Page 19 of V is for Valentine
“Late it is.”
“I thought you were going to consult with my dad about the project.”
“This is about clean-up.”
“You have to hire a contractor to clean up? Must be some fixer-upper.” Her eyes widened. “Are there snakes in the walls? I saw a documentary—”
“No snakes.”
She shifted her weight and folded her arms over her chest. “Where is this fixer-upper?”
“Felix…”
She unfolded her arms and grabbed his apron off the nail and held it out to him. “I know. You’re waiting for something to be signed. I can keep a secret.”
“Oh yeah.” He raised a palm as if warding off a bad memory. “Please, Danny,” he mimicked. “Tell me who you like.”
“I was eleven.”
He took the apron she still held. “And when I wouldn’t tell you, you wheedled it out of Trevor and told the world.”
“It’s cute when an eleven-year-old has a crush.”
“Unless you’re that eleven-year-old.” He tightened the apron knot with a quick jerk.
“Hey. Trevor never swore me to silence.”
“Would that have mattered?”
She looked as if she wanted to say yes, but could not.
“As I thought.”
“I can keep secrets now.”
“So can I. Tell me one of yours.”
“I…” She scowled as she took the drill off the charger and dropped it into the holster of her tool belt. “I’m an open book, Danny.”
Except for whatever incident had soured her on Valentine’s Day. Instinct told him it wasn’t time to push into that area.
“So if I ask, you’ll answer?”
“Only if you tell me about your fixer-upper.”
He pointed a finger at her. “That is not open book behavior.”
Felicity gave him an unrepentant look, grabbed her coffee mug, and then headed to her end of the building, the floor squeaking beneath her feet.
“I’ll tell you later,” he called.
She waved a hand without looking back.
He smiled a little as he watched her walk away, her drill bouncing on her hip. He wasn’t sore, but he was tired. There was a lot to do in the warehouse in a short period of time if he was going to be ready for a potential client walk-through in a matter of weeks.
This project by day. Warehouse by night.
He could do it until the industrial cleaning crew took over. As long as the window guys got the birds and the dust shut out as promised, he was on schedule.
