Page 30 of Shadows of Before

They drove separately to her place. Her landlord was coming around the corner as they walked toward him. “Hey, Ms. Donovan. I went inside when your sister called and said there was a leaky pipe. Did you do all that cleaning and painting and refurnishing?”

“Yes. I never thought to ask you for permission.”

“It’s great. I’m going to give you a month’s rent free. But I’ll have to raise the price of the apartment after that.”

Kate felt the familiar frustration in her stomach.

Will said, “No good deed goes unpunished.”

The guy’s face reddened. “I get it. I’ll give you two months free. Then raise it $100 a month.”

As they walked to the door, she said, “I could get angry about this.”

“Don’t. It’s only money.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“I know. I inherited a big house, $500,000 dollars in insurance and I got the money saved from my job of 17 years. You can have some of it.”

“Hell, no! I’ll get a second job when I run out of what I saved by those free months.”

He shrugged.

When they got to her door, Will smiled hugely. “Great color. And the spring wreath is pretty cool.”

“I hadn’t seen the wreath. Must be Mary came back and did some things.”

They went inside. The kitchen sparkled. The appliances had been sprayed with silver paint, the cupboards a teal blue. The floors were shiny and there were new lights above. The beautiful teak table had been set against the only window—pale yellow curtains. “Nice. Have you seen all this?”

“The painting and the table, yes. The lights and curtains, no. But we did the floor together.”

“Do youlikeall this?”

“I’m afraid I do. I have to say, it cheers me up when I’m here.”

“I hated you living…”

“In a dump.”

He shook his head. “I’ve been a real jerk. Not my usual style.”

She leaned against the counter. “How do we keep from doing that, Will? I’ve done nothing but distance everybody in my life since I was demoted and a real relationship hasn’t been in the cards for me in a long time.”

“I’m not sure.” He gave her such a genuine, affectionate smile, and her insides turned to mush. “But I know a place to start.”

“Where?”

“In the shower.” He grasped her hand and tugged her into the bathroom.

Chapter 5

Will walked into his house and for a few minutes, felt uplifted by his time with Kate. Which made him totally uncomfortable, but it had happened when he wasn’t paying attention. He dropped down in a chair in the kitchen and stared out at the woods in his backyard. Hmm. Was he still going to sell this house? Maybe Katie would…

Whoa, buddy, he told himself.Don’t go into the future. She’s a wildcard.

Then he’d enjoy the moment.

But soon, the crushing blow that happened with the Secret Service hit him in the stomach like a punch. What would he do? If he was a praying man, he’d ask God to help him.

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