Flipped! (Spinning Hills Romance 1) (5 page)

Read Flipped! (Spinning Hills Romance 1) Online

Authors: Inés Saint

Tags: #Romantic Comedy, #Contemporary, #Romance, #Fiction, #Forever Love, #Adult, #Bachelor, #Single Woman, #Spinning Hills, #Ohio, #Town History, #Small Town, #Amador Brothers, #Community, #Hammer & Nails, #Renovating Houses, #Perfumer, #Military Brat, #Ramshackle House, #Craftsman Style, #Young Daughter, #Single Mother, #Real Estate Flipper, #Outbid, #Auction, #Family Tradition, #Neighbors, #Optimism, #Fairy Tale Ending, #Dream House, #Quirky, #Line Streets, #Old-Fashion Town, #Settling Down, #Houseful Of Love, #Flipped!

BOOK: Flipped! (Spinning Hills Romance 1)
5.88Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
Ella bobbed her head, her eyes widening.
“Well, imagine that blister on your keister and imagine sitting on it. That’s how mean I’ve seen him be. Maybe he’s not—”
“A blister on the keister?” Ella’s little mouth puckered in distaste.
“Right. He was as mean as a big blister on the old keister.” Holly winked. “Maybe he’s not like that all the time or with everyone, but let’s not find out.”
“Mister Blister on the Keister, Mister Blister on the Keister,” Ella repeated over and over again before collapsing into giggles on the couch.
“Uh, no name-calling, okay? We don’t do that. Remember?” Ella’s giggles cut her off. Holly sighed.
Teaching your kid to name-call. Parenting 102, by Holly Bell.
That night, her father called. “How’s the house coming along?” he asked after their usual small talk.
Holly pinched the bridge of her nose. “I didn’t buy it,” she said without feeling.
“Really?” he asked, sounding surprised. “Whew. I can’t tell you how relieved I am you came to your senses. Those pictures you sent Nora gave me nightmares. I don’t why she was so excited for you . . . that whimsy of yours was going to eat into your savings.”
She fisted her hand and fought to keep an even tone. “Actually, someone else saw its potential and beat me to the punch, but I’m looking for another one just like it.”
Silence. The sound of her father clearing his throat. More silence.
“Well, people do perform miracles on those house-flipping shows Nora’s always watching,” he yielded. The knot in Holly’s chest unraveled a bit. At least he was trying. “Just try not to get in over your head,” he added.
She swallowed a sigh. The only times she’d gotten in over her head was when she’d tried to please him, but pointing that out would get her nowhere.
A loud noise made her forget what she was about to say. “Uh, hold on a moment, Dad.” She looked out the window to see Dan working under his newly installed porch lights. He was prying a rotted piece of wood off one of the back porch steps and he was shirtless. Holly’s throat went dry. It was enough he’d ended up with the house, did he also have to look good tearing into it?
Dan looked up and squinted. It almost seemed as if he was looking straight at her.
The hallway light was on behind her, and he could probably see her silhouette. Holly almost dropped the phone. He smirked and saluted. She clenched her jaw, marched to the door, and yanked it open. “Keep it down, will ya!” she yelled, hoping he’d get that she’d been glaring, not staring.
“Holly? What’s going on? Who are you yelling at?” her father was asking when she lifted the phone back to her ear.
“Nobody, just a noisy, thoughtless neighbor,” she replied. “So, what were we talking about?”
“Well, don’t take it the wrong way, but I was telling you to be careful. Don’t bite off more than you can chew.”
“Don’t worry . . . I won’t take it the wrong way.”
I never do
.
CHAPTER 4
H
olly ran into one of Huffy’s new waitresses in the parking lot, and they smiled at each other in recognition. The waitress opened the door for her and Holly thanked her. The young woman then stuck her hand out. “Um, I’m Jenny, by the way. I’m new here.”
Holly smiled again and shook her hand. “I know. I’m Holly. How are you liking your new job?” she asked as they walked in.
“It’s great. Marty is a dream to work for, and the regulars are all really nice.”
“Oh, you’ll get sick of us soon enough,” she joked.
“I don’t see you as much as I see the others. Do you work or live near here?” Jenny asked.
“Both. I live on Rubicon and I own Uncommon Scents, which is four blocks down that way.” She pointed south.
“Oh! I’ve heard of it. Dan Amador told me he’d visited it. He said you’re a . . . nose? Is that right? I wasn’t sure what that meant and he wouldn’t tell me.”
Holly’s temper flared. She wanted to say,
Well, apparently, Dan can’t see past his own big fat schnoz long enough to try and learn something new,
but that could come off as immature. “ ‘Nose’ is an affectionate term for a perfumer,” she said, instead.
“Oh, that sounds interesting. How did you become a perfumer?” Jenny asked, taking a quick glance at her watch. “I still have five minutes.”
Holly was cautious. Too many people in her life had belittled her passions. “Well—I have a bachelor’s in chemistry, I completed an internship at International Flavors and Fragrances, and I trained as a fragrance stability technician, but I think the most important thing is that I’ve always had an affinity for scents.”
“Can you tell what I’m wearing now? It’s pretty rare.” Jenny’s eyes twinkled and Holly let her guard down.
“Timbuktu, by L’Artisan Parfumeur.”
Jenny’s eyes widened. “I’m officially impressed. An ex-boyfriend got it for me, but I’m not sure how I feel about it.”
Emily would’ve told her to try and make a client out of Jenny, but Holly was awful at selling. “Stop by my shop for a tour sometime,” was all she could manage.
 
