The Comfort of Favorite Things (A Hope Springs Novel) (16 page)

Thea slid her legs out of her shirt, the big paisley-print chair squeaking as she leaned forward, squeezing Ellie’s knee. “Dakota knows who it is, and he would have no reason to know Bobby or Todd or Frannie’s ex or Becca’s Dez. It’s no one connected to us. Not like that anyway.”

“But why would someone
not
connected to one of us make such an offer? It’s not like the house is a blight on Main Street or anything. No one’s going to see it unless they come up here, and no one does, which is the whole point.” The idea of Bobby finding out where she was . . . Ellie’s stomach turned over, and she pressed a hand against it, waiting for it to calm. “There’s got to be a huge amount of money involved, and I just can’t imagine someone spending that without a good reason. A personal reason. It just doesn’t make sense.”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Thea said, sliding her legs to the side in her chair. “Dakota’s sister was one of my closest friends when we were teenagers. She lives here now, and she married into money.” Thea shrugged. “We finally caught up with each other the other morning.”

“You told her about this place?”

“That I’d bought the house, yes, and that it wasn’t in the best shape, but that was all. We were talking about her new house and her old cottage, so it wasn’t a big deal. I wouldn’t doubt if she’s behind this.”

That would make sense. “She wouldn’t want you to know?”

“We haven’t been in touch in years. She might be afraid I’d think her presumptuous.”

Ellie thought for a minute. “She knows you. She knows Dakota. She has money. But I still wish we knew. I’d be a lot more comfortable—” She paused on that thought, another taking its place. “I guess we’ll all be a lot more comfortable, won’t we? Once it’s all done.”

“That’s the plan,” Thea said, getting to her feet. “I’m going to turn in. You coming?”

“I’ll be up as soon as I rinse this cat piss from my cup.”

That made Thea grin. “And you’ll stop worrying about things with Lena? At least until you can talk to her again?”

“I’ll try.”

“Ellie.”

“Yes, I’ll stop worrying,” she said, though she could tell by Thea’s face she didn’t believe her. Hard to blame her when Ellie didn’t believe herself.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

N
othing like ripping off the bandage, Thea mused the next morning, standing on the porch of the house on Dragon Fire Hill and watching Dakota’s Keller Construction truck make its way up the long narrow drive. It was only wide enough for one car at a time. Thea wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or bad.

Frannie almost never went anywhere, so she didn’t need transportation. Ellie usually rode her bicycle into town. Becca had an old hatchback that was only a mile or two from giving up the ghost. Thea’s Subaru was functional, reliable, and the vehicle that did most of the heavy lifting for everyone. She even had two car seats stored in the front room’s coat closet for the rare occasion when Robert or James needed to see their pediatrician, Dr. Barrow.

There was never any shuffling of cars to worry about. She supposed widening the drive should go on her to-do mountain. It might be nice to have room for one vehicle going out, and one vehicle coming in. Except nobody ever did.

She brought her coffee mug to her mouth just as the door opened behind her and Becca walked out.

“And so it begins,” the other woman said, bouncing her keys in her palm.

Strangely, Thea was just as nervous when she had no reason to be.
“Why don’t you wait to go to work? Just in case Dakota has any questions?”

Becca looked over with a frown. “You can answer anything I can.”

“I know.” Becca was right. Thea’s request was completely lame. “But it’s going to be hard on Frannie. She’ll feel better if we’re all here.”

“Sure,” Becca said, pocketing her keys as Dakota pulled the truck to a stop. “Is he going to be running the crew?”

“I don’t know,” Thea said, breathing out as relief washed through her.

“That’s going to be the toughest part for Frannie. Dakota is one thing . . .”

“It can’t be helped. Not if we want to have this done.”

As if they’d heard Dakota arrive, both Ellie and Frannie appeared in the doorway, Frannie asking, “Who’s that?” while keeping James close to her side. The boy was yawning and rubbing his eyes; in Frannie’s arms, Robert sucked on his thumb and dozed.

“His name is Dakota Keller,” Thea said, watching him climb from the truck. He wore his usual uniform of work boots, jeans, and a T-shirt. This one was olive drab, and even at this distance, she knew it would give his brown eyes the appearance of gold. The fact that she could imagine it so clearly . . . This was a mistake. It was the only thing she could think as she studied him. He was everywhere she turned now, leaving her heart with a constant, anxious ache.

Shoving his hair from his face with one hand, he approached the house, looking up and catching her gaze. The ache worsened, spreading to encompass her entire chest until she couldn’t breathe. He smiled then, as if he liked the idea of her waiting for him, or her welcoming him. Then he nodded at Becca, and raised a hand after Ellie did the same.

