Never Saw it Coming

by Bernadette Marie

  He was man enough to admit he was just stupid. Yep, he was just a man who had nothing, and a pretty woman was keeping him around out of pity.

  Although he did feel as though he deserved some pity, he had to admit that Chandra was the least likely to offer it up.

  She seemed more down to earth than the women he’d met over the years. She worked hard and provided for her son, who was her light in the world. There was great respect for her boss. And c’mon, any woman who proudly showed that many tattoos on sculpted arms like hers, you didn’t mess with her. She could take care of herself.

  He chuckled to himself as he walked down the Sixteenth Street pedestrian mall. There was something in that extensive armor that made him want to know all about her.

  Checking the coordinates on his iPhone, he crossed the street and started his trek through town to find the pieces he needed. There was an Ace Hardware about ten blocks away. With the snow on the ground and his lack of proper footwear, he thought it would be just as easy to catch a cab. However, with his lack of employment, he thought it even better to keep walking.

  He’d love to live in town. It sure would be convenient. The thought crossed his mind, as he looked at all the new builds cluttering the Denver skyline. Of course, he was sure that was going to cost a pretty penny. Nothing in comparison to living in California, but not cheap either.

  Then he thought about the apartment above the restaurant. It had a separate entrance. There was absolutely nothing fancy about it. It could use some updating. It was vacant.

  He stopped at a light and waited to cross as the thought of living there filled his mind. It would be perfect.

  Then the image of Chandra flashed into his mind too. It might just be too close.

  He crossed when the walk signal flashed, and ten minutes later he was entering the store.

  “You look frozen,” the man at the checkout said.

  “Yeah, wasn’t prepared,” Mike said as he stomped off the bottom of his shoes. “I’m looking for fuses.”

  He directed him to the aisle, and Mike thanked him.

  Another man stood looking at the same items Mike needed. He carried a sleeping toddler on his shoulder who was bundled up in a big pink coat.

  “Always something needs fixing, huh?” The man joked as he scanned the shelves.

  “Yeah, but it’s getting me by,” Mike offered as he reached for a fuse and then replaced it when it wasn’t the right one.

  “Working as a handyman?” The man asked and then gave him a look. “You don’t fit the part.”

  “Kinda got stuck here, so I’m helping out. My tech job fell through.”

  The man turned to him fully and narrowed his gaze. Mike took a step back.

  “You’re not the guy helping out at Maguire’s are you?”

  Mike was certain he looked as surprised as he felt. “I’ve done a few odd things there, yes.”

  The man’s face lit into a smile, and he extended his free hand. “I’m Gabe Maguire. I own the place.”

  “Oh, wow. I’m Mike.” He shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you. Chandra talks very fondly of you.”

  “You too,” he said, and that put a knot in Mike’s stomach.

  “She told you about me?” he asked realizing he sounded like some teenage girl trying to get the low down on some boy.

  Gabe chuckled, then put his hand on the toddlers back to ease her against him. “She said you were helping out and she wanted to keep you around while I’m out. She didn’t tell me you were coming for the part for the refrigerator, though.”

  Mike shrugged. “I was in the way.”

  “She’s not fond of people in her way.” They shared a laugh over that. “Why don’t we get those parts. I know the doorknob to my office needs replaced and tile near the front door. Do you do tile?”

  “I can do it all. As long as I can walk back with it,” he said.

  “You walked here?”

  “I sold my car to move to Denver for a job that folded. Just making those ends meet until something comes up.”

  “Where are you living?”

  “In a hotel for now. I’m going job hunting this week and looking for a place.”

  Gabe bit down on his bottom lip. “What kind of job?”

  “Software development.”

  “Are you willing to keep helping out at the restaurant?”

  Mike nodded. “Oh, of course.”

  “What I was thinking was, that apartment upstairs is run down. I never did much to it when I lived there, and that’s been over two years. Would you consider some trade work?”

  “Trade work for what?” he asked not wanting to assume anything.

  “Rent for the apartment if you’ll put it back together. It needs to be painted, flooring, plumbing—you name it.”

  Mike crossed his arms over his chest and studied him. “You’re serious?”

  “Very. I figure if you’re working, it will take you probably six months. We can renegotiate then. Maybe you’ll have a good job, and you’ll be ready to move on. I’ll have something I can rent out.”

  Mike wasn’t even sure why he was contemplating it so hard. He knew his answer. “I’d like that,” he said holding his hand out to shake on the deal.

  Gabe shook his hand. “This will help me out a lot. I have my hands full as you can see.”

  “And another on the way I hear.”

  “Yep. C’mon, I’ll give you a ride back. Since I have her, Chandra won’t yell at me or quit if I walk through the door.”

  Mike laughed. He couldn’t wait to watch her squirm, though.

  Chapter Four

  The bar and tables were full, and they had a waiting list at lunch time. Didn’t people notice the snow on the ground, Chandra wondered. Then she laughed at the thought. It was Colorado. Snow didn’t stop anyone. Hell, half of the execs in their ties didn’t even have a coat.

  She looked up as the door opened again and she felt the heat rise in her cheeks as Gabe walked through the door with Madison in his arms.

