by Susan Hatler
I stepped back out of the water afraid that any more contact with Jason would get me electrocuted. It was sweet that he was helping, but I really did need to get my home life situated before I even thought about dating again.
“Wait a minute . . .” Jason’s voice echoed from where he’d ducked beneath the kitchen sink. “The pipe came apart. It didn’t burst like I previously thought. That’s good news. I think I can get it tightened back up.” He emerged from the cabinet and sat back on his heels with a squishy sound.
I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “That’s great news. Bill will be so happy . . . when I can finally get a hold of him, anyway.”
“You probably will want to have a plumber make sure everything is really working properly,” Jason said. “I’m no expert.”
“You’re a super hero!” Nora exclaimed, launching herself at Jason and tackling him in an adorable bear hug that sent both of them tumbling back into the water.
Jason laughed and looked up at me with a wry look. “If we’re still going to paint tonight, then I’m going to need some dry clothes.”
“You’re still willing to stay and help me paint after this?” I asked, surprised.
“Of course,” Jason said. “Now that the pipe is tightened back into place.” He turned to Nora, whose mom gave him a grateful look. “Do you want to be my helper, Nora?”
She nodded enthusiastically just as Mia came into the kitchen with more towels.
“I’ll help you mop up the mess, Sylvia,” I said, reaching for a towel.
Working together we mopped up the floor the best we could while Jason and Nora fixed the pipe. Fifteen minutes later, just as Jason was turning the water back on, my phone buzzed. It was Bill. “Hi, Bill.”
“Got your message and came as fast as I could. I’m downstairs in the building.”
“We’ve got the problem solved temporarily, but you’ll need a plumber to check it. Do you have any men’s clothes downstairs my friend can use? He’s gotten quite wet,” I said, my heart swooning a little at Jason’s generosity.
“I’m sure I can find something,” Bill said. “I’ll bring some choices up with me.”
I relayed the message to Jason, who grinned at me. He seemed like he was enjoying himself, which surprised me considering the expensive car he’d pulled up in at the bakery. I wanted to ask him where he’d learned so much about plumbing, but we had an audience so I kept my questions to myself.
“Can I help you guys paint tonight?” Nora asked.
“No, you’ll just get in the way, sweetie.” Sylvia gave her daughter a pat on the shoulder.
“Nora wouldn’t be in the way.” Jason gave Sylvia a reassuring look. “We’d love her help. The more the merrier.”
As I watched him cleaning up the floor, I realized how glad I was that he’d come with me tonight. He’d been a huge help with the leak and his cheery attitude had lightened what had been a stressful situation. Wow. How strange that I liked having his help when the feeling of being able to rely on a man usually scared me. But with Jason, I liked feeling as if I could depend on him. Unfortunately, I knew from past history that this feeling couldn’t lead to anything good.
Chapter Four
After we’d cleaned up as much as we could in Sylvia’s apartment, I followed Bill downstairs to the common room while Jason trailed behind us, holding Nora’s hand. He clearly had the same effect on her that he had on just about all women, only in a different way. He was her hero.
The space was a large room that had at one point been used as storage and the walls may have once been white, but they were now a dingy shade of gray. There were a lot of scuff marks on the walls as well.
There was a small kitchenette off to one side that had been part of the super’s studio apartment, which made it ideal for a dining room. We had several organizations that volunteered to bring food, so we hoped that might help the families stretch their budgets farther.
All four walls had already been prepped around the lighting fixtures, the outlet covers were off, and painters’ tape ringed each large window. Pale light filtered into the room as the steady drum of the rain pattered on the glass. Bill crossed the stained, torn carpet—one of our next projects, when we had the money, was to replace it—and turned on the lights.
“We need to lay the tarps on the floor,” Bill said.
I nodded, but Jason picked up one of the blue tarps before I had moved an inch. I watched him as he continued to methodically line the room, while explaining to Nora what he was doing. The man was a fascinating compilation. He was a Ferrari-driving rich guy, who was super good with kids, and just happened to know about plumbing and painting. He was flexible and helpful. Overall, Jason confused me. I shook my head to clear my thoughts since I just didn’t know what to make of him. But what I did see I liked way too much.
“We’ve got a good crew coming in,” Bill said, as he came toward me from across the room. “And it looks like you brought a good addition.”
“Yeah, he is,” I agreed, the corners of my mouth curving upward as my face heated. Yep, I liked him way too much.
Several of the residents started to filter into the room. Bill explained where he wanted each person to begin painting, and then he said that he was leaving me in charge.
Meredith, one of my favorite older residents, applauded. She grinned at me, and I went over and gave her a hug. “How have you been this week?”
Meredith patted her hair, which I noted had been cut to a flattering style. “I’ve been busy. A hair stylist came in and offered free haircuts.”
“Well, your hair looks great,” I said, knowing Jill Parnell’s friend Carmen volunteered to cut and style hair every month.
Meredith leaned down to dip her paint roller into the paint pan Bill had set up for her. As she slicked the light gray paint over the dingy wall, I was amazed to see how the color brightened up the space. One slide of the roller and the place already seemed to be breathing with new life.