Dan had spent much of the week with Sam, touring the houses he would be supervising, meeting with the crew at each house, and outlining everyone’s responsibilities according to the timeline Sam had established. In between meetings, he obtained permits for the Craftsman.
Afternoons were spent carefully removing and labeling door trims, moldings, and baseboards for reuse. Evenings were spent on research for his day job.
By the end of the workweek, he’d also made down payments on materials for the new kitchen and bathrooms and he was feeling ahead of the game. Now that it was Friday, he was ready for good music, pizza, and beer. Eighties pop-crap had been pouring out of his next-door neighbor’s windows, and it was grating on his nerves. The music was coming from the basement.
Of course.
His mouth began watering before he walked through Huffy’s swinging oak doors. He could almost feel the aroma and music grabbing him by the arm and pulling him in. The familiar sound of Johnny’s deep vocals greeted him. For a moment, he was a kid again, coming home from school to play in the garage with Sam and Johnny. They’d be rehearsing later that night.
Sam, Marty, and Leo and his wife were sitting at one of the long, wide-planked tables in the middle of the room, and he scooted in next to his brother. He was greeted with enthusiasm by the men. Leo’s wife, Emily, tossed him a dirty look before scooting down as far away from him as possible. He grinned. It had been a while since he’d had cooties.
The set ended and another band soon took the stage. Dan caught sight of Johnny and waved him over. His younger brother smiled wide and began making his way to their table, but he came across the lady who owned the empty perfume shop before he reached them.
The woman stopped short when she saw Dan. Johnny whispered something in her ear, and she shook her head from side to side. Johnny then showed her something on his cell phone and her eyes narrowed. “Delete it, right now!”
Johnny chuckled and whispered something else. The woman clenched her teeth, marched to the other side of their table, and sat down in a huff. Johnny slid in next to Dan.
Sam, Leo, and Emily all stared at Dan.
He was tired and not paying attention, but it was obvious something was going on. Johnny didn’t look at him when he sat down. He was too busy fiddling with his phone. Confused by everyone’s reactions, Dan looked over to see what Johnny was doing, if only to escape their strange looks.
Johnny hit the trash icon on the bottom of the picture a split second after Dan had seen it. He recognized the subject of the close-up immediately. Muddy-green dreadlocks, a face covered in what looked like Pepto-Bismol . . . and bright green eyes. He shook his head, feeling like an idiot. How could he have missed it? No wonder she’d said she wanted to kill Johnny.
She’d have to get in line.
Jenny, the pretty waitress who’d handed him the wet napkin the day Holly had attacked him, walked over, but nobody paid attention.
Dan exhaled and rubbed his neck before looking down the table at Holly. “You’re the, er, trespasser, aren’t you?”
She shot him a haughty look.
Jenny laughed. “Holly is the maniacal trespasser you were telling me about?”
“Maniacal?” Holly lifted both eyebrows at him. Her pursed lips flattened into a tight line.
There was a lot Dan could say in defense of his “maniacal” assessment, including the fact that she hadn’t bothered to tell him who she was when he walked into her shop. And why had she sent Johnny a picture of her in that ridiculous getup? Why would anyone document themselves in that state?
He locked eyes with her, but he sensed Johnny watching him. The fact that he’d bought the Craftsman had upset Johnny from the beginning. Could Holly be the woman he’d been waxing on about?
No matter. Dan wouldn’t let another woman come between them. One was enough. He’d tread carefully.
“Uh, thanks for helping me out. It couldn’t have been easy after . . . our little scene in the basement,” he said to her, even though it sounded lame, and even though he still thought it was stupid for a single mom who could only afford to live in a basement—probably because she had the stupidest career ever—to take on a project of that magnitude. He tried hard to look sincere, but he wasn’t feeling it.
“Little scene.” Holly stared at him. Her voice was calm, but her eyes were flashing.
All eyes were on them. He tried again. “I’m sorry if I scared you. I thought you were a vandal or a thief.”
“I’ll accept your apology, even though you don’t sound sincere.” Looking all too innocent, she added, “And I’m sorry I beat you up.”
“Well, then, I’m also sorry I don’t sound sincere enough for you.” Impossible to keep sarcasm out of his voice. The woman could at least accept she’d brought it on herself. Had she not just seen a picture of what she’d looked like?
“And I’m sorry I can sniff out a fake apology,” she said.
“That’s right. Because you’re a nose.”
“And you’re an ass,” Holly shot back.
“An ass you were staring at the other night.”
Holly’s jaw dropped. “A jackass I was glaring at because he was making too much noise, you smug, self-centered—”
“Uh, guys, can you keep it down?” Marty intervened. Dan looked around. People were staring. He looked back at Holly.
Her eyes were wide and her hand was on her mouth, as if she was surprised at her outburst.
Yeah, right
. “I’m sorry,” she said to Marty.