Thea finished off her coffee, then set her mug on the porch. She took two steps down before he could climb up. “Frannie Charles, this is Dakota Keller. He works for Keller Construction. I told you about them at dinner last night. They’re the firm doing the renovations. Dakota’s here to take a look at the house.”

Frannie bobbed her head up and down, a quick but nervous understanding.

Then James stepped forward, his feet in a pair of too large purple Crocs. “Did you come here to burn the house down?”

His mother gasped, and snapped out, “James,” the sudden sound startling Robert. He let out a cry, and she soothed him with one hand, reaching for James with the other.

Dakota looked from James to Thea as if not knowing what to say, so once Frannie had the boy by the shoulder, Thea dropped down in front of him. “Of course he’s not here to burn down the house,” she said, wanting to turn back the clock, to call this off. Such a big, big mistake.

But then Dakota moved behind her, squatting at James’s level to say, “I’m going to fix it.”

“All of it?” James asked, his eyes wide. “Like the holes in the floor and the potty that leaks and the blankets that aren’t warm?”

“James, that’s enough,” Frannie said, squeezing his shoulder and pulling him even harder against her while backing toward the door.

Dakota cleared his throat, and Thea swore she heard him mutter a curse before asking James, “Would you like to see my toolbox?”

“Can I?” James asked him, then looked up to ask his mother. “Can I?”

Thea got to her feet, dreading Frannie’s answer and her son’s disappointment. She was seconds from telling Dakota she’d changed her mind, but was stopped by his saying to James, “I’ll be at my truck. If your mom says it’s okay, come on down. But if she’d rather you not, well, it was nice to meet you James.” Then he stood. “And you, Ms. Charles. You’ve got two good-looking boys here.” And with that, he brushed by Thea, his chest against her shoulder, and walked back the way he’d come. Thea blew out all the air in her lungs, having felt as if she was going to explode.

“Please, Mommy, can I? I’ve never in a million years seen a real toolbox.”

“I don’t know,” Frannie said, lifting her gaze to Thea’s. “You think he meant it? He really won’t mind?”

“He won’t,” Thea said, the words shaky with emotion she swore she hadn’t signed up for, but couldn’t hold back if she tried. “I’ll walk down with him. He’ll be fine.”

Of course James beat both Thea and Frannie to the truck and was waiting—not so patiently—when they finally arrived. Thea mouthed, “Thank you,” when she caught Dakota’s gaze, and got a brief nod in response. From somewhere beneath the bumper he let down a retractable step, then opened the tailgate and showed James how to climb up.

With Frannie’s permission—and her help—James did, shuffling with tiny careful steps across the bed to where Dakota waited. He directed the boy to sit on the wheel well while he unlocked and opened the toolbox. Then he lifted out two different screwdrivers and returned to where James sat. He hunkered down in front of him.

“Do you know what these are?” he asked.

James nodded. “They’re for turning screws round and round to put broken chairs back together.”

Thea looked away from Dakota’s searching gaze, glancing briefly at Frannie who had her hand on the back of Robert’s head, her lips against his ear, and tears in her eyes. The fact that her son knew such a thing . . .

“It’s a screwdriver, right,” Dakota said, having cleared his throat. “You use it to drive screws into walls for holding pictures, or for fixing things that have come apart. Now look at the ends. See how this one is straight across, and this one looks like a little star?”

James touched the tip of both while Dakota dug into his pocket and pulled out two screws.

“Okay. Here are two screws.” He tapped the top of both. “One of them has a straight line on the top, and one has—”

“A star!”

“Then which screwdriver are you going to use for which screw?”

The boy thought about it a minute, his little fist beneath his little chin, then said, “The star goes with the star, and the straight goes with the straight.”

Dakota nodded. “One more thing. This screwdriver is called a flat head. And this one is called—”

“A star head!”

Dakota smiled at that, his expression wreaking havoc with Thea’s heart. “That would make sense, wouldn’t it? But it’s actually called a Phillips-head. It’s named after the man who invented it. His name was Henry Phillips. Like your name is James Charles.”

A frown creased James’s brow. “And what’s your name again?”

“Dakota Keller.”

“Dakota is like the United States.”

A grin lit up Dakota’s face. “You’re right. There is a state called North
Da
kota. And another called South Dakota. Want to hear something funny?”

“Yes!”

“My brother’s name is Tennessee. And my sister’s name is Indiana.”

“Those are United States,
too
,” James said emphatically, gesturing with both hands.

