Page 2 of Steal My Heart

“Did you know my great-aunt?” Hilliard asked as he leaned the gate against the fence.

“I did.” Brian looked around. “This is a small town, so just about everyone knows everyone else in one way or another.” He lifted his gaze upward. “I always loved this house, with the ornate trim and the widow’s walk on the roof. This is one of the older homes in town, and it has plenty of character.”

It did have that. “I came here a few times when I was a kid with my grandmother. I have vague but happy memories of Aunt Grace, though I hadn’t seen her in quite a while.” Honestly,he had thought she’d died years ago. No one in the family talked about her much, at least not after Gran died. He never understood that.

“How about I start inside with the water heater and the furnace? Let me check those out, and then I’ll look at the door and gate, as well as the rest of the outside. Do you want me to check the roof?”

“Please. I need to know what’s going to require work so I can put together a plan. Some of it I can do myself, but there is some stuff that I can’t.” And he needed a place where he could have some peace and quiet.

“I see,” Brian said.

“Alan, my ex….” Thank God they hadn’t gotten married. Hilliard knew he had dodged a bullet there. They had been talking about it and were even looking at rings, but now he knew those plans had been a way for Alan to trap him. “He was handy around the house and could fix anything.”

“All right, why don’t I get started? It will take me about an hour to look things over, and then we can go from there.”

“Great. I have some coffee or water if you’d like some,” Hilliard offered. He handed Brian a cold bottle of water, then let him get to work.

Hilliard wasn’t going to follow him around, looking over his shoulder, so he went upstairs to work on his office. Fortunately it wasn’t wallpapered. Hilliard was dreading the dining room, with that blocky flowered paper that had probably been up fifty years or more. The room upstairs was mostly storage, and he had already hauled everything out. He’d hoped to come across something interesting, but no such luck. There had been no hidden gems in the pile of crap. He did find out that his aunt loved romance novels. He’d even found signed books, which he transferred to the shelves in the living room, removing tons of paperbacks to make space. His plan was to donate them all.

Part of him felt bad that he was removing his aunt from the house. This was all that was left of her, and it felt like he was evicting her one room at a time. Maybe he could think of a way to keep her memory alive in the house, but for now, he needed a functional office space, which meant cleaning and painting.

“Hill?” Brian’s warm voice drifted up the stairs. Hill put his cloth aside and went down to meet him. “I have good news and some bad news. The water heater is nearly toast, and I’m surprised it hasn’t sprung a leak already. The furnace just needs a good cleaning and it will be ready to go, though. I can handle both of those for you.”

“Excellent.” Hilliard tried to keep his mind on what Brian was saying, but his attention wandered, along with his gaze.

“The roof is only ten years old, so it’s in good shape, no troubles there. I can fix the front door and the gate. The fence needs to be painted. The outside of the house needs to be cleaned and painted, as you expected. The porch in front is good, but the steps are a hazard and need to be rebuilt.”

Hilliard nodded. That wasn’t as bad as he had feared. “So can you do all that?”

“Of course,” Brian said.

“Okay. When can you start?” Hilliard asked, anxious to get started but figuring he would need to wait his turn.

Brian cleared his throat. “Right away.” He suddenly seemed nervous.

“Don’t you have other clients?” Hilliard asked. “I would suspect that a handyman would be really busy.”

“I just finished up a job and have a hole in my calendar, so I can get started.” He went to the truck and returned with a clipboard. “These are my rates. I do good work, and I don’t waste time. I believe my customers should get a good value. I keep my receipts for supplies and charge you accordingly.” Hilliard reviewed the document, which detailed the work Brian wasgoing to do and his hourly rate. Then Hilliard signed the order, and he got right to work, which pleased Hilliard. Brian’s plan was to fix what he could today, and then tomorrow he’d get the new water heater and the supplies for the steps and install them.

Hilliard loaded the car with things he planned to donate, then dropped the books at the library for their sale room and drove to the church, where he hauled in four boxes that the church ladies seemed thrilled to get.

“You’re Grace’s nephew?” one of the ladies asked.

“Her great-nephew, yes.” He wasn’t sure why he was being so exact.

“I’m Ruth. She and I were friends for many years.” Her hands shook, but her eyes were warm and bright. “Good friends, and I remember you.” That took Hilliard by surprise. “You were about eight or nine when you visited. We walked you out to the end of the point because I said that sometimes there were seals and you wanted to see them.”

“Yes. I remember that. Auntie held my hand because she was afraid I was going to get too close to the edge.” He smiled. That had been a long time ago.

“Yes. Grace was always cautious. Are you staying in the house?”

“Yes. I’m working to get it back into shape.” He was still trying to decide if he was going to stay here or fix up the house to sell it.

“I know a good handyman if you need some help,” one of the other ladies said, verbally muscling in on the conversation.

“I’m sure Hilliard’s man is more than capable, Violet,” Ruth said in a fake sugary tone that seemed to go right over Violet’s head.

“Stevensons are the people I use. They’re out of Fort Bragg, but they do good work. I can give you their number if you need it.”

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