He was growing up so fast, she thought. He’d be fourteen by the end of the summer, but no one would know that just by looking at him. He already towered over his mother by a good eight inches, his gangly frame the only glaring evidence that he was still a few years from full manhood. But it wasn’t just his size that made him appear older. Matt was more mature than most boys his age, having to grow up faster than she would have liked. He hadn’t had it easy.
More than anything else, Faith was hoping this move would be good for him. For both of them. A fresh start in a new place; it was exactly what they needed.
All of their most prized possessions were in the back of the light blue Taurus, now pushing the two hundred thousand mile mark and showing its age. It wouldn’t win any beauty contests, but with a little help and a lot of luck it ran well enough. It had gotten them this far, and for that she was grateful.
As if mocking her, the radiator light started blinking on the dash, informing her that their current ascent up the mountain was pushing its limits. At the next widened area she’d pull over and refill the overflow tank with the gallon of water she always kept in the back along with an impressive supply of paper clips, rubber bands, bungee cords, and, her personal fix-it tool of choice - duct tape. She patted the console appreciatively, murmuring a few encouraging words. As if responding to her heartfelt plea, the light blinked off again.
“Tell me again about the house,” Matt asked for the hundredth time, all traces of sleepiness gone. Faith didn’t mind. She was every bit as excited about the prospect of having their own place as he was. And after nearly fifteen hours of driving, she welcomed the topic.
“Well, it’s going to need a lot of work,” she cautioned, just as she had every other time he’d asked.
“Yeah, but we’re good at that kind of stuff,” Matt said with the arrogance of a young teen.
“Yes, we are. It’s a small place, little more than a cottage, really. Made of stone. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, living room, kitchen.”
“And a basement, right? Rooms actually under the house?”
“Yep,” she grinned. Most of Matt’s young life had been spent in areas of the south barely above sea level, where few homes actually had basements. And they’d never come across such a thing in the trailer parks they’d lived in over the past ten years.
“And a porch? And a yard?”
“Yep. Even a detached garage and a shed.”
“Sweet.” He settled back again, eyes wide as he took in the unfamiliar landscape, no doubt imagining all the wonders of their new home. In the back of her mind, so was she.
Chapter Two
“Kier, can you head over to the property on Sycamore later?” Shane asked as he lifted Ryan from his car seat so that he could run around a little. The boy was a true Callaghan – always moving, always looking for something to get into.
Kieran grabbed the box of baked goodies provided by Maggie and followed his brother into the massive home owned by the family of Shane’s fiancé, Lacie. Shane managed the assortment of properties owned by the Callaghan Corporation, as well as handled all the legal dealings of the clan.
“Sure. What’s up?”
“The new owner’s due to arrive sometime this week. With everything going on it completely slipped my mind. The place has been empty for years, and I haven’t had a chance to make sure the electric and plumbing are safe and operational.”
Kieran frowned. “Wait. You mean that ratty old cottage? Someone actually bought that?”
“Yep.”
“I hope he’s a real do-it-yourself type. That place needs a major overhaul.”
“Not ‘he’, ‘she’,” Shane corrected. “Single mom.”
Kieran’s frown deepened. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope.”
“We’ve got to have a better property available,” Kieran said, shaking his head at the thought of a woman living in such a place. It went against every male instinct he had. “Something more suitable for a single mom.”
“We do,” Shane confirmed. “But the buyer was very specific about what she was looking for.”
Kieran couldn’t help the frown that creased his brow as he wondered what kind of woman would buy that type of property. Maybe she was one of these people who professionally “flipped’ houses – bought old ones in poor shape for a song, fixed them up, then sold them for a profit. That had been one of Shane’s reasonings for buying the old place originally.
Kieran was as surprised by the fact that he was selling it in its current condition as he was with the buyer. Then again, the past couple of months had been pretty rough on Shane. Several months ago he’d discovered his croie, only to have her kidnapped at the hands of a psychotic family friend. Factor in the tricky extraction of her brother from Afghanistan after being missing and presumed dead for nearly three years, and Kieran could definitely understand Shane’s lack of attention to some things, however uncharacteristic of his highly-organized brother.
“What do you know about her?” Kieran asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.