Chapter Fifteen

Colin sat in the warmth of the Salty Goat’s dining area, watching Peaches fill the orders for the bed and breakfast owners who’d come in to pick up their pastries. The sticky bun she’d given him was as good as he’d anticipated. Now if Ruth would only show up with the key to the apartment, he’d be set.

The door swung open again, and he glanced up to see Liam standing on the mat, stamping the snow off his boots. He squinted at Colin. “You feeling okay now?”

Colin shrugged. “Pretty much. I need to get back to work. I want to clear out the apartment before my shift tonight.”

“Yeah.” Liam rummaged through his pockets. “Ruth can’t get away from the house until she gets Carol ready for school, but she sent over the key. The apartment’s up the kitchen stairs.”

Colin headed to the back of the kitchen, where a flight of stairs led up to the second level. Liam followed him as he climbed. “I’ve never been up here. I don’t think it’s been open for a while. Probably not since the last time Peaches was up here.”

Colin tried the key in the door at the top of the stairs. After a little jiggling, it opened. The air smelled musty. He felt along the wall, hoping for a light switch to pierce the solid darkness in front of him.

“Wait a minute,” Liam said. “I’ll get a flashlight.”

He was back almost immediately, shining a flashlight into the dark space—a hall running the width of the building.

Colin found the light switch, not that it did much good. Only one bulb still burned dimly in the fixture overhead. He tried the first door he came to, a largish room filled with boxes, furniture, and assorted junk.

“That must be it.” Liam stepped closer to peer over Colin’s shoulder. “Ruth says there’s a bathroom up here, too—maybe the door at the end of the hall.”

Colin opened the other door to see a small, dark space with a toilet and a shower, both in need of some serious cleaning. He probably wouldn’t be able to get both rooms livable today.

Colin put his hands on his hips, trying not to look worried. He could do this. He just couldn’t do it all in one day. “I may not make it to the brewery today.”

Liam shrugged. “No problem. Start another IPA run tomorrow.”

He’d probably still have to work on clearing out the apartment tomorrow, too, but he’d divide his time with the brewery. “Okay.”

“Ruth said you can have any furniture you find up here.” Liam made a slightly doubtful survey of the apartment. “Assuming you want it.”

“I’m guessing I will.” Since the only furniture he owned was the cot and the camp chairs he had in the shed, anything he found here would probably help.

“Okay, I’ll leave you to it.” Liam turned back toward the stairs then paused, almost reluctantly. “You want any help?”

Colin blew out a breath, considering. He could use some help, but he didn’t want to cause more trouble with Bec, who might not look kindly on her brother having anything to do with him.

“I’m okay for now. If you’ve got any time later this afternoon, maybe check back. I may need somebody to help me carry stuff around.”

Liam nodded. “Will do.” A moment later, he was gone, heading down the stairs and back to Peaches’s sticky buns.

Colin got to work. A lot of the boxes were empty or contained packing materials. He broke them down and stacked them flat in the hall. Then he grabbed some garbage bags from the kitchen and started filling them.

The storage closet was at the other end of the hall. Currently, it held a non-functioning vacuum cleaner, some drop cloths, more dish detergent than anyone could use, and three utility buckets full of ancient cleaning rags.

He was just trying to decide what to do with it all when there was a step on the stair, and then Ruth leaned around the corner. “How’s it coming?”

“It’s coming. Do you want these boxes?” He nodded toward the stack in the hall.

Ruth shook her head. “I don’t know why we saved them except as soon as you throw boxes away, you suddenly need them again. Where are you putting the files?”

“I’m clearing out the storage closet for them. Where do you want the dish soap?”

Ruth’s eyes widened. “Dish soap?”

He gestured toward the five oversize containers he’d found in the closet.

“I must have bought those at some discount place. I don’t even remember doing it.” She gave him a dry smile. “I don’t think soap goes bad, though. Just put them in the pantry downstairs and we can start using them.”

She walked down the hall to the apartment still half full of trash. He’d found a dusty couch and a couple of wooden chairs, which he’d stacked at the side of the room. The garbage bags took up a lot of space at the other side.

