Page 69 of Mending Fences
Daniel raised his brows. “I thought I did this morning when I moved those boards out of the way. Some fences work better this way.”
Mandy looked at the hole.Good fences make good neighbors but lousy lovers.What did a newly built and deliberately broken fence make?
At the top of the hill, Mandy stopped and grabbed Daniel’s arm. The mansion’s windows gleamed in the sunshine. “You repaired the roof and the shutters. Did someone repaint the exterior too? How did I not notice?”
“Most of the work has been done on the sides that can’t be seen from the road. Before the restoration can continue, I need your ideas on a couple of things.” And I need you to stop looking at me like that. I have been trying not to kiss you ever since I picked you up. Do you know how amazing you look in jeans?” He tugged on her hand again and led them to the front door.
“I thought you said you didn’t ever want to go in the mansion again. Isn’t that why you stay in the caretaker’s house?”
“Yes, but I have done a lot of thinking about that summer. Did you know you taught me to have fun? I don’t think I ever laughed as much as I did that year. Do you remember playing hide-and-go-seek?”
“Getting caught in the dumbwaiter.”
“Yes, that summer was difficult. My father marched me into my grandfather’s office and told me Mother was dying, and I was left there with a man I hardly knew. The man always sat behind the desk. He told me to go play. Do you have any idea how boring it got playing video games all alone? Then you came through the broken fence.” They walked into the office. “After I left your place last night, I came in here for the first time since I was nine. I didn’t see my grandfather waving his hand at a servant to take me away. I saw you in pigtails, blowing a bubble and asking him if he had any books on Morse code while I hid in the hallway. Then I went in the kitchen, and you were there making cookies with our old cook. I went upstairs and stood at my old window, waiting for your flashlight to blink N-Y.”
“I know this spring has probably been the worst of your life, starting with me scaring you into breaking your foot, then getting half of the women in New York to kiss me. I didn’t kiss any of them back.”
“What?” Mandy looked up from the dustcloth-covered chair she had been toying with.
“I didn’t kiss any of them back. In fact, two of them I had to beg to show some affection in front of the cameras. Had I known I was going to get licked, I would have never done that.”
Mandy took a step forward. “You had to ask Miss Long-Tongued-Really-Bad-Singer to lick you?”
“I asked for a kiss on the cheek.”
“Why?”
“Because of Miss—”
Mandy held up her hand. “No, why didn’t you tell me? I would have understood.”
Daniel stepped around the desk and took her hand. “When our date hit the social media without the arrangements and nondisclosures, legal decided to not manipulate things. They didn’t think they could trust you with the truth and get you to sign the papers. I also had signed papers, and I was reminded almost daily that I couldn’t say a word to you. At first, when you started to ignore me, I thought it might be for the best.”
“What changed your mind?”
“I got an apartment in Manhattan, and I came back to the most hideous pink-and-purple and orange-and-yellow furniture, and I couldn’t laugh.”
Mandy put her hand over her mouth. “Pink? Please tell me you have a photo.”
Daniel handed her his phone. Mandy started to laugh.
“It gets worse.” He flipped to the photo of the bear.
“No!” Mandy stopped laughing, her eyes wide, and she dashed out of the room.
It was Daniel’s turn to laugh. He hoped she made it to the bathroom in time. He had thought she would have grown out of the need to run for a bathroom every time she laughed too hard.
“So, what did you want to show me?” Mandy decided not to reference her hasty exit. At least she didn’t need to change her pants.
Daniel motioned for her to follow. “In the parlor—or is it “drawing room”? I never got all those names straight.”
They entered a dark-paneled room where a dustcover hid a full grand. “I believe this is the music room.”
On one side of the room, six easels were set up. “I need to know what you would have me do with the house.”
“Me?”
Daniel only nodded.