  “I warned you, Maguire,” she said holding up a finger and pointing it at him as she served a beer with the other hand. “You’d better turn around and leave.”

  He only grinned at her. “First of all, I figured you’d keep your language clean and not yell at me if she was with me,” he said taking the hood off his daughter’s head. “Besides, my business is with Mike and not you.”

  “Mike?” she asked just as he walked through the door with his arms full of supplies from the hardware store.

  “I found him walking the streets buying supplies.” He winked at her. “Gave him an offer.”

  Mike walked up next to Gabe and situated the bags on the bar.

  “So you two have met?” she asked looking at Mike.

  “Yep. You were right. He’s a nice guy.”

  Chandra grunted. “I’m sure I didn’t say that.”

  Gabe smiled as he bounced his daughter on his hip. “I didn’t believe him either. Anyway, he’s going to be fixing up the apartment.”

  “Good. That place is a dump.”

  Gabe’s brows rose. “He’s going to live there too.”

  Chandra picked up the towel on the counter and wrung her hands in it. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

  He was a stranger. Then again, anyone Gabe rented the apartment to would be a stranger. What did that matter really? It had its own entrance. They would just lock off the entrance to the restaurant.

  She knew what it was, but she didn’t want to admit it to herself. When Mike had walked behind her and touched her shoulders, there had been an electricity that shot clear down to her toes. It was stupid.

  The man was not her type, and she wasn’t his. Why was she worried about it? Sure, he’d even offered her dinner, but that was because she was helping him out as much as he was helping her and Gabe out.

  It would work. Mike was just now a daily fixture and hadn’t she been the one to make it that way when she asked him to stick around and fix th
ings while Gabe was away?

  “Well, that'll be handy with you fixing stuff around here,” she said throwing the towel back down and moving to the sink.

  She glanced over her shoulder to see him smiling at her.

  Gabe gave the bar a tap with his hand. “I’m going to take him up and show him what I want. Then Madison and I will head home.”

  “You’d better hurry, or I’m quitting. Holly needs you with her.”

  “She has her mother there.”

  Chandra turned and scowled. “Even more reason to hurry. That woman shouldn’t be around your wife.”

  He laughed and started for the stairs to the apartment with Mike following behind, with his bags.

  Gabe unlocked the door to the apartment and set Madison down to walk around. Mike followed him in, closing the door behind him, and setting the bags on the kitchen table.

  “Are you sure Chandra will be okay with me living here?” he asked, and Gabe turned his attention from his daughter to Mike.

  “Of course. Not much upsets her routine.”

  Mike wasn’t sure Gabe understood, but that was okay. He’d noticed how nervous his new living arrangement seemed to make her. He’d just have to work to make sure she didn’t have a reason to worry about it.

  His plans had changed for the day, but if he had a place to rest his head, he could work on the résumé right there at the kitchen table. Once he found a job, he wouldn’t be in her way at all. In fact, he probably wouldn’t see her too much anyway.

  “The apartment is fairly straight forward. Kitchen, living room, bedroom, and bathroom through the bedroom. Whatever is here is yours to use. You might need to buy some sheets, but other than that, you’re set to go. This will get you started in the Denver housing market.”

  “You have no idea how much I appreciate this and I promise to do good work.”

  “I’ve seen what you can do. And the fact that you can handle the boss downstairs, that says a lot too.”

  Maybe she was even more of a spitfire than he’d already thought.

  “I’ll give you my phone number,” Mike said. “You can just call me anytime you need anything done. I can do things for you at your house too if you need with the baby coming and all.”

  Gabe nodded. “I’d appreciate that. I know Holly has been thinking about painting the dining room. Of course, that’s not going to happen until the baby is here and a little older, but…”

  “I can paint. My parents owned a B&B. I was raised fixing things.”

  “You were a good asset that just happened in here then,” Gabe said with a smile. He took the keys and handed them to Mike. “These get you inside the door at the end of the stairs and into your apartment. We’ll lock the other door to the restaurant. Then no one takes a wrong turn and heads up here instead of the restroom.”

  “That would be good.”

  Gabe called for Madison, who had wandered into the bedroom. She toddled out and into her daddy’s arms. “C’mon, let’s go save Mommy from Grandma.”

  “Gam-ma!” she happily squealed.

  “She spoils her rotten,” he admitted. “It’s funny how different parents are with their grandkids when they weren’t all that attentive with their own kids.”

  “I can’t say I understand that at all. My family life was very solid.”

  “Mine too. My wife’s, well, with her being such a prodigy and all, it just wasn’t as normal I guess.”

  “She sounds pretty normal to me.”

  Gabe nodded. “She’s perfect. Thanks again. I’ll check in with you tomorrow.”

  Chandra watched the stairs and waited. Gabe had better be coming down soon, or she was going to go up and get him. She didn’t like the thought of him not being with Holly, and she disliked the thought of Holly’s mother being with her any longer.

  A few moments later Gabe emerged with Madison on his hip again.

  “Okay, our new tenant has the keys to both sets of doors. You can lock up this bottom one.”

