“Good.” Deke said. “I can get you out of that Sunday dinner real easy. I’ll call and say that we have an emergency plumbing problem on Sunday right after church. Pipes could freeze right here at the Lucky Penny and we wouldn’t have a choice but to fix them. Might take all the way to supper to get the job done. I’ll bring the beer. Besides it could snow and if it does, Mitch might not be able to get down here to go to church with Lizzy.”
“Don’t even suggest such a thing or it might happen,” Blake said. “And I thought y’all were talking about Friday, not Sunday.”
“She has to put up with Grady on Sunday at her mama’s house since she won’t go out with him on Friday. I’m her best friend so I’m trying to help her out here,” Deke explained.
Blake nodded. “So that’s the reason you can’t go get a burger with me?”
Deke chuckled.
Allie pointed her fork at him. “It’s not funny.”
“Yep, it is.”
“Changing the subject here since my mama says it’s not nice to make a lady blush,” Blake said.
Allie could have planted a kiss right on those full sexy lips at that moment. She was sick of Lizzy’s wedding plans, and she’d rather talk about busted sewer lines than those ugly orchid taffeta dresses Lizzy wanted her and Fiona to wear.
“Are you really going to start hauling wood off this place tomorrow?” Blake asked.
Deke refilled his plate. “Yeah, I am. And I got a feeling there’ll be a lot more folks out there with chainsaws. I bet Herman Hudson is the first one out here with his crew of grandsons. What do you think, Allie? You think that anyone can beat Herman when there’s free wood to be had?” Deke asked.
Allie took a sip of the tea. Not too sweet but with enough sugar and strength to know she was drinking southern tea and not murdered water. “He’s got a big wood yard and we’ve got a lot of winter left, so he sure won’t pass up a chance to get at this much mesquite for free.”
She didn’t want to talk about wood or anything else. She wanted to be back on the roof with her nail gun working on the job where she’d have lots of time to think. Maybe even with her earbuds in place and listening to George Strait, who had helped her through the most difficult time of her life with the lyrics to his fifty greatest hits. Back when she first found out that Riley had been cheating on her for years, she’d leaned on country music to get her through those sad, tough times.
She stole a sideways glance toward Blake and found him staring at her. Their gaze caught above the fried chicken and time stood still.
Those dark eyes mesmerized him and Blake wished that she’d let him in long enough to see into her heart. He knew women, could look into their eyes, see past the glitter and glam, and know what they wanted from him. If it was a good time, he provided it. If it was a relationship, he was gone in a hurry. But this was something different. Could he really be courting a woman for friendship? If so, he was damn sure in virgin territory.
Deke pushed back his chair, picked up his plate, and carried it to the sink. “I bet that’s Nadine’s apple pie, isn’t it?”
“That’s what the ladies said. Help yourself to all you want. I hate apple pie. Ice cream is in the freezer if you want to top it off,” Blake said.
Allie pushed back her chair. “I’m too full for dessert, even Nadine’s pie, which I do like. I’m going back up on the roof. See you when you get done. Thanks for dinner, Blake. We’ll discuss the next job after we finish the roof.”
Blake waited until she was out of the house to ask, “What’s her story?”
“Lived here in Dry Creek all her life, most of it over at Audrey’s Place. Crazy the way that name has stuck for more than a hundred years.”
“House is almost a hundred years old?” Blake rinsed dirty dishes and set them aside.
“Pretty close to that. Before the Depression it was a small hotel but Audrey found out pretty quick that folks didn’t have money for traveling. No one ever called it a brothel but she hired six girls, gave them a room and three meals a day and a big cut of what they made. At least, that’s the story. Who knows what is true and what is rumor around here?”
Blake poured two cups of coffee and set one in front of Deke. “It looks like it held up good.”
“Foundation is good and solid. Allie is afraid to knock out walls for fear the ceiling will sag. I told her that she couldn’t knock them out because the studs are petrified by now,” Deke answered.
Not caring that he was being nosy, he wandered into personal territory that went deeper than mere friendship. “Tell me more about Allie.”
Deke dug into his pie. “She has two sisters. Lizzy that you met and Fiona who lives down in Houston. Works for some big crackerjack law firm and is married to one of the partners. Allie’s daddy was a carpenter and she learned the trade from him. Married right out of high school. Divorced after two or three years. Can’t remember exactly how long they were together, but he cheated on her. The rest you’ll have to ask her. She’s my best friend and I’m not getting into any more trouble.”
“Sometimes her eyes look sad,” Blake said.
Dozens of wrinkles creased Deke’s forehead when he frowned. “Allie? Sad? Not that woman. She’s the happiest woman I know. She likes what she does and she’s the easiest woman in the world to work with and for.”