Page 5 of The Problem with Dating
Or, maybe, I was just untrusting.
Sure, no one would blame me. I mean, I married a man who turned out to be an abuser. If that didn’t shake your faith in your judgement, I didn’t know what would. I had believed in the person Marco had presented to me enough to marry the façade. Talk about rusty instincts.
And now, I stood inside MacArthur’s Hardware Store, looking at a community bulletin board that advertised contractors and handymen. The only problem was picking the right one.
I could have easily gone the internet route and gone through one of those sites that help you pick out someone for your specific needs, but I liked the idea of helping someone small and local. Maybe it was because I had no friends or any family left, but I liked the idea of knowing my contractor might be the same man who coached kids’ sports, or something like that. If I could find a good, honest contractor from the bulletin board before me, I’d rather do that than go big business.
“My car is parked in the back, Roddy,” I heard a voice say. “We really appreciate your help, honey.”
“Anything for you Mrs. Hayes.” I looked over, and a young twenty-something kid was beaming up at a petite brunette. I was guessing he was Roddy.
She chuckled. “You might as well get to calling me Louise,” she replied. “Now that we got two other Mrs. Hayeses running about town, you might start getting confused.”
The kid knew his stuff, because he said, “The two new Mrs. Hayeses could never compete with you Mrs. Hayes,” Roddy flirted. “I could never confuse them for you.”
Mrs. Hayes leaned in, and I stifled a laugh as she narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m going to tell them you said that Roddy,” she informed him.
The kid just laughed. “Let me get you loaded up, Mrs. Hayes,” he replied before throwing her a saucy wink. I did laugh then.
Mrs. Hayes turned her head to look at me, and her smile was as bright as the sun. “Goddamn kids these days,” she chuckled. “No ounce of respect for their elders.”
“Looks to me like he was respecting you just fine,” I laughed.
“Mr. Hayes wouldn’t see it that way,” she said before throwing me a wink, very much like Roddy’s.
“And what would Mr. Hayes say?” I could feel the smile on my face stretching. It was cute to see an older couple still in love. Mrs. Hayes looked to be in her early sixties, maybe.
Her brows shot upward. “Believe it or not, my husband would storm down here and lecture poor, young Roddy on flirting with married women. Specifically, his wife.”
“Good for Mr. Hayes,” I remarked.
With that, she walked up to me, and introduced herself properly. “Hello, dear. My name is Louise Hayes.” She stuck her hand out and I took it. “I prefer Louise, even from people who are trying to steal me away from my husband.”
I laughed again. “It’s nice to meet you Louise. I’m Echo Woodward, and I promise you, I will never try to come between you and Mr. Hayes.”
“Robert,” she said, supplying the name of her husband.
“Robert,” I echoed.
She cocked her head. “So, Miss Echo, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around. Are you new to town?”
“Echo is fine,” I told her. “And, yes. I am new in town.” I gestured towards the bulletin board. “I’m actually moving into my new home on Saturday, but the previous owner had warned me of some possible flood damage, and I was looking for a local contractor or handyman to maybe assess what I might be dealing with.” I gave her a sheepish grin. “I prefer to hire local and small, if I can.”
Her entire face lit up even more, and I didn’t think that was possible. She’d already looked and acted like goddamn sunshine. “Oh, my,” she rushed out. “You are in luck, dear.”
My brows rose. “I am?”
“You are,” she insisted.
“Oh, do tell,” I teased. I really liked this woman. She had good juju vibes.
“My husband and middle son own their own contractor engineering firm, and I just know Gideon would be more than happy to give you an honest estimate.”
“Oh, no, no, no,” I quickly rushed out. “I don’t want to bother-”
She quickly waved away my objections. “Oh, nonsense, dear,” she said, cutting me off. “It’s not that big of a deal. Really. Even if Robert or Gideon can’t find the time to fit your project in, Gideon will give you an honest price range to help you interview other contractors.” She smiled. “He might even recommend someone for you if he’s unable to do the work himself.”
I didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth but asking for favors or help still felt a little foreign. “Are you sure he wouldn’t mind?” She seemed like such a nice woman, but I’ve met people whose parents were awesome, but they were assholes, or vice versa. “I don’t want to take advan-”