Ruth leaned one shoulder against the doorframe. “I lived here for almost two years when Carol was a baby. It was…cozy. Then she got too big, and we needed more space.” She glanced around the room again. “It was a good place for us, though. Just the two of us. I’ve got some fond memories.”

“I appreciate your letting me move in here.” Particularly since it meant he might be able to get Peaches to stay late after work some night.

“It works out for us, too. We’ll have somebody to take care of the building after we close and an apartment to maybe rent out if you find someplace better in the future.”

Right now, he couldn’t imagine finding someplace better he could afford, but he hoped his luck would change.

She turned back toward the stairs. “The one thing this place doesn’t have is a kitchen. Well, that and a separate bedroom, but the couch folds out, so sleeping space isn’t much of a problem. Anyway, I used to use the kitchen downstairs to cook dinner. Feel free to do the same. Or to eat the leftovers from lunch, like you did before.”

“Right. I will.”

By mid-afternoon, he had the apartment and the storage closet cleared out, although he’d had to make multiple trips to the dumpster out back to get rid of the trash. He was stacking the boxes of files in the storage closet when he heard more footsteps. His heart gave a quick thump. Peaches?

He leaned around the closet door as a young girl entered the hall. She had short dark hair like Ruth, along with Ruth’s brown-gold eyes. Carol. Got to be. “Hi.”

She glanced at him. “Hi. You’re the janitor, right?”

He nodded. “I’m Colin.”

“I’m Carol. My mom owns the Salty Goat. My last name’s Mobley, though, because of my dad.”

He nodded, not entirely sure who her father was.

“Are you going to move in here? Like tonight?” Carol wrinkled her nose, as if she wasn’t convinced that was a good idea.

Neither was Colin. “I’m working on it. Tonight or tomorrow.”

Carol stared in the apartment door. “There’s no bed.”

“I guess the couch folds out. I’ll need to clean it up, though. And buy some sheets.” He’d noticed a second-hand store run by one of the churches a couple of blocks over. Maybe they’d have inexpensive sheets and towels.

“Doesn’t it have a bedroom?”

He shook his head. “All one room. It’s a big room, though.”

“What about the bathroom?”

“Down the hall.”

Carol peeked around the bathroom door. “Ew.”

He was inclined to agree with her. “I need to clean it up, too. I haven’t had time yet.”

She returned to the apartment again. “My mom says we used to live here. I don’t remember anything about it, though. I was too little.”

“Right.” He went back to unloading the files in the storage closet.

She wandered around the apartment for a few minutes then came back into the hall again. “So, are you living with Peaches?”

He blinked. “I… She took me in when I was sick last week. The place where I was staying didn’t have enough heat.” Or light. Or much of anything at all.

“But you’re okay now?”

“Yeah, fully recovered. I’m ready to move in here.” At least he would be once he had it fit for human habitation.

“Peaches will miss you.” Carol had said it so matter-of-factly he wondered if she’d actually been talking to Peaches about it.

“She’ll still see me. I’ll be around.”

She gave him a long look. Those dark eyes seemed to pierce right through him. “I like Peaches a lot. I don’t want her to be sad.”

Why would anybody assume I’m going to make Peaches sad? But the answer was obvious—he’d done it to Bec. Even the kid had apparently heard about that. “I don’t want her to be sad, either. I’ll do my best not to do anything to make her feel bad.”

Carol nodded, as if he’d given her the right answer. “Okay. I’ll make some extra cookies for you. You can pick them up in the kitchen when you’re done cleaning.”

“Thanks.” As he looked around the hall, though, he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be through any time soon.

…

Peaches had deliberately stayed away from the upstairs apartment where Colin was working exactly because her every impulse seemed to drive her up the stairs. She needed to show him she wasn’t hovering.

She needed to show herself she wasn’t hovering. She did not have a thing for Colin Brooks.

She absolutely didn’t.

At mid-afternoon, though, she took a break. Alicia was doing her prep for the next day, and the afternoon pastry rush hadn’t started yet. Peaches hadn’t seen Colin come down during the lunch rush. Knowing him, he probably hadn’t bothered to eat anything. Bringing him a sandwich was in the nature of self-preservation; otherwise, he might get sick again.

