Fix My Fall

by Carey Heywood

  One good thing that came out of all the drama surrounding my house was Brooke and Eli have been so busy convincing the kids that their house, and their grandparents’ houses, and their schools won’t get sucked into sinkholes to fight.

  Brooke comes over to give me a hug. “I never had a chance to thank you for how well you handled everything that night. Thank you.”

  I stare at my sister-in-law. “You don’t have to thank me for that.”

  She gulps and nods. “Trust me, I do.”

  Before I can talk to her more, she leads Aidan back into the den.

  My mom walks in, bearing an empty bowl. “Gideon just told me you’re going to help Spencer Hill find a house?”

  “Well hello to you too mom,” I greet.

  She huffs and sets the bowl on the counter before reaching for a bag of chips to refill it.

  “Yes, I met with him earlier today.”

  “Who’s Spencer Hill?” Noah asks.

  Our mom moves to throw the now empty bag away. “You had his father for English in tenth grade.”

  Noah still looks confused so I say, “He graduated one year ahead of me and tutored Gideon.”

  “Is he single?” My mother surprises no one by asking.

  “Mom.”

  She has the nerve to look offended. “Would you rather I call his mother and ask her?”

  Finley’s eyes widen while Noah chokes.

  “He’s a client, so please do not call his mom to find out if he’s single.”

  “I don’t see what the problem is. I’ve known her longer than you’ve known Spencer.”

  There’s no use arguing. “He’s single, but I promise you he’s not looking.”

  “No one is truly looking for someone until they find them.”

  “Good to know. Now, I’m going to go say hi to everyone else.”

  I make a hasty retreat before she can drive me crazy.

  Gideon is cringing when I join him in the den. “Sorry.”

  “Yeah, thanks for that. I should tell her you said you wanted to settle down to get you back.”

  He hangs his head. “I didn’t know she was going to go full matchmaker when I mentioned Spencer.”

  “Please, it’s our mother, assume she’ll always go full matchmaker.”

  Her response answers the age-old question of what’s worse, having a daughter who’s homeless or one who’s single.

  Ugh.

  Either way, as much as I love her, I’m not going back into the kitchen while she’s there. “Can you go get me a glass of wine?”

  4

  Spencer

  “Who is that?”

  My head turns from my computer screen to narrow my eyes at Duncan, who is looking over my shoulder. “It’s rude to pry.”

  My words don’t seem to faze him. “I’m a scientist. It’s in my very nature to be observant.”

  “Go observe the most recent galaxy images.”

  “Oh come on. I’ve been evaluating all of the recent images. I need a break from it.”

  “A nice brisk walk through the campus should suffice. Don’t forget to bundle up.”

  He stomps back over to his desk and slumps into his chair. “You’re no fun.”

  Leaning back in my chair, I turn toward him. “She’s my realtor.”

  He perks right back up. “I have a sudden desire to invest in real estate.”

  I turn back to my computer. “Shut up.”

  “Never. Just think, it’s the perfect set up. I’ll buy a house from her and then ask her out.”

  Time to point out the obvious. “You’re already married.”

  He straightens the collar of his shirt. “She won’t mind.”

  That has me turning back. “She won’t mind?”

  He frowns. “She lives in Peru. I doubt she’d notice.”

  Lifting my hand, I pull off my glasses and pinch the bridge of my nose. “Why does your wife live in Peru?”

  “My guess? She lives in Peru because I don’t.”

  “Are you pulling my leg?”

  He makes a show of examining his hands.

  “Fine, even if your wife wouldn’t mind, you’d be wasting your time trying to date her.”

  He nods. “She isn’t single.”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “Then what’s wrong with her?”

  I stare. “I never said anything was wrong with her.”

  He squints at me. “You’re telling me she’s single, has nothing wrong with her and you still haven’t asked her out?”

  “I don’t have time for this conversation.”

  It’s a lie. At this point, since 90% of our data is back and evaluated, I have nothing but time. If it was a topic I enjoyed, that is.

  “Why are you looking at her picture online if you’re not into her?”

  My hand goes to my mouse and I minimize the browser I had opened. “It’s not like that. I was going to email her.”

  “That you like her?”

  I close my eyes. “No, that I’m firing her.”

  He jumps from his chair with such force it rolls back, hitting the wall behind us. “Why would you fire her?”

  “Lots of reasons.”

  He folds his arms over his chest and I drag my hand down my face. “Let’s hear these reasons.”

  “My parents aren’t annoying me as much as they did the first couple of weeks I was here, there’s no inventory so even if I wanted to buy a house, I couldn’t.”

  When I don’t say anything else, he drops his arms. “Be patient. One or the other will change, I promise you. The market will be flooded with available houses in the spring and I’m certain your parents will annoy you enough to want your own place again soon.”

  What I didn’t tell him was, her presence unnerves me.

  “The concept of hiring someone to help me find a house is not logical. I have access to the internet and can easily navigate the listings on my own.”

  He taps the edge of his desk, an annoying habit he seems to do whenever he points out a flaw in my reasoning.

