Plain Jayne (23 page)

Jayne sighed. “About the flowers, about the work you’re doing, about dinner the other night …”

She stuffed some more salad in her mouth, but she didn’t seem to be enjoying it any more than he was enjoying his sandwich.

He sat back in his chair and thought on that for a minute while they finished their lunch. Try as he did, he kept coming back to the same conclusion.

“I don’t care. Let them talk.” He dropped a couple bucks on the table and led Jayne outside and back toward her store. “You and I know what’s going on, and that’s all that matters.”

“Then give me a bill for the work at the store.”

God, she was infuriating. “There’s nothing to bill you for. I have the equipment and the supplies already, so—”

“Those supplies weren’t free; you had to pay for them at some point.”

“Stuff left over from when I built the house. It’s just sitting in the garage, so you might as well use it if you can.”

“Fine. But only if you let me pay for it.”

“Hey, Jayne!” A tall woman with a blond ponytail crossed the street toward them, a big smile across her face. “I was just coming over to see if you wanted to go for lunch.”

“Sorry,” Jayne answered. “Just finished. Ellie, this is Nick, Nick, this is Ellie. She owns Pandora’s up the street there.”

“Pandora’s.” Nick frowned a second until the name registered. “Oh, that’s where you got the dress. Good to meet you, Ellie.”

“Likewise.” Ellie shook his hand, but her smile was all for Jayne, who seemed to be trying to send some kind of message through a glare. “I won’t keep you. We still on for next week?”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Jayne called as the other woman waved and headed back down the street.

“Do I want to know what that look was about?” he asked as Jayne unlocked the door and slipped inside the store.

“Nope.”

He closed the door behind him and turned to face her. “I have an idea that might get this job done and keep us both happy.”

She raised her brow, but he wasn’t fooled, especially when she tipped her head to the side and said, “Does it involve me signing a check?”

“Actually,” he said slowly, “cash would be better.”

“Ooh,” she said. “Now I’m intrigued.”

Nick stepped closer and rested his elbows on the wood counter. “While Delmar and I are boarding the Schwanns’ house, I can ask Kyle and Todd to finish the boarding over here.”

For the first time, a tiny spark of hope lit Jayne’s eyes. “And you’ll let
me
pay them?”

“Be my guest. I’m sure they’ll be happy to have the work. How’s eight tomorrow
morning work for you?”

“Perfect.”

He pulled out his phone, called Todd and Kyle, and hung up. “Done. So now you need to figure out what you want to do for flooring upstairs, paint, and things like sink fixtures.”

“Okay.”

“And just a thought,” he said. “But if you’re so keen to spend all your inheritance at once, you might want to consider new appliances. Not that those ones aren’t nice, but it’s a safe bet anything older than you should probably go.”

Jayne grinned. “But that avocado green is so nice. I was hoping to find a matching dishwasher.”

“See, and when you look like that, I’m worried you might be serious.”

He was almost at the back door when she called him back.

“Sorry about before.” She offered him a small smile. “I just don’t ever want you to think I’m taking advantage of you.”

“And I don’t ever want you to think you
can’t
take advantage of me.”

She frowned. Nick frowned back.

“Okay, um …” He squinted through a forced chuckle. “That didn’t come out quite right, but you know what I mean.”

Her head nodded, but her frown remained. He’d best get out of there before he said anything else that stupid. In his truck, he dialed Todd’s number again.

“Can you meet me at my place and we’ll load you up for tomorrow? Good. See you in ten.”

He hung up, switched to his Bluetooth, and called the guys who did trades for him just to make sure they’d be finishing up at Jayne’s tonight. He was damn lucky to have these guys, and it only cost him a twenty-four pack, a bottle of scotch, and a round of golf. With them done tonight, the trade inspectors could get in first thing tomorrow, and then Todd and Kyle could get the insulation up and start drywalling. It was going to be tight getting it all done, and if one thing went wrong …

Nick had never failed an inspection—had never even come close—but that didn’t mean he enjoyed having his work picked apart by a suit with a clipboard. Hague wasn’t a bad guy, he was just doing his job, but Nick knew if ever there was a building that would be picked over, nail
by nail, it would be Jayne’s store. And given the state it was in a month ago, he couldn’t blame Hague.