And that would be bad, right?

It would definitely be bad for Colin, who didn’t need to get knocked out again. It might be less bad for her, since it would keep him around her house.

She’d avoided thinking about what had happened last night, but it had been at the back of her mind most of the day. She could probably pretend there’d been nothing between them and go back to being friends again. No harm, no foul.

But she didn’t really want to do that.

Finally, she put a sandwich and an apple in a paper bag and climbed the stairs to the upper floor. She heard thumping as she got closer, and she leaned around the door a little warily. “Colin?”

He stepped out of a door on the left, grinning. “Hey, I was hoping you’d come up before the afternoon rush got started.”

She handed him the sack. “I brought you some lunch. I’m assuming you haven’t eaten anything, right?”

“Thanks. No, I got busy and lost track of time.” He started to pull the sandwich out then stopped. “Come to think of it, I’d better wash my hands first. It’s pretty grubby up here.” He headed toward the other end of the hall, and a moment later, she heard running water.

She stepped across to the open door in front of her, the apartment. The room was large, around the size of the deli section downstairs, and it had good light from the tall windows on the street side. But that was about all she could say in its favor. Right now, it was mostly empty, except for some trash bags and some derelict furniture, the first time she’d seen it when it wasn’t full of junk.

The light pouring in through the windows showed a cloud of dust motes dancing in the air. Would the dust irritate his throat? She should have brought him a bottle of water along with the food.

Colin stepped behind her. “I know it doesn’t look very good now, but I haven’t had time to do much today except clear out all the junk. Maybe tonight I’ll have a chance to sweep it.”

She shook her head. “You can’t sleep here yet. To begin with, you don’t have a bed.”

“Actually, I do.” He pointed at the ancient couch leaning against the wall. “Ruth says that folds out to a bed. I’ll pick up some sheets after I clean it up.”

Peaches started to object but stopped herself. She couldn’t keep him at her place, and she shouldn’t try. He wasn’t hers to hang onto, after all, no matter how much she’d enjoyed those kisses. “Okay, but I still don’t think you can stay here tonight. You’ve got too much to do to make it livable.”

He sighed. “You’re probably right. I’ll keep working until six, then I’ll start cleaning downstairs.”

“You mean you’re going to work a fourteen-hour shift? I’m not even sure that’s legal.”

“Most of it was voluntary unpaid labor. And I get an apartment out of it.”

“I’ll fix you a late dinner,” she said flatly. “I’m not taking no for an answer on this.”

“I’m not offering no for an answer, believe me.” He gave her a slow smile. “I’ll be there later, Peaches. Maybe around nine thirty if I get everything done in time. Certainly by ten.”

She nodded a little stiffly. “Okay. I’ll have something ready for you.”

He paused for a moment. “I don’t want to take advantage of your generosity. I’ll figure out a way to pay you back for the expenses, but I really want to pay you back for all the trouble you took, too. And the best way to do that is to get out from under your feet so you don’t have to put up with me anymore.”

Peaches rolled her eyes. She should have expected this, of course. It was pretty much what he’d been saying all along. “You don’t have to worry about it. I’ve told you before, it’s not a problem. Just pass it along to someone else who needs help down the line.”

“I’ll try to do that. But the sooner I can get this place livable, the sooner you can go back to your normal life. It’ll probably take me another day to do it, though. So I’ll take you up on the offer for tonight.”

“Good.”

She turned back toward the stairs, but he reached for her before she got there. He pulled her back, gently. “I don’t want to get any dirt on you, but my hands are clean.” He leaned down, touching his lips to hers lightly, his fingers moving through her hair.

Pins and needles seemed to dance across her skin. She wanted to press herself against him, but he was covered in dust and she had a liberal coating of flour. Still, she could no longer pretend what happened last night wasn’t important.

It was. It would be. And she needed to think about it, to figure out a way to protect her heart more effectively.

He lifted his head, staring down at her. “You better go, Peaches.”

She nodded. “Yeah. I get that.”

“I’ll see you later. Leave the light on.”

She nodded again. “Definitely.”

She turned and headed back down to her kitchen. Maybe making cookies with Carol would help her cool down.

But she doubted it.