“Thank you for your help.” She headed toward the front door. “I’ve got a lot to do. A house doesn’t fix itself, you know.”
“You can always ask for help.” He stepped closer and brushed her hair across her shoulder. Her cap had fallen off when she fell. Her hair now lay in dark silk ribbons around her shoulders.
She licked her lips and stepped back.
He knew when he was being dismissed. He opened the door. “Keep that bandage on until morning.”
Was he that rusty? Or was she just not into him?
That should have been a relief. He didn’t need another female throwing their panties at him, right?
On the drive home, he couldn’t stop wondering about what kind of panties Grace preferred.
***
Grace was up before dawn the day of famed annual yard sale. She’d spent the rest of the week carefully taking inventory of what she needed to make her house a home. She’d make do with the furniture that had come with the house, which was minimal at best. Other than the wicker love seat, a few end tables, a kitchen table and her new mattress, her house was practically bare. It looked more like it belonged to a college student with a future, not a twenty-eight year old woman with a past.
Her past. Just like that it was once again looming in front of her like an angry tornado, threatening to destroy everything in its path.
She grabbed a cup and reached for the coffee pot determined to push the negative thoughts away. She smiled as she poured herself a cup of coffee into the chipped chintz tea cup. She discovered the chipped cup in a box of things in the attic. She couldn’t bring herself to throw it away. Despite the damage it was still beautiful. She made a point to use it every day after that, determined to give it another chance at life.
The tea cup fit perfectly with her idea of a shabby chic theme. She didn’t want new things that matched perfectly. No, she wanted the unloved and outdated so she could make it her own.
The deep honking from a group of geese broke the early morning silence as they flew overhead in the direction of her pond. A surge of guilt hit her. She’d been so busy getting her house in order that she had yet to walk down to the pond and see it for herself.
After her shopping trip today, she’d remedy that.
She opened up the back door and made her way onto the step to sit. She shivered as the cool morning air hit her bare legs. She wrapped her robe tighter around her chilled skin.
The first few trills of a bird’s melody against the drone of frogs played against one another in an unlikely but beautiful symphony. A clump of daffodils near a small tree splayed its color against an otherwise green canvas. The soft scent of a pink flowering vine,which insisted on climbing up the porch railing, tickled her nose.
It had seemed like forever since she’d been at peace.
It seemed like only yesterday she was fighting to make her escape from a monster she’d thought she loved.
The image of Sloan popped into her head. With his dark blond hair and deep blue eyes, he exuded a male confidence that she found sexy. And whenever he touched her, she couldn’t get her heart rate under control. That, in itself, was dangerous.
She wouldn’t make that mistake again. Love wasn’t worth it.
***
Allison pulled up in Sloan’s white truck thirty minutes late.
Grace met her in the driveway, eager to get going.
“Sorry I’m late. Sloan was trying to make sure I knew where all the buttons and hidden gadgets were located.” Allison shook her head. “He has a thing about someone else driving his truck. He acts like I’ve never driven a vehicle before.”
Grace chuckled. “At least he lent it to you. Some men wouldn’t part with their things for a million dollars.”
Allison’s eyes twinkled as she smiled. “I hope you’re ready to fill your house with some great deals. Do you know what you are looking for?”
“I have a vague idea.” Grace followed her to the truck. “I’m hoping I’ll know it when I see it.”
They arrived at the yard sale with the event in full swing. The whole town had apparently turned out. Cars lined the side of the road where white tents were erected to house different booths.
Grace was thrilled with the wide array of contemporary and antique furniture that was available. The whole yard sale started on one side of town and wound its way to the interstate. Their plan had been to park at various parking spots available throughout the whole event. So far, they managed to cover about half of the actual sale.
“I can’t believe you bought those chairs.” Allison bit her lip as she looked at the pair of barrel-style chairs. “The upholstery is pulling away at the seams.” She flicked her nail where the green and yellow plaid material was tearing.
Grace bent over the pair and smiled. “I didn’t buy them to keep them like this.”
“Thank God. For a moment I was thinking you had horrible taste.” Allison sighed.
“Is that what that constipated look was for?”