“They are indeed.”

Finally, Frannie stepped forward. “Come on, James. Mr. Keller needs to get to work, and you and Robert need to have breakfast.”

“But I want to help Mr. Koda screw the house back together!”

“I’m not going to be doing any work today, James. I’m just going to look around and write notes about everything that needs to be fixed.”

“I can help with that, too. I know where all the broken parts are. I can show you.”

“Well, that’s up to your mom,” he said, turning his gaze toward Frannie.

She reached for Thea’s hand and squeezed. “I wouldn’t want him to be in the way.”

“I’m going to have a lot to look at. It’ll take a couple of walk-throughs. How about he hangs out first time around?”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Thea said, hoping Frannie would take the leap of faith. “I’ll be with them, too. I’ll make sure James is safe.”

Her use of the word is what finally convinced Frannie. She nodded, stepping toward the truck bed to help James down. She wrapped an arm around him and gave him a big kiss before swinging him to the ground. Then she looked at Dakota tentatively. “Does he have time for breakfast first?”

“Sure. I need to gather my things.”

She nodded, taking hold of James’s hand and walking with him back to the house. James chattered about screwdrivers until out of Thea’s earshot.

“What things are you gathering?” she asked, rubbing a hand over the back of her neck and trying to still the gyroscope of her emotions. Seeing Dakota’s patient engagement with James who needed the attention so desperately . . .

Dakota held up a pencil. “His eating breakfast seemed important to her. Or else she wanted to get him out of my clutches and back to the house.”

“There was probably a little bit of that, too,” Thea said. “You were amazing with him.”

“He’s just a little boy. There’s not a lot to it.”

“For the last few months, he’s been around four adult women. Being in your truck, you showing him your tools . . .” She shook her head. “You should’ve seen the look on his face.”

“He doesn’t have a dad?” he asked, frowning.

“Not anymore.”

“That’s a shame.”

“In his case? Not really.”

He jumped down from the truck bed, shoved his pencil behind his ear.
“Why in the world would he ask if I was going to burn down the house?”

She looked toward the Charles family, wondering if after she told him, he’d be sorry he asked. “Because his father burned down theirs.”

Sitting on the stool in front of his brother’s drafting table, Dakota stared at the paperwork Tennessee had left him to review. Most of the notes were quotes on materials for the house on Dragon Fire Hill. After Dakota’s visit there yesterday, Tennessee hadn’t wasted any time. But Dakota hadn’t gotten through but one or two of them before his mind drifted to Thea.

The state of her house was appalling. He was trying to think when he’d seen worse. At least worst that wasn’t a shack in the woods used by hunters. Or the cardboard boxes homeless men wedged together under overpasses to keep out the rain.

Okay. It wasn’t that bad. The house was old. But the problems went a lot deeper than the cosmetic Lena Mining had led him and Tennessee to believe.

He couldn’t get a handle on the group of women living there. Becca had told him some of her story, but he knew nothing about Ellie’s. Thea had hinted at a bad relationship, one she’d taken too long to leave, but she hadn’t said anything about what she’d done with her life since high school. She’d bought the house less than a year ago, but as far as he could tell, she’d done nothing to repair any of the damage she was living with.

And the boy. James. Wow. Just a few little words and the kid had ripped out Dakota’s heart. Then to learn the truth from Thea? No wonder Frannie Charles had kept her sons close and looked at Dakota as if he’d come to ruin the new life she was making.

Ruin. Man, if Thea hadn’t put a new spin on what he’d always assumed that word to mean. Seemed a man could ruin a woman in more than one way. He wanted to find the bastard who’d ruined Frannie Charles. Find him and do to him what he’d done to Robby Hunt in high school.

Too bad he no longer kept a baseball bat handy.

Thank goodness he’d had errands to run after leaving Thea’s house this morning. Double thank goodness she’d already come and gone from Bread and Bean when he finally showed. He wasn’t ready to talk to her. He couldn’t talk to her until he’d made some sense out of what he’d seen. So far all he’d done was find more questions than answers.

The sound of wheels on the gravel driveway brought his head up. The sedan pulled to a stop behind his truck, and Manny Balleza got out. He ambled into the barn, and asked, “You quit answering your phone for a reason?”

“It’s in the truck.” Dakota gestured in that direction. “Sorry.”

Manny nodded, coming closer. “Figured since you weren’t at the coffee shop you might be here.”

“Must be important,” Dakota said, happy for the interruption. He needed to get his mind off of Thea.

“Not as important as it is bugging me,” the other man replied.