*
Lourdes was wearing a holey Budweiser T-shirt she’d inherited from a member of her stage crew, a pair of Victoria’s Secret sweat bottoms and a belted, big-collared sweater her mother had given her a year ago for Christmas. None of it matched, including her fuzzy socks. She’d bought those for their softness alone. Too bad they weren’t as warm as they looked. She’d forgotten her sheepskin slippers at her estate in Tennessee, which was a mistake. The weather outside was reminding her that even parts of California could get cold.
Since she was waiting for her landlord, she considered changing. Not only was she wearing frumpy, shapeless clothes, she’d removed her makeup and piled her hair on top of her head. But she was too depressed to care. So what if Kyle Houseman was handsome? He was probably married. Even if he wasn’t, she was in a relationship.
A knock alerted her to his arrival. She went to answer the door but paused after peeking through the peephole. Was she really going to let him see her like this? It wasn’t just that he was so good-looking; she’d grown accustomed to maintaining her image. Being famous meant that people had certain expectations of her, and those expectations weren’t always realistic.
But this was exactly the type of pressure she’d come to Whiskey Creek to avoid. For her own sanity, she had to escape the need she felt to compete—in the music world and in her personal life with the incomparable, and much younger, Crystal. She needed to be a regular person for a while. Needed to take a step back and root out the panic and neuroticism that was taking hold and turning her into someone she no longer recognized.
After tightening the belt of her sweater, she opened the door. “I’m sorry I had to bother you,” she said, stepping aside to let him in.
“Sounds to me as if you had every right. I’m sorry you couldn’t get the furnace to work. It’s a brand-new unit, so I can’t believe there’s anything terribly wrong. I’ll try to figure out what’s going on.”
He had a tool chest in one hand, which he put on the floor while he fiddled with the thermostat.
Instinctively, she folded her arms across her chest. She was wearing so many layers he’d never be able to tell she hadn’t put on a bra. But there was something about him that made her more aware of him than she should be. “So you handle your own repairs?”
“Only the easy ones.”
She wasn’t sure why she was feeling self-conscious; he’d hardly looked at her.
“To be honest, I’m no handyman,” he added. “But it’s after five, so I’m all we’ve got for today.”
He had a nice skin tone. She also liked his dark five-o’clock shadow, which contrasted with his kind eyes and the laugh lines around them. It made him look a little uncivilized. “Then what do you do for a living? Besides own rental property?”
“I’m a solar manufacturer. You can’t see the plant from here, because of the trees and the rolling hills in between, but if you drive east about half a mile, you’ll reach my factory.”
“No wonder you got here so quickly.”
“I happened to be at the plant taking care of something when you texted me, but my house is even closer.” He frowned as he adjusted the thermostat. It was digital, with an abundance of programs and cycles. Lourdes didn’t understand why a device that could’ve been so simple—and used to be—had been made so complex. Maybe the furnace didn’t work because she’d been messing with the various buttons and screwed something up...
She perched on the arm of the leather sofa in the living room. “Solar must be a thriving business, what with everyone talking about carbon footprint.”
“As time goes by and the price of solar modules comes down, more and more people are making the switch.”
“Then you’re poised for growth.”