Page 16 of V is for Valentine
Felicity studied her scuffed-up boot before once again raising her gaze. “Try as I might, I can’t come up with a way to hold you responsible.”
“Maybe you’ll come up with something later tonight.”
One corner of her mouth lifted. “So do you want dinner?”
“I’m good,” he said. “Same time tomorrow?”
“Half hour earlier?”
“Will you be awake?”
“Probably not, but I’ll be here.”
He gave her a smile that sent an unexpected plume of warmth through her midsection. “See you then. I’ll bring the donuts, so don’t worry about breakfast.”
*
“Things went well,”Felicity said to her dad as she and Stevie settled on the sofa with plates of enchilada casserole and simple green salad, takeout from the Café on Main. “Two more days of drywall.”
“So you and Danny did okay?” Pete asked on a mixed note of caution and curiosity.
“Why, Father, whatever are you speaking of?” Felicity asked in mock surprise.
He laughed. “I take it there’s no blood on the walls.”
“Not a drop. And you trained him well back in the day.” He’d worked smoothly and efficiently. She had, too, except for slipping and hitting the ground when she’d been working too quickly. She’d slowed down after that and taken extra care, determined to continue working alone. Not only was it faster, she didn’t have to work shoulder to shoulder with the guy who had shifted out of his safe compartment in her brain. Danny, nemesis, had become Danny, butt-saver.
“Danny worked for you?” Stevie asked, her fork poised about her plate.
“He did. The summer you were off working for that ecology company on the coast and you,” he nodded at Felicity, “were spending the summer in Portland setting the financial world straight. Tess was…somewhere.”
“Clerking for that judge,” Felicity said absently. There’d been several years when she and her sisters had only made it back to Holly for holidays and the occasional short visit as they went to school and worked to establish careers—or in Stevie’s case, volunteered for various causes. Thankfully, their late grandmother, who’d started the animal shelter that Tess now ran, had lived close by.
“I had no idea,” Stevie said.
“I must have forgotten to run the company roster by you.”
Stevie waved her fork before spearing a lettuce leaf. “We’ll let it slide this time.” She glanced at Felicity. “When will you be ready to paint?”
“When the texture dries. We’ll be able to texture the second floor soon, so if you have any free time, your help will be welcome.”
“Any experience with the paint sprayer?” Pete asked.
“Nope,” Stevie said. “But I’m fast with the roller.”
“I’ve never used a paint sprayer either,” Felicity said. Her dad had trained her on every tool on the jobsite, except the sprayer. “Roland was on the crew when I worked with you.”
“He was a master,” Pete said after he scooped up his last bit of casserole. “I didn’t touch the sprayer when he was there.”
“Hey,” Felicity said, setting her half-empty plate on the end table, “do you know anything about Danny having a fixer-upper?”
Her dad’s eyebrows lifted. “Did he buy something already? I haven’t heard a word.”
“Well, you might. He said he’s going to need advice.”
“Great. I can repay the favor he’s doing me.”
Stevie got to her feet. “I have to run. I have grading to finish and a lesson to prep for tomorrow.” She headed into the kitchen with her plate.
