Page 27 of Caught Up In You (The Monroes 2)

Loud banging outside her house interrupted her thoughts. The steady beat of a . . . hammer? What on earth? Heidi started barking, but it wasn’t a warning bark, more like a happy, excited bark. Her tail swished back and forth, smacking Cora’s leg with each sway.

“Eric, I need to go,” she told him before he could reply to her statement of moments ago.

Cora hung up her phone and slid it back into the pocket of her summer dress. Barefoot, she stood and snapped for Heidi. “Let’s see what that noise is all about.”

Cora gripped the collar and moved slowly toward the front door. She’d been here long enough to no longer need to count the steps, but she still moved with caution. Cora reached for the lock and flicked it open. The instant she eased the door open, the hammering stopped. Thankfully, her screen door had a lock.

“Hello?” she called. “Who’s there?”

“It’s me.”

That familiar tone of Braxton’s washed over her and she wished she weren’t so affected by a man she barely knew. Now she knew why Heidi was wagging her tail so enthusiastically. She’d known who their guest was.

“What on earth are you doing?” Cora unlocked the screen door and pushed it open before moving onto her porch. Heidi blocked her from going any farther, so Cora stopped.

“I’m fixing this step where you fell earlier.”

He . . . what? Cora didn’t know what to make of that simple statement. She had already made a mental note to watch that bottom stair and not step right on the edge of it. To stay safe, she always had to remind herself about quirky things like that, but she never dreamed he would come and fix it. Didn’t he have things to do? It was a Saturday night. No date? No social life?

“Thank you,” she told him. “I don’t know what to say, really.”

The hammer pounded three more times. “Thank you works just fine.”

She pulled in a deep breath and froze. “What’s that smell? Is that . . . pine?”

“Yeah. Sophie sent a Christmas wreath for your door. I tied some twine around the back of it and the knocker. Hope that was okay.”

Speechless, Cora reached back to the door and felt her way up until the prickly needles of the evergreen poked her. She lightly moved around the wreath, feeling the pinecones, finding a fat bow at the top. Emotions clogged in her throat. She didn’t even know this family, but they were taking her in and doing things for her without asking for anything in return. Did people like this truly exist?

“Please tell her thank you. I love it.”

“She wanted to send a tree, but I didn’t know if you’d want one in your house or not.”

Cora started to tell him that she’d love a tree, but stopped. Crossi

ng her arms over her chest, she drew her brows in. “What made her think to send a wreath to me? She already got me flowers for a housewarming present after I moved in.”

Silence. Even the banging had stopped.

“Braxton?”

“I may have mentioned it to her.”

Cora pulled in a breath at the same time her heart swelled. Damn it. Swelling hearts were not invited to her new life.

“So I should be thanking you for the wreath?”

“You don’t owe me thanks, Cora.”

Braxton shifted around, the hammer beating the wood once more, then Braxton sighed heavily. She assumed by the slight grunt and shuffle of boots he’d come to his feet.

“That should do it,” he stated with a long sigh. “Anything else you need done while I’m here?”

Cora let go of Heidi’s collar as the dog sat next to Cora’s leg. Crossing her arms, she thought to all the miniscule things that she’d like fixed in her new home, but there was no way she was asking him to do anything. She could hire someone to come in and fix them.

He’d already fixed a step and brought her a wreath. Just what kind of man was Braxton Monroe?

“The wheels are turning in that head of yours,” he declared, his voice growing louder as he approached her. Again, boots scuffed against the porch floor and Cora remained still, waiting to see if he’d reach for her or just drive her madly insane with wonder. “What is it that needs fixed? Don’t be stubborn. I’m here and I’m all yours.”

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