by Debby Mayne
“Take a look around,” Jill told them. “If you see something you like, I’ll be glad to help you. Or if you have something in mind that you don’t see, I’ll write it down and call you if anything like it comes in.”
The woman beamed. “Thanks so much.” Turning to the man, she said, “C’mon, honey. I can already tell this is my favorite antique store.”
By the time they’d gone from one side of the front sales floor to the other, the woman had piled the man’s arms with so many trinkets and knickknacks, he couldn’t have held more if he’d wanted to. Jill came to their rescue.
“Here—let me take those things so you can shop some more. Have you been upstairs?”
The woman’s face lit up. “There’s more?”
Jill nodded. “I have a whole floor of nothing but ceramic and porcelain.”
As soon as the couple went upstairs, Ed came out from behind the back wall. “I was wrong about this place.”
Jill jumped. He’d startled her. “What?”
“I just said I was wrong. When I first walked in here, I thought this place was doomed to failure. I’d never seen so much junk under one roof in my life.”
She felt an overwhelming sense of pride, not to mention the fact that she enjoyed his praise.
Before she had a chance to comment, he continued. “Apparently you’ve found a niche market, and because of that you’ll be quite successful.” The respect in his voice took some of the bite out of his first comment.
“You really think so?”
He nodded. “If you can keep your head above water for the first couple of years, I have no doubt this place will be a raging success.”
Tilting her head to one side, she squinted as she studied him. “How would you know this sort of thing?”
“Business experience,” he replied as he turned his back on her. “Lots of it.”
❧
Ed thought she knew who he was, but apparently not. He could tell she thought he was just a neighborhood handyman.
His business, Mathis Construction, just happened to be the most successful home improvement company in north Georgia. His specialty was restoring old homes. Only recently he had decided to develop a brand-new neighborhood up in the Ackworth area, but the zoning would take months, which freed him up to do odd jobs here and there. He also welcomed a break from the long ten- and twelve-hour days spent working on a project of that magnitude. Handy work was something he actually enjoyed for a change of pace. Ed had figured he’d take a break and spend more time with his twin daughters, who were becoming a huge handful. He’d accepted this short-term job as a favor to his friend Josh, who said a very sweet, young entrepreneur needed a little help getting started. Now he found himself wondering about her spiritual side. She seemed defensive and troubled.
He wanted to run before getting involved with her, but his conscience and faith wouldn’t let him. She might be good with customers, but this place was ready to be condemned.
The whole place was falling apart. The first thing he’d noticed was how the wooden planks of the porch floor were rotten—a lawsuit waiting to happen. The inside wasn’t any better. He’d seen evidence of termites, but he wasn’t yet sure if any live ones were in the building.
Another thing Ed needed to talk to her about was holding on to her profits. He’d overheard her offering huge discounts to people who seemed willing to buy at full price.
With the drywall and two-by-fours lined up, Ed began ripping away the existing drywall, exposing everything behind it. That was when he saw how the wiring was brittle and cracking in some places. And there they were. Live termites. If they were localized to one area, they could be spot treated. But if they were as bad as he’d seen in other houses, she’d need to have this place tented.
He took a step back and inspected what was in front of him. It was much worse than he’d thought. Most likely the whole place needed rewiring, a project he’d have to subcontract out to a licensed electrician. From the looks of things, this house hadn’t been the best investment for a young businesswoman who didn’t know a thing about repairs. He wondered why the bank had allowed the loan to go through with all the problems he spotted.
Ed narrowed his eyes as he considered his options. Should he repair the wall and ignore the wiring? No, he couldn’t do that. Should he tell Jill what he’d noticed and duck? Her stress level was already high enough. Then there was the other option, one he’d tried to push from his mind. Plenty of people from church would help out if he asked them to, but somehow he doubted the prickly Jill would accept that offer.
“Something wrong?” she asked as she came around and caught him deep in thought.
Ed’s heart twisted as he noticed the expectant look on her face. She was waiting for an answer.
Two
Her initial reaction was exactly what he’d expected. She admitted she’d put all her money into the place, and it was paid for free and clear, so she hadn’t gone through the traditional bank financing. The owner had obviously sold it to her “as is” and rushed her through the process, which should have alerted her to something being wrong. But it was too late to go into that now.
Her face turned a deep shade of red. Then she offered a sheepish smile.
“I should have had this place inspected before I closed on it,” she said softly. “I bet you think I’m stupid.”
“No, I don’t think you’re stupid.” He paused and held her gaze until she quickly looked away. “Just very eager to go into business for yourself.”
She swallowed hard. “Thank you for understanding.”
Sensing she needed her space, Ed stepped outside and called his best friend from church, an electrician he’d met on a job years ago. He explained the situation. “Any way you can come right over?” he asked.
“I’m just now leaving today’s job. I’ll be there in a half hour,” Matt said.
“Be careful,” Ed warned. “She’s fragile.”
“She? You mean the shop?”
“Yeah, that too, but I was talking about the owner.”