All he could do was work harder.

*  *  *

Just as Nick promised, Todd and Kyle were at the store before eight the next morning.

“I’m Jayne,” she said, extending her hand. “Thanks so much for doing this.”

“Todd.” Several years younger than she, he wore a faded Mariners cap over his dark blond hair and a mischievous grin on his face. “Good to finally meet you.”

“You too.”

By the look on his face, Jayne could only assume he and Regan had compared notes on her and Nick, and Todd was now looking for anything to prove his theory. He could look all he wanted, he wasn’t going to find anything.

“I’m Kyle.”

Jayne grinned at the kid with the longish hair that he’d already flicked out of his face twice. He slid two sawhorses out of the truck, followed by a skill saw, a crowbar, and a giant radio/CD player, then Todd helped him carry in a couple dozen sheets of drywall up the stairs.

“Do you need me for anything right now?” Jayne asked, but Todd shook his head. “Okay, I’ll be in and out all day, but I’ll leave you my number in case you need to find me.”

“No worries,” Todd said, still grinning. “I’m sure the boss knows where to find you if we need anything.”

She nabbed a carpenter’s pencil out of one of the tool belts and scribbled her info on the nearest two-by-four.

“There.” She handed the pencil back with a nod and the sweetest Mary-Sunshine smile she could muster. “I’m the boss while you’re here, so there’ll be no need for you to bother anyone else.”

His smirk faded. He hesitated a moment, then reached for his pencil.

“Any questions?” She waited a second, then nodded briefly. “Great, then I’ll get out of your way.”

Todd waved her off as he set up his huge radio and cranked up some kind of rap-crap-God-knows-what
kind of music.

Armed with her officially registered business name, a notebook, and a pen, Jayne made her way to Martin’s office a few blocks over from the store. His office, in one of the newer buildings in town, was a suite of three rooms on the second floor, decorated in simple earth tones and two huge potted palms.

The woman at the desk offered her coffee, then went back to whatever she was doing on her computer. Her brow furrowed in concentration, and Jayne had to choke back a laugh when the screen reflected in the woman’s glasses. Her game of Mahjong must be a timed version.

“Jayne, come on in.” Dressed in a sharp charcoal suit, Martin waved her into his office. “Good to see you again.”

“You too.” She set her paperwork on the desk and took the seat he indicated. “But I think we might be jumping the gun here a little. Shouldn’t we wait to see if the building passes inspection before I get all this set up?”

“It’ll pass.” Martin held his deep purple tie back as he sat down across the desk from her. “Nick’ll make sure of that. How is he, anyway?”

“Still a little mortified,” she laughed.

“Really?” His mouth curved into a slight smirk. “From where I was sitting, he looked more relieved than anything else.”

Jayne didn’t respond and thankfully Martin didn’t seem to expect her to. Instead, they spent the next hour going over what his services were and how much they’d cost. When they were done, she headed over to City Hall to file the documents and pay for her business license, where they questioned her about the code violations, then nodded when Nick’s name was mentioned. Apparently his name was enough of a guarantee that the building would pass inspection.

Her next appointment was with a local graphic designer, who’d gone ahead and mocked up a few ideas for the store, even before Jayne had confirmation on the name. They made arrangements to have the chosen design printed on the front window and for a wooden sign to be hung from the overhang. They’d email her the JPEG so she could get business cards made up, too.

There were still a few hours before she had to be at the bank, so she took her list of measurements and drove straight to Home Depot, where she spent an agonizing amount of time
picking out new appliances, fixtures, flooring, and finally, hardest of all, new paint.

By the time she pulled her car into the spot behind her store, Dandelion Books was an official business with a license and twenty whole bucks in the bank. Now all she need do was pass inspection and hit every yard sale in the western hemisphere to find stock for the shelves.

“No problem,” she snorted as she reached for her phone and dialed the pizza place near Nick’s house. “No problem at all.”

Todd was just rolling up the extension cords when she walked in.

“Wow!” she gaped. “You got a lot done.”

He shut the music off and bobbed his head at nothing in particular. “It’s coming along.”

“The appliances and flooring will be here tomorrow, is that too soon?”

