He knocks again.
I wipe my eyes and take a deep breath, then get up and walk to the door.
"What do you need?" I force out a smile as I greet him. This time he's wearing a shirt, a gray one with the words Wheeler Construction and Renovation printed in the corner.
"Sorry to bother you. I just wondered if you had any kind of cleaner I could use for the deck table. Gramps didn't have much for cleaning supplies." He laughs, but then his smile suddenly drops and he gently grasps my arm. "Hey. Are you okay?"
Shit. My eyes must be red.
I nod, smiling. "Yeah. I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" He rubs my arm a little and I want to beg him to continue. His touch is warm and comforting and I desperately need that. I need someone to comfort me and tell me everything will be okay. That I won't always be like this. That eventually things will get better.
"I have some cleaner," I say. "I'll go get it." I hurry to the kitchen and take a spray bottle from under the sink, then meet him back at the door. "This should work."
"Thanks," he says, a look of concern in his eyes. "You sure you're okay?"
"Yep." I smile even wider. "Just a little tired from work." The mention of work reminds me of the pie. "I forgot your pie."
His smile returns. "You brought me a pie?"
"It's from Lou. He wanted me to give it to you but I left it in my car. I'll go get it."
"I can get it." He takes off, and a few moments later he's back knocking on my door. I answer it and see him holding the pie. "Does this have to be refrigerated?"
"Yeah. Sorry. He didn't know your fridge didn't work. I can keep it in mine." I take it from him.
"Thanks. So I'll see you at six." He turns to leave.
"Nash, I told you I can't have dinner with you."
"I'm eating that pie for dessert so you'll have to bring it over, right?"
"Um, yeah, I guess."
"Then you might as well come for dinner."
His logic hurts my head. It kind of makes sense, but not really. He's gone before I can argue with him.
I can't go to dinner. It'll mess up my schedule. But this guy just won't give up. If I'm not there at six, he'll be back knocking on my door.
So I guess I'm going to dinner.
Chapter Six
Nash
I don't know what happened, but something was going on with Callie when I went over there earlier. Her eyes were red and teary like she'd been crying. But why would she be crying?
She seemed okay when she got home from work. We were talking in the driveway, but then she suddenly took off. She ran in the house and shut the door. I've been trying to figure out what I might've said that made her run off like that, but I can't even remember what we were talking about.
"Nash?" I hear a girl's voice but it doesn't sound like Callie's. "I walk to the edge of the deck and see a girl coming around the side of the house. "Nash?"
It's the girl I saved from getting hit by a car. What was her name? It was similar to Callie. Kaylie? Carrie? Cassie? Shit, I can't remember.
"Over here." I go down the steps and meet up with her on the patio, which is just a slab of cracked concrete with weeds peeping through. Add that to the list of things I need to fix. At this rate I'll still be working on this house a year from now.
"There you are." She sashays over to me holding a container of something. She has a different dress on. A shorter dress, in a red silky fabric with thin straps at the top. She's wearing heavier makeup than when I saw her earlier and her blond hair is held back with large sunglasses. "I brought you something."
She hands me the plastic container.
"What is it?"
"Brownies." She steps in front of me and I can smell her perfume. It's much stronger now. "I felt bad that yours fell on the ground when you saved me. So I made you a batch."
"You made these?" I hold up the container.
"I'm pretty good in the kitchen." She bites her lip, smiling. "And other places."
I take a step back to escape her perfume. "Thanks, but you didn't have to do that."
"It was no trouble." She walks around me, inspecting the deck. I scrubbed it and hosed it down so it's cleaner than it was before but really needs to be power-washed and given a new coat of stain.
"It looks a lot better," she says.
"You saw how it looked before?"
Her eyes dart back to mine. "No. But I imagine it was pretty dirty after being neglected for so long." She motions to the house. "So how long will it take to finish?"
"I'm not sure yet. I have to make a list of what needs to be done, then put a schedule to it."
"Is that the company you work for?" She points to my shirt. I forgot I was wearing a company t-shirt. I just threw it on before I went to Callie's house to get the cleaner, figuring she might not appreciate me showing up there shirtless. Or maybe she would. I smile.
"Nash?" the girl says, and I realize I forgot to answer her question.