer to her face. “All clean!”

  “Ok, let’s go.”

  She kept hold of his fingers so he had to stoop over as she led him back to the living room where she had her favorite toys laid out. Her two baby dolls and their blankets were on the couch. She held a finger to her lips and said, “Shhhh!

  He nodded but couldn’t help teasing her. “Whah! Whah!”

  His pretend baby cry wouldn’t impress many people, but Molly accepted it. “Oh no. Baby wake up!” She grabbed one of the babies and held it up against her shoulder, gently bouncing it.

  “Whah! Whah!” she said.

  Hunter knew his cue when he heard it. He picked up the other doll and cuddled it in his arms.

  The front door opened just then and his brother, Josh, came in.

  “Hey, Hunter. How’d your day go?”

  �
��Good. I got a gig working for an interior designer.”

  “Really? Huh. So, how was it?”

  He couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face. “It was all right.”

  Josh narrowed his eyes and put his briefcase down. “That smile can only mean one thing. Let me guess. She’s young, single, and pretty.”

  “Who?” Hunter asked, trying to sound innocent.

  “Your boss.”

  “She’s not my boss. Technically, I think my boss is the temp agency. She’s more like my supervisor.”

  “What’s her name?”

  “Ava.”

  “So, are you going back tomorrow?”

  “Yes, and for the rest of the week most likely.”

  “Well, you had better luck than I did.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  He shrugged. “There’s always tomorrow, I guess.”

  “You can come work with me.”

  “I could and I will if I don’t get a job before our savings run out. But I worked hard to get my degree, and I want to use it.”

  Hunter nodded his head as Krista came into the room.

  “No luck?” she asked Josh. When he shook his head, she sighed and went to give him a hug. Not satisfied with that though, he pulled her down onto his lap.

  “That’s enough. Your brother is here.” she said, pulling back from his kiss.

  “I agree. Spare me,” Hunter said, making a disgusted face.

  Josh laughed. “You’re just jealous. Maybe you should go kiss Ava.”

  His brother was teasing him, but once the thought was in Hunter’s head, his pulse picked up just imagining it. But he kept that to himself.

  “Who’s Ava?” Krista asked.

  “His boss.”

  “I told you, she’s my supervisor.”

  Krista was grinning at him. “Is she pretty?”

  “Gorgeous.”

  “Is she single?”

  “As far as I can tell. No ring anyway. I don’t know how though.”

  Krista stood up and grabbed his arm, pulling him behind her into the kitchen. “Come on and help me with dinner. I want details.”