“Nope, but the flooring guy might have to work around the electrician if he’s still here.”

“Is that bad?”

“Not usually,” he laughed. “Depends on how big your coffee-and-doughnut budget is.”

“Big.” Jayne grinned. “Huge, actually.”

“It’s all good then.” He set the cord next to the skill saw and nodded. “We’ll see you in the morning.”

Jayne spent a few minutes looking around the apartment. Nick and his crew were good, no question, but this was going to take a small miracle. They had less than a week, and after that, she’d either be watching Art Hague hang caution tape around her building, or she’d be moving into her apartment.

After locking up, she picked up the pizzas she’d ordered and parked beside Nick’s truck at his work site. From the outside, the house almost looked done; the siding was up, the roof was on, and the doors and windows were installed. Inside the garage, though, buckets of joint compound sat next to stacks of gypsum board, and a broken set of metal stilts lay in the corner beside a pile of leftover bits of board.

“Hello?” Loaded down with pizza and water bottles, she stepped inside and followed the echoing sound of the screw gun.

“In here!” Nick called back from what looked to be the living room. He was holding a giant piece of board over his head while another man, who she assumed was Delmar, shot a screw through it. “Do I smell pepperoni?”

Jayne lifted the lid of the first box and waved the lid up and down. “And sausage and
bacon and extra cheese.”

“Hold still,” the other guy grunted. His longish dark hair was covered in drywall dust, and he teetered slightly on his stilts. “Straighten it out.”

Nick adjusted the board a little to the left and held it steady while the rest of the screws were fastened.

“Now you can go eat.”

“Jayne, Delmar. Delmar, Jayne.” Dirty hands and all, Nick reached for the biggest piece in the box and stuffed the pointy end in his mouth. Still chewing, he leaned over on his stilts and kissed the top of her head. “Thank you.”

She tried to quell the flush creeping up her neck, but it didn’t work.

“Hey, Delmar,” she said, trying to pretend she didn’t catch the look he shot Nick. “Help yourself.”

“Thanks.” He wiped his hands against his jeans and grinned as he leaned down and lifted a piece out. “Sharice’ll kill me but damn, that smells good.”

“How are you guys making out?” She set the boxes on the nearest sawhorse, then took a piece of plain cheese pizza from the second box. When Nick crinkled his nose at her, she just stuck out her tongue.

“So far, so good,” Nick answered. “Have a look if you want.”

Jayne wandered slowly from room to room, running her fingers over everything as she walked by. So many different textures, from the slightly chalky gypsum to the smooth panes of glass to the sometimes rough, sometimes even, grain of the studs.

It must feel great to know you’ve built someone a home; a place for them to raise their family. Granted, Judy and Ross didn’t have kids, but it would still be their home. They’d make memories there, and Nick was making that possible for them.

By the time she made it back to the first room, Nick and Delmar had ditched their stilts and had eaten through most the first pizza.

“Little hungry were ya?”

Delmar swallowed a mouthful of water, then swiped the back of his hand across his mouth. “Captain America here didn’t think we needed to stop for lunch today.”

“
Him?
No lunch?” Jayne laughed. “Maybe you should go work with Todd and Kyle; I hear their new boss is much more reasonable.”

“Cuter, too.” Delmar tossed his empty plastic bottle in the bin with the rest of the recyclables and grinned. “I’m outta here. See you tomorrow.”

“But we’re not done,” Nick mumbled over his mouthful of pizza, then gave up and waved Delmar away. “Later.”

Jayne tossed her crust inside the empty box and pulled out a second piece.

“Sorry,” she said. “Didn’t mean to scare him off.”

Nick didn’t seem bothered. “He should have gone home a couple hours ago. How’d they make out at the apartment?”

“Great! Insulation is in and they just started the drywall.”

He nodded as he guzzled the rest of his water. “Did you get everything sorted out with Martin?”

Jayne filled him in on her appointment, as well as everything else she’d done, laughing when she told him about her plain Jane appliances.

Nick didn’t laugh.

“Oh, come on,” she said. “It’s a little bit funny.”

“No it’s not.” He tossed the empty pizza box in the bin, then handed her the other as they walked toward the garage. “I don’t know why you—”