My cell phone buzzed in my pocket. “Excuse me,” I said, and then walked across the room where I could have a modicum of privacy.
As I pulled the phone out of my back pocket, the buzzing stopped. I checked the screen and saw a missed call from my Realtor. She hadn’t left a message, which meant that I should probably call her back if I ever wanted to move out of the bakery.
Just as I was about to dial her, a commotion started across the room that drew my attention. Meredith and Carl, who was another older resident, had started shouting at each other. Meredith waved her arms around wildly. Unfortunately, she hadn’t bothered to set her paint roller down first so—to my horror—paint splatters were flinging everywhere.
I would have to call the Realtor later. This was more important. As I strode across the room, the arguing intensified. Carl held a paint can and was gesturing with it as he shouted at Meredith, slopping paint on the floor. Oh, what a mess!
“Guys! What’s wrong?” I asked, panic racing through my chest.
Both Meredith and Carl stopped mid-sentence and turned toward me. Meredith straightened, thrusting her chin out. “Carl was trying to steal my paint.”
My stomach clenched as I looked at Meredith. She’d had so much taken from her, so I couldn’t blame her for being territorial over something as seemingly simple as paint. I knew that before she had arrived at Founding Friendships someone had stolen everything from her, and the police had found her wandering around in the middle of the night without even a jacket.
Carl frowned, his forehead wrinkling so much that his eyes seemed to disappear into the folds of skin. “I need this color for the other wall. She needs to share it.”
They stared at me expectantly.
“Well . . .” I bit my lip, wondering how to solve this amicably. “I agree that we need to share our resources, but we need to communicate with one another so everyone knows we’re sharing. Instead of painting a different wall, Carl, why don’t you stay here and help Meredith paint this wall? When you both are done workin
g on this together, then Meredith can help you paint the other wall. Doesn’t that sound like a good team effort?”
Meredith and Carl eyed each other for a moment and then Meredith nodded. “That sounds fair.”
“Happy to help her,” Carl said.
“Thank you both,” I said, just as a loud squeal came from across the room. I turned around to see Sylvia’s son, Nico, dump paint over his little sister’s head. My eyes bulged. Oh, no.
Nora looked furious as she swiped her paint-covered brush across Nico’s face. I started toward them just as Jason stepped between them. He’d jumped in fast, though, and Nora didn’t stop herself in time, so her brush swiped gray paint across Jason’s back.
Instead of freaking out, Jason plucked the paintbrush from Nora’s, and then took the nearly-empty paint can from Nico. “Let’s put some paint on the wall and not on each other. We could make a game out of it?”
“A game?” Nico and Nora chimed together.
“Yeah, a game.” He nodded, glancing at me as I stopped beside them. “Nora, you take this brush and paint as many smiley faces on this wall as you can. Okay?”
“Yeah, that sounds great!” Nora jumped up and down.
“Nico, you paint over each smiley face with this roller as fast as you can,” Jason said, gesturing to the wall.
“Awesome!” Nico’s smile said it all. This was the single greatest game he had ever been allowed to play. Soon, the two kids were giggling and painting, surprised that the “game” was actually getting the job done.
“Can I join the fun?” I asked.
Jason shot me a smile. “As long as you promise not to paint me.”
“I make no promises,” I said, smiling back at him.
I picked up a brush and stood next to Jason, painting the corner where the two walls came together. We worked side-by-side in silence. As we painted, I glanced at him from the corner of my eye and couldn’t help but notice that he looked pretty sexy. His muscles flexed with each strong stroke, making we wonder if the guy did daily push-ups or went to the gym.
Suddenly, I realized I’d stopped painting the wall and was just holding my paintbrush in the air. Jason chose that moment to turn toward me. The corner of his mouth hitched up.
“What?” I asked, trying to play innocent, even though my cheeks heated.
“You.” His voice was low as he brushed his fingertips across my cheek, my skin tingling in their wake. “Paint on your cheek,” he said.
“Oh,” I said, having the sudden urge to paint my entire body.
“You’re cute.” He smiled, making my legs feel wobbly.
My breath caught in my throat and we stared at each other for a long time, or what felt like a long time, and the tension between us felt palpable. Then I lifted my paintbrush and tapped it on the end of Jason’s nose.
“Now you look cute, too,” I said.
“Just the look I’d been going for.” He chuckled, making no move to wipe the paint off. Instead, he turned back to the wall with a grin on his face and continued painting. A moment later, he turned to Nico, who was stabbing the ends of his paintbrush against the wall. “Hey, buddy. Remember to make the strokes long and even, okay? And only go in one direction.”
“How did you get so good at painting?” I asked, noticing that he seemed to be good at everything he did. “Did you do a stint as a house painter one summer in high school?”
“Actually, I was sort of a rebel in high school. I must’ve painted and repainted my bedroom a dozen times during those four years. The most difficult to cover up was after I’d painted my room black. I had to use a lot of primer to get rid of that.”
“What color does a rebel pick to follow black? Rainbow swirls?”
He chuckled, making my belly do a flip. I’d be willing to bet money that as a teenager he had many girls with crushes on him. The thought made me wonder how many had crushes on him now. “Actually, I painted a jungle mural.”
