Page 19 of Revelry
“Hi,” she squeaked, dropping the screwdriver to the counter and reaching up for her hair like she wanted to fix it but settled for brushing a few fallen pieces behind her ears instead. “Uh, it’s nice to see you again. Glad I’m actually wearing clothes this time.” She chuckled.
“Wanted to make sure your foot’s okay,” I said, not returning her laugh, because apparently that function was broken.
She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and I dropped my eyes to her foot, which was still bandaged.
“Oh, that,” she said, waving me off. “I’m fine. Thank you.”
I met her eyes again, and the silence stretched between us. So I nodded and turned to leave.
“Hey, can I ask you something?”
I paused, cocking one brow in response in the door frame.
She’d picked up the screwdriver again and wrung her hands around it, nodding to the cabinet she’d been staring at when I walked in. “The hinge on that door broke the other day, and I just fixed it, only it’s the first time I’ve fixed anything in my entire life and, well, I’ve heard this is kind of your thing. Would you mind just taking a look at it to make sure I didn’t completely screw it up?”
I glanced at the cabinet she was referring to, knowing it was the right one only by the two different-colored hinges. The top one was gold and worn, where the bottom one was silver and shiny, like it had just been purchased. My brow rose farther. “How’d you fix it?”
“Bought a hinge repair kit over at the hardware store in Gold Bar and watched a YouTube video.”
My eyes must have given away my concern, because she grinned and offered a small shrug.
“What? It’s how I learned how to make a fire in that thing, too.” She hitched a thumb over her shoulder at the wood-burning stove behind her.
My eyes stayed there for a moment before finding hers again, and then I crossed the kitchen and opened the cabinet, inspecting it.
Surprisingly, the bottom hinge held strong. I jiggled the door, opening and closing it, pulling on the handle and attempting to break it free. It was sturdy, and I was impressed. I stepped back, crossing my arms over my chest before turning to face her again.
“Looks okay to me.”
“Really?” She bounced with the question, breezing past me to inspect the door herself. “I really did it?”
“You really did it.”
Her grin widened and she opened and closed the cabinet over and over while I stood behind her. “I am a bad ass.”
She kept on, humming to herself as she admired her handiwork, but my eyes were skating the rest of her cabin. The board on the back porch was still broken, but there were bags from the hardware store leaning against the back door, along with wood panels that were pretty close to the deep red shade of the one that had broken. The latch on her stove was broken, too, which meant she was probably burning through more firewood than she needed to.
At that thought, I glanced outside at the pile of firewood on the side of the garage. It was low, and when I thought of her slight frame trying to chop more from the larger pieces Abdiel stored under the back porch, I almost laughed.
More hardware bags still littered the counter, holding a plethora of tools, light bulbs, rope, and wires. I had no idea what other projects she had planned, but the fact that she was watching YouTube videos to figure out what to do made me cringe.
She glanced back over her shoulder at me, goofy grin still in place, but I was still taking in the state of the cabin. “I can help you fix this place up, if you want.”
“Oh.” She spun, propping a hip against the counter and folding her arms over her middle. “No, no it’s okay. Look at me, I’m Mrs. Fix-It now. I think I can do it.”
Wren smiled, bright white teeth framed by full red lips. I chose that exact moment to realize the white tank top she wore was very tight, and I had no idea what the hell I was doing here.
So, I left.
“Okay. Be careful on that foot.”
And before I could find another reason to stay, I was out of her cabin, down the porch stairs, and walking down the drive. I rounded it at the end to make my way back to my cabin, shaking my head the entire way. She didn’t need my help, and I was stupid to even offer it in the first place. What did I expect? I didn’t know anything about her, and I knew everything about me.
So she was attractive. I’d seen plenty of attractive women in my life, both before and after Dani’s death. It didn’t change the fact that everything good inside me had died along with my cousin more than six years ago.
I had nothing to give Wren, but still I was stuck.
Because no two days had been the same since I met her.