  “You were fully aware of that when you hired her in the first place.”

  The flaw in my reasoning.

  “True. However, there’s no point in my meeting with her today since I can plainly see the available listings have not changed.”

  “You never said you were going to see her today.”

  Damn.

  Lifting my glasses, I rub at my eye. “She asked to meet for coffee.”

  Retrieving his chair, he quickly sits back down. “As in a date?”

  Frowning I readjust my glasses until they’re back in place. “It’s not a date.”

  His brows lift. “How do you know that?”

  “It’s coffee, not dinner and a movie.”

  He shakes his head. “Dates can be anything.”

  “What do you know, your wife lives on another continent.”

  He shrugs and reaches out to grip the edge of his desk, pulling his chair back to it. “At least I managed to get married.”

  Her picture is posted next to the contact field on her website.

  I motion to it. “Women like her aren’t interested in guys like me.”

  Duncan’s forehead wrinkles. “Guys like you?”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “No, I don’t. You’re an attractive man—”

  I lift my hand. “Please stop.”

  He stands again and slams his hand down on his desk, making me jump. “You’re handsome, and brilliant and you need to know it.”

  “Duncan.”

  He moves closer to me. “So handsome.”

  I lift my hands to block him but he’s faster than I and leans over to hug me.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Just go with it.”

  My eyes drift up to the ceiling. “You can stop hugging me now.”

  “Nope, just a little longer.”

  He’s trying to be funny. Too bad it backfired and is annoying instead. “Duncan
.”

  Reluctantly, he releases me. “There, feel better?”

  “Worse actually.”

  He huffs, and then asks. “What time is your appointment?”

  Glancing down at my watch, I jump up. “Shit. I’m going to be late.”

  The email I was going to send will have to wait for another day. Or, I can tell her in person at our meeting.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow is Christmas Eve.”

  “And?”

  He laughs. “You’re too much Spencer. Look, if you want to work on Christmas Eve, that’s up to you, but you won’t see me here.”

  My family was never big on holidays so as far as I’m concerned, Christmas is just another day on the calendar.

  “I assume that means you won’t be here Christmas either.”

  He nods. “You would be correct.”

  With a shake of my head, I leave.

  Abby beats me to the coffee house, her head coming up as she watches my approach through the window. It’s the same one we met at last time.

  She surprises me by meeting me at the door. “How badly do you want coffee?”

  Was Duncan right? Is this some sort of date?

  “Excuse me?”

  “There’s a condo around the corner that’s going to come up for sale in the spring. The owner might be willing to sell early. Want to see it?”

  Kicking myself for thinking Duncan could be right, I nod. “Sure.”

  She wraps her red scarf tighter around her neck. “Let’s go.”

  I follow her from the coffee house and walk beside her.

  “You were vague on your price point. This condo will most likely list for one hundred and fifty thousand. Have you looked into financing already?”

  “I don’t need financing.”

  She rocks to a halt. “You intend to pay in cash?”

  Stopping as well, I reply, “Yes.”

  Her brows come together. “Is one fifty within it?”

  “I have four hundred thousand set aside.”

  She starts walking again. “Well, all righty then. Let’s go look at a condo.”

  Given the length of her legs, she has a surprisingly quick stride. One that I need to concentrate to keep up with.

  As promised, the building she takes me to is around the corner from the coffee shop. While I didn’t have a chance to partake in another cup today, it would be a perk to live close since I enjoyed the cup of decaf I had the last time.

  She pushes open the main door and I hold it for her. “Part of the reason I wanted you to see this condo is because it comes with private access to the roof.”

  “I don’t see many rooftop parties in my future.”

  She pauses in the foyer of the building, her hand loosening her scarf. “I thought you could set one of your telescopes up there.”

  I freeze.

  She laughs at my expression. “God, I feel stupid. You must have high tech stuff at the university you use.”

  “It’s not that. Yes, the university has telescopes more powerful than mine, but I do have some and I was surprised you would think to consider that in the properties you’d show me.”

  Her embarrassment melts away as a confident smile stretches across her face. “This is what I do. Now, as you probably noticed when we came in, this building does not have a key or passcode to get into the foyer. That’s something to keep in mind.”

  “Noted.”

  She leads me toward the elevator. “This building is four floors and has both this elevator and a freight elevator. There are four units on each of the first two floors and two larger units on each of the top two floors. The two fourth floor units each have private roof access.”

  What surprises me is she shares all of this information from memory. At no point since our arrival has she referred to notes. She obviously wasn’t lying when she confidently shared this is what she does. It’s interesting to see her in her element.

  When we reach the fourth floor, she knocks on the door.

  “Is the current owner still here?” I ask.

  She shakes her head and types something into her phone before pressing it to the lockbox hanging from the doorknob. “No one should be here but I’ve learned the hard way to knock just to be on the safe side.”

  Her words spark my curiosity. “What happened?”