“For real?”
He nodded. “I could show you pictures sometime.”
“A jungle? Wow. I might have to take you up on that.”
We lapsed back into silence for a few minutes.
“So, what about you?” He gave me a side glance, continuing to paint. “What were you like as a teen? Any dark and twisty moments where you wanted to paint your room black?”
“Not that I can remember,” I said, thinking back to my high school days. “One color-related thing I did do as a teen was dye a lock of my hair purple.” I turned my back to him, lifting up my ponytail to show him the purple streak that I still maintained.
“Very cool.” His gaze lingered on my hair a few minutes before his eyes locked with mine. “Why did you choose purple?”
“The purple symbolizes faith in myself,” I blurted, loving that he’d guessed the color had special meaning to me. “My mom and I have a shaky relationship, which started when she divorced my stepdad when I was eight. Their separation shattered my world. My mom was too into finding her next husband to notice how I felt, though. I had nobody to rely on but myself. In a way, that realization set the tone for my life. But I can take care of myself. The purple streak is a visual reminder for me.”
“I admire your strength.” His voice was low and quiet, making me wonder what else he was thinking. When I dared to take a peek at him, he was smiling softly at the wall. Something about that made me tingle.
Melinda was right, but then, she usually was right. Jason was a really nice guy. I hadn’t expected that when he’d pulled up in front of the bakery in his Ferrari and slid the sunglasses to the back of his neck, which was such a rich-guy-with-a-Ferrari thing to do. There was a spark in him that made me want to know everything about him. But I didn’t dare say anything else right now. My heart was pounding too hard.
Suddenly, screaming ensued. I turned toward the noise in time to see Nora and Nico flinging paint at each other again. It seemed like they could only work for so long without going back to making a mess. Sigh. Jason went over to them, demonstrating once again how to paint the wall and not each other.
Truth be told, I was in awe watching him talk so patiently with the kids. He was giving up his night for a place he’d never been to before, and this made me like him even more. I wondered if there was a limit to how much I could like a guy before my heart would just up and burst.
My phone buzzed in my pocket again. I set my paintbrush in the tray and headed out to the entryway so I could have some privacy. The phone stopped buzzing before I’d opened it, but I saw that my Realtor had called.
I hoped that this time she would leave a message. Sure enough, a moment later, my phone pinged. Dialing my voicemail, I held my breath as a familiar voice came over the phone.
“Hi, Avery,” Jillian said, her voice tinged with disappointment. “I really wish you had picked up earlier. I’m sad to tell you that you missed out on a really great apartment that went fast. Don’t worry, though. I have a lead on another place. I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know what’s going on. Cheers!”
“No, no, no!” I said, my voice echoing down the hall. Tears welled in my eyes, panic rising in my chest, and I covered my mouth with my hand. My chance at a home had just slipped through my fingers, which meant I’d be sleeping at Bernie’s Bakery for the foreseeable future.
I turned back toward the common room, catching sight of Carl and Meredith deep in conversation as they painted. Nico and Nora were painting and laughing. Jason turned toward me, his gaze catching mine.
“Everything okay?” He mouthed the words.
“Yes,” I said, nodding, the panic dissipating slowly.
I took in the teamwork displayed in front of me as the old storage room transformed into a common room for all. Yes, I could wait a little longer for a new place to live. What I’d been doing tonight had been much more important. These people needed some hope for a better life, before they learned that a developer planned to tear their new home down. And it wasn’t lost on me that Jason had been a huge par
t of tonight. Maybe I should give him a real chance, after all.
Chapter Five
On Sunday night, the kitchen of Bernie’s Bakery was warm as the oven preheated for dinner. I stole a sideways glance at Jason, who was busy chopping carrots on a nearby counter. We had turned the radio on to a local pop station, and a romantic ballad about the power of falling in love spilled from the speakers.
Under the bright lights, I found Jason incredibly handsome, but that wasn’t a surprise. I’d seen him soaked, I’d seen him paint-streaked, and the man always looked flat-out gorgeous. I tried to shake off my increasingly gooey, swoony thoughts, but that didn’t keep me from feeling a slow burning in the pit of my stomach as I got sucked deeper into attraction.
A sudden beeping sound from the kitchen jolted me out of my thoughts. Jason glanced over at me expectantly. What was that noise? My gaze darted around until I realized that the oven had finally preheated. Duh, Avery. I hurried over and hit the button to silence the beeping. I needed to focus on cooking or this could get embarrassing fast if I burned dinner.
“Can I help?” Jason asked, drying his clean hands on a yellow dishtowel.
“Would you toss those carrots into the pan?” I nodded toward a baking dish filled with marinated chicken breasts. I scooped up the potatoes I’d chopped and dropped them in.
“Sure thing, boss,” Jason said, wearing a grin.
“Boss?” I rolled my eyes. “I was hardly the boss last night when you’re the one who fixed the leaky sink, entertained mischievous children, and painted two huge walls. Maybe you should call me your assistant?”
He shook his head. “Doesn’t sound as good.”
