Page 39 of Renewal After Dark

“Thank you for being such a great friend to me when I really needed one.”

Her kind words went straight to his already-overcommitted heart. “It’s my pleasure to help you. Your grandmother did the same for me once upon a time. I’ll never forget her kindness or how much it meant to me. I’m just paying it forward like she’d want me to.”

“She was forever telling us that kindness matters and to take care of people who need it.”

“That sounds like her.”

“It drove her crazy that my mother was nothing like her. She takes care of herself before everyone else.”

“I might’ve heard something about that a time or two.”

“What did she say?”

He shook his head. “I’m not spilling any secrets. All I’ll say is that she saw it and wished it wasn’t like that.”

“It wasn’t easy to be her kid.”

“Rosemary saw that, too.”

“Yeah, she did. Thank goodness for her. Anyway, show me your work.”

For the next thirty minutes, she flipped through each page of his portfolio, studying every design with interest and curiosity that amused and aroused him.

That last part was a bit unsettling. Despite his best intentions, he’d have to be dead and buried to not be attracted to her, especially as she exclaimed over his work.

“You’re incredibly talented, Duke, but I’m sure you know that.”

He shrugged, embarrassed and delighted by her praise. “It’s the one thing I’m really good at, so don’t be too impressed.”

“Too late. I already am, and you’re also very good at cross-stitching.”

“That’s easy, and it’s similar to what I do here. Just another artistic expression.”

“Cross-stitching is not easy, especially the way you do it without a template, and don’t try to tell me otherwise. I made a mess of every sampler I ever started. Gran eventually gave up on me and patted me on the head as she told me I’d have other talents.”

Duke laughed. “That also sounds like her.”

“She certainly didn’t suffer fools.”

“No, she didn’t, which was why I liked her so much. There was no BS with her, you know?”

“I sure do. She had no patience for my teenage nonsense. She’d tell me my bad attitude would get me nowhere in life and to come back when I could be pleasant. Since there was nowhere else I wanted to be but with her, I sweetened up quickly, so she’d let me come back to her house.”

“I can’t imagine you as a nasty teenager.”

McKenzie snorted with laughter. “I was the worst, but thanks to Gran, it didn’t last as long as it might’ve otherwise. She wasn’t having it.” She continued to turn the pages, giving each piece of art her full attention. “I can’t get over how detailed your work is. How hard is it to get the fine details into the final product?”

“It’s not that hard once you know what needles to use for what effect. The art is the easiest part of running this place. It’s the business stuff that makes me crazy. I hear the words QuickBooks, and I nearly break out in hives.”

“Oh, IloveQuickBooks. I used it to keep the books of a couple of businesses at home when I was in high school and college.”

Duke looked at her without blinking. “You know QuickBooks?”

She glanced over at him, smiling as she nodded. “Uh-huh.”

“Will you help me with it?”

“I’d love to.”

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