Page 47 of Keep My Heart
‘C’mon, it wasn’t that bad,’ Lyndsay says, putting her hand on my arm.
‘Perhaps you could take Lyndsay,’ Patty says, setting my coffee down and noticing Lyndsay’s hand on my arm.
‘As a friend,’ Lyndsay says, taking her hand off me.
‘Or otherwise,’Patty mutters, going to get the other two coffee mugs.
‘So Mom, what do you want to do today?’ Lyndsay asks, trying to change the subject.
‘I need to run some errands,’ she says, setting the mugs down on the table and sitting across from us. ‘If you wouldn’t mind going to the hardware store, I’d like to go there and ask Hal what he thinks might be wrong with the dishwasher.’
‘It’s broken?’ Lyndsay asks, sipping her coffee.
‘It hasn’t worked in months,’ Patty says. ‘I didn’t want to spend the money to fix it so I’ve just been washing the dishes by hand. But maybe if I knew what was wrong I could fix it myself.’
‘I could take a look at it,’ I say, getting up and going over to the dishwasher.
‘Nick, no,’ Lyndsay says. ‘You don’t have to do that.’
‘I don’t mind.’ I open the dishwasher door. ‘What are you having problems with? Is it not running?’
‘It runs, but leaks all over the floor,’ Patty says, coming over to me. ‘It got so bad I just stopped using it.’
‘You got a screwdriver handy?’ I ask.
She nods. ‘In Harold’s toolbox. It’s in the garage.’
‘I can show you,’ Lyndsay says, getting up.
We go in the garage and I see the toolbox sitting on the workbench, the same place it was 15 years ago. I’m starting to wonder if Patty kept everything the same because it made her feel like Harold was still around. She took his death really hard, barely leaving the house after he was gone.
‘Nick, you really don’t have to do this,’ Lyndsay says as I go over to the toolbox. ‘You’re on vacation. You shouldn’t be doing chores.’
I open the toolbox and take out the screwdriver and a wrench. ‘It’s not a chore. I’m helping out your mom. She’s a nice lady, andmaybe if I fix her dishwasher she’ll let me take her daughter out tonight.’
‘Tonight?’ Lyndsay says, sounding confused. ‘You have the party tonight.’
‘It’s not going to go on all night. It’ll wrap up around eight or nine. What do you say? You want another practice date?’
‘I’d love that!’ She leans against the workbench and looks up at me. ‘You really are a great guy, Nick. How are you not married by now?’
‘Just haven’t found the right girl.’ I nod toward the house. ‘We should get back in there.’
‘Yeah.’ She nods and hurries back to the house.
Why the hell did I do that? Why did I ask her out again? First breakfast, then I asked her to spend the morning with me, and now I’m asking her out for tonight? I know I’m supposed to be helping her learn to date, but spending all this time with her is making me have feelings for her again. I shouldn’t be having feelings for a girl I can’t be with, so why am I doing this?
Five minutes later, I’ve got the dishwasher door off and notice the rubber seal is damaged.
‘It’s the seal,’ I say to Patty, showing her where it’s coming apart. ‘It’s old and worn out so it’s not keeping the water in anymore. I could stop at Hal’s and pick you up a new one. If you’ll be here tomorrow morning, I’ll come back then and put it in. You’ll be able to use it after that.’
‘Oh, Nick, I couldn’t ask you to do all that,’ Patty says. ‘You’re not home for long. You need to spend time with your family.’
‘It won’t take long, and I’ll see my family at the party. You go ahead to your hair appointment and Lyndsay and I will go to the hardware store.’
Patty looks like she’s about to cry, but then smiles. ‘Your fatherraised a very nice young man. Let me get you some money.’ She hurries over to her purse which is on the counter.
‘Mrs. Davis, I got this. Don’t worry about it.’