  “Are you sure about this? We don’t know him.”

  Gabe chuckled. “If I put a for rent sign up we wouldn’t know that person either. This one is at least beneficial.”

  She growled. “You need to get home.”

  “I’m going.” He set Madison on the bar and zipped up her coat. “Can you believe in the next week I’ll have another one of these cuties?”

  “I can’t believe you have that one,” she quipped. “But you’re a lucky man.”

  “Don’t I know it.” He picked Madison up and situated her on his hip. “Tell Chandra bye.”

  Madison rested her head on Gabe’s shoulder. “Bye.”

  “Bye, sweetheart. Take care of your daddy.”

  Gabe gave her a wink. “You take care of our tenant.”

  She watched him walk out the door as three more couples walked in.

  What did he mean, take care of our tenant? He was a grown man. He’d gotten there on his own. He damn sure could take care of himself.

  As drink orders came in, Chandra kept her eyes on the stairs. He’d need to come down soon. He still had to check out of his hotel. What good was it to keep the room one more night?

  She made sure the couples that had walked in were seated by the hostess in a timely matter. Four orders had printed out by her register for her to fill. It was just another day, so why did this one seem to be frazzling her?

  It was another hour and a half before she saw Mike again and this time he was walking through the front door.

  “Where were you?” she quizzed him in a tone she didn’t even like hearing.

  “Went and checked out of my hotel.”

  It was only then she realized he had a small suitcase with him. “That’s all you have?”

  He laughed. “The rest of my life is in a storage container being shipped here. Albeit a very small shipping container. It should arrive Thursday or Friday. I hate to ask, but are there a few parking spaces behind the building that we could block off for its delivery? I’ll get it emptied out as quickly as possible and picked back up.”

  She blinked a deliberate, long blink. “Um, sure. Gabe keeps a few orange cones by the back door to block parking when we’re getting early morning deliveries. Tonight just put a few out.”

  “I appreciate it,” he said as he headed back toward the front door.

  “Where are you going?” Chandra called after him.

  “Around back.”

  She let out a huff. “Go through the restaurant. There’s no need to trek around back if you don’t have to. It’s icy back there. You’ll fall on your ass.”

  He chuckled. “I don’t want to be a menace.”

  She thought he already was. She was seriously spending too much time worrying about him for her own good.

  “Just go. The lunch rush is over by two. You should be able to get in here and look at the fridge again. I’ll have lunch for you too.”

  “It’s a date,” he said, grinning as he trudged through the restaurant to the stairs that led to his apartment.

  When Mike pushed open the door of the apartment, it felt good. Who would have thought a dingy apartment above a restaurant would be home sweet home? But it was exactly that.

  Mike set his suitcase on the table and opened it. On top sat a picture of him and Dane taken outside Dane’s dorm. It had been prominently displayed in his home in California, traveled with him anywhere he went, and now would be the first personal item he put into his new home.

  The mantel over the fireplace would be the perfect place to display the picture. He set it on the dusty wood and stepped back. Yeah, this was a good place for a new beginning.

  For the next fifteen minutes, he unpacked. Then looking around, he decided, he should have stayed in the hotel one more night.

  He needed sheets, blankets, hangers, and a few plates to eat from. His shipping container wasn’t due for two more days.

  Now that he wasn’t spending money on a hotel room, he could afford to eat in the restaurant a few days
so that plates wouldn’t be needed. A blanket would be nice, though. Surely there was a store down the street where he could buy one. At least he’d taken all the toiletries out of the hotel before he left.

  In the small pantry closet by the kitchen, he found a broom and dustpan. He could at least clean up a bit.

  Pulling open the blinds, he surveyed the street below. Pedestrians trudged through the snow. Some were bundled up, and others acted as if this was the norm. And did those kids walking from the Auraria campus have on shorts?

  He’d like to open the window, but his California blood would certainly freeze if he did so. In time, he figured he’d be used to the snow, just like the rest of them on the street, but he’d never be caught dead wearing shorts in it, though.

  His cell phone rang, and he pulled it from his pocket. That warmth he’d been thinking about filled his body when he looked at the caller ID and saw Dane’s name.

  “Hey kiddo. What’s new?”

  “Hey, Dad. I’m checking in on you,” he mimicked Mike’s voice. “How’s the new job?”

  “Fell through,” Mike said as he sat on the couch. “So I’m job searching right now.”

  “Fell through? That’s crap, man. How do they expect you to move out there and not have a job? Are you coming back? You could stay with us.”

  And that was why he loved this kid so much. “I just moved into a new place about twenty minutes ago.”

  “Seriously? You’re staying?”

  “Sure am. It’s snowing, too. You could come ski.”

  There was a thoughtful hum on the other end of the line. “We could do that. What about a job?”

  “Right now I’m doing some handyman stuff for a restaurant. I’ll get my résumé out there this week, and we’ll see what happens.”

  “Dang, Dad. You’ve been relegated to handyman?”

  “Don’t knock it, kid.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Are the women hot there?”

  Mike laughed and leaned back. “I haven’t met a lot of women. Just one.”

  “What’s she like?”