Matt chuckled. “I can handle fragile women. Trust me.”
Ed hung up and said a prayer of thanks for his friend. Then he prayed for more guidance with Jill.
When Matt arrived, Ed left him to inspect the wiring while he moved on to the next area that needed repairing.
“You sure you wanna cover this?” Matt asked after a few minutes. “It’ll cost you some bucks.”
Ed looked at the frayed wires Matt held in both hands. Slowly he nodded.
Matt grinned. “She must be pretty special, Ed. I had no idea you were getting serious about some girl. How long has this been going on?”
“Nothing’s going on, Matt. I just met her this morning.”
“Whoa!” Matt said as he took a step back. “Run that one by me again.”
“You heard me.”
“Why are you about to plunk down some hefty change to rewire this house, then? She hired you to do work for her, which means she’s supposed to pay you. Not the other way around.”
A long silence fell between the men. “Yes, I know,” Ed finally replied. “Just wait until you get to know her. You’ll see.”
Matt chuckled. “Okay, then. First I have to pull out all the existing wires, then snake new ones through to the same locations. And most likely the breaker box will need replacing, too.”
Ed knew Matt would come to the rescue.
“There isn’t a breaker box. This house is old, Matt. It still has fuses.”
“Fuse box has never been replaced?”
“Nope.”
“Then we’ll definitely have to put in a breaker box.” He rocked back on his heels, then rubbed his neck. “Seeing as how you’re doing this for charity, I’ll donate my time and just charge you for materials.”
“Donate your time for what?” a female voice said from the doorway.
Ed glanced up to see Jill staring at him, a curious look on her face. He’d thought she was upstairs, helpin
g some customers. Obviously not.
Matt shot Ed a panic-stricken glance, then turned away, leaving Ed to do damage control. “Uh. . .”
Narrowing her gaze, Jill shook her head. “I’m not asking for charity. I pay my way. Nothing’s free.”
Ed held out his hands. “C’mon, Jill. It’s not that big a deal. We’re just tryin’ to help. We do that a lot for each other.”
“Yeah, but you’ve got a friendship for who knows how long. I just met both of you.”
“How long do we have to know each other before we can say we’re friends?” Ed challenged. “Just because you and I only met today doesn’t make us any less friends, does it?”
Jill didn’t say anything as he tried to find the right words.
Finally she sighed. “Maybe we can work something out.”
“Work something out?” Ed asked.
“Yeah,” she replied. “Like a two-way deal. If you and this guy”—she said, nodding toward Matt, who was pretending not to listen—“want to do some work for me, then I want to do something for you in return.”
“Like what?”
“I can cook.”
Matt suddenly spun around. “And I like to eat. It’s a deal.”
With a shrug Ed said, “Okay, sounds like a pretty good plan. We do the work around here and only charge for materials. You can cook a meal for us.”
“Not just a meal,” she said slowly. “Dinner for a month.”
Ed thought about his daughters and his responsibility of feeding them each night. Oh, well, he’d work out something. For now he’d be agreeable.
“Fine,” he said with a grunt.
“Sounds good,” Matt said as he backed away, moving toward the door. “I’ll see ya first thing in the mornin’, Ed.”
After he was gone, Jill closed her eyes and blew out a deep breath. “You okay?” Ed asked.
She nodded. “How bad is it?”
“The wiring in this house is shot, Jill, just like quite a few other things. I don’t think the plumbing’s in good shape, either.”
She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes.
“Everything will work out,” he said as he took a step closer. Her face had gone pasty white.
“I don’t have any idea how I’m going to pull any of this off. My father died eight months ago and left me barely enough money to buy a small home and this old house, which I thought was the perfect location for the business I’ve always wanted.”
Ed felt a heaviness in his chest. Now he felt more compelled than ever to do something to help her out. No wonder she was frustrated. This was her inheritance.
“I’m really sorry,” he said.
“Why are you sorry?” She sniffled. “The fact that this house is falling apart isn’t your fault.”
Ed rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry to hear about your father.” He held up his hands and gestured around the room. “I’m sorry this place is such a wreck.”
She shrugged as she pulled a tissue from her pocket and blew her nose. “Maybe I should just have it condemned and move on.”
The sound of desperation in her voice kicked him in the gut. “Whatever you want to do, just let me know before we go any further.” He took a small step back, then stopped. “I didn’t mean that. This place has to be fixed. I’m not leaving until it’s done.” No way would he leave her in the lurch.
Jill glanced up at him with a questioning look. “What?”
“I said I’m not leaving. In fact I’m sticking around until every last thing in this place is taken care of.”
What had he just committed to? Days, maybe even weeks or months, of hard work and time that would most likely go unpaid? He had plenty of money to last him until he started on the new housing and commercial development—that wasn’t the point. But this was supposed to be a little hiatus for him between major remodeling jobs and the new development.