  A pink flush creeps over her cheeks. “What hasn’t? Before I learned my lesson, buyers and I have walked in on anything from owners or tenants showering, to people having sex.”

  I can’t help but crack a small smile. “I don’t blame you for knocking.”

  She takes a key from the lockbox and opens the door. Reaching past her, I hold it for her to walk through, inhaling to catch the faint scent of her perfume as she moves past me.

  “Thanks.”

  Once we’re inside she locks the door behind us and turns to me. “What’s your first impression of the place?”

  When I don’t reply, she says, “Should I bust out my Vanna White impression to really show this puppy off?”

  She looks serious until she bursts out laughing, making me laugh as well.

  More relaxed now, my eyes roam across the space, cataloging pros and cons. “It’s alright.”

  Her lips twist as she looks at me. “Come on Spencer. I’m going to need more than that to go on.”

  Folding my arms across my chest, I stand my ground. “I’m currently living in my parents’ basement. Before that, I lived in the room above a garage for years. As long as my new place has a working kitchen and bathroom, I’ll be content.”

  She turns, a mischievous smile on her face. “You’ll be thrilled to know this condo has both. We’ll start here though. The entry opens into the combined living and dining space. Sadly, the fireplace isn’t functional but, as you can see, the windows do give you a decent view of historic Woodlake.”

  Moving closer to the window, I check out the view.

  “And, if you come this way, you can take a look at the working kitchen.”

  Walking behind her, my lips tip up at the teasing quality of her words.

  “Do you have a preference between an electric or a gas stove?”

  I shake my head. “I’m not much of a cook so it wouldn’t matter.”

  She nods. “Would you like your kitchen to have a dishwasher?”

  I wonder what she’d think if she knew I mainly ate takeout. “I can live without one.”

  She shows me the bathroom next. It doesn’t surprise her when I step into the tub to gauge the height of the showerhead.

  From where it’s currently mounted, its stream won’t reach higher than my neck. “This is an issue.”

  She adjusts the nozzle so it’s aimed at my chest. “You sure you don’t take all of your showers kneeling?”

  I bite back a laugh and shake my head.

  “Short person perk. Showerheads are rarely an issue for us. Lucky for you, having the showerhead mounted higher would not be an expensive fix if you bought this place.”

  From the bathroom, she shows me the two bedrooms. Neither is awe-inspiring but both of them are functional.

  “Now, the roof.”

  I’m not surprised she’s saved the feature I’m most intrigued by for last. We leave the apartment, Abby locking it up behind us, and use a second key to access a separate stairway. Twelve steps lead us to the roof door.

  Once there, I can’t help it, I look up. Cloud cover blocks out my view of the night sky. Comfortable with my place in the universe, I don’t need the sky to be clear to know the position of hundreds of stars. Still, this rooftop offers a view clear from any trees. I scan the buildings around this one to get an idea of how much light they create. For the telescopes I have, the darker the better for clear images. Only downside to this place is being right on top of and next to my neighbors.

  Earlier, while we toured the unit, I could hear the TV through the wall of the other unit on this floor. That could get old after a while and as much as I like t
he roof, the thin walls are a deal breaker for me.

  “Well, what do you think?”

  She leans against the doorway, wind tugging strands of her hair free, causing tendrils to dance around her unchanged face. What I would have given in high school to share a moment like this with her.

  “This is pretty cool.”

  Her face lights up. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  “The space is great, but I’m not sold on the idea of buying a condo. I think I’d like to look at some single-family homes.”

  Tilting her head, she motions for us to leave the roof. “It’s cold up here. We can talk more inside.”

  Kicking myself for not noticing the way she was shivering, I close the distance between us. “Of course.”

  I wait as she locks the roof access and double checks the lock on the door to the unit before returning both keys to the lockbox. While she does this, a heated conversation starts next door, causing both of us to turn our heads.

  Each word is clear through the thin walls. “It’s not my fault you have a limp dick.”

  Abby’s eyes widen and she presses the call button for the elevator.

  “I asked you not to talk about my erectile dysfunction that way.”

  Pressing the button again, she looks ready to burst out laughing.

  “You shouldn’t have criticized my cooking.”

  It’s not until we’re in the elevator that she says, “I have a feeling I know why you’d like to focus on single-family homes.”

  The teasing tone is back in her voice, making her words sound like we’re in on the same joke. I’m no stranger to magnetic fields and the effects of gravity. Her very presence behaves like both, pulling me in.

  “The roof access was a good surprise though. I appreciate you noticing that detail and showing it to me.”

  We walk out of the building together.

  “That didn’t take as long as I thought it might. Still want that cup of coffee?”

  The coffee house also serves food but mainly of the breakfast, Danish variety.

  “Have you had dinner?”

  She looks down at her watch. “I’m supposed to be meeting Gideon for dinner in an hour.”

  I make a noncommittal noise. I knew it. I knew Duncan was wrong and that she wasn’t interested in me. She’s polite, friendly and just doing her job. Any pull I felt earlier is clearly a residual emotion tied to the crush I had on her in high school.