Kevin had just opened the door of the red truck to put things in the passenger seat when he caught sight of the blonde woman from that morning. She wore jeans and a leather jacket that was cute, but not very practical in such cold weather. This time she was coming out of Daisy’s Country Store.
He was surprised to see anyone coming from the building since it was out of business, and he was even more surprised that it was her of all people. Again. It was a small town, but he’d never run into someone this many times in one day. He wondered what her connections were to Evergreen, and Daisy’s for that matter.
“Kevin!” She jogged across the town square toward him. “Hi.”
He closed the door, still holding a yellow rag. “Hey.”
“So, let’s just say I was going to start a project where I needed someone handy with tools.”
Was she talking about fixing up that place? Kevin looked over at Daisy’s Country Store. It held a lot of special memories for him, too, but that place needed more than just a few tools to fix it. He wiped his hands on the rag. “You’re going to buy Daisy’s store?” That would explain why she was here.
“What?” She looked confused. “Oh, no. I’m going to fix it up for Christmas and get it ready for a buyer.”
“No.” He shook his head. “Just throwing a few decorations up won’t help.” He tossed the rag back into the truck. “That place needs a lot of work.” Was she crazy?
Lisa gave him a pleading look. “Which is why I need someone to help me do that.”
Kevin leaned against the truck and folded his arms. “And you think I’m your man?” He should be so lucky. Then again, getting involved with a visitor wasn’t in the cards for him. He still hadn’t decided whether to take that job with the logging company or not, and he just didn’t have the time to spend on a relationship.
She gave him a playful wiggle of her shoulders. “I have no idea if you’re my man or not.” She lifted her brow. “But I’m willing to bet you care about this place as much as any of these other people.”
“I do.” Kevin looked at the store. Everyone had been so sad when it closed. Even more so when Daisy had passed away. “And what makes you care about it?”
She stood there for a long quiet moment.
He’d expected to hear something quick and quippy from her. Instead, she looked around then raised her hands and shrugged. “Because I have some pretty special memories here too.” The words were softer. Personal.
Kevin smiled and nodded. The sincere answer had surprised him. He had many special memories of Daisy and the store too. Penny candy, coloring contests, and dropping off letters to Santa. Old memories. Even as far back as the year Mom passed away.
He reminded himself he had plenty on his plate, and it was the holidays. Besides, fixing up the store was an incredibly huge undertaking, and she was on a tight schedule.
She clasped her hands together, nearly begging. “Look. Take a week and help me do this. We’ll be done before Christmas.”
“Sorry, I can’t.” He wished he could help her. She was hard to turn down, but this was nuts. He stepped around her toward the old country store. It had once been a pretty cool place, and spending time with her to fix it up was appealing, but there wasn’t enough time no matter how he looked at it. “It’s…that’s not enough time to get it done right,” he said with his back to her.
“What are you talking about? Of course we have enough time. I have tons of experience, and I’m sure that you…have…some experience too. Right?”
She was grasping at straws, but she wasn’t wrong.
Even with his back to her, he heard the hope in her words.
“Yes.” He turned around to face her, and she flashed that pretty smile of hers. He did have a lot of experience with this kind of stuff. The work, that is. Not that smile that was making him a bit off-kilter right now. He rubbed his neck. “Yes. I started out doing freelance construction gigs. Over time, people found out that I’m pretty good at leading a team, have a good eye for detail, that kind of thing.” His dad would’ve preferred to have him stick around and run the family farm, but that just hadn’t satisfied him. Maybe because he’d grown up around it. Plus, after Mom died, he and Dad hadn’t been able to see eye-to-eye on anything. It had been easier to just find his own way, doing something he was good at and enjoyed. “After a while word got around, and now, I get calls from all over. People bring me in as a sort of foreman-for-hire. I just finished a library in Denver.”
Lisa practically jumped like a cheerleader. “See, you’re perfect for this.”
“But look,” he said stepping closer. “Even if you had a whole fleet of magical helpers to help—”
Lisa cut in. “Which I don’t, but I’m willing to bet you know some people who—”
“Who I would have a hard time getting to work over the holiday.”
“Not if you told them that it’s a Christmas gift for the entire town.” Her voice was sing-songy and there was that smile again.
“Wow.” He lowered his head and laughed. “You are really persistent.”
“Yes I am.” She clapped her hands together, looking more serious. “I am.”
“Okay, so what’s in it for you, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I don’t know.” She shook her head. “It just feels like something I should do.” Appearing almost desperate, she said, “Plus, I was told by Ezra that you’re the best contractor in this town.”
Not exactly a compliment. “I’m the only contractor in this town right now.”
“Yeah.” She pressed her lips together. “There is that.” She let out a sigh, then grounded her stance. “I can promise you that we will be fast.”
That was not what he wanted to hear. “No.” He raised his hand. “If we’re going to do this, it can’t be rushed or thrown together.” Why did he feel like he was getting ready to give in? Bad idea. It was too big of a job to get done before the holiday. There was that twinkle in her eye again.
Her gaze held his for a beat. Then, she waved her hands. “No. No-no. Not rushed or thrown together. We will work fast, but smart.” Their eyes still locked, she thrust her hand in his direction. “Deal?”
Kevin looked down at her hand, then at the store. When he looked back at Lisa, she was grinning ear to ear. “Deal.”
They shook hands, but he had a suspicion he might be in for more than he’d bargained for.