Jill had opened her mouth, but she shut it again as she hung her head. Ed knew she was scared. And she should be. All her money was tied up in a place she’d never be able to sell if someone had the sense to hire an inspector before buying it—as she should have done.
“We need to start with the foundation and wiring first,” Ed offered when he saw that she was speechless.
“Look, Ed,” Jill finally said. “I know all the dinners I can cook for you and your friends won’t be enough to pay for the work this place needs.” Glancing around frantically, she said, “I’ll pay you a little bit each month until it’s paid off.”
He didn’t want to take money from her, but he wasn’t about to take away every last shred of her pride, either. Nodding slowly, he replied, “Okay, it’s a deal, but only for the materials. We’ll exchange labor for dinners.”
“Keep track of everything,” she said as she looked directly at him with big brown eyes that sent his heart into overdrive.
“You bet I will.”
And he meant it, too. He would keep track of absolutely everything—from her soulful eyes, her creamy skin, her hair that was in desperate need of brushing, all the way to her pink-painted toenails that peeked out from her sturdy sandals.
Keeping track of the cost of the project was altogether another thing, though. He was certain that some of the material receipts might get “lost” somewhere along the way.
Jill scooted away from Ed and made her way across the room. Ed was staring down at his boots when he noticed she’d stopped by the door to the front sales floor.
He looked up and found her staring back at him. “Is there something else?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she replied. “I was wondering why you’re doing this.”
He was stumped. How can a man describe that over-whelming urge to protect a creature he barely knew? The Lord had brought him here to help her, but he wasn’t sure if she was ready to hear that. So he tried to act nonchalant. “I’m just a nice guy, I guess.”
“Uh-huh,” she said as she disappeared around the corner.
Ed felt awful for not jumping on the opportunity to witness. Hurrying after her, he said, “There’s something you need to know, Jill.”
“What?” She stopped and issued a challenging stare.
“Matt and I are in the same Bible study group from church. We have a few more friends from church who are in the building business, and I want to get them to help out, too.”
She closed her eyes for a few seconds, then looked directly into his. “So you’re doing this because of your faith?”
“Well, sort of. As Christians, we’re supposed to help others—even people who don’t believe the same way we do.”
“So you think I’m not a believer?”
“Are you?”
“Yes.”
Her one-word statement gave him a rush of pleasure.
“Then you understand why we want to help you,” he said.
“I’ve already said I’m not a charity case.”
Ed wanted to remind her that everyone was a charity case, and Jesus had to bail them out of their own depravity. But she didn’t appear to be in a listening mood at the moment. He chose to take a more tactful approach and save the best for another time.
“We’re getting meals, remember?”
“Trust me, I won’t forget.”
“Do you have a church home?”
She shook her head. “No, but I read my Bible daily.”
“Would you like to be my guest at Good Shepherd?”
She paused for a couple of seconds. “Maybe later,” she finally said before walking away to tend to a customer.
Ed managed to get the area cleaned up enough so he wouldn’t face a mess in the morning. The gaping hole in the wall was still there, but he needed to leave it alone in order for Matt to have full access to what he hoped would be the worst part of the electrical problem.
Most of the old drywall had been hauled outside and the new drywall stacked when Jill came back, took a long assessing look around the room, and shook her head.
“You’ll
be fine,” Ed said. “Matt’s good at what he does, and he’ll fix you right up.” He glanced her way and saw those big, trusting, brown eyes looking at him. Now his heart was involved. How could a man turn away from that?
❧
Jill hated feeling vulnerable and helpless. Her father had been a powerful man in the military, and then he’d come home and expected her to accept the orders he barked at her. She had known that because she depended on him, she had to do things his way. But she’d promised herself that once she was grown and out on her own, she’d never put herself in a defenseless position again.
Yet here she was, depending on a man to take care of her. Ed was sweet; she still didn’t like the fact that she’d owe him something, though, even if it was only meals and the money he’d have to front for the materials.
She stood and watched him clean up, not saying a word. His silence left her wondering what he was thinking, but she was glad he chose not to make idle chitchat.
Finally he stood and brushed his hands off on the front of his jeans. “What time do you get here in the morning?” he asked.
She shrugged. “The store opens at ten. Sometime around then.”
He tilted his head and looked puzzled.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked as the heat rose to her neck.
“Don’t you come early to set up or get ready for business?” he asked.
“It’s not necessary.”
Jill had to step back to keep from being too heavily scrutinized by those gray-blue eyes that seemed to penetrate her thoughts. She stumbled over a quilted stuffed animal she’d dropped yesterday but had forgotten to pick up and put away. That only made it worse. She wanted simply to tell him it was none of his business when she arrived at the store, but that wasn’t the case. She knew he probably wanted to get an early start.
He glanced down at the stuffed animal then back at her. She tried to look away, but his gaze held hers.
“I reckon that’ll be okay,” he said, surprising her. “I have a few things to do down at city hall anyway.”
“Okay, so I’ll be here early tomorrow, but don’t expect me to make a habit of it,” Jill said as she turned toward the front of the store.
