Page 3 of Steal My Heart

Hilliard shook his head. “No, thanks. I already have someone. Brian Mayer is at the house now.” He smiled until Violet’s expression fell, and then she put her hand over her mouth.

“No,” she said, leaning closer. “You left him at the house alone?” She clicked her teeth softly.

“Violet Trainer, that’s enough. You know being gossipy is not your best trait.” Dang, Ruth had some teeth and was ready to use them. “The boxes Hilliard brought in need to be sorted.”

Violet cleared her throat like she was going to persist, but turned and strode away.

“I take it there’s a story there,” Hilliard said.

Ruth nodded. “But it’s not ours to tell,” she said more loudly, meeting Violet’s gaze until the other lady lowered hers and got busy. “I’m sure everything is going to be fine and you have nothing to worry about.” She took his arm and guided him out of the church and away from prying ears. “When you go through things, make sure you look closely before throwing anything out. Grace could be squirrely, especially these last few years.”

“She may have hidden things?” Hilliard asked.

Ruth nodded. “Yes. From her son, Timothy.” She made that sucking-a-lemon face, and Hilliard couldn’t blame her from what he knew of Timothy. “That man was not good to her. The last time I saw him, he and Grace were fighting. Grace and I were going to have lunch, and he was saying hurtful things to her. Anyway, she told me that he had been in the house and that she thought he was looking for things, but that he wasn’t going to find anything.”

That could mean a lot of things. “I’ll be careful and look through everything.” Maybe he should have checked through the books, but it was too late now.

Ruth patted his arm and then let go with a smile. Hilliard left the church, stepping out into the misty air, anxious to get home and hating that Violet’s comments had gotten to him.

Chapter 2

BRIAN HADfixed the front door and gate, along with a few of the other small items, before Hilliard returned, hurrying inside like he expected the house to be on fire.

“Everything okay?” Brian asked as he smoothly closed the front door.

Hilliard sighed. “Of course. I just have another load of things for the church sale.” He seemed to be trying to keep himself busy as Brian worked his way through the rest of the repair items on the list. It only took a couple of hours to finish, and then he began packing up his tools to leave.

“I’m going to get the new water heater and the supplies for the steps. I’d suggest an on-demand one. It will provide more water and be more energy efficient. The unit will also take up less space in the utility room.”

Hilliard seemed distracted but eventually nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.”

Brian paused. “Is something wrong? Are you unhappy with some of my work?”

“Of course not.” Hilliard smiled, but the warmth that had been there earlier had gone. “I’ll see you tomorrow, and thank you for everything.” Hilliard saw him to the door and closed it behind him.

Brian shook his head before making the run into Fort Bragg to get the supplies he needed, trying to put the weirdness out of his mind.

“How did it go?” his grandmother asked from her lift chair when he got home.

“Good, I guess. I got some repairs done and picked up the supplies for tomorrow,” he explained, thankful his credit card had been able to stretch to cover it. He hated asking Gran for money to get him through. She’d give it to him—he knew she would help—but he didn’t want to burden her with his problems.

“That’s good. We got a few calls today, and I put the messages on your desk. Helen Russell wants you to put up a fence for her.” She leaned forward. “What is it?”

“I don’t know. Everything was great, and then he was gone for a while. When he came back, he was different and kept watching me like…. Shit….”

“Brian,” Gran warned in the same tone she’d used when he was eight and said something bad.

“He went to the church.”

Gran nodded. “I know. I already heard all about it. Ruth called me. It seems Violet had her gums flapping. Ruth said she cut her off and shamed her for gossiping, but she thinks Violet got Hilliard wondering.”

Brian sat in one of the wingback chairs that had been in the same place in the living room for as long as he could remember. They were worn but warm and comfortable, like old friends. “What am I going to do? I suspect he’ll probably cancel the work, as jittery as he seemed, and find someone else.” At least he had the receipt for the supplies he’d bought and could return them, and he’d gotten some work.

Gran took his hands.

“Every time I think I’m about to get my feet under me and move on, something or someone decides that I’m not worth it, and I’m back in the crap hole again.” He had spent three years trying to put his past behind him, and yet it came back to bite him all the time. “I work hard, Gran, and I never cheat anyone.”

“I know, sweetheart,” she said gently. “You’ve turned my house in a showplace, and I tell everyone that you did the work.”Gran was the one person who had always been in his corner, believing him when no one else would.

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