Dan ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I’m sorry, too.”
Marty nodded and turned to Johnny. “Did I miss something? What’s with these two?” he asked, as if they both weren’t sitting right there.
“Dan stole Holly’s house and Holly beat him up over it. I guess they’re still upset over it,” Johnny answered with a shrug.
Dan couldn’t help it; he laughed. “That about sums it up.”
“Uh, how do you steal a house?” Marty asked, while staring at the gash above Dan’s eyebrow. Dan looked around. Everyone was studying his eyebrow with new interest. He turned to Holly and lifted said eyebrow.
“Ooh, look, it’s almost eight. Emily and I have a movie to catch,” Holly cut in before anyone could say another word.
Holly eyed the house next door. Suddenly, she wasn’t in the mood to watch the weepy made-for-TV movie Emily had recorded. “I heard him working all last week and I’m dying to know exactly what he’s doing, but I doubt he’ll invite me in after tonight. And I doubt I’d go.”
Emily opened the front door, but paused before going inside. “Let’s grab a couple of flashlights and peek through the windows.”
“I don’t know . . .” Holly looked over at the house, curiosity and caution waging a battle within her. “The last thing I want is another encounter with him. Did you see the look he gave me when everyone was staring at his eyebrow? Ugh.”
“No. I was too busy staring at his eyebrow, too.” Holly glared at her, and Emily bit her lip to keep from smiling. “Come on, let’s sneak a look at the house. Dan’s at Huffy’s with the guys and you know how they are. They’ll be there till it closes, watching games, playing darts and pool, and grunting at each other.”
Holly considered it. Emily was right. They went inside, rummaged around for a couple of flashlights, and headed next door.
They peeked into the window closest to their own house first. Holly slowly guided the light up and down and from side to side over the living room. “He’s taken all the doors, moldings, and trim down. Not much else to see.”
“Let’s go to the back.” Emily grabbed her arm.
But Holly remained rooted to the spot. “I hope he’s staining everything. I’d hate to see it repainted.”
Emily pulled her arm again. “Don’t dwell on it. Let’s keep moving.”
Holly shut the light off and grinned. “You don’t give a hoot about the house. You just like the idea of doing something sneaky.”
“I’m pathetic, I know. But this is the closest I’ve come to doing something risky since I became a mom,” she said, eyes bright.
They tiptoed around to the back, though Holly wasn’t sure why they were trying to be quiet. They both turned their lights on and shone them into the kitchen. “The old cabinets are gone, that’s a good thing.” Holly sighed. “It looks like he’s moving along at a good pace.”
Emily put her arm around Holly’s shoulder. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”
“I’m fine. Come on.” Holly turned the flashlight off and together they rounded the corner.
Emily was about to turn the light back on, but Holly put her hand on her arm, looked back at the house next door, and said, “Wait. What if Mrs. Jenkins sees the light and thinks we’re intruders?”
“Her house is on a downward slope and she’s nearly blind,” Emily reassured her.
They turned their flashlights on again and tried to look inside. This side of the house was darker and they had to squint and press their noses against the glass to see anything. “Look over there, beside the fireplace.” Holly nudged Emily.
“What? I don’t see anything.”
“He found the matching stone. How’d he manage that? I’ve been trying to find it for months.”
A hand clamped her shoulder. “I know what I’m doing, that’s why,” a deep male voice spoke.
Both women screamed and jumped. Holly’s heart felt as if it had exploded inside her chest. She looked up to see Dan. Emily began to giggle the moment she saw him. It was a nervous habit, and poor Emily would be giggling like an idiot for a while.
Holly put her hand on her chest. “Don’t do that! Are you trying to give me a heart attack? What’re you doing here?” she yelled, unable to think straight.
Dan had the nerve to grin. “I forgot my wallet.”
“Is that why you snuck up on us? To kill me? We’re just looking. Jeez!” Holly’s cheeks were burning. She clenched her teeth, grabbed Emily by the arm, and marched back across the lawn with as much dignity as she could muster.
 
“Heather!” Holly cried, when Sam’s ex walked into her shop on Monday.
The two women hugged. “I’ve been dying to see you and talk to you, but Sam says you’re spending time with your parents and I know you’ve been busy . . .” Holly’s voice trailed off. She hadn’t seen her friend in three weeks, but she didn’t know where to begin.
“I know. But I finally have a day off and I wanted to spend some time with you and Emily. I’m sorry I didn’t call earlier, but it’s been crazy.”
“Oh, Emily will hate she missed you. Gracie’s got the flu and Emily stayed home with her, but if you give me a few minutes, I can get someone to take over and we can go out.”
“Actually, I was thinking about getting a new signature scent. We had so much fun coming up with it last time, and I feel different now that I’m single. What do you think?” Heather looked doubtful.

Other books

Return to Paradise by Pittacus Lore
Supernatural: Coyote's Kiss by Faust, Christa
Meadowside by Blakeston, Marcus
The Goddess Within by Amarinda Jones
The Fanatic by James Robertson
The House That Jack Built by Jakob Melander
Placing Out by P